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In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about one my least favorite things, exercise.

This newsletter focuses on giving you practical, interesting insights into how to successfully use technology as a tool to improve the way you do business. Bridging the gap between knowledge and understanding that all entrepreneurs have will help you make money online.

Please feel free to hit reply and let me know what you think. Suggestions for future topics are always welcome.

All the best,

The E-Commerce Treadmill
...some things just take lots of time.

Recently I've been chatting with lots of folks that have "brochureware" websites - sites that don't actually directly sell anything. While this is the place everyone begins on the web, I have been - as you might expect - encouraging people to get out there and sell their products.

Some of the objections are surprising, some are common, but many have one thing in common - fear of how much time and effort it will take. Some folks even tell you about how they used to sell things online, but it was too much effort to continue.

All of this reminds me of a treadmill I used to have - sort of. I remain a soft pasty geek and don't imagine that will change, but several people have encouraged me to exercise over the years.

One of the best encouragers I met was a personal trainer named Evan. I did some website work for him and his business almost a decade ago now. He calmly explained to me his philosophy of exercise and how it was bit like religion - faith is required. He was honest in telling me that the first few weeks of exercise would really hurt and I wouldn't like it. He promised that after awhile though - maybe a few months - it would start to feel good and I'd even look forward to it. I just needed to stick it out long enough - as those of you who are familiar with my cookie eating habits know, I can't claim to have achieved this goal just yet.

The point Evan was making though is one that we all know about - it takes time and consistent effort to achieve things that are worthwhile. No one opens a new hotel expecting to hang out the "No Vacancy" sign the first night.

E-commerce is - of course - just the same, but there is a particularly difficult thing about the way many people approach new websites: The "We'll See What Happens" approach.

They'll consistently answer their email once the sales are "sufficent", they'll update the site once "enough" sales have been made. Add to this the fantasy all site owners have of making millions effortlessly (happened for a few lucky folks in the 90's but it doesn't happen anymore), and you've created quite a dangerous combination - one doomed to frequent failure.

While simply recognizing this reality can be very helpful, the best thing to do is to set a specific sales goal. Say you spend $15,000 developing your e-commerce site and commit to it for a year. The staffing will cost you 10 hours a week of employee time or about $7,500 for the first year. You'll have marketing and further development costs too, all pretty typical and calculable business expenses. If you had a year one goal of $120,000 a year - 10K a month - you'd be able to easily and objectively judge how the site was doing.

The most important step to acheieving online sales is a specific sales goal, set one today.

Speaking of speaking...
Places to be if you want to get enlightened

My next seminar is Wednesday February 27th - at the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce offices in Farmington Maine. The Three Things - free and open to the public. Please RSVP to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce office: info@franklincountymaine.org or (207)-778-4215

As always you can see all of upcoming seminars by clicking here.