Learning the Lessons of the Pray-to-Succeed Strategy

By John Calder
Posted Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Far too many people start an online business and end up using a pray-to-succeed business strategy.

If my description seems mean, it is not meant to be so. Rather, it is intended to get your attention and put you first on the road to realization and then on the road to real success.

In this article, I will show you examples of pray-to-succeed businesses. Then I will show you what lessons can be learned from the examples.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE #1

(http://www.geocities.com/freedebitcard/)

In the header and footer of this page, the website author nearly screams his message "Get your own FREE DOMAIN NAME and WEB HOSTING !!!"

LESSON #1

If the owner of this website is offering a free domain name and web hosting, then why is he failing to utilize his own offerings?

Why is this webmaster hosting his site on Geocities.com, taking advantage of the Geocities free web hosting services?

It would have been much more powerful for the page to be hosted on a website with its own domain name!

Perhaps this webmaster will eventually earn his 100 points with the supplier of the free domain name and web hosting, and then the webmaster will be able to partake of the free offering.

LESSON #2

As the first lesson pointed out, the free domain name and free web hosting were not really free. Granted the offer would not have cost the webmaster any of his money. But, in order to partake of the "free" offer, the webmaster had to dig up another twenty people who were willing to accept the same "free" or-not-so-free offer.

If there is a cost to obtain a free item, then the item is not really "free."

LESSON #3

How much money is "too much money" to invest in your own success?

In today's world, you can honestly find places to register your domain name and host your website for less than $10 per month. Remember that ten dollars per month is less than 35 cents per day.

Registering a domain name for one year can be done for only $10 per year at: (http://10-domains.com/)

Hosting a domain can be accomplished for only $9 per month at: (http://www.Double-Eagles.com)

Ten dollars per month might seem like a lot of money when you are on a budget, but it is a small price to pay to give your online business credibility.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE #2

Here is a site that looks really good.

(http://www.geocities.com/makemonnetbiz/)

Of course, note the Geocities address. Despite the fact that the content on this site is good, the design is really attractive, and the pages have remained updated regularly for two years, there are still lessons to be learned from this site.

LESSON #4

In the same realm as the free web host, the email address is also a free web email address. Where is the credibility?

With so many scams and crooks online, people simply do not trust their money with businesses that appear to be fly-by-night in their organization.

LESSON #5

One link: extreme-dm.com

It is important to have statistics for your website. You should know how many people are coming to your website, how many pages they view, which pages they view, and how they found your website.

When you are hosting your site on a free web host, you will not usually have site statistics. As such, a few companies have sprung up to serve the needs of people looking for site statistics. Extreme-dm.com is one such company.

Extreme-dm offers a paid package and a free package. Most new webmasters do not think too much about the catch of the free package --- they are simply happy to have site statistics. The catch of the free package is the Extreme-dm logo provides a direct link to your statistics that anyone --- I mean anyone --- can view.

By using the free version, you are permitting your competitors to come and look at your proprietary site tracking data!

LESSON #6

As a follow-up to Lesson five, I want to share a nifty piece of information with you.

The Extreme-dm program offers their paid program for a monthly subscription. Their paid plan is on a sliding scale. The base package runs $5 per month and permits up to 10,000 page views. For most people this might be more than enough. Each additional 10,000 page views is another $3 per month.

Let us return once again to Lesson #3. How much money is "too much money" to invest in your own success?

Sure, it might only cost you $5 per month to hide your site statistics from the prying eyes of your competition --- but how much money is "too much money"?

Then again, if you buy your own domain name and purchase web hosting, then you will discover that your web host will provide site statistics as part of your hosting package.

IN CONCLUSION

Don't be lulled into the false sense of hope given by the "pray-to-succeed business strategy" of free websites and free services.

Geocities and all other free service providers are making their money from all of YOUR hard work. Why should your service providers be the only ones to benefit from your sweat and tears?

Spend a few bucks to do your online business the right way. Pray-to-succeed is for the birds.

About the Author
John Calder is the owner and editor of (http://www.TheEzine.Net) Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to help build your online business today.