Never Assume The Obvious Is True!
As a business person, being a Hard Worker is a very nice quality to have; but an even better quality to have (especially if you’re a Digital Entrepreneur) is the quality of being a Smart Worker — the difference between the two can mean unprecedented Success or a colossal Failure in life and business!
Recently, I had a walk with a guy who’s completely dissatisfied with his job and what life has offered him to that point. He’s (at least, at the time of this writing) a Car Wash and his highest-level of education is High School: In fact, he’s a High School drop-out.
This guy was so fed-up with life that (in his frustration) he made a statement that made me laugh so hard and uncontrollably that I almost hit the ground. I am thankful to God he didn’t get angered or offended by my laughter; he actually laughed along with me.
Here’s what happened.
After talking to me for a while, he said:
“Kingsley, what kind of life is this…if hard work were really a big deal, I should even be richer than Bill Gates himself…”
Now, Bill Gates is obviously not the richest man in the world (as at the time of this writing), but back in Africa, he’s more popular than a man like, say, Jeff Bezos of Amazon; as the common African (particularly Nigerian) erroneously believes that Bill Gates invented the Computers. At least, that’s what me and my friends thought when we were growing up as boys — funny us!!!
But anyways, as funny as this guy sounded, he was making a very strong case.
Many very hard-working people I know are very broke — a paradox in deed!
But why’s that?
It’s because Hard Work in itself has never taken anyone far. In fact, if anything, it’s capable of killing you before your time.
As a Software Developer, you work extremely hard (expending a lot of brain-energy and having weeks/months/years of sleepless-nights) to bring that beautiful Software as a Service (SaaS) Product of yours to the world. And you assume users are just going to come and signup to try your app and then separate from their hard-earned cash immediately after they do, because your product is so beautifully designed (which may actually be the case), but nothing can be further from the truth!
In my few years of building and launching my own EdTech SaaS, if there’s anything I’ve learnt, it’s this:
“Never assume the obvious is true”
As a Digital Entrepreneur, neglecting to set-up systems that would allow you to see exactly how and when users are interacting with your Property, so you can better engage with them in the process and truly understand how they feel about your product (which is actually the easiest way to achieve product-market fit) means setting yourself up to receive some very serious shockers — I know this, because I’ve personally walked-down that error-lane before, with my own Product.
As a matter of fact, if users aren’t immediately comfortable with your product, they are not going to immediately (that’s if they ever do) hand you their money, even if you almost damaged your health during the years when you were so slavishly building your product.
Or maybe you’re a Blogger, you spend countless hours setting-up your beautiful blog; you spend another few weeks or months churning-out dazzling blog-posts, just so you can have enough engaging-content to enable you monetize via Ads by applying for a Google AdSense or MediaVine account. Then, after working tirelessly for months to meet their traffic-requirement, you finally get approved, get their Ad Code, apply it to your Blog, and sit-back and hope that these guys would make your pocket glow. Only at the end of the month, you check your report and find that you’ve earned approximately $0.
The problem?
You’re definitely working hard, but not working smart!
Why do I say so?
Many Ad Networks are big fraudsters and liars; yet a huge number of Hard Working Entrepreneurs (probably including you) aren’t aware of this!
Doubt me?
Take a look at John Koetsier’s post: Mobile ad fraud: What 24 billion clicks on 700 ad networks reveal
And I’ve personally found his report to be true.
So…o…o…what’s the way out?
My advice : don’t be conventional as an Internet Entrepreneur, even if it’s just a Blog you are running. Don’t just take every advice you see scattered all over the Internet…(write 3 blog-posts per week, post 50 times each on Facebook and twitter per day, guest-blog so…so…number of times per month…the list goes on), hoping for a break. Be Smart! Be deliberate in your efforts. And make sure you leave nothing to chance.
I have put-together a down-to-earth resource that will guide you down the path of the Smart Workers , and I’m giving the full-resource away, completely free of charge to you (my fellow or aspiring Internet Entrepreneur) — it’s titled Hello Web Analytics: Supercharge Revenue on your Blog, Website, or Web App in 14 days or less.
Here are a few things you’ll learn from it:
1. How to use modern, easy-to-use digital-tools to drastically decrease the Bounce and Exit Rates on your Property.
2. How to easily spot fraudulent Ad Networks (determining their actual Ad Fill Rates, your actual Ad Clicks and Impressions etc.), by analyzing the Ads they serve on your Property.
3. How to calculate the eCPM of any Ad Campaign Model — CPC, CPM, or CPA.
4. How to easily setup a Digital Guide on your Blog, Website, or Web App to interactively guide users around your Property
5. How to create Funnels on your Blog, Website, or Web App and monitor users as they go through the Funnel; engaging with them in the process…
I hope you find it useful. It’s one of those resources I wish I had when I started-out as an Internet Entrepreneur.
Go ahead, get it now (while it’s still free), Read it, and be sure to tell your friends and enemies about it!
Shalom!
