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Changing Business Models
By Jeffery Wood | September 14, 2009
When a person starts out to start a business there’s something called a business model that people look at.
If you don’t know what that means, to give you a very simple yet not very accurate description, a business model is sort of like a “bird’s eye view” of how a business is set up, showing the individual components and how they relate to each other.
As I understand it, a business blueprint shows more details on how the components work and what to do to create them or set them up.
There’s three ways that I can think of that a person can do when setting up a business.
1) Look at several different business models and pick the one that is the best fit between the industry and your personality (strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, etc). This is the best way.
2) Look at a few business models and pick the lesser of two evils. Then, even if it’s not a good fit for you personally, you work it until you are good at it. This is the second best way.
3) Look at a couple (if any) business models and just start throwing pieces together. This is being ’self-taught’. This can work if you are really experienced or really smart. This can be a disaster if you don’t know what you are doing and don’t take the time to figure it out. This is the least desirable of the options. It can make you rich or it can be a tremendous waste of time, money, and resources. Your business model can end up looking like bird splat if you just add things hodge-podge.
Anyone want to take a wild guess which of the three I did?
Yup. Bird splat city.
Generally speaking, you don’t really want to change business models once started, but in the case of number 3, it may not be a bad idea.
When I started out, I started by selling e-books on eBay, then added physical products, then shut down because of some costly mistakes, then restarted and went into marketing.
This happened over a period of a couple of years, I actually didn’t do too bad with the selling e-books and physical products, I just didn’t like it. It was more…I don’t know, “job” than “business”.
When I got into internet marketing I did not know that there were different business models, I thought marketing was marketing. I wish I knew then that there were several different business models such as: affiliate marketing (I thought it was just a stepping stone, not a business model), butterfly marketing, membership sites, and other business models.
So when I learned something was needed I added it if I could, never realizing that I was actually listening to people adding components FOR a specific model TO a specific model. After all, it seemed like all the marketers were promoting the same things.
In reality, as far as I know, they were using different business models but not integrating them together like I was. They’d set up a business model, then a different one and they would be separate, not combined, which is perfectly fine. I just didn’t make the connection that they were different and being kept separate.
What I was doing could have worked (maybe) if I knew the business models and was intentionally taking what I thought was the best from each one and incorporating it into my business model.
Instead, I was mutating and destroying my business model (which is a difficult concept since I didn’t really have one in the first place) by adding whatever anyone said I should have (complete with market studies and “proof”).
Now I have horrible model. Even Frankenstein is a smooth, well thought out model compared to what I have.
For example, this site bloglikeacelebrity.com started out to sell a video series called “Celebrity Blogging” and the idea was to get a url that matched (or closely matched) the product name, set it up with an autoresponder, and drive traffic. And let it go on autopilot. Sounds simple huh?
Oh, and article marketing, just write a few articles. Hmmm, starting to sound a lot less like autopilot.
Then someone said, “you should be blogging, blogs rank faster and higher in Google” so I added a blog. Not so fast my friend. You still have to drive traffic, participate, seo, and oh yeah…constantly add blog content.
Then someone said, “you don’t really make money until you have your own product”. Um? Didn’t you say I didn’t *have* to have my own product to get tons of money??
Let’s not forget having links to your site in all your taglines. What’s wrong with that? Which link? If you have several different sites with several different links…which do you pick?
Oh yeah, don’t forget participating in forums, putting your name on everything for branding, not putting your name on everything so others don’t know all the things you’re in, branding your company and not you so you can sell the company, branding you and NOT the company so that people know YOUR name, branding both you AND your company, and it’s no big deal to have multiple accounts on forums for each product to raise your Google ranking, only taking a half an hour (no big deal right?) to do that EXCEPT that when you think about all the different things you’re promoting that ends up being a 10 hour day FOR JUST FORUMS!
Yes, there’s more to it than just those things that added to my dilema, and some of those things do work together, but you get a taste of what happened.
So I have my main site…my actual company’s site, that just sits there doing nothing. This site, the one you are reading here and now, that was supposed to be automated and “hands off” that is mostly “hands on” and has a url that no longer reflects what this site is about, a few other sites here and there….
Bird splat.
I need to streamline. I need to change my business model to maximize my strengths and minimize my weaknesses. If I continue on the way I am I might as well go out of business now and spare myself the expense and heartbreak.
Do I just change the url here and keep it? Do I make this my main site and abandon my company? Do I move this to my company’s site? What about my faithful readers who are helping to bring traffic here (um, you ARE helping me out with that…right?) Do I trust that they will make the switch? What if they don’t want to go to the hassle? What if they don’t know how? Do I use 301 redirects? Just throw away what I have and start fresh? What about all the links that have been established here?
These are just some of the things that I am thinking about. And what business model do I end up using and trying to force everything into? I don’t like abandoning anything, and I like helping people but I don’t want to limit what I talk about or help with to just blog related things.
And how many more business models are there out there? Is there a resource that is unbiased in comparing the pro’s and con’s of the business models? Any one could work, some involve a lot more work and some involve constant work but if a person enjoys it, then it’s all good for them.
I don’t need to make millions and millions like the gurus say they do. I just need enough to make this my full time job so I can pay bills and have a little savings and fun money. I don’t need a lot, I’m actually a pretty simple guy.
I enjoy marketing and it fits my strengths (and weaknesses). I do better in short bursts instead of long stretches (like a sprinter vs a long distance runner). I do really well at jumping in, getting it going, solving a problem, then looking for the next thing to do. Marketing is full of short jobs: jump in, research, create a marketing campaign, do the campaign, move on.
This is reflected in other areas of my life, I’d be a great uncle (babysit for a couple of hours? No Problem. Drop them off for a weekend? We’ll have a great time), but not so great a father. I do well with watching animals or helping to take care of them, I grew up with them and love them, but being the sole provider for a dog, especially when there’s no yard so walks are mandatory? Not good at all.
I am good at making other people money and/or marketing for them (short projects) but marketing my company…not so good (long term thing). In most things I am good at, those things are oriented towards others, not towards myself. That’s great…but it’s not making me money.
If I could, a local community college has a program where I could get a certificate in marketing. This would be good as it would take less than a year and give me solid marketing basics. I do marketing for offline companies as well so it would apply to me just fine.
I digress, you don’t want to hear about my personal life, but my life and how I work best are parallel. In any case, I need to find a business model that works for me, there is one out there, and make the cold hard decisions to adopt it.
Ultimately, it’s better for everyone, myself included. But don’t worry, I may abandon businesses, I DO NOT abandon people. For those of you who faithfully follow along, I will still be here, maybe just not at this url.
- Jeffery
PS, download the free e-book “Learn How To Set Up A WordPress Blog And Forum” and a re-brandable version is available for only $10 USD. At http://www.bloglikeacelebrity.com
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About Jeffery: Jeffery Wood, author of "Learn How To Set Up Your Own WordPress Blog And Forum" is a Part-Time Internet Marketer. |
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Topics: Productivity, Resources, blog, blogging, business, how to | No Comments »