If you’re impressed with the latest “Internet promotion” … the latest fad in marketing and business … then you’re going to hate what I’m about to say.
Business … Good Business … Is VERY UNSEXY!!!
Basically — good business is boring.
No, not the people. Not the products. Not the services.
But, the “way to build a business” is somewhat routine.
It comes down to a handful of simple principles that most people “believe they know” — but VERY few actually put into practice.
Instead, far too many entrepreneurs are chasing SEXY!
They get bored with “what really works” (but is somewhat mundane).
And, they fall for the latest widget. The latest method. The latest guru.
As a result, they fall prey to a serious business KILLER.
I’ll be discussing this in upcoming blog posts.
But, I wanted to start the conversation here and now.
Feel free to comment on this post. Would love to hear what you think!
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“What really works” sounds too cliched sometimes. “The latest ____” may be “it”, who can really say? Anyway I believe doing “what really works” and testing “the latest___” may be a good strategy.
JP
You are dead on. Running a business is mundane and can be dreadfully boring. Especially for us crazy entrepreneurial types. That’s why I love coaching and consulting. I get to tell people that they need to do all of the unsexy stuff that I hate doing (But have done my fair share of over the years)
Joint ventures are great too, because you can get someone else to do all of the unsexy stuff.
Doug
With all the Giveaway events in the past three months, it stands to reason that many marketers are getting some emails on their lists. The big question is how good are these emails and just how long will they be able to keep those folks on their list(s). Now I have been seeing a surge in new Marketer’s classrooms and training centers and other “Back to Basics’” movements that in my opinion has been long overdue. Sure, they may add some new gadgets and widgets to the mix, the the real basics are still the same.
I think I understand what you mean. Business has some basic starting points which serves as it’s foundation for sustainability. Without these basis, then any business will only exist for a little while.
I’ll be very useful, if you take us through these basics, practical especially in developing countries like Nigeria.
Yup, good business is boring
A simple (but not necessarily easy) straightline path to a successful business
Sexy? Yeah everyone loves to see something that makes news, is newsworthy (headline lesson), the latest and greatest bell or whistle. Course if you chase sexy then you’re bound to screw up or sink
Best example?
Look at the best stock market investor/analysis types
Peter Lynch - spotted a gold mine opportunity in…. “Paycheck Processing”, Paper Making, Produce Canning, Hotels and….Hosiery
Yeah they are real boring, no news from wallstreet, doesn’t produce the kind of news, change and drama which excites wall street. Much more often than not, those “boring” and “Mundane” industries (or for us, business practices) usually end up making the investor/businessperson a whole…lotta money.
Example of bells and whistles going broke Tech stocks, dotcom bust and anything covered by the media
Yeah they produce a lot of drama, crazy changes, goes through upheavals, stock spikes and stock crashes. Its entertainment!
Look what happens to most of them. Boom!
Usually though the collapse of artificial price or some other bizarre happening.
Seems like if it makes news, investors and business owners want it because it is exciting, its flashy, its new, its dramatic and gives them a way to transcend what would otherwise be a life of quiet desperation (marketing term right there…)
Its just like that story about a new gold mine owner and the experienced miner. He was shown real gold and fake gold - and the new mine owner was immediately drawn to the flashy gold. Then he was told by the miner…
“Real Gold Doesn’t shine”
So many implications and uses for us….
Don’t forget…. the flashiest internet promotion, is still just an Ad - not a business…
My couple of cents…
Anderson (and JP), you’re absolutely correct, and all of that Internet gold isn’t so shiny either!
So often I see and hear the frustration of folks “trying to follow the gurus”, many giving up their dreams and quitting after investing thousands of dollars chasing after “the next best thing” - only to find that they’ve built a temporary business on shifting sand and have no firm foundation.
You’ve gained a new “follower”, JP, as I appreciate your “no BS” approach here, and find myself getting farther and farther away from the “guru mindset” we constantly have pushed upon us from all directions, many “gurus” never revealing “the basics” of business building, much less teaching it.
The truth is, what “made” these folks “gurus” may not even be working for them anymore - but it’s still being sold by the masses. Selling the “shine” is easy because most folks prefer and pursue the shine over the dullness of the hard truths.
Being fortunate enough to spend 85% of a 40 year career “self employed” (”being an entrepreneur” would imply “constant success”, but, I’ve had my fair share of failures along the way as well), I learned early on that when things go awry, “getting back to basics” works every time to turn things around.
Quoting Thomas A. Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”.
Not so shiny, eh? IMHO
BTW, I sure wished we’d had the opportunity to talk more in Long Beach recently, as we only met briefly…but i’ll be sticking around here more for sure and hope to gain the opportunity again soon! Thanks for being “un-sexy” JP
Kathe
Spot on, JP; and great quote from Kathe! I’m on several marketers lists myself, and I too have seen a surge of emails touting the merit of getting “back to basics;” but everywhere else you turn, folks are still asking the same questions about how to get that quick internet buck.
*sigh*
What most folks don’t seem to understand, is that the majority of money online isn’t even being made in the IM niche. It’s in quiet niches that are considered very unsexy…
After all, who’d've thunk that there’d be a fortune to be made in niches like dog grooming, carpet cleaning, and window washing?!
Fortunately, though, the unsexy aspects of business are what keeps those of us who are service providers (copywriting, web design, etc.) in business.
Keep it comong, JP!
These are FANTASTIC comments…
Stay tuned. This dialogue will continue!
– JP
Hold On! Hold On!
Let’s please try to maintain a sense of balance here.
First, let me speak in defense of those that sell the shine.
It’s what the market demands.
Let me say that again…
Yes, I used the word, demand.
Customers are crying out for that which is shiny and new. I’m not suggesting that makes it okay to sell falsehoods or that we should forget or not offer basic success principles.
I’m just saying that it’s a reality that needs to be considered.
Just before Christmas, I was discusssing with a coaching client the need to offer my coaching as a 6-week program.
Making it any longer than that makes some feel like… “it takes to long.”
From a marketing perspective, it’s much better to offer two additional bonus sessions. Then it feels like “added value” as opposed to more work.
Interesting eh?
As you know JP, I teach people how to interview experts as a way for them to acclelerate the growth of their online business. The truth is that the greatest value of interviewing experts is it’s ability to secure lucrative Joint Ventures.
Now…
That is a sexy, new and fortunately sellable.
I ask…
We don’t need to keep it all mundane do we?
I’d also like to say…
We can enhance and innovate the mundane, the “tried and true” — those old methodologies.
As an example…
I’ve recently created a 30 page template for how to create “Dynamic Positioning.”
We all know that creating a USP is essential to our business, yet simple differentiation doesn’t have the impact it once did. Our differentiation must be multi-facteted — dare I say, it needs to be dynamic.
It’s true — Dynamic Positioning isn’t “hot” like Social Networking or Web 2.0 but it is none-the-less, new and shiny.
A great balance…yes?
Then again…
Perhaps all I need to do is create “Dynamic Positioning Software” so it can be more hot and sexy — it’d become at least, a touch more appealing.
Hhhhmmmm… (worth considering)
Please JP.
Please don’t tell me that new and improved is Dead.
If it is then please let me be the one that writes the special report…
“The Death of New and Improved” : )
I know you’re not saying this but for clarity I have to say…
Let’s keep an eye to fresh idea’s — when possible, let’s mastermind and expand on those mundane ideas.
For 2008 let’s tell the truth but let’s keep it exciting for the marketplace.
Let’s not give up on innovation!
Otherwise, our entrepreneurial minds will seize and the market will suffer.
Anyone else have an innovative idea — an expansion on an old technique or idea?
- Shaune
The comments posted so far are absolutely correct. Whether online or offline, running any kind of business is work. And the principles of success are the same for any endeavor. Thomas Edison’s quote is perfect, Kathe. One can also find proof that many business successes are in very ordinary areas in the classic book, “The Millionaire Nextdoor.” Your neighbors in plain houses, with plain cars, who live below their means consistently are often making their fortunes in the most unlikely ways. This book should be required reading for everybody.
I have enough intelligence to know that a good business is exactly what it is: A good business. You can’t have a boring, mundane, GOOD business.
My “darling computer” kept telling me that it’s virtual memory is low even though I am using one of those free tools to solve this problem. So I went to Clickbank to check out what tools they have to help fix this problelm. I got myself an affiliate link to a new tool so I can make some money for all the trouble I was having with the old, free one.
So I am all fired up about an article I read about George Bush’s brother paying a visit to the Israeli-Zionist Entity. I decide to post an article on my blog about how I am feeliing regarding this article. One of the lines on my article says: Is he out of his MIND, so I highlighted the word mind and sent my readers to check out the tool to help them if they were having the same problem.
Is this boring or sexy, good or unsexy business? Or, am I beginning to understand more about online marketing?
Marsha Anderson
Shaune,
Welcome to the conversation… I wondered when someone would take the contrarian viewpoint (for the sake of debate).
Guys and Gals… for those of you who don’t know Shaune … he’s a copywriting coach - and has a pretty cool program on interviewing. Worth checking out. He’s also a colleague and co-author of mine in Million Dollar Marketing Secrets & Million Dollar Web Marketing Secrets.
Shaune, you make good points. But, you missed my #1 point…
I said… ————-
Business … Good Business … Is VERY UNSEXY!!!
Basically — good business is boring.
But, the “way to build a business†is somewhat routine.
————-
Specifically HOW you build your business is definitely routine. Even boring at times.
Don’t confuse this with “Good Marketing!”
Good Marketing is VERY SEXY (and if boring … is soon DEAD!)
You and I are both fans of Seth Godin. And, “All Marketers Are Liars!”
The premise being … It’s THE STORY — the Lie — that buyers are looking for. It’s why we pay $5 bucks for a .65 cent cup of coffe at Starbucks.
So … yes … while I agree with you that GOOD MARKETING has to meet the consuming CHANT of buyers for “NEW NEW NEW” … when it comes to building great businesses, entrepreneurs need to stick to the basics and fundamentals.
Even if it means “Mastering The Mundane!”
Thanks JP,
I don’t think I missed your point.
I thought you started the conversation by saying…
– If you’re impressed with the latest “Internet promotion†… the latest fad in marketing and business … then you’re going to hate what I’m about to say.
And you did say…
– And, they fall for the latest widget. The latest method. The latest guru.
To me the latest method and what the guru’s primarily promote has A LOT to do with marketing.
Might just be my interpretation. : )
On another note…
Recently I wrote copy (my best yet) for an up and coming Internet Marketing guru. One of the things I promoted in the copy was two “old techniques” he uses to make $1200 per day.
The reason they work so well is because nobody is using them — they’ve lost their shine. It’s another compliment to what you’re saying.
We should all be discerning.
Regardless…
New — Old — Innovative — or Tried and True.
As simple as it sounds, the value is in the effectiveness…Period!
New can be very effective — Old can also be extremely effective.
Innovating on that which is already effective — old and new — is even better. At least that’s my thinking on it.
Everyone’s seems to be searching for that ONE new, big idea that will FINALLY change it all! A way to do it faster and easier. That seems to be human nature. But the foundation never changes. Since I’m fairly new to marketing and copywriting, it’s amazing to read some of the old books on the subject. The basic concepts have not changed. What worked then, still works today. Human emotions are timeless! To me, that makes it easy… to keep it simple, and stay focused.
Hi there,
For me it is obvious that one need a proven blueprint to follow and stick to that and hold focus and one can´t fail doing this. Repeat and repeat and enjoy life.
Warmly, Ulla H
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