8 things that bug me about doing business online

Been trying to do business online awhile? Then you already
know it ain't a bed of roses every day. Here's my personal list
of the 8 biggest irritations about doing business online.

#1 People who are looking for a sure-fire "get rich quick" scheme

I don't know about you, but the well-off people I know worked
their behinds off for their money (unless they were lucky enough
to have a rich old aunt kick the bucket in their favor.) Personally
I've never yet met a person who has actually gotten rich from a
"get rich quick" scheme, but I've encountered THOUSANDS who tanked
trying to get rich without work. P.T. Barnum was right about
a sucker being born every minute. The Internet has empowered these
people. They literally can't wait to get online to get taken
advantage of. It's sickening. You want to get rich? Work!

#2 Expecting to create a profitable online business without making
any investment

These people often overlap with the group above. They're the really
gullible ones. Despite massive evidence to the contrary, they
expect to go online, invest NOTHING, and make their fortune lickety-
split. It NEVER happens. Having encountered a ton of these people,
however, I've become a critic of the educational system which produced
them. What are we teaching people in schools that leads them to
think that merely showing up is going to make them rich?

#3 Expecting to create a business without knowing the products

How many times have you asked someone for information about the
products sold by their company and gotten a bumbling, non-sensical
response? The sad truth is that the first thing people ought to know
about their businesses -- namely what they're selling and what's so good
about it -- is actually the last thing you can get an intelligent
response about. How can people expect to prosper selling things they
cannot explain and know so little about? Yet that's precisely what far
too many people online are doing!

#4 Changing your online business over and over again

I know a woman who's into a new online "business" every few DAYS.
One day she's selling herbal products... the next day it's online
services... then it's fake noble titles. She cannot decide what
business she's in and because she's afraid she's missing out on a
couple of nickles somewhere, she jumps from "business" to "business"
faster than a flea jumping onto a new dog. Her sales are pathetic,
of course, her credibility non-existent, but her unshakable optimism
just cannot be dented, despite the mountains of evidence that she's
a fool. Lord, spare me from those with the ability for unlimited
self-deception, especially when they keep emailing me with their
latest and greatest "sure-thing" discovery.

#5 The Non-Readers

The Internet, the premier means for transferring information cheaply
worldwide, has exacerbated the trend towards non-reading. We see
this all the time at Worldprofit, Inc. at http://www.worldprofit.com
We spend huge amounts of time and money creating user-friendly
information. All too often, however, a dealer or customer will
sniff at this information, find out that to know what it says you
actually have to READ it, then loudly scream "Wolf," by emailing
that they cannot understand what they have never made any attempt to
learn. Folks, like it or not, the Internet is new technology and
you've got to allow for a learning curve to master it. There's just
no way around this. I doubt that anyone would have arrived at their
college freshman year and said, "Hey, I don't want to read all these
books. Just tell me what's in 'em." Yet that's precisely how plenty
of knuckleheads approach the 'net.

#6 The People who know what they need but won't get it

For years, I've been advocating that if people want to succeed online
they need things like their own domain, a listserver so that they
can communicate with their prospects at the touch of a button, a
sales manager so they can handle all prospect follow up, etc. These
investments are minor and they're essential for online success.
However, time after time I encounter the wiseguys who think they can
succeed without having or using any of the necessary tools. Usually
in hot pursuit of the latest "get rich quick" scheme, these puppies
are determined to achieve success without bothering with any of the
necessary success tools.

#7 Newbies who know it all

Since 1993 I've been slogging daily on the 'net helping to build
a worldwide business at http://www.worldprofit.com I've never allowed
myself the arrogance of thinking I know it all; indeed, I've been
humbled by how much there is to learn online, approaching the problem
of mastering it one step at a time, one day at a time. It's the exact
reverse of the hotshot know-it-alls who have been on the 'net 5
minutes, know everything, and dismiss the notion that there may actually
be something they don't know with an irritating wave of the hand.
"What me work?," they seem to say. These people are frequently young,
male, and often make me want to take a long, hot bath after encountering
them to rinse off the stench of stupidity and irresponsibility they
emit.

#8 People who lie about money

The biggest tabu of our times is not sex, but money. In our culture,
money and what it buys defines who we are. To increase our perceived
standing either means getting more money -- or lying about what we've
got. The Internet, with all its anonymity, has made it easier to lie
about money. People lie at the drop of a hat about what they want
and their ability to pay for it. People think nothing about lying;
they see no negative consequences to whatever they say and so carry
on merrily saying whatever comes into their heads, no matter that not a
single word of it is true. To counter this trend, business people like
me have to assume that every single person we encounter is a liar
until proven otherwise. We have to run our businesses from a defensive
posture, wondering who will do what to threaten the stability of
our enterprise. Only the naive and foolish approach people as if they
are honest, reliable, credible, and trust-worthy. The rest of us have
to live each day in a state of permanent wariness. It's a helluva way
to live, but necessary to online business success.

Well, there I've said it. There's more, of course, that needs to be said
about the people who make doing business online unnecessarily difficult
and unpleasant, but that's enough for today. If you see yourself in what
I've written, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Bad behaviors are not set in cement.
I guess I'm still optimistic enough to think that if one sees them
and understands them, one can change them. Right? Or am I being naive?