As much as I hate to say it to my clients or colleagues, it is true. Unless you are a famous guru with success at producing sites that generate thousands of visitors (which will get advertisers knocking down your door), you need to create real estate value first.
Recently on a project I was involved in, the owner of the website was not happy with the results and made some very rash decisions.
A bit of background:
- The website targeted an audience that she was not familiar with.
- She had never created any type of website other than one selling products.
- Her goal with this website was to sell advertising space.
- The topic of the website, while a strong topic that could do wonders, was difficult to peg down an advertiser profile for, especially given the target market.
- She outsourced 100% of the work (while this is fine, she did nothing for the site except provide feedback. No content building, nothing!)
- She was upset after 6 months that she had not generated any revenue.
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I like to blog about different things, so sometimes I start series. For example, I have an “Ooops” series where I talk about business “ooops” that I see (which is much neglected; sorry). A new series I want to start is Business Urban Legends – a series revealing things that people (clients, colleagues, innocent bystanders etc.) have said or say to me in daily communication.
Some disclaimers:
- I will change the name of anyone I am discussing (or just not use names at all).
- I will not speak regarding clients with whom I am working and bound by confidentiality.
- Almost all blog posts that I write go through my editor prior to being posted. Some of these will not, as some of my best written blogs are written on the fly and without editing. So excuse any typos etc.
- There are exceptions to every rule (or, in this case, “legend”), so when I speak, I am not saying something is impossible or can’t be done. I am speaking about the majority of the time or about my own experiences.
So, in a nutshell, you will not be a millionaire eating bon-bons (or doing nothing). This is an all too common misconception. I hear people saying this or telling me all the time:”I just need a product or two that can create a passive income stream and then I will have time to travel or time to spend with the kids.”
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