Do As I Say, Not As I Do
I don’t particularly like not leading by example so in this case I have to make clear why I am doing what I warn other business owners not to do. Specifically I am talking about being political or using controversial subjects in my business writing.
You can do this but have no illusions, you will risk losing the segment of your customers who hold the opposing viewpoint. The reason why I have no fears of talking politics in my business blog, is my target market is business owners. Business owners are capitalists. Either that or Marxists who have no clue what Marxism really is and advocate taking of other people's stuff except theirs, essentially liberals.
Why would I not be concerned with losing that portion of the market? Because it is such a small minority that it doesn't really matter. Besides, why would I actually help them succeed when I am one of the “others” they propose the government should take (MORE) from in order to redistribute it to those who did nothing to earn it? No. I hope they fail in that respect.
As far as their business goes, I'd not do anything to actively harm their business and I most certainly will not do anything to help them. I don't wish them ill will or even hope their business fails. I actually wish them success. Perhaps then they may realize what America is truly about. Failing that realization, maybe some lowly unaccountable bureaucrat their vote helped to install will recognize their success and punish it accordingly.
My mission has been to help the small businesses succeed by building systems for them that help them get new customers, retain customers, and reinvigorate past customers.
That mission can only be successful if I am dealing with someone who really understands and embraces capitalism. Anyone who goes through mental gymnastics to defend Obama for what he has done to this country and what he said concerning capitalism does not have that fundamental understanding. So why should I waste my time with them when I could be helping someone who does?
In case you missed it, President Audacity gave a lecture in Roanoke Virginia where he said this:
“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen,” he said.
Obama off teleprompter, on a roll, and unable to help himself went on to say
“The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”
No Mr. President, Americans who are successful do it despite the hindrances of others especially government!
Anyone who has ever started a business of any size and any type can tell you that there is no shortage of people telling you “you shouldn’t do it”, “you're making a mistake”, and these are the ones who actually want to save you from harm. There are others who say “you can't do it” or “why bother, most businesses fail.” They are spitefully jealous of your success and sincerely want to see you fail so they don’t feel bad by comparison. And then there's the government.
The government does everything possible to prevent the success of a business starting up. From regulations, the production and maintenance of records, to confusing tax codes, the entrepreneur is bogged down in a nightmare of red tape. And then there's the taxes themselves that take away that all important cash from the fledgling business.
I have to address Obama’s foolish statement that government invented the internet so companies could make money. Leftists would like to believe that Al Gore invented the internet as a way that institutes of higher learning could share knowledge and that just magically grew by itself into the wonderful internet. Then Evil capitalists bastardized it when they found that it could make them even richer.
No Al Gore most notably recognized for his salesmanship of a hoax, lesser known as the inventor of the internet, did not in fact invent the internet. The internet was created as a DARPA project at MIT.
I'm glad the Department of Defense funded the internet. I'm glad the Romans invented paved roads. I'm glad the cave men invented fire. (The beginning of man made global warming!) I'm glad that the founding fathers established freedom. I'm glad Adam Smith made the case for free market capitalism. But the difference between a business owner and a welfare recipient is in what they do with all that has been available to them.
I owe my success or failure, not to those I’ve mentioned and am thankful for their contribution to our society. I owe that to my own action, or lack thereof.
In short Mr. President, I am the reason why I am successful.
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My breaking the rules here is not a license to do so with your business blog. I've given a very clear warning and ultimately the longevity of your business is a function of your decisions. Following my lead here is as with all of the advice I give, At your own risk.
There are a few points made here.
- Write about your passion.
- Write for your ideal customer
- Use current events to inspire content
Write about your passion
You can't go wrong here if you want to keep your desire to continue alive. The cases of burn out in business arise from the basic question “Why am I doing this?” If you don't really like what you're doing, have a passion for it, you'll have no real idea. The money? No matter how much it is, it isn't big enough when you're asking that question. The people? At this point you usually detest the people your working with and for. Nope, that ain't it either. It had better be your passion.
Having a passion for what you're doing won't stop you from asking the question. It just means you will have an acceptable answer that prevents you from quitting.
My passion is my love of America and all the opportunity it represents. As I build the know portion of my relationship with my readers and clients (you're always building), I want to make sure that what they see is genuine. You can't fake passion. It is passion that people respect often times even if they can't like you. If liking you is possible though, passion is your passport there.
As I said previously, passion is genuine and can't be faked. People see right through you when you try. Passion also opens the door to trust. Know, like, and trust are half the battle in sales but do I accomplish that in one post? Hardly.
People need something bigger than passion alone, they need proof. Proof comes from consistency. When the reader sees your passion in a single post, that gives them reason to sit up and take notice of you. They now want to see more to see if the passion they saw is real. That's why you need to continue your business blog. It is an investment in your business that will continue to pay off for years and years. Just make sure to feed it according to how you would like it to grow.
Write for your ideal customer
Don't worry about trying to please everyone. It's a fool's errand. You really only want to write for your ideal customer if that is who you want to attract to your business. Write for everybody and you'll have no shortage of the wrong customers for your business. You know them.
These are the people who waste your time and resources. They complain the most, pay the slowest, and demand premium level service for below minimum pricing. Trust me, you're much better off gladly handing them over to your competitors. You should even gift wrap them.
Why give up these customers? Because you need the time and resources to devote to the customers you enjoy working with. They pay on time, don't complain about price because they understand quality has value, and they even do what you wish all customers would do – give referrals to people like them.
Use current events
You definitely don't have to use controversial subject matter as fodder for your posts. But you do want something that is fresh. It shows you're not hiding under a rock and also shows that your blog is current. Even if your well has not run dry, use current events to your advantage and you will hold off that experience even longer.
The current events don't have to be in the mainstream public's view. In fact, you are educating your market on your niche. So you finding recent innovations in your field and explaining how they are relevant to your customers is exactly what you should be doing.
How does that jive with my post? My market is business owners. As a business owner you most certainly have heard six ways to Sunday about what Obama has said and what Romney has said in response. I've brought it to the forefront with a take on how it affects me and how that in turn affects you.
Just a heads up: All sniveling little leftist cry-baby comments will be deleted.
Rob Calhoun
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