It used to be a joke that one could throw a stone in a crowd and it would hit a lawyer. That joke was probably valid in the 1980s when everyone wanted to be a legal eagle.
These days, it seems, you can throw a stone and most likely, you’d hit an Internet marketing guru! Yes, everyone (and their dog) is probably on the Internet. And it seems that not only are they ON the Net, they’re also Internet gurus.
Wowwee.
I mean, they can be all the guru that they want. It’s not my turf. I don’t quite care for it either. I am here to help you get a proper business website up and running, advise you on how to make your website part and parcel of a long-term marketing strategy and use it to make your business life easier, simpler and reach out to customers faster. It helps if you are serious about business. Your business, actually. You have to want to make it work.
But what makes my blood boil is that everyone (or at least those who email me) have this idea of ‘I want to make money’ when they get on the Internet (oh yeah, guess where and from whom they get this idea?).
Sure, I want to make money too. But some people don’t have any idea of what they want to do. What’s worse, they don’t care! I’ve received my fair share of emails from people telling me that they just want to make money on the Internet – do I have any ideas how I can help them become multimillionaires?
First, I am NOT a guru. Thank God. (That label itself is becoming more derogatory these days.) I don’t want to give out false expectations either. Just like I tell clients, don’t expect to build a website and hope millions of people will come. Attracting traffic (and qualified traffic) to your website is hard work.
Heck, business is hard work. Even if you have an MBA tucked somewhere, you would still need to sweat a bit to make business work. And the online business is not very different either. But many think it’s super easy to get the money rolling in by going online.
I always say, start with your passion. What keeps you chugging even if there’s no money coming in? What gets you bouncing right out of your bed in the morning? Be in that business. First comes passion, then comes money. But these days, it’s the other way around. First think money. Then think more money. Passion? Pfffttt…. what passion?!
Anyway, the same people who have ringgit signs in their heads should approach their gurus to help them. After all, who else can help you better than your own guru, right? (In fact, I had a friend who called me up three weeks ago saying that he wants a one-page sales letter with the works. What stuff would you be selling, I asked. He says he doesn’t know but all he wants is to make money and that’s that. I needed to guarantee that he made money. Sigh. Dear Internet guru, please take your ‘student’ away from me. He took your preview workshop but came to me. How does that work?)
If anyone’s looking for a guru, erm, an Internet guru, sorry, there’s no one like that here.
But if you want people who are genuine and passionate about all things web and who can share with you if you want to take your present business online, we more than welcome your email.