The fast buck versus longevity. Food for thought. Your thoughts?

Hi!

Tick tock, 12 o'clock. Too early to sleep and too late to really start any intense programming. Perhaps, though, enough time to start an exchange of thoughts?

I've been counting my email lately. I average 200-300 pieces of email a day. About half spam. The other half divided between business prospects and people that want to know how to get rich online while they watch tv. The latter of the two bring to mind a quote that I like...


"In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest."
(Henry Miller)

But, you know, I don't fault these people for asking. Everywhere you turn, there are people offering manuals and programs that will "run your website on autopilot"... "make money by adding a link - it's a no-brainer" ... and on, and on. I'm sure you know what I mean. You've seen them, too.
Maybe you've tried some of them.

Right after I hung up, I got my daily issue of I-Sales. The hot topic of the day is ethics online.
I'd like to share an expert from it...

(exerpt from I-Sales)

I-SALES DIGEST

==> TOPIC: BUSINESS ETHICS

From: (deleted for anonymity)

While not wishing to slam a well known "name" in public, I do think
the whole ROIbot issue is open for discussion. Now, I believe
"Aesop" are the agents for the Jay Conrad Levinson book, so there is
no fraudulent intent there. It is the same as if you bought the book
from a publisher, the publisher would get a cut, the writer would
get a cut.

However I believe ROIbot itself is a slightly underhanded marketing
ploy. After using the free service I was continually offered more
services, saying "why not give it a try, its only $17?" Assuming
this was a one off expense I did give it a try, only to find my
credit card charged this amount each month.

When I found I could get all the same functions from free CGI
scripts on my own server, I sent a note asking to cancel at the end
of my sub, which had around ten days to run. About one hour later,
all my Roibot paid services had been deleted. Thank God I wasn't
using their newsletter service to hold my subscriber list!

I think Aesop Marketing is a very successful marketing company that
has a broad enough base to be able to ignore the odd disgruntled
customer. I see a lot of others eyeing up their market though, so
who knows how long the dream will last.
(end exerpt from I-Sales)

I've been developing websites since 1996. I could have installed stats and referral logs and every other bell and whistle on my domain and let my customers use them for free... fully knowing that their links would drive me through the roof in the search engines. Anyone that understands linkback rate knows the value of those links.
But - I don't do that. Why? Because my bottom line is to ensure that my clients succeed. They succeed by promoting their own site with every link and every ad they run, not by promoting my url.

In the long run, when they succeed, I do, too. Why? Because they tell their friends about what I do.

I know of another "hot" program that has hit the net. It offers all the bells and whistles that you can have on your own site... and only costs about 5 times more than it would cost to put those same programs on your own domain. Cool deal. For the person selling it. But no problem... when it dies it's death, the creator will come up with another handy, dandy program.

Dreams die hard, and I know that people that fall for all this stuff have dreams. That they are looking for guidance to achieve their dreams.. and that far too many of them become the gullible prospects that build the wealth of others. I sit back and watch, and it makes me sad.

I subscribe to an ezine produced by one of my clients. He ran a survey a while ago asking people what the one thing they wish they could find online. I replied. I said that what the web needs most is a "BS Meter" so that people trying to get a business off the ground could hold up the BS meter and if it buzzed, they'd move on. *laughing*

I've had people come right out and ask me why I always go against the flow. With the current statistics indicating that the majority of websites are not profitable, I sure don't want to go with the flow. You know?

So... despite all the rambling, what's your thought. Is there too much of the "fast buck artist" out there? How do you decide who to do business with? What gives you a comfort level? Ever been stung? Wanna share?

Okay... getting off soapbox.

: )
Just my two cents..
(three with the exchange)
Linda




Your image - is my business