The "meaning" of business....

Hi Becky,

> This passion to provide products and
> services that will make the world a better
> place (or the customer's life better) is the
> key to marketing. Shabby products/services
> lacking an enthusiastic backing will not
> sell--if the creator (or marketer, or
> whatever) doesn't believe it is truly is a
> solution to a problem, who else will believe
> it?

I agree with you completely!

The key (as Richard Dobbins and Barrie Pettman put it) is that....

The meaning of life is to enrich the lives of others.

The meaning or objective of all businesses is to improve the lives of others.

Back when I was an undergraduate student, I regularly took part in various social and welfare causes. Perhaps this is why this approach rings a bell with me so much. :)

Of course, there's more to it than that, but I do believe this is the basis.... :)

And it's not some airy-fairy theory. I got these nice quotes from the book "The Ultimate Entrepreneur's Book" by Richard Dobbins and Barrie Pettman. You may never have heard of these guys, but they are both multi-millionaires (in the U.K.) through their businesses. Richard Dobbins made his money in management development, and Barrie Pettman made his money in publishing.

> This is perhaps why many of the business
> opps we see spammed on message boards are
> failing. The product that these troops of
> people are trying to sell isn't that
> great... and they know it. So instead of
> targeting a specific market with a specific
> message, they throw out a million messages
> in hopes that one "sucker" will be
> fool enough to buy the product. The only
> passion that is driving some of the spammers
> is a desire to make money, not a desire to
> help improve the customer's life.

I agree, there's too much of this kind of approach going on....

Often, the thought process is something like this: "The only way to make money is to take it off of `suckers'. And while I don't like it, if I'm going to get rich, you gotta do what you gotta do."

What they don't realize is that most people who get rich do it by getting repeat customers, NOT by looking for "suckers" for their latest scam. And you don't get repeat customers by tricking them. To add to that, they could get in legal trouble too if they misrepresent what they are selling!

Getting repeat business seems to be one of the things most successful businesses have in common. While you can probably think of exceptions (like one-hit wonders, such as the "Pet Rock" of the 1970s), most highly successful businesses are built on a regular set of customers, who they serve exceptionally well....

> Thank you for sharing, Dien!

Thank you Betty! Your post was a fresh ray of wisdom and light.... :)

- Dien