Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What Internet Marketers can learn from golfers
Golfers the world over have their eyes fixed on San Diego this week because it is the start of the US Open Golf Tournament. The world's top golfers are chasing one of the top prizes in the International game and they will do everything they possibly can to prevent the likes of Tiger Woods from taking the prize from the 9,000 hopefuls.
One thing is for sure this week - whatever the weather, the top golfers will concentrate on the prize. It's not the taking part for them; it is the winning.
Whenever I speak to people in business, though, their attitude to their online business is the reverse. To them it is the taking part that is important - not the winning. In other words, business owners appear to think the only thing they need to do is to have a web site. That's a bit like just turning up in San Diego in the hope you'd win the US Open.
Few business people I speak with have the desire to win - to beat the online competition. Internet marketers and business owners alike appear to have an attitude that allows them to take part in the Internet, and then "blame the weather" when things don't go so well. For instance, if their web site under performs it's down to the competition, or perhaps to "Google changing its rules again", or even that "dreadful design company that did the site for us". Such statements are borne out of a desire merely to take part; they are excuses.
Golfers are like successful Internet marketers; they have their eye on the prize. Most web site owners have their eye on successfully building the web site. Yet building your web site is merely the beginning. Having your eyes on the prize - those orders, or the domination of your marketplace - can only come if you look beyond just having a web site. Focusing on the results, rather than the means of getting those results, will help your online business succeed.
Tiger Woods doesn't focus on simply having a full set of clubs; instead he keeps his mind on what he is going to achieve as a result of those clubs. So, for your online business, don't focus your mind on the features of your web site. Instead, keep your eye on what those features are intended to achieve.
Labels: internet, internet marketing, internet psychology
Readers' Comments:
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June 16, 2008 4:28 PM 
said…
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June 16, 2008 10:28 PM 
Jeremy Jacobs said…
Woods once again!
I once had a client say "We don't want to be better than the competition, we just want to catch up".