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The reactions, however, were similar, when they were finally handed a bag of ice and a case of bottled water. One relief worker stated it aptly. “You give someone a bag of ice and from their reaction you’d think you had given them a bar of gold. ”
Why do I tell this story? Because it illustrates the point that perspective is everything. This is so even in designing and implementing an online business. If you give someone something they highly value at a particular moment of need it is as if you are handing them a bar of gold.
Those who are most successful in this business are those who genuinely care about others. They don’t offer people a product or service for the sole purpose of earning income. They see income as the residual, but they see helping other people solve their own financial problems as the outcome through which they derive the most satisfaction and good feeling.
Don’t misunderstand. I’m not suggesting that everyone who makes a lot of money is driven by generosity and contributing to helping meet the needs of others. What I am suggesting to you is that those with the greatest long-term income generating success, whether it be an online business or not, think a lot about how their own success is helping other people, and because of this they spend more money investing in people than they do investing in technology.
William Pollard, chairman and CEO of ServiceMaster, said it this way. “They work at making themselves available. They are givers rather than takers. They know that their results will be measured beyond their workplace, and that the real story (to their success) will be told in the changed lives of others. ”
Successful entrepreneurs encourage, inspire, and make themselves available to their clients, to their downline, to their peers, to anyone who needs their help. Almost everyone has heard how Sam Walton used to walk through his warehouse on a daily basis and talk to packagers, forklift drivers, and other warehouse workers. That’s because he saw value in everyone and he wanted them to know he appreciated their work. The business leaders who are successful respect the dignity of every human being created by God. They find time to respond to people individually when they are beginning their business. As the business grows and it becomes impossible to respond personally they devise a system that ensures everyone receives from them on a regular basis words of encouragement and inspiration.
They know that to a person struggling to figure things out a bag of ice can become a bar of gold. I really believe a person can possess a tremendous understanding of the internet, utilize the most sophisticated software, and function with the most up-to-date technology and remain largely unsuccessful and unfulfilled if they lack the element of human touch. When we handed ice and water to the victims of the Florida hurricanes we could have just set the items on the ground and had people pick them up. But we knew it wasn’t the ice and water that they needed most. It was the human touch that came with it. In the same way, we can present our product or service to people who show interest and say, “here it is. Go figure out how to get it or how to make it work for you. ” Or we can apply the human touch and provide timely advice and words of encouragement and inspiration. When we give of ourselves in this way we cannot help but receive for ourselves. And our own success, in addition to the financial security we seek, becomes meaningful in countless other ways that cannot be measured.
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