You cannot FAIL at an online business if you are never really IN business in the first place.

[Howard Bloom]

Home Business :: You cannot FAIL at an online business if you are never
really IN business in the first place.
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You cannot FAIL at an online business if you are never really IN business in
the first place.

by: Jack Humphrey

Statistics used in online sales letter are often abused and misunderstood in
many ways. Both from the consumers' standpoint and, either purposefully or
unknowingly, by product and service providers of all types.

Have you heard the oldest marketing slogan on the web?

"98% of online businesses fail to see success."

Since the first time I saw that figure I wondered what organization was
responsible for concocting this seemingly scientific "fact."

After starting several businesses and writing articles and books on the art
of internet marketing success over 6 years, it is obvious to me that no one
has a good grasp of how many people try and then fail to make a business
take off on the internet.

First and most importantly, what was the criteria the unknown researcher of
this statistical statement used to qualify someone as starting and failing
at an online business?

I asked the question simply because I know from my own empirical data and
years of experience that relatively very few business ventures are begun on
the net by people with the experience, motivation, backing, and support it
takes to even have a chance of success.

If the author of the statement in question intended to lump in all the
unprofessional, untrained, novice, weekend-warrior, wannabe business owners
then yes, that statistic is more believable.

If they intended to include in the data anyone who has gotten into network
marketing and intended to succeed with the cookie-cutter website provided by
that company alone - then YES 98% failure makes more sense.

I mean, how serious can a person be if they are hooked into a business model
that promises success with no real work on their part?

My biggest problem with the overall statement is that by including the types
of people and businesses above, people touting this famous phrase are not
being fair to all the REAL business people online who work hard, who immerse
themselves deeply in marketing and business training, and who work long hard
hours in the beginning to see their businesses succeed.

Real businesses have tax status, (Corporate or LLC at least), an accounting
and customer service system, a professional online presence, no dancing
hamsters or other novice website distractions... and above all, real
businesses are professional in all aspects of their presence in the business
community.

Stuffing envelopes and filling out surveys for money do not alone constitute
a "business." Nor does signing up as an affiliate and promoting other
people's products without having your own brand name, products or at least
having a unique presence on the web.

Here is the reason people cannot say they are in business online unless they
treat what they do as a real business:

No one who says they are in business online, who does not have simple
corporate status to shelter their profits from the massive taxes you have to
pay as an individual vs. what you'd pay as a corporation or LLC, is not
really in business at all.

Even if you are "testing the waters" for the first time in online business,
it makes no sense to, on one hand, tell yourself you are going to be a great
success, and on the other hand you carry yourself as if you don't really
believe you are going to make a thin dime because you don't have any form of
a legal business entity set up for yourself.

If someone were dead serious about making a lot of money with their own
online business they'd set themselves up first and foremost with all the
knowledge, legal documentation, tax benefits, and other business
organization steps to handle that success!

Now, considering the above, a poll on the success/failure rate of people who
have qualified to call themselves real business owners would come out to a
completely different number from 98% failure.

Many now successful people have started with failures. How does that figure
into the final tally?

As you can see, a real logical look at the age-old statement above, when you
place basic standards for qualification of what constitutes a real business,
makes the statement very misleading.

People who are very motivated and set themselves up as a real business,
train themselves basic to advanced business tactics and concepts, and
present their business professionally online and, in some cases offline, are
not likely to be satisfied for long with initial failure.

I failed at my first attempts at marketing online and it was precisely when
I was doing it part time and looking for shortcuts.

But when finally I got serious and set my business foundation up properly
and legally, trained myself as a member of business and marketing forums, at
conferences, and through myriad marketing and business courses, I started to
succeed in my business almost as soon as I finally set a direction and a
plan up for it.

If you were to poll real business owners, you'd find a different statistic
representing failure and success. Leave out the lazy, the uneducated, the
unmotivated, and unethical people from the data, and you will soon get down
to a more realistic number.

How does all this concern you?

It might give you pause to realize the above. You might not actually be IN
business right now when you thought you were! But it should also give you
hope that, if you work hard and are motivated, you can turn an idea into
success once you start walking the talk.

You cannot FAIL at an online business if you were never really IN business
in the first place. Armed with this information, you should start to
distinguish what being in business is all about along with what it really
takes to succeed at marketing yourself, your products, and/or your services
online.

In the end, even if the 98% failure rate were true, your focus should be on
that 2% and not on the misleading assertion that succeeding online is hard.

It takes hard work, but success in online business is not "hard" to
comprehend. There is a learning curve, but it's not rocket science. Learning
isn't as much the issue as is motivation and determination.

Whatever the real percentage of failure of online businesses is, (and
believe me, no one really knows because everyone uses different standards
for data on this subject, if they even go that far) you can beat the odds by
getting dead serious about your success and setting yourself up as a real,
bona fide business.

Once you have letterhead with Inc. or LLC. after your company name it is
VERY difficult to let yourself fail, believe it!

Copyright 2004 Jack Humphrey

PERMISSIONS TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in its entirety
free of charge, electronically or in print, provided it appears with the
included copyright and author's resource box with live website link.

Courtesy of http://hombyz.com

About The Author


Jack Humphrey is a marketing consultant and professional copywriter at
http://webfoxmedia.com as well as the author of Power Linking 2: Evolution
at http://power-linking-profits.com.

[Ralsky]

Post by Howard Bloom
Home Business :: You cannot FAIL at an online business if you are never
really IN business in the first place.

The Dirty Dozen
The FTC has identified its "Dirty Dozen". These are the twelve scams most likely to arrive via bulk e-mail or in newsgroups. Here are the "dirty dozen" and a brief explanation of why each is a scam:

Business Opportunities Scams:
These offers make it sound like it is very easy to start a business that will earn piles of money without much work, selling or cash. Many of these "opportunities" are actually illegal pyramid schemes or frauds that are masquerading as legitimate opportunities to earn money.

Make Money by Sending Bulk E-mail:
These solicitations offer to sell you bulk e mail lists (consisting of millions of e mail addresses), spam software (usually very poor in quality), or services to send spam on your behalf. Don't do this.

Chain Letters:
No list of scams would be complete without this old "favorite" - e mail style. Here you're asked to send a small amount of money (or some item) to each of four or five names at the top of the list, and then forward the message including your name at the bottom, via bulk e mail. Many of these letters claim they are legal - they are not. Further, nearly everyone who participates in these chain letters loses money. Even if there is a "product" such as a report on how to make money, it does not make these schemes legal.

Work-At-Home-Schemes:
The most common work-at-home scam promises that you'll earn money for stuffing envelopes. For example, you're promised you'll earn $2.00 for every envelope you stuff. In fact, there never is any real envelope stuffing employment available. Instead, you pay to register and then you're instructed to send the same envelope-stuffing ad via bulk e mail to others. The only money you can earn would come from others who fall for the scam and pay to register. Finally, if you did actually do work for one of these outfits (for example, some promise to pay you for craft work), they'd refuse to pay you and say your work didn't measure up to their "quality standards."

Health And Diet Scams:
These are similar to the miracle cures offered off-line: ways to lose weight without eating less or exercising, "scientific breakthroughs," "secret formulas" which provide cures for hair loss, and herbal formulas that liquefy fat cells so that they are absorbed by your body. These scams often include testimonials from "famous" medical experts you haven't heard of. Of course, these gimmicks don't work.

Effortless Income:
The newest version offers get-rich-quick schemes to make unlimited profits exchanging money on the world currency markets. There are lots of variants, but they all promise vast riches with no work. Beware of these scams.

Free Goods:
These offers promise expensive items such as computers... for free. They ask you to pay a fee to join, and then you have to bring in a certain number of other members. Many of these scams are just disguised pyramid schemes.

Investment Opportunities:
These scams promise outrageously high returns...and of course, there is "no risk." Many of these scams are illegal Ponzi schemes, in which early investors are paid with the money from later investors. This gives the early investors the illusion that the system works and they are then encouraged to invest more money (which they eventually lose). The sales pitches for these offers include claims of high-level financial connections, that the promoters are privy to inside information, or promises that they'll guarantee the investment. The promoters are long gone if you try to take advantage of their "guarantees."

Cable De-Scrambler Kits:
These scams offer kits or information on how to receive cable transmissions without paying any subscription fees. There are two problems with these offers: 1) the kits and information don't work; and 2) even if they did work, it is illegal to steal service from cable television companies. Further, many cable companies have aggressively been prosecuting cable service theft.

Guaranteed Loans or Credit, or Easy Terms Scams:
There are lots of variants of this scam: home equity loans that don't require any equity in your home, loans regardless of your credit history, offshore bank loans, credit cards regardless of your credit history, etc. Sometimes these offers are combined with pyramid schemes that offer to pay you for attracting other participants to the scheme. However, they are scams - the loans don't come through, you are turned down unless you meet stringent requirements, or the credit cards simply don't arrive.

Credit Repair Scams:
These scams promise to erase accurate negative information from your credit file so that you can now qualify for loans, mortgages, or credit cards. The promoters of these scams cannot deliver. Further, if you follow their advice and lie on a loan or credit application, misrepresent your Social Security number, or get an Employer Identification number from the Internal Revenue Service under false pretenses, you will be committing fraud and violating federal laws. Don't fall for this scam.

Vacation Prize Promotions:
Last, but not least, is a scam in which you receive electronic verification congratulating you because you've "won" a fabulous vacation, or you've been "specially selected" for this opportunity. The "deluxe cruise ship" may well be more like a tugboat, upgrades can be very expensive, and hotel accommodations are likely to be very shabby.

The punch line... which you've heard from us many times before... If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Further, don't buy anything via bulk e-mail (spam). Your chances of being scammed are astronomical.