Business Alone

Most of us have been taught to value "more" over "less." The more we have, the better off we are.

If two of something is good, then surely three of that same thing is better!

In the Internet world, quantity often means little because it is so relative depending upon the context in which it us used. Here's an example.

Most business owners would think that being able to contact 5,000 prospects in a single sales pitch campaign would be a big deal. In the offline world that is certainly the case.

But if your message is being broadcast via email, and you're trying to choose between two options (say, for instance, sending your message to 45,000 prospects compared to 50,000) that extra 5,000 may not be a very significant amount.

I wanted to mention the case for quality over quantity related to renting lists of prospects from a list broker.

There's no doubt about it. The number one reason why people come to the Internet is to get information. They come to read the latest news, comparison shop, find answers to questions, communicate with friends and associates via email or voice, seek out entertainment, or play games.

Early on, the Internet was mostly a collection of free sites and information that anyone could access. Sometimes registration was required, but in most cases paid access was not even a thought of the web site owner. Why?

I suppose there are several reasons. The mechanism for charging customers was not generally available, people didn't understand that financial transactions could be done securely, and a range of software enablers were not yet available for things like secure shopping carts, real time authentication, and digital delivery.

Whether you decide to publish information in a paid newsletter, a "members only" web site, or an email or notification service, the questions you'll have to answer are basically the same. Why do you want to do this?

Is the decision based on your love of the niche and desire to share what you know about it? Is it because you already have the advantage of possessing the knowledge and experience that will be needed?

Are you trying to gain a dedicated group of subscribers so you can offer them niche products? Or is the decision simply one that allows you to start a business and earn a living in a niche of your own choosing?

Whatever the reason, there are business principles that you ought to think about prior to committing much time and money to your new venture.

Keeping your valuable information behind locked doors and only giving access to those that pay you for the privilege is the basis of the membership or subscription web site model.

As the owner of a membership site, you will have to determine how to best handle the security of your information and still make it convenient and easy for your paid members to get access.

Here are the usual approaches that I've seen and dealt with in my Internet experience.

Sorry for that title, especially if it offends you in any way. I use it for one purpose: to draw your full attention to the importance of the F-word in small business. That word is "focus."

More than anything else, entrepreneurs need to develop focus in their approach to every aspect of what they do. If the business owner can't focus on what he is trying to accomplish, his efforts will be severely diluted and wasted on things that don't matter to his business.

In no other business is focus so critical as it is in solo business. Why? In solo business, if you don't do it, who else will?

If you don't dream it, or create it, or organize it, or set it up, or follow it through, or finish it . . . whatever "it" happens to be . . . "it" doesn't get done.

Regardless of the information subscription niche that you choose as the subject of your business, you will need some type of web site software platform.

In another post, we discussed the five usual platform options available to the small business.

Which option is right for your business will depend upon your financial capability, the functions that you want in the site, the type of information presentation you deliver, and your own capability to maintain and operate the software and web site.

But whichever alternative you've narrowed your overall model choices down to, you will still need to choose between many specific company products.

In another installment we reviewed the various definitions and synonyms for the word "focus."

In the business sense, focus is critical, even indispensable. If you run a solo business and you haven't mastered the skill of bringing focus to a task, you will be wasting time, effort, and resources which will cause your business to be less productive and efficient than it could be.

By applying focus to everything you do in your business operation, you are selectively directing all your attention and vision toward a narrow and distinct purpose. Once a task or problem is handled, your focus switches to the next issue.

Solo business owners are master jugglers, able to keep many balls in the air at the same time.

Every business owner, sooner or later, comes to the realization that her time is money in the bank!

Wasted time is cash burned . . . and really for no good reason.

Every business is a little different, but in most cases where the owner principally operates online, requests for support by customers can be a major daily time drain.

In some cases, it is the major activity that keeps the owner/operator glued to her computer and telephone during regular business hours and then some.

You may not have this problem - I hope you don't. If you're super focused and well disciplined, you should be able to avoid digital dust.

I haven't. I fight the curse constantly and usually give in to my quest for that next great resource that's going to propel my business into the heavens.

Digital dust is what all those business tool software and information products turn into over time. It's pretty much worthless, and often turns into a total waste of your business budget.

I guess maybe I'm just a succor for a good sales pitch. I'm the kind of guy a smart product developer can sniff out in a crowded room. Maybe "gullible" is permanently stamped into my forehead.