The Narrow Path

The Narrow Path
By Jenean Matthews

Dear Entrepreneur:

I'm glad to see you're still on the path to success.
Many have begun this journey at the same time as
you but have dropped off by the way side. Some
were too weary to go on. Some lost hope along the
way and others took the wrong path and detoured
into trying to get rich quick, offering scams and
other unethical procedures. But you are persevering
step after step on the road to your success.

Perhaps you've reached that fork in the road where
you have to make another choice in deciding which
direction to go. You've built your web page and sent
your web address all over the web world. This may
have generated some sales but maybe not what you
expected. It may be time to step off the broad path
and enter onto the narrow path.

What is the narrow path? The narrow path is the point
where you realize the whole world is not your market.
You may believe in your product so much that you're
thinking the whole world does need your product or
service, but unfortunately they don't. Even if you were
selling water, which is something everyone needs,
your market is not the whole world. Some
people want tap water, some distilled water, some
spring water, some ice water and some may want to
live by the water and go out to the well or brook
everyday and get it straight from the source. So you
see, you must take this turn down the narrow path.

I've hit this point myself. As a person selling what
I believe to be high-quality gift or specialty items
and vitamins and herbs, I thought my market was
much larger than it really is. You tell me who
doesn't want to buy nice things and take extra care of their
bodies. Well, some people want to get things from very a variety
of souces such as getting their nutrition
from supplements, others want to eat the healthiest
foods possible and some just don't think it takes all
that to remain healthy. So off I've gone down the
narrow path.

What do you do on the narrow path? You start an
ezine or newsletter. You allow people who are
specifically interested in your product or service to
sign up one by one and refer others to you along the
way. This path is a slower pace. You offer advise,
guidance, new information to groups of people who
look forward to hearing from you. This path is
rewarding. You can now focus your attention on
the details of your products or service. The question
is not what will interest this group or that group. It
all will be interesting on your new path.

Was it necessary to take the broader path? Yes. The
narrow path doesn't begin at the beginning of the
journey. The broader path brings name recognition
and site popularity but after you've gather in some
customers you come to realize you can't be everything
to all people. It's at that point when the fork in the
road appears and you choose to step off onto the
narrow path.

We don't all reach this path at the same time. Some
reading this right now still feel they can sell water to a fish.
That's ok for now.

When the time is right
Resist the temptation to fight
Put the narrow path in sight
And reach for a new height.

It's time to run a new race
One with a different pace
So put a smile on your face
And turn with grace

Down the narrow path.

Sincerely,

Jenean

The Narrow Path © 2000
Jenean Matthews is a businesswoman who believes in encouraging
and helping others to accomplish their dreams. She believes people
can overcome obstacles, rise to any occasion, and accomplish their
entire dream with enough faith. She can be found accomplishing
her dream at http://www.1stshoppingavenue.com or subscribe to
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