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Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

One thing is certain: the Web is literally filled with information. You can find anything from downright foolish advice to gems and, due to the huge volume of information which is always just one click away, Internet users who are interested in becoming online entrepreneurs end up thinking that simply copying a certain method is all there is to it.

Is That Really Enough?

The most important disadvantage which comes as a result of such an approach is the fact that, when you are copying someone, you are unfortunately always one step behind and, naturally, the person who has actually come up with a certain approach will always have an edge.

Let’s assume that you notice a certain product (let’s also assume that a certain event has made it temporarily popular) which is being heavily promoted by affiliates and decide to finally jump in. The problem is that, once you finally decide to jump on board, the niche you are trying to approach is most likely over-saturated and, as if that were not enough, the project you were thinking about promoting has most likely lost quite a bit of momentum.

The same way, if you take any business model and try to copy everything, the market will most likely not react in what one would call a positive manner, and that brings us to the following question:

What Makes You Special?

I have previously explained why copying everything someone else has done is not exactly worthwhile, but that doesn’t mean that you need to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing wrong with a little inspiration from an existing business model as long as you make it yours, as long as you add your personal touch in a way which makes the product in question stand out.

If there is a certain business model you think would work well as far as you are concerned, you always have to ask yourself how you can improve it, how you can turn it into something special or, if you will, how you can add your very own “signature”.

What’s Your Signature?

How are you able to prove value through each and every project you launch? What exactly are you able to come up with which makes you stand out? You can approach the market with something new or you can improve upon an existing business model, the choice is yours and only yours to make but, all in all, you need to understand that having that little something is definitely a must if you are serious about making it in the long run.

Al in all, you need to be confident in yourself and in your ability to provide value through each and every project. Never limit yourself to simply copying something another person has done, as I am convinced that you have far more potential than that. What about you? What’s that little something you have which makes you special, what are you approaching the Web with?

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Two brothers came to prophet Daud (David) and said “Judge between us, we are in dispute”. One of them said “This is my brother. He has ninety nine sheep and I have one sheep. He is now forcing me to give up my single sheep to him”.

So, prophet Daud without listening to the other brother said “He has undoubtedly wronged you in demanding to add your single sheep to his flock. He should return your sheep to you!”. Once he has delivered his judgment, two brothers disappeared into the air. Propet Daud realized that these were two angels and that he was just tested by God and that he made a mistake — he didn’t listen to both sides of the story before delivering his judgment.

So, he fell prostrating asking for forgiveness from God. And God forgave him. (Quran 38:21-25)

When mufassireen (interpreters) of Quran talk about this story they say that Daud after the mistake was a better Daud than before the mistake. In other words, after the mistake he was wiser and more knowledgeable than before.

Moral of the story: mistakes can be a great source of knowledge if we derive lessons from them, and learn from them.

About a month ago, problogger posted a blog-post on his blog asking readers “What is the biggest mistake you have made as a blogger?“. I am not sure if you have read this post and comments under it. There are over 200 comments where readers share their mistakes as a blogger and how their mistakes affected their blog negatively (directly or indirectly).

So, if you haven’t read it, go to the page and go through the comments. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt for everyone.

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

As I have mentioned last week, having the right priorities in life is definitely a must and family should always come first. I have also explained that a lot of folks choose to simply hide behind all sorts of foolish excuses and try to find all sorts of explanations for the fact that they are unable to find time for their beloved ones.

“But I want to be successful as an online entrepreneur”, you may think. Go for it! “But I will have to make sacrifices, right?” Yes, that is also true. Do you see a contradiction between my “family comes first” statement and the fact that I encourage you to maximize results as online entrepreneurs, even if sacrifices will need to be made? Well, guess what: there is none! And that, my friend, brings us to the following question:

Are All Sacrifices Worth It?

It’s all a matter of seeing things in perspective. There are sacrifices which need to be made and sacrifices which are simply not worth it. So you want to be successful as an online entrepreneur? That’s great and yes, you will have to make more than a few sacrifices.

But, and here’s where it can get tricky: the ability to identify sacrifices which are worth it and stay away from those which are not can make the difference between being an individual who is successful as both a person and an online entrepreneur and being an individual who is successful as an online entrepreneur, yet feels miserable as a person.

What Can Money Buy?

The approach I personally recommend is asking yourself the above question. Can money buy a TV, for example? Definitely, so that sacrificing the time you spend in front of the tube can and will prove to be worth it down the road. The same thing goes for all sorts of other things which may seem important, yet pale compared to the things which actually count as far as the big picture is concerned.

On the other hand, can money buy back the time you could have spent with your beloved ones? I don’t think so! There are sacrifices you can afford to make but anything which has to do with family is not one of them.

The Big Picture

Are you starting to see the big picture? Are you starting to think about the things in your life which actually count? In that case, I am pleased to let you know that you are on the right track and that you have finally understood which sacrifices are worth it and, most importantly, that only being successful as an online entrepreneur is not enough.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

A lot of online entrepreneurs who are just starting out get carried away, they end up only seeing one side of life and becoming blind to everything else. You can hear them go on and on about what they want to accomplish as online entrepreneurs, about how much they want to earn per month, per week, per minute and per second.

Becoming Wealthy - Your Only Goal in Life?

And you know what? If you are actually willing to work towards achieving such goals, you will most likely succeed at a certain point. One word of advice though: be careful what you wish for. More than a few online entrepreneurs let money get the best of them and become nothing more than slaves without even realizing it.

Any successful online entrepreneur can confirm: working for money shouldn’t be your most important goal, letting it work for you is what counts. In the end, again: if you work towards achieving your goals, dreams can come true but, down the road, they can also turn into nightmares.

Money as Your Top Priority – You Can’t Be Serious!

Even if you don’t come from a rich family, you can eventually become a millionaire if you do your job right. So what? Do you have any idea how many millionaires out there would trade everything they have in exchange for having a happy family, in exchange for being surrounded by people who love them for who they are and not for what they have?

Take it from a person who has been “around the block” for quite a while: friends come and go, that’s how things work in this world. Personally, I am at a point where I am more than secure financially. But I’ll tell you this much: without my family, everything would be in vain.

Family Comes First - Everything Else Is Just a Bonus

Don’t let yourself become blinded by greed. There are things money can never buy and it’s exactly those things which make life special in the first place. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without being a notorious workaholic who thinks that he or she only represents a walking paycheck for the family.

That, my friend, is a foolish excuse and nothing more. From now, every time you use “I’m sacrificing the time spent with my family for their sake, so that I make more money and secure a better life for them” as an excuse, why not stop for a moment and think if you aren’t actually hiding behind it out of selfishness?

Do you want to secure a better life for your family? Spend time with them, stop acting like a walking paycheck because, in the end, it’s you they need, not those extra profits you could earn by making such a foolish sacrifice. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without making sacrifices you will end up regretting down the road. Never lose track of what counts, never lose track of the things which actually make a difference in life. Everything else is just a bonus.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

Do you think that generating traffic is all it takes? You couldn’t be more wrong, convincing visitors to drop by again is simply a must if you are serious about making it in the long run.

Most people seem to have thought of everything, yet have forgotten to try their best in order to convert visitors into loyal readers. If you do your job right as far as website promotion is concerned then yes, you will get people to visit your website, but what happens after that? You may not know it, but most of your potential readers may choose not to stick around, and here’s why:

1) You Make Promises Through Your Title and Don’t Deliver

Yes, a catchy title can “convince” others to check your article out but if you fail to deliver afterwards, you can rest assured that the reader in question will be quite disappointed. Actually, that person leaves and never looks back in most cases, so that it should come as no surprise that readers are not exactly tempted to stick around under such circumstances.

2) You Are Too Aggressive

Sure, you don’t have to lie to readers and tell them that they are perfect but that doesn’t mean that you should start insulting them. You can definitely tell a person that there are certain areas where improvements are in order in a more delicate manner, being too aggressive is not an option.

3) You See Writing as a Chore

If you are not passionate about a certain topic, your readers will definitely pick up on that and the results won’t exactly be worth bragging about. Don’t see writing as a chore and, instead, make sure that your content reflects just how passionate you are about a certain topic.

4) You Assume That Everyone Is an Expert

Just because you are extremely knowledgeable as far as the topic you’re writing about is concerned, it doesn’t mean that each and every one of your readers is. Don’t be afraid to explain certain terms when you think that it is necessary, as a good writer needs to be able to cater to the needs of beginners as well. Otherwise, readers who are not yet experts will leave and that is definitely not an option.

5) You Explain When It Isn’t Necessary

While assuming that each and every reader is an expert is not the way to go, explaining the obvious is not necessary because, if you have such an approach, your entire article will end up being filled with all sorts of explanations and your readers will end up being distracted from what is truly important.

6) You Go Off-Topic Way Too Often

While there is nothing wrong with the occasional off-topic remark, you have to be able to determine when enough is enough. After all, the last thing you need is readers leaving as a result of the fact that you are not able to focus on the topic you are writing about and insist on useless information way too much.

7) You Don’t Remind Them

If you want readers to stick around, why not remind them to subscribe to your newsletter or RSS feed at the end of the article? If you are writing an article series, why not remind them to drop by for the next article? Something as simple as reminding your visitors to stick around can and will make a difference, so why not act accordingly?

If at least one of these reasons sounds familiar, I’m sure you know what you have to do. Identifying what you did wrong is an important first step, but taking things to the next level by acting accordingly is simply a must.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Last week in my MBA class (Management Control Systems) I had a case-study about “Balanced Scorecard” and how it was implemented in a particular company in the banking industry. Obviously the company had a lot of challenges and issues during the BSC implementation.

One of the lessons from the case was, for the BSC to be implemented successfully and fully, you need to keep improving it as the implementation phase moves along. One of the reasons cited for BSC implementation failure was because some companies want a perfect BSC - from the start. But that’s not possible, since BSC is a continuous thing, which has to be improved, changed, and adjusted over time.

Relating it to web-projects

This case-study reminded me of few occasions where I noticed how some people want everything to be perfect. They pay attention to the wrong (or shall we say less important) parts of the project. Every project consists of different parts, if it is a web project for example, then it could be divided into design, development, choosing hosting, choosing domain name, marketing, advertising etc.

However in order for the work to begin, you only need design and development (i.e scope of work) first. So don’t waste your time thinking how you will promote the website after its completion. Similarly, if you just want to test the waters whether the project will work or not, then don’t delve too much on the design of the interface. Just get a functional user interface that will do the job fairly and see if your project will stand the test. Because I noticed that some people will spend so much time perfecting the design of the website that they delay the launch of the project, or even worse the project gets not launched at all.

Because in most cases, it’s not the user interface that determines if the project will work or not. It’s the IDEA that determines the fate of your project. If your idea is good, then even if your website is not that “good looking” - it will still work! But not vice versa. You might have the best designed website, but still fail.

Lessons to be learned

So, in conclusion; first prioritize your tasks, identify the parts that are most important for the project to be completed. Once you have identified, work on those important parts first. Don’t waste your time on the tasks that will follow after the project has been completed.

Secondly, try to learn how to sacrifice on the design. Yes great logo is important for the brand, but don’t search for it 6 months until you delay the project. Same goes with the design of the website, some people spend so much time on the design that the real objective of the project gets forgotten. If your site supposed to be an auction site, once it has all the features developed and can do the job fairly well - just launch it! Don’t kill the web designer with small insignificant adjustments that won’t contribute to the overall objective of the project.