During my online adventure spanning the last 12 years I have had some pretty darn aggravating days. Days where things didn’t work as I expected, scripts throwing errors and applications not working for no apparent reason.

So I understand the frustration of not understanding how things work or not having them work as easily as one would prefer. New environments, new applications, new combinations, new control panels, new technology comes out every day. There will be glitches, there will be new things to learn and there will always be new problems to solve. Technology requires one embrace new concepts.

That is part and parcel of participating online. Every day is a new adventure and one has to be open to learning, willing to try and comprehend that what they perceive as a glitch may not be a glitch at all. Or that application which may not be working as you presumed it should, is not actually broken, but just that you may not yet understand how to utilize it properly.

When you find yourself in these situations, look at it as an opportunity to learn! Don’t point fingers at others claiming something is wrong or complain that things are not as easy as you prefer. You won’t get anywhere with that attitude.

Before you point fingers or claim something is broken, take a deep breath and start over and go through whatever is challenging you at the moment. You most likely will find that you overlooked a feature, Submit or Save button to accomplish what you would like.

Considering the complexity in the background that brings this wonderful technology to our desktops every day, learning how to use sites, features, new control panels and tools are actually a piece of cake. It really doesn’t get any easier than this!

At your service,
Judith

Why is it so many participating in technology don’t want to understand it well enough to use it properly?

Why is it so many with online businesses want the $$$ but don’t want to make any reasonable investment?

Why is it so many want the benefits that technology offers (working at home, flexible schedule, lower overhead) but don’t want to make the effort to gain the necessary skills and knowledge?

ANSWER: Because they are buying into the hype. The hype that is put out there by some of the top Internet companies and “consultants” whose business model is based on selling to folks who don’t know any better.

The fault lies on both sides. It’s almost like both sides seem to have left common sense and honesty at the door.

Let’s cover each …

Internet Providers & Consultants:

Those who spew the online hype making it sound like you can get rich and quit your day job by simply putting up a Web site should be ashamed of themselves.

At this time of year this junk is prevalent –”put up your eStore in time for the Holidays!” The reality? At this point you have 4-5 solid weeks to ship “for the Holidays.” And that’s if your site went live right now — ready to go and operational to take orders.

Think about this… How are people going to even find your site? You won’t be in the free search engine listings for at least 8-9 months. Oh…. no one mentioned the $500 or more you would have to spend on Pay Per Click and Web site advertisements just to get found?

New Web Site Owners or Wannabes:

If you don’t have any business experience, don’t buy into the hype. Business is serious business online. The staples of off-line business still apply online. Add to your “cheap, fast, easy” hype that you’ll have legal and accounting fees, shipping and material fees, inventory and merchant fees. Skills to be honed and applications to be learned. That’s the reality of online business.

I wouldn’t blow smoke to any potential customer at this time of year that they could get a store up and running, found and operational in time to be profitable for the Holidays. But that’s because I deal in the world of reality. Not saying what folks want to hear just to get into their wallets.

So to all the Internet Providers & Consultants:

Try selling based on what folks need to know to succeed instead of locking them into contracts and setup fees when you know darned well what you are not informing them about. Try selling based on the concept that you want them to succeed, not just give you their credit card number.

And to all New Web Site Owners or Wannabes:

There is money to made online. You can work from home and make a comfortable living. But you need to understand that it won’t happen by osmosis. You’ll need to learn, apply and invest. You’ll need a budget, a plan and a unique product or service (that 10s of thousands are not already selling) at a competitive price with the best service in town. If you can’t handle that reality; don’t quit your day job!

It is clear my friends that both sides have failed to behave realistically and honestly. I’m still waiting — going on year 13 — for one side or the other to finally wise-up.

At your service,
Judith

Our lives are filled with details… Too many to deal with at times. Combine off-line details with all the new online details you need to pay attention to and it can very easily becoming dizzyingly overwhelming!

If you don’t pay attention to your online details (Web stats, content, e-mail etiquette, etc.) — your online program will suffer. Being so many of the details that are available to us and those we are responsible for can literally affect the outcome of so many online activities, one would be naive to think that ignoring the details is O.K.

I’m here to tell you it’s not O.K. Those details, such as Web site copy and how you type our e-mails, will lend to your creditability and legitimacy with potential customers. Your Web stats — which are a ton of details that can make one feel like they are literally drowning in statistics — are critical to you understanding what is going on (or not going on) at your site.

I guess this would all be a lot simpler if all the data and details were somehow transposed to site owners by osmosis. Until that time, get yourself a day planner and write down all the details you need to pay attention to and when — and then have the discipline to follow through.

Only then will you be able to take full advantage of what technology can do for you business. Nothing happens without the details.

At your service,
Judith