Doomed to Failure

Is everyone who tries to do business on the Web, doomed to
failure?

People who invested little or nothing, and received the same in
return may be. They joined AOL, and immediately found their
mailbox was overflowing with spam (junk email). They read some
of the mail and, believing what they read, bought into a
program for $20. They sat back and waited, and waited, and
waited and nothing happened.

Losing heart, they quit the program and dropped AOL after the
free trial period. They now send their email to Aunt Martha,
using a free ISP, which is all they really wanted to do from
the "get-go".

Some of these people believed many of the offers that wound up
in their mailbox, and bought into a few. They then started
their free advertising campaign. When that didn't pay off, they
started investing in paid advertising. Here a banner, there a
banner, everywhere a banner, banner - they quickly learned the
reality of banner ads. But with no long term commitment, they
folded their tents, cut their losses, and disappeared into the
night.

The tenacious ones failed at level one and two, but believed
the hype and invested in an online store. They're like the guy
who rented a huge vacant brick and mortar building, and then
started to think about what he was going to sell. After an
awful lot of work and many bucks later, he found out that
just having a store isn't the key to success on the Internet.

So what's the scoop? Is everyone doomed to failure?

Of course not - there are a lot of people making money on the
web. But you have to find your "niche". Unless you have very
"deep pockets", like anything, you have to know what you are
doing.

If your area of expertise is ornithology, why not consider a web
site for bird watchers. With some timely articles that are
updated on a regular basis, and a store where you sell items of
interest, you just might attract a following.

Does that mean you immediately commit to a store and get a
merchant account so your customers can pay for their orders?
NO. Start your web site, and advertise it heavily. One of the
better bets is ezines or newsletters that target the audience
you wish to reach. Try to build a following on your website -
consider your own newsletter.

If you are able to get a respectable number of visitors to your
web site, or subscribers to your newsletter, you just might have
a shot at your online store succeeding. Remember, "Content is
King". If you provide good content, you will have return
visitors. Return visitors are potential future customers.

Offer freebies, run contests, have guest columnists contribute;
these all enhance your site. But forget some of the hype you
will run across. This does not happen overnight. Once
established, will you make money while you sleep - you betcha.

Like any business, you will need a war chest. How much? If
you're going to be selling a product, you'll need an inventory.
But don't be like the person who bought into Equinox (see
http://www.mlmwatch.org/06FTC/Equinox/equinoxftc1.html) who
has $5,000 worth of junk in their garage they can't give away.

Look for a distributor who will sell in small lots. Sure they
will charge a bit more, and you will earn a bit less, but you're
not in over your head. If the product moves, you can then
afford to buy larger lots at a lower price.

You should then know pretty quickly if it is going to work. If
it is positive at that point, move to your next level. Open your
online store, get merchant status so you can accept credit
cards, and move forward.

Above all, use "due diligence" in any venture you take, and you
just might not be "Doomed to Failure".