Stop the Madness!

I have just reviewed yet another product advertisement that promises to "build a money making website for you" in just three easy steps that will bring "massive residual profits" and "auto-pilot income" for you. Sounds great doesn't it?

Most of these promotions start by saying something like this..."I spent five years spending money on "secrets" of internet gurus, membership sites, and sure-fire opportunities before I realized they had all tricked me. Then I figured out on my own how to make a fortune. Now I have the 'secret' and I'm going to sell it to you. Don't trust all those too-good-to-be-true advertisements, but trust mine."

Now don't get me wrong...I'm not bashing these products. Many of them do provide useful services that may be just what you need. But not one of them is going to do all the work that is necessary to make you successful.

As J.C. Penney once said, "there ain't no free lunch." Know what you are actually getting, and just as important, what you are not getting when you buy a "business-in-a-box."

Please understand "the rest of the story". If you examine these boxed businesses you will certainly find differences in what is included or not included in each "system". However, when you take a step back and look at the big picture, you can see that they all, without exception, lack one very important piece of the pie...

THE MARKETING!

I have yet to find one "system" you can buy that will automatically pull visitors (buyers) into your website or business.

Remember the simplied illustration from last week in The Systems Approach to anything...? The beauty of the simple model is that it fits anything.

In any system there is:

1. an input,

2. a process (or processes) and

3. an output.

Look at it again.

The blue box on the left is the Input and represents the market (customers). The orange box on the right is any business. It could include a replicated website, personalized homepage, lead capture pages, autoresponders and eCommerce sites, plus many more automated processes and functions.

However, a fully complete internet business that is ready to go right out of the box will be "ready to take orders" and "generate automatic income" only when YOU provide the customers.

There it is..."The Secret" to a successful internet business. YOU!

You must learn how to capture your market by promoting your own business. You must put in the time and effort to reach your customers.

Here's another secret...your business is YOU.

People naturally want to do business with someone they know and trust. If you have that, and you truly are worthy of your client's trust, then they are somewhat pre-sold on your products and services. But you will have difficulty standing out from the crowd if you are using pre-packaged replicated websites that look just like thousands of others already on the internet.

Automated processes to conduct business online are extremely useful if you know how to use them and what to expect. But do not expect any automatic system to do your marketing for you.

Scott

PS. Are you getting the picture? Please provide your comments and opinions about this blog.