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The Unwritten "Law of You"
The Internet is a lawless frontier. Like the days of the Wild, Wild West, it is slow to
establish any kind of order. There are now more webpages in the world than human
beings. This uncontrolled binary overpopulation can leave newcomer Netrepreneurs
dazed and confused as they attempt to tackle the fundamental question: "How can I
even begin to compete in this new world forum?".
They KNOW they must, or be left in the RealWorld dust. They simply have to follow
the world where the world is starting to shop - the Internet. Especially the
business-to-business sector, where most of the Internet dollars are exchanged. But
take heart, consumers will quickly follow as the first truly computer literate generation
heads out the college doors to begin the shop-from-the-comfort-of-your-home trend,
and, hopefully teach mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and definitely their children
that the Net is a relatively safe and obviously convenient place to purchase the goods
and services we all require.
With that said, common sense dictates that the same set of business laws apply to
CyberBusiness as do Mainstreet U.S.A. Although theoretically true, the Net can feel
like an awesome, featureless, faceless landscape whose foundation is but countless
trillions of zero’s and one’s. A lonely place, with an overabundance of mediocrity.
And sadly to say, a disproportionate share over it’s Realworld business brethren of
sham, scam and flim-flam artists.
Lo and behold, there is an Unwritten Law that when applied to common sense
marketing and basic webdesign applications (a lot of information on these subjects can
be found in this forum), can make you shine like a beacon in this formidable universe.
It is the "Law of You". As master of your corner of CybersSpace, you have the power
to separate your website (your business) from the rest of the madding crowd. How?
The answer is as simple as it is "big". Let me explain.
I have done enough surfing in my researching efforts to learn that there are 3 kinds of
websites:
1.Those that don’t say much of anything.
2.Those that speak at you.
3.Those that speak "to" you.
The latter group is few and far between in this ocean of bytes but they reach out and
touch you like an old friend recounting childhood stories. They speak your language
from the get-go, like a familiar song. You get a distinct sense of the website
author/owner and with that comes an almost instant feeling of security and trust. An
ongoing national insurance companies jingle, which we all can sing by rote – "Like a
Good Neighbor…" comes to mind.
Why is it that certain business websites can create this "these-are-good-guys" feeling?
Simple. They project the personality of the business owner, or, YOU.
I typically wonder who is behind a certain website that piques my interest. Did the
owner care about how he presented this to me? Does he/she seem like a caring
person, someone I would really like to do business with? What is his/her personality
like? Sometimes I go to the extreme and guess if its' creator is a man or woman,
younger or older, and would this person be the kind of person I could be friends with?
I have the business affiliations in my business, InterNiche.net, mainly because this
"good-guys" feeling happened to me. Be it in an email letter, business presentation or
company website, I chose my partners based on the personalities they "originally"
portrayed. Of course, other critical factors entered into our decisions, however, if I
didn’t get the "warm and fuzzies" along with the feeling that these companies offered
great products/valuable services and, had all their business ducks in a row, well I
simply would not be featuring them here. I chose partners that reflected my core
business beliefs and basic personal philosophies.
This "sense of personality" is key if your intention is to not only sell on the Internet, but
keep selling. It is the Unwritten Law of You. As there are no hard and fast rules for
this Law because businesses/websites vary greatly, the overall objective is to put as
much of "you" in your online presentations as you can. Make people feel they are
dealing with you face-to-face and not a million miles away in the dark of CyberSpace.
Project the same friendliness you would afford them if they were standing right there at
your counter or having coffee in your office. Speak to them in your website as you
would on the street. Don’t just display your product pics and descrips and hope they
buy. Converse with them, project that warmth, make them feel like you’re that "Good
Neighbor". And "you will be there" come thick or thin because they are your
customer. Be a person instead of a website. Sell yourself, not just your products.
Follow this good advice, apply my Unwritten Law and you will see results that will
surely knock your cybersocks off!
Copyright © 1998 Rick Beneteau, InterNiche.net. Reprinted with permission.
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