KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays by Mark Victor Hansen, Joel Comm Page A
Authors: Mark Victor Hansen, Joel Comm
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researched equipment. Before I give a talk, I prepare the slides. And before I create a new product, I examine what people want from it and what I need to do to find the up-to-date, practical information they need.
I prepare.
Whatever the subject matter of your web site, you have to commit yourself to having the latest knowledge on your topic. You have to understand how the field ranges, who the important influences are, and which topics are most in demand.
It’s a process that takes time—and that’s why it’s so valuable. The information that you’ll be offering through your site allows the people who read it to skip past some of that learning stage. Whether you’re a professional plumber or an amateur photographer, your expertise is the result of years of practice and experience. That’s an asset, and the next stage of the preparation is to understand which parts of that asset are the most valuable and how people most want to receive them.
Preparation means investing in yourself and in your success. It’s a fundamental part of that success.
4. YOU HAVE TO ACT
Preparation is essential, but it brings a danger. I’ve come across plenty of people who buy the books, do the conferences, talk the talk ... and yet never accomplish anything. They suffer the “paralysis of analysis.”
You can never feel prepared enough. There’s always more to learn, more to read, more to test. Preparation is all about answering questions: How much are the keywords in that subtopic worth? What happens if I put a different ad unit here? How many people really bought that e-book? How much did they pay for it, and how would my own differ? Every answer brings up three more questions.
Eventually, there comes a time when you just have to act, ready or not.
Back in 2006, I teamed up with my friend Eric Holmlund to create an online reality television show. We wanted it to be something like The Apprentice, but focused on Internet marketing. In each episode, a group of rising entrepreneurs would be set a task related to one aspect of building an online business, and the worst-performing candidate would be eliminated. The idea was simple enough, but the implementation? That was another story.
Eric had dabbled a little in film production—although nothing on this scale—and it was all completely new to me. We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. We spent months doing the research. We had to know what the program should include, what sort of people we’d want on it, what sorts of tasks we wanted to give the contestants, how to distribute and market the finished program, and of course, how to raise the funds and bring in revenue. It was a massive undertaking that took a huge amount of time and effort.
At some point though, we just had to dive in and see if we’d sink or swim. We swam.
I wish I could tell you it always works out that way. But it doesn’t. Not every action will bring success. Entrepreneurs take risks. You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you have to learn to fail fast.
Failure to take action is usually a result of FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real. It’s what happens when you believe a lie, when you’re afraid of what might happen. You overcome fear when you take action.
5. YOU HAVE TO RELATE
There’s a reason that I mentioned the value of community building so early in this book. It’s vital to your success, and it’s very easy to forget.
Being an entrepreneur, especially an Internet entrepreneur, looks like a lonely business. When you’re starting out, it will be you, your computer ... and that’s all. Maybe you’ll send e-mails to contractors—copywriters, designers, and programmers. Maybe you’ll make the odd phone call to explain in more detail what you need, but you won’t have the kind of face-to-face meetings that cement relationships in brick-and-mortar businesses.
That will be fine ... for a
I prepare.
Whatever the subject matter of your web site, you have to commit yourself to having the latest knowledge on your topic. You have to understand how the field ranges, who the important influences are, and which topics are most in demand.
It’s a process that takes time—and that’s why it’s so valuable. The information that you’ll be offering through your site allows the people who read it to skip past some of that learning stage. Whether you’re a professional plumber or an amateur photographer, your expertise is the result of years of practice and experience. That’s an asset, and the next stage of the preparation is to understand which parts of that asset are the most valuable and how people most want to receive them.
Preparation means investing in yourself and in your success. It’s a fundamental part of that success.
4. YOU HAVE TO ACT
Preparation is essential, but it brings a danger. I’ve come across plenty of people who buy the books, do the conferences, talk the talk ... and yet never accomplish anything. They suffer the “paralysis of analysis.”
You can never feel prepared enough. There’s always more to learn, more to read, more to test. Preparation is all about answering questions: How much are the keywords in that subtopic worth? What happens if I put a different ad unit here? How many people really bought that e-book? How much did they pay for it, and how would my own differ? Every answer brings up three more questions.
Eventually, there comes a time when you just have to act, ready or not.
Back in 2006, I teamed up with my friend Eric Holmlund to create an online reality television show. We wanted it to be something like The Apprentice, but focused on Internet marketing. In each episode, a group of rising entrepreneurs would be set a task related to one aspect of building an online business, and the worst-performing candidate would be eliminated. The idea was simple enough, but the implementation? That was another story.
Eric had dabbled a little in film production—although nothing on this scale—and it was all completely new to me. We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. We spent months doing the research. We had to know what the program should include, what sort of people we’d want on it, what sorts of tasks we wanted to give the contestants, how to distribute and market the finished program, and of course, how to raise the funds and bring in revenue. It was a massive undertaking that took a huge amount of time and effort.
At some point though, we just had to dive in and see if we’d sink or swim. We swam.
I wish I could tell you it always works out that way. But it doesn’t. Not every action will bring success. Entrepreneurs take risks. You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you have to learn to fail fast.
Failure to take action is usually a result of FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real. It’s what happens when you believe a lie, when you’re afraid of what might happen. You overcome fear when you take action.
5. YOU HAVE TO RELATE
There’s a reason that I mentioned the value of community building so early in this book. It’s vital to your success, and it’s very easy to forget.
Being an entrepreneur, especially an Internet entrepreneur, looks like a lonely business. When you’re starting out, it will be you, your computer ... and that’s all. Maybe you’ll send e-mails to contractors—copywriters, designers, and programmers. Maybe you’ll make the odd phone call to explain in more detail what you need, but you won’t have the kind of face-to-face meetings that cement relationships in brick-and-mortar businesses.
That will be fine ... for a
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