Comments on: How NOT to Build a Successful Online Business

By: Alex Marlin

Alex Marlin — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 02:27:41 +0000

Hi Steve,

This is a very insightful article.
Are you sure you did computer science and mathematics?
Man, your words are from the soul, you write with feelings.

Love your article.

By: Fun Gamer

Fun Gamer — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 18:30:14 +0000

I found your website via Indie Gamer and I must say that you have continued the useful posts you used to make in the dexterity forums. I will visit your blog often!

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 15:36:34 +0000

I found your article and website via the Carnival of Personal Finance — thanks for putting the article together! Time very well spent reading it. I had a feeling that businesses took a while to get up and running — even online ones — and your experience reinforces that. It’s also good to hear your stories of perseverance. That’s another piece of advice that I’ve heard helps a website become successful — putting a bit of yourself in the content.

Thanks again, and I’m glad that I found your blog!

By: Galaxy Surfer

Galaxy Surfer — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 13:29:30 +0000

Very insightful article. The points you mention are applicable to any business not just online ones. The thing about online business, is that the cost of setting one up can be relatively small. I guess that leads people to think short term which as you pointed out is a bad idea.
In any business the key is building critical mass. Once you have that critical mass interested, you are likely to see an exponential growth. I also liked the line “By NOT marketing, you are depriving people of value.” Thats if you think you are providing value in the first place
Setting up an online business is also lots of fun. If you are not having fun, then others wont either. I certainly am having lots of fun with http://www.tripmojo.com

By: Flexo

Flexo — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 11:08:45 +0000

This post has been added to the Carnival of Personal Finance #8!

By: Wejn

Wejn — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 07:04:30 +0000

omg. should spell-check before submitting :-/

By: Wejn

Wejn — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 07:03:18 +0000

@Addicted: This one is biggie for me, too. Anyway I got my eyes opened by http://fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/ … I managed to shed 13kg (28lb) in approx 5 months without any heroic effort. And the best thing is that it seems to stay that way (no yo-yo effect). Your mileage may wary, of course.

By: Crimson

Crimson — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 06:18:56 +0000

It’s hard to appreciate how much effort it takes to get a business off the ground until you try. I’m doing it now (trying to at least) and I think I’ve underestimated the effort by at least an order of magnitude. Being a cog is much easier.

By: View From a Height

View From a Height — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 06:08:13 +0000

Carnival of the Capitalists

Welcome to this week’s Carnival, sponsored by MarketingLinx, the best marketing site on the web, as determined by you. Contribute a link today to get your reward! This week’s contributions were fantastic. Hosting really is a different experience from…

By: Dominic Foster » Blog Archive » Online Business

Dominic Foster » Blog Archive » Online Business — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 23:24:03 +0000

[...] The first is How NOT to Build a Successfull Online Business by Steve Pavlina – Here Steve sumarises 3 points that contribute to the failure of an Online Business – Thinking too short-term, Failure to optimize, and Failure to market effectively – And provides useful information to overcome them. [...]