Can a People-Person Work Online?
By Lisa Lake   ©2004 All Rights Reserved

Are all online business owners huddled over a keyboard in an unfinished basement, with silent co-workers like a ping-pong table and a dusty treadmill, like I was? Are they lonely, finding themselves longing for a TV outlet in the room? Martha Stewart could cook, I could listen, then I could leave this dreary hole and go cook myself, I would think. Work sputtered to a crawl then finally stopped.

I went back to work in a cheerful office writing about people who DO operate successfully online. And I'm fascinated by (and envious of) the ones who make it working at home, especially those who are people-persons. Tom Marshall is a jolly fellow who has made a success of his online specialty foods Internet magazine. His culinary expertise was impressive, plus he had been in the food brokerage business for years. And suddenly the entrepreneur in him drove him to start all over again. "I had no clue, ZERO idea what I was doing," admitted Tom. "I had the words 'under construction' ALL OVER that first website. An expert in the field took a look at it for me, and he said, "Tom, any website that's worth anything is always under construction. Get rid of all that!" Tom's wife supported the two of them during the start-up. Tom swears he aged about 50 years trying to get the thing going. Why did he do it? "It takes a vision and a lot of determination," he said. It doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor, either. After repeatedly telling me 'we're doing this,' and 'we'll be setting up that next', he confessed that 'we' is his multiple personality. "It's comprised of "me, myself, and I," he laughed. A caller asked for the 'computer systems manager.' "He just happens to be in!" Tom told him. So how did he give up the noisy, bustling excitement of fine restaurant kitchens, working as a team with co-workers and friends? He says it in his mission: He wants to bring specialty food as a culinary resource to a public that demands healthy, imaginative and tasty food products as a part of their daily lives. The Internet can bring it to the whole world. Yet anyone can tell he's a people-person. He admits he loves most of all getting to know the people behind the entrepreneurial businesses featured on his website. Does he chat on screen? Not entirely. He attends as many food shows as he can. Tom samples world class everything, from truffles too pretty to eat to cheeses too tempting not to scarf. Everything is packaged beautifully. Even the shows themselves have fancy names, like The Fiery Food Festival in Las Vegas. But what's just as important as fancy food is that the far-from-shy Tom meets interesting people to feature in his magazine. While at regional food shows he'll travel to nearby food businesses, spending a good part of the day with the folks who run it and taking his own photos for the online magazine. "I like to go to the heart of the business," he said, "because I am absolutely infatuated with people." His site lists regional green markets and farmers markets. Tom visits these himself, having a good time with other food lovers while he picks up supplies for his newest service, Internet Cooking School. The computer fumbler 4 years ago is getting pretty familiar with the power of technology!Big color pictures show step-by-step cooking instructions, and anyone is free to e-mail Tom a question, comment or suggestion about the recipe and he'll reply. There's a food AND a people lover for you! Tom now lives on 3 acres where he grows much of his own specialty food and is presently at work planning his herb garden patterned after the Arboretum in Washington, DC. If you're a people-person working online, say hello to Tom Marshall at SpecialtyFoodAmerica.com.

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LISA LAKE provides marketing advice and writes web copy, sales letters, articles, ads, and press releases.See her free tips at http://MyAdBlaster.com and catch advice from the staff at http://InternetWriters.com Quick turnaround on writing from classified ads to ezines and ebooks. Reach Lisa at lisa@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.

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