What does it take for YOU to be successful? You need persistence, patience, efficiency, optimism, good communications skills, flexibility, integrity, and a service-oriented personality. This article will show you why you need these qualities to succeed as a business webmaster.
*PERSISTENCE-- Success will be yours if you never give up! It may take some time to show a profit, but you will be successful if you keep at it!
*PATIENCE--Patience and Persistence are partners. If you have both, YOU WILL SUCCEED. I hear you saying "I want to see results NOW!". I have said that many times. Build your business as you would construct a quality home. You must first pour the foundation.
Pour your business "foundation" first by:
- a. Building an effective website.
- b. Promoting your website efficiently.
- c. Publishing a quality newsletter.
- d. Building a newsletter subscriber base.
- e. Tracking your visitors and following up with possible customers.
*EFFICIENCY-
in my article on promotion, I tell you what to do and what not to do. If you need a copy of that article, I can send it to you. It comes from my personal experiences; do not make the same mistakes I did! Remember, THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS!
*OPTIMISM--
Keep a positive outlook! In slow times, get away from it for a while. You will come back in a different frame of mind.
*GOOD COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS--
subscribe to discussion groups and bulletin boards. Talk to other webmasters. Ask them what works and what does not work. Pick their brains! Most serious webmasters are happy to tell you about their internet experiences. Learn from them!
*FLEXIBILITY--
be willing to try new and possibly strange ways to promote your site. You never know what is going to work. Just avoid the "too good to be true" programs!
*I NTEGRITY--
there is nothing so precious as your good name. Guard it with your life. Never do anything that is remotely questionable or unethical. Remember, bad news always spreads like wildfire! Think of it this way; most humans remember bad news a lot better than good news. It tends to stick in their minds longer. So remember this; it takes nine(9) good things to erase one(1) bad thing.
*SERVICE-ORIENTED PERSONALITY--
What should you do if one of your customers is unhappy? Do everything possible to satisfy him. If you do not, you may get some negative word-of-mouth advertising. On the other hand, if you are willing to jump through hoops to satisfy him, it is very likely that he will tell others how good you were to him. You might get a new subscription or even a sale out of it, just for going that extra mile for an existing customer!
Success will be yours if you never give up, relentlessly and effectively promote your products, earn and keep a good reputation, and service your customers, especially AFTER the sale. Best of luck.