I read a very relevant blog post this morning. The question was about authenticity and prosperity. Could it be that one of the reasons for the economic meltdown has been the lack of true value? The point is worth considering.
The internet could be a prime example of this. Have you been caught up in the buzz that promises you a six figure income as an internet entrepreneur? Have you diligently downloaded masses of free e-Books only to find out that the rather skimpy information is just there to invite you to pay good money for online courses or more e-Books?
After parting with money for the course you learn that the way to make money is to write a skimpy e-Book on any topic you can string a few sentences together on, make it freely available online and use it to sell a ‘Master’ course on the topic. Anybody for a course on ‘How to cut onions without crying’?
In the real world it’s the same. Check the Madoff disaster currently airing in hearings in the USA. Ponzi systems? Heard of those? Pyramid schemes by another name. And it has been going on for years. Out on bail Madoff’s still cheating by trying to hide assets from the administrators.
What does all of the above have to do with you and your small business? Everything really. Be honest. Work hard on your skills and knowledge so that you can offer true value for money.
Make sure that you can be proud of yourself and your achievements. Honesty, integrity, authenticity - whatever you want to call it. Use these concepts as guidelines to run your business with. Make it part of your business strategy. Google did. They called it ‘Do no evil’. Just like Google’s, your rewards will come and they will be worth it.
on Jan 7th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I’ve found plenty of programs offering you ‘big money’ for marketing their stuff. Unfortunately I couldn’t ever get into it, because 99% of the information products I’ve come across are pure crap.
I don’t feel right peddling anything that I would not use or buy myself. The only time I ever felt right selling things online was when I was shipping an actual product to a customer, and not empty promises on digital pages.
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 8:09 am
IMHO, the scenario is like this. Long ago, the world of computers is about passion. People that are enthusiasm for computer are called “nerds”.
Then come the marketing people. They study the success of some of the computer “nerds” in making money, and start to make money by giving seminars on how to make money using computers.
In sequence, more and more people are looking for making “easy money” using the computer, especially those attending “making money with computer” seminars. Even old people that against the usage of computers for their job before, start to look forward in creating a Website.
As a results, we could see the increase in computer scams.