This is a few days late, but the advice in this email is still valid. In light of my recent stint at South by Southwest Interactive, I felt like this was an appropriate after thought to that entire event.
Photo Credit: Nyghtowl
This message is from Mike Young. He’s a lawyer that specializes in internet business law and from time to time he sends out messages to his list that are at times inspiring and at other times a forewarning. Anyway, he sent this out on St. Patrick’s day and I felt it was appropriate for me to repost here.
Reposted with permission.
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish blessing: “May
you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent.”Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.
No one would believe a story about how Saint Patrick did Ireland a
favor by importing snakes to infest the Emerald Isle.Why?
Fear of snakes gives credibility to the the myth that he got
rid of them.Whether the fear is rational is irrelevant.
One of the most-feared “snakes” that I’ve encountered among
entrepreneurs is a sense of failure based upon expectations of
where they “should be” based upon the apparent success of others.This is a no-win game because most of the “success” stories are
fraudulent at worst or overhyped at best.Let me give you two examples.
I know a “guru” who claims to be making over $30K per month from
one website. Based on the traffic stats for the site, if 100% of
the visitors bought from the guru, it still wouldn’t be enough to
support the claims.
Another “guru” claims to have had a high six-figure product
launch recently. Yet the guy is broke and has creditors breathing
down his neck.Don’t compare your business to others based upon earnings claims.
There are too many variables involved for the comparison to be
accurate, including the probability that your competitor is lying
about how much money he’s making.Here’s a key point. Even if the claims were true, it wouldn’t affect
where you are now. Your success is not dependent upon others’ failures.Focus on the fundamentals of your business and when you achieve
your business goals, don’t brag about it.To your success!
-Mike
P.S. Remember that your online business fundamentals include
putting the right legal protections in place. Resources created to
help you do this can be found at this link.Recommended Resources
Michael E. Young, J.D., LL.M.
Attorney & Counselor at Law
Law Office of Michael E. Young PLLC
Tel: 214-546-4247MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that the
sender of this e-mail has an affiliate relationship and/or
another material connection to the providers of goods and services
mentioned in this message and may be compensated when you
purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence
before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or
offline.5068 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 300, Plano, Texas 75093, USA
I think it bears repeating, that we need to “focus on the fundamentals.” Thank you Mike!
