Reality Bites!

It's a term that typically hear when bad things happen to good people - or something like that!

But reality bites!

And this is especially true in business both online and offline.

Who says "you deserve to be successful"? Has that ever made one single person a success...? Absolutely not.

You don't deserve to be successful - success is an outcome that results from certain actions and decisions.

Make good business decisions - and eventually, you'll achieve success.

Make bad business decisions - and well... reality bites!

Nobody Cares About You

If you're like me, you've been pushing your way through idea after idea on how to make something work on the web - and if you are like me, then I don't even need to begin to tell you how frustrating and discouraging this process can be.

But you know what - it's like pretty much everything else in life worth achieving - you have to push through the hard times in order to come out on the other side.

I will tell you one thing I hate more than anything - and that is the "Make $10000 a month in your first month" type ads. Unfortunately, the only way these guys are making money is off the hopes of unsuspecting - get rich quick minded folks.

Seth Godin is certainly is certainly an inspiration to me through these times. His message is simple - "No Body Cares About You" - which means, everyone really only cares about themselves.

Why is this important?

Because the Internet is a place where people don't have to succumb to unsolicitated messages - like they do on TV - here on the web, people do things only because they care about themselves... NOT YOU!

I'm not inentionally making this sound demeaning or anything - I'm trying to help you in establishing a simple premise upon which a build can be built online.

If you get the fact that "Nobody Cares About You" on the Internet - you might then begin to develop habits, content, messages, etc... that deliver value to someone else (not you) - and when that "someone else" picks up on your content, they will find value in it for themselves and will begin to follow you.

SO... since we in this thing together - assuming that other Internet entreprenuers are reading this as well - let's begin today to have a mindset that "Nobody Cares About You (ME)" - that people really only care about themselves.

And then, as we discover ways to provide value and meet the needs of others - why by golly... we might just have a business that grows some legs!

So Here I Am!

So here's the question most people ask... how do you make money online?

I think a smarter, wiser, more thoughtful question would be... how do you build an online business.

"Making money online" has such a get rich quick innotation - make money fast, etc...

However, as we all know, that statistically speaking very few people ever experience online riches.

Dispite that fact - it's the message that the Internet is saturated with. Buy my product now and you'll make $5000 a day - blah, blah, blah.

The only money being made is what desperate people spend on these products as they seek out Internet riches.

So making money online, in my opinion (probably in a lot of other's as well) is achieved by focusing on building a business - but one that is facilitated via the web.

I'm trying to get my focus on this one point - trying to focus on building a business instead of getting rich online.

I mean, look at Zappos.com - they were just purchased by Amazon for $800,000,000. The reason being - they've built a solid online business that focuses on customer service - not "get rich quick" concepts.

So the question I'm just staring at here is this - what business can I build online? What can we build that fits the definition of a "business" that is just facilitated by the web.

Getting a hold of products to sell is one place to start. However, I'm unsure how to get ahold of products.

Like Zappos.com - how do they get shoes to resell? I mean, where is their supplier? Who is the supplier? How do get the deals on shoes - what's the source, etc...?

Anyway - so here I am!

Breaking News on Twitter >> Henry Allingham, British first world war veteran, dies at 113

Henry Allingham - Breaking news from Twitter

Born in 1896, Henry Allingham was the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving first world war servicemen.

Henry William Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving first world war servicemen, has died at the age of 113.

Born in 1896 to an ironmonger's wife in a corner of north-east London, the veteran, whose life spanned three centuries and six monarchs, was 67 when John F Kennedy was assassinated and 73 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

He died this morning at the St Dunstan's care home in Ovingdean, near Brighton, East Sussex.

Read full story here >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/18/henry-allingham-oldest-man-dies

Have You Heard About Google Wave?

Google Wave is a new interface that will apparently allow live interaction and collaboration among users (friends, family, co workers, etc...)

And this interaction will be fluid on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices - basically anything with a monitor!

Here is Google's definition of what seems to be quite an amazing new release:

What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

My only question about Google Wave is this: will it have a functional interface for Twitter and Facebook? My guess is "yes". However, if it doesn't, I see it has "dead on arrival" - a lot like Microsoft products of late.

Here's some videos for you to check out about Google Wave:

TechCrunch Stops Leaking Twitter Docs - But A Lot Has Been Spilled

There has been a lot of buzz about the leaking of Twitter docs - a lot of the leaking has come across Twitter itself.

TechCrunch however has been playing a key role in the leaking of the docs, and it has finally concluded its days-long drip of stolen Twitter documents with details on the company's conversations with Google and Microsoft.

Obviously Twitter is concerned on many levels - both with Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. Being a smaller start up, Twitter sees itself as vulnerable to being trumped by these larger, more prominent online companies.

Nonetheless, for the flowing of documents has ceased - but there will certainly be more discussion about the information we were able to see up to this point.

Making Twitter Work For Your Business

There is absolutely no question that Twitter is exploding on the social media scene as a way for businesses to connect to new prospects.

I see social sites like Twitter, and now ever Facebook Fan Pages, as a way to "pre-qualify" prospects and also send high quality traffic to your business website.

Pre-Qualified Prospects

I call the followers on Twitter, and fans on Facebook, pre-qualified because of this one key point - they (an actual human being) has to voluntarily chose to follow you! You do not get followers by accident, and when someone does follow you, they've made an active decision - for one reason or another - to receive your update (content).

Now I know that a lot of people, especially on Twitter, are following you because they want to drive trafffic to their profile for promotional reasons. Regardless, that's still another person who is going to receive your content each time you update your Twitter profile.

Drive High Quality Traffic To Your Website

The second way I see Twitter as a valuable marketing tool for your business is in the way it drives traffic to your website.

When you update your Twitter profile, or your Facebook Fan Page (or both), your content is going out to each of your followers (and fans on Facebook). Along with this content you can add a link that points back to your website, blog, promotional page, etc...

By adding a link to your updates, your are instantly providing an opportunity for your followers to click the link and land on your website.

Some people have stated that Twitter is most valuable at sharing links. SOOO.... why not give your followers a link back to your website, and in turn dramatically increase traffic and brand awareness for your business?