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How "The Whine" Assures Small Business Failures
By Sydney Johnston
If you have dealt with many people in the Internet marketing field,
you have undoubtedly run across "The Whine". This is an attitude
filled with self pity, the desire to have the rewards of Net
marketing without paying the price, and often a great deal of
hostility. It is an almost 100% certain path to small business
failure.
If you aren't familiar with The Whine, two examples will clarify this
deadly attitude that you want to avoid at all costs.
I reward those who subscribe to my auction ezine with a free
ebook that I wrote. One morning when I opened my email I found
two emails from new subscribers - apparently the link to my book
was broken. One subscriber simply explained the situation and
asked for a remedy. The other sent me the email below:
- - -
Subject line: SPAM Complaint
I WAS PROMISED "HOW TO SUCK UP CUSTOMERS FASTER THAN A
VACUUM CLEANER ON STEROIDS" FOR SIGNING UP FOR 'AUCTION
GOLD' BUT WAS TAKEN TO A PAGE TELLING ME THE ITEM NO
LONGER EXISTS...
DON'T YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD NO ABOUT THIS ON
DISCUSSIONS BOARDS EVERYWHERE? I DO!
- - -
My response was courteous and professional ¨C and very firm. I
explained the link problem and assured him that the book did
indeed exist. I also expressed my curiosity over how this was a
SPAM complaint when HE contacted us and not the other way
around.
I expressed my dismay over the aggressive and hostile stance he
had taken before even bothering to ask about the book. And
further, I politely told him that we would not be a good match and
I would make certain he would not be bothered by emails from us
in the future.
In other words, I did not want him as an ezine subscriber or
customer.
I received a reply from him which said he reacted that way
because he had been ¡°ripped off in the past¡±. Further, he
¡°demanded¡± a copy of my book.
There it is ... The Whine. He's been ripped off in the past, and
that's a justification for rudeness and hostility (though he could be
cheated when the book was free was a mystery to me).
Have you ever been ¡°ripped off¡±? If you haven't, it's because you
haven't bought much of anything. I have wasted thousands of
dollars on material that has gained me nothing.
But you know what? I don't regret it. It's a necessary part of the
apprenticeship fee that I paid to learn the net marketing business.
I still buy things often ¨C ebooks, software, services. But I rarely
buy wrongly anymore. Why? Because I've learned the business
well enough to recognize value when I see it. I am so blessed to
be in this exciting, wonderful Internet world. Some wasted money
is a small price to pay.
As a little girl, once I got past the fairy princess and movie star
stages, all I ever wanted to be was a teacher. To realize that
dream cost me four years of hard work in college and many
thousands of my parents' dollars.
Further, once I had a teaching position I went on to get advanced
degrees. That cost me many summers, most weekends, thousands
more dollars and long days of going to class after working all day.
No complaints ¨C it's just part of the price I paid to do what I
wanted.
So, why do people assume that having a net business should
require no sacrifice or preparation? Once I was coaching a new
auction student, explaining how she could get started. I asked her
if she had any questions and there was a long, long silence.
Finally, in a whiny voice she replied, ¡°That sounds like a lot of
work¡±.
Well, guess what ... it is! And here's the analogy I used for her: If I
created a $10,000/month auction business and just handed it over
to her .. free gratis ... ¡°Here, it's all yours.¡± - what would happen?
I can assure you that in a very short time it would all fall apart,
because she didn't have the skills she needed to keep it going! It's
like starting the first grade and being assigned to an algebra class.
Skills build on each other and there's no way around the learning
curve.
So, The Whine will kill you in this business. Don't blame others, no
matter what. Take responsibility for your actions and get to work.
Decide what you want, and start looking for mentors who can help
you find it.
About the Author
Starting an eBay business is easier with mentoring from an eBay expert. Learn from our offers an 11 Day Course that teaches how to sell on ebay:
http://auction-genius-course.com/11days.shtml
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/8550/1.html
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| Some other articles by Sydney Johnston | |
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