******************************************************************** The Netmareby Dave Franzwa © Oct - 2004I had one of "those" dreams the other night. You know the type. You wake from your slumber right in the middle of a real heart-thumper, and slip into a skin-crawling cold-sweat. I don't normally dream. At least I rarely remember them if I do. When I do though, whooboy, they're definitely worth the wait. I'm also lousy at interpreting my own dreams, but sometimes they're as clear as a window with the glass broken out. I'll try to put you in my shoes (or slippers and pajamas;-) and let's find out if you can "see" what I "saw." Picture this: You're walking down a long and narrow hallway, dimly lit with two single-bulb fixtures hanging from the ceiling. There are no windows, just the floor, the ceiling, and bars running floor to ceiling down both sides. It's like you might imagine the "long mile" walk on death row to appear in an old movie, only much narrower. You can see a door at the far end of the hall that's either your way of escape or your reward, whatever that may be. What most impresses you is the walk itself. Prisoners on both sides of the hall are pressed up against the bars, reaching their arms through and straining for all they're worth to grab ahold of you. The passage is so narrow, in fact, that you have barely enough room to pass through the gauntlet of flailing arms with their greedy, clutching fingers. You're focusing every shred of your attention on your walk now. It's difficult though, because of the noise the prisoners are making. They're not screaming. It's more of a clamour of unintelligible moans like you'd imagine coming from a lunatic asylum. You occasionally feel them brush against you, and you're forced to realize that any mis-step to the left or right and they would have you... For lunch. OK. When I count to three, you'll be fully awake and grateful, I might add, that I can count to three. One... Two... Um, uh, three. Feel the cold sweat? When I had that dream, I woke up before reaching that door. But it didn't matter to me, I was just glad to have woken up. So. Any ideas what the dream was all about? Let me give you my take on it and see what you think. Much of my time lately has been consumed online, and I suspect that my "dream director" was trying to relay some message to me having to do with that. (I really wish he'd learn to use an auto-responder:-/ I think the meaning works on two separate levels here. On one level, I'm just your average "Joe Homebody" trying to find something online. Something specific? Just surfing? I don't know, and I don't think it matters for now. The point was, each of the inmates represented a website trying to get my attention. Trying to get ahold of me. My prize, whatever it may have been, was behind the door. I had to work In order to get to it, and focus on the challenge at hand, without getting sidetracked by everything going on around me. On another level, as a netrepreneur, I was competing with the inmates for that door. You might think that I wasn't really competing with them for it because at least I had the ability to walk down the hall. Remember though, I was in there related to those prisoners for some reason (unless my dream director was asleep on the job). If I'd have been a guard I'd have had (and been using) a nightstick. So, if I was competing for what lay behind door number 1, the message I got from this dream was to narrow my focus and keep my eyes on the prize. That underscores what many other successful net-folk are saying about niche development. No matter what niche(s) you are persuing:
One major advantage to an internet-based business is that you are communicating with most of your leads and customers in their homes. They're relaxed, comfortable, and they know that all they have to do is hit the little "X" in the right-hand corner of their browser if they want to turn you off. It's your job to see that they don't do that, and the best way of doing that is to mind your manners, watch your "P's" and "Q's," and deliver good, solid content. Remember, you're on their turf so play by their rules. Narrowing your focus will reward you with a tightly-knit niche that will produce a much greater return on your investments in both time and money . Why? Because now you're getting in front of folks that you have a lot more in common with. They'll be more receptive to you, your efforts to inform them, and your offers to help them. It's like this: Sowing more of your seed to soil that you know to be good, will produce a harvest that's much more abundant than just throwing your seed along the path.
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