1. Why are so many regular people skeptical that anyone can really make money online?
Most people don't see the behind the scenes part of how real businesses work on the Web.They only see and hear about spammers and "gurus"and things like that. In other words, their experience online is limited to what they know and have been exposed to. The truth is that there's never been a greater time in the history of the world to start an online business and make it successful. The costs are nowhere near what they used to be, and the technology has been made easy enough for even the most un-skilled person to handle. But still, many people don't try to build an online business because they are either scared to try it and fail, or they just don't know it's possible. I'm trying to change that.
2. You talk about letting your ego hold you back from making money, can you explain?
Too many people are afraid to think differently, or come up with clever ideas because they are afraid of how they're going to be perceived by friends or family or associates. Look at wildly successful companies like Jones Soda out of Seattle. They took their business from $22 million to $45 million in less than five-years by thinking creatively and making a soda that tastes like Turkey and gravy. Blech, right? Right. But what Jones Soda realized was emotions create reactions. When you can create an emotion in someone, you can get them to react. In their case, they got people to either laugh, or feign disgust. Either way, it worked. This kind of moment can only happen to people and businesses that stop worrying about their ego and instead start worrying about doing whatever it is they need to do to excel.
3. You say social media is not playtime, its business; can you go into that more?
Perhaps one of the most important lessons to be learned about being successful online is that while the Web was at first a place for people to hang out and socialize, it's not that way anymore. Ok, it still is and can be, but if you're coming at this from the perspective of business you have to think differently. Success on the Web means that you need to use Web tools as business tools. Things like social media were of course not designed to "do business", but smart marketers and businesses now realize that they can absolutely be used as such. Too many people deride the possibility that social media can be used in this way, to their detriment.
Stop looking at things like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin as time wasters, and instead as valuable, and free, tools that can help you build your brand, share your messages and help you generate sales, leads and publicity in a HUGE way. There's a switch that needs to be flipped in most people's heads that finally convinces them that in fact, this social opportunity can change their success to fail ratio. So snap out of it! Once you do, you'll be on your way to meeting your goals faster and cheaper than ever before.
Small businesses tend to be the first to reject the social media opportunity. Why? Because they're often caught up in the old ways of doing business. Times are changing and it's time to get on board the new train. The social media train. One of the reasons it's so hard to make the mindset switch is because the old way was so much easier. In the past, if you wanted to get the attention of a lot of potential customers, you simply wrote a check to your local newspaper or radio station for some ads. Then people would read or hear your message and come running into your arms with open wallets. Or you'd drop thousands of dollars on a TV spot because that's where the eyeballs are. Makes sense, I know, and you shouldn't stop doing it completely if it's working for you. But know there are other ways to get it done, with social media being at the top of that list.
4. I love this quote you give "Doers get what they want, and everyone else gets what they get". Where did that come from?
It's true. The people in life and business who "do" are always the ones who get what they want. The big house, the big vacation, the life of their dreams. The people who just take whatever everyone else gives them, well, they get what they are given. I came up with this quote years back from experience. As a Web entrepreneur, you learn this fast. The Web business is fast-paced, and you have to be able to go out and try and see if things work. You can't sit back and wait for things to happen. They won't. You can't procrastinate and hope for progress. Nothing will happen. Doers win in this business.
5. You spend a lot of time talking about the power of Web video. Why is it so important?
Make no doubt about it, online video is big business. Video, by its nature, is an easier and more entertaining way to consume content. Reading, whether it be on a piece of paper or on a computer screen is still considered to be work by many people. We live in an ever-growing world of human beings that are glued to their computer screens and iphones who are feeding off of the massive amounts of multimedia related content such as videos. If fact, if you take a quick look into the future you can clearly see that video content is beginning to dominate the Web from your office den computer, to your smart phone.
No, television isn't going away. In fact, according to officials at YouTube, the average user spends 15-minutes a day on the site. Compared to television, which the average person spends 5-hours in front of, you can see that this is true. But the times they are a'changing. Emarketer reports that 72% US Internet users watch video clips monthly making video bigger than blogging or social combined. No doubt, the new frontier is going to be online video.
The question then comes to point for you as a small business owner or personal brand who seems to be slacking behind everyone else when it comes to producing your own video content is why? Perhaps it's the fear or being on camera or the perceived exuberant costs associated with creating video. Or maybe you simply don't believe it can be effective and it's a waste of your time. That's the wrong attitude. Video is here to stay and the results for your business can be nothing short of amazing. If you try.
6. What's the best piece of advice you would give to an online entrepreneur, or someone who wants to be successful online?
Besides being a doer? Well, it would be to learn how to fail, a lot. Everyone fails. You have to be able to learn how to deal with it. And you have to be able to learn how to get up from it and give it another go. If you sit and pity yourself you'll never get anywhere. If you can't handle failure, you should stick with that "real" job where they send you a check every two weeks and there's not much demand on you to be outstanding and creative. That's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you truly want to be a Web entrepreneur, you have to be able to learn how to take failure.
Author Resource:-
For over 15-years, Jim Kukral has helped small businesses and large companies like FedEx, Sherwin Williams, Ernst & Young and Progressive Auto Insurance understand how find success on the Web. Jim is the author of the book, "Attention! This Book Will Make You Money", as well as a professional speaker, blogger and Web business consultant. Find out more by visiting www.jimkukral.com
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