High tech? You better be high touch too.

Its always interesting to hear the perception that people have towards an online business, especially if it is a home business, network marketing or direct sales business. Whenever I tell them I have a web site or actually a web portal for my business they automatically assume that I get all or most of my customers online, magically without any effort. What I often hear... "So, they come to your site and buy stuff?" or "that's great! you don't have to talk to anyone or do cold calls because they come to your site, right?" When I hear that line of questioning or comments like that there are two things that go through my mind.

First. Are you saying this and really believing that this is what goes on? Do you think I have a business that runs on auto-pilot and my residual ongoing income is the result of visitors coming to my web site while I go off and have fun? Because if you do, you know nothing about business... any business. Web sites, blogs, capture pages, emails, etc. are all tools that either create interest or generate possibilities. Business still gets done the old fashion way which means you must communicate and build a relationship with the potential customer, client, vendor or business partner. People don't buy because you have something they need. They buy because you can help them, you fill a need or they trust you. So they are comfortable with you and feel that you will do something right for them. All of this means that you need to communicate somehow with others and not by just offering a web site that promotes products or services.

Second. When someone asks a question along those lines I know what they are thinking. They are wondering if they could actually do my business and would it simply be a matter of setting up a web site and waiting for orders to come in? Typically questions like that are coming from individuals who are probably not ideal candidates to be entrepreneurs or in business for themselves because they are missing a very important point. People buy YOU before they buy whatever product or service you promote. In sales (and let's be honest here, you are a sales person if you own any business) its always going to be a given that the client or customer needs to believe and trust you before they buy something. Its naive to think that someone will buy from you just because you are online. There's too much competition and too many choices out there. This is even more the case if you're talking about a business prospect you wish to recruit. Why should they pick you? There are so many out there who are bigger, more successful, well known, etc. Bottom line is to make them feel VIP and answer the "what's in it for me" that most people live by. In fact, if you concentrate on helping your business partners succeed you will do better without even realizing it... more on that thought in the next posting.