Have you ever seen a business or heard an idea from someone so obviously stupid that you were left utterly stunned? You know, you see a website that looks like shit (along with a product) but then feel the sting that they have an extensive client list? Interestingly enough, stupid people seem to have a knack for creating successful businesses which begs the question: why don’t you have one?
Note: The post isn’t meant to attack people; it’s about the idea that many oblivious people, to technology, get things done even though techie people take the stance of the ‘high and mighty’.
The ‘Moron’ in Charge
Here’s something that amazes me: the vast majority of online businesses owners know nearly nothing about Internet technology.
Ask the average business owner what search engine optimization is and they’ll be left scratching their ass. Meanwhile, you’re doing loops and ninja shit around the competition in search engines but you’re still making pittance from your efforts.
What is the major difference here?
It seems that people that are completely oblivious to technology seem to land some of the most successful businesses.
Personally, I could bore you for hours about business owners I’ve talked to that immediately had me laughing at their lack of knowledge of the net yet I would be blown away by their profit margins.
This isn’t meant to be condescending but it seems that, at times, it literally pays to be a moron.
The Key: Leverage
Throw away all of your stupid knowledge of setting up a WordPress blog, SEO, lame Internet scams and content creation – what have you’ve got for your online business? Nothing, really.
You see, every business needs to start with a great idea but more importantly – it needs the leverage to get the product (or service) to market.
And that’s the key difference here…
While you’re fiddling away trying to optimize the living hell out of your blog, the ‘moronic’ business owners are filing their LLC. They’re out there making connections with local business owners and the Chamber of Commerce. They’re finalizing documents that will get their product to market.
They’re not hampered by technology.
In fact, technology is an afterthought for most business owners. It’s why they’re ready to pay a geek, like you, thousands of dollars for SEO work but only after they’re business is up and running. The real sting is that you just made $100 designing a website while the ‘stupid’ business owner just sold $10,000 in goods.
What they’re NOT doing is getting tripped up on the technical details.
How to Arrest your Technolust
Here’s what needs to be done, on a core level: you need to get your thumb out of your ass and stop chasing technology.
You need to become a technophobe (to some degree).
You need to spend less time learning new things and more time toward taking considerable action on your business plan.
No more trying to learn a new link building technique that will bump your site from rank #23 to #22. No more reading yet another blog post about how to effectively use Twitter for business (especially since you don’t have one yet). No more downloading ebooks about marketing when you have nothing to market.
You need to become ignorant against the technology you’ve become so accustomed to – much like the ‘moronic’ business owner.
You need to be taking more action in getting the major hurdles out of the way with things like completing an information product, setting up a freelance business, finalizing the design of your physical product or filling out boring documents that make your business official.
You’re Only Hurting Yourself
Take it from me, I know what it feels like to have project ADHD. I couldn’t tell you how many domains, project folders, mind maps, spreadsheets and drafts I’ve created and deleted just within the last year alone.
Every day that you spend contemplating the creation of your business is another day you’re missing out on a day that could be going toward getting traction and leveraging the shit out of your skills.
Rather than waiting til tomorrow, setup a business website today. Rather than waiting til tomorrow, establish yourself in the market by reaching out to local business owners. Rather than waiting til tomorrow, complete just one new chapter of that ebook you’ve had in the works.
I’m not telling you to start a business in a day. I’m telling you to do just one considerable action that gets the ball rolling.
Every day you waste is another one which competitors get the edge. In time, your idea sounds “stupid” because it’s no longer “hip” to you where as the “idiot business owner” takes it and runs with it all the way to the bank.
Put up guards that will prevent you from being a technophile; constantly needing new information.
Put on the blinders.
But Who am I to Say?
I built an online business in two weeks. It may not be incredibly profitable but it’s generating a monthly income and continues to rise in search engines (and sales) every day. I didn’t wait for someone to tell me ‘go’ – I jumped right in even before I knew what “it” was.
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve taken a ‘high and mighty’ stance when looking at businesses. I thought that my knowledge of technology gave me status but I know that I was wrong. I know you’re taking this same route every time you see someone else release a product “that you though of first”.
I can’t force you. I can give you as much information as possible but I’m not the one that will finally sit down and get things done. You’re ALONE in the business creation process; you can rely on people as things get started but YOU have to take the first step.
Frankly, I’m frustrated with the response I’ve seen from people when it comes to online business. It seems like we’re just puffing our chest and stroking each other’s ego’s – it’s becoming an echo chamber.
I want you to find information that is ONLY relevant to your CURRENT needs – not tips on a social media network you’re not going to use – not some guide on using programs you’ll never install – find ONE thing that makes sense and then live in that very moment – take immediate action when you feel that ‘spark’ of inspiration.
Very good, Murray. There is a tendency for very gifted people to be unsuccessful because they think too much instead of just getting stuck in. Which reminds me…
Exactly!
How many “smart” people you know end up making horrible decisions. You get so far into your head sometimes over analyzing things that you forget to do anything at all; we’re only adding to our own information overload where some other guy is just taking the first thing they see and running with it all the way. That’s what we need to do. When we see something, we immediately act on it based on our logical, educated guesses rather than putting it off, bookmarking it and adding it to our laundry list of things we never get around to.
Great post Murray. And you’re right – first you need the idea and then you need to start building the infrastructure to support it. But the idea, researched, comes first.
Where’s my ‘like’ button.
Man, I’m sure you can attest – there are some businesses out there that sounds like the stupidest things in the world but the fact that someone started them AND kept them going instead of jumping to the next idea is what’s truly awesome about it. Let’s all be ignorant
You know I found this post on Google plus, I don’t subscribe to websites, blogs or emailing lists anymore because i’m over it. More importantly though, your completely right about the incest shit that seems to be driving everyone to just keep on looking for that one more thing that will give a small edge.
I’ve pulled myself away from the internet over the past few months to focus on my web project. I rarely communicate with anyone online anymore and rather just focus on the people I know around me, because it pulls you back. I don’t need to go and read about how to market a blog anymore, its this shit that won’t help anyone. And then you look at all the people who you are in contact with and it makes you think.
“How many of these people actually give a damn about what i do here, or are they just trying to sell their own shit to me; reverse psychology?”
You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you never act then your brains will get you nowhere.
Hey Peter, long time no speak so it’s great to have ya back on over here for the moment.
This is exactly the type of stuff I think now. I wonder how many people just comment on the blogs to leave links or to “get their say” rather than actually interacting with me. Overall, I really only have a few people that have gone above and beyond to directly contact me through Murlu which is a little bit disappointing but I guess that’s just how things go when it comes to doing stuff online.
What I’ve found, recently, is that my friends know a lot more about online business than I originally thought so we’re all getting together to work on stuff rather than doing this whole “blogging thing”; let’s be honest, it gets boring fast going over a lot of the same topics time and time again.
Keep our heads down – keep working on our things – never mind the bollocks.
It’s hard to find action takers these days because people just want to consume and move information. I’m going to continue to write on Murlu because I genuinely think that it’s still helping people but there will be a time to move on – not sure when – but maybe the next step is to start putting up barriers, who knows.
Howdy Murray,
I am just plain envious of the ignorant, as you say they tend to favour action.
“STFU and do it” is probably one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given.
Matt
Sometimes you have to be a bit crude in order to get the point across.
Less talk, more walk.
Thanks for swinging by
Excellent point Murray!
I’ve recently trimmed back and only focus on doing one thing at a time. I do try and optimise the hell out of my website, but that’s aimed at conversions, clicks and sign ups.
I’m by no means perfect. I think that’s it not just true about stupid people (and I know a load of people who make a lot of money and aren’t that bright academically), older people or more experienced people often struggle to make it because of fear of failure.
Matthew
That’s really what I want to be doing Matthew – I want to specifically focus on getting things working to the best of their ability instead of just launching new things. In fact, I’ve got something new coming up specifically about that which I think you’d like.
You bring on an interesting thought from me. The idea of perfection. On one hand, we all know that we’re not perfect but at the same time, we read only positive blog posts that are meant to be easily worked through as if it were a perfect strategy. So, how do you have a perfect strategy in an unperfect world?
The “stupid” people aren’t stupid at all – they realize their limits but then charge forward with what they’re working on instead of chasing this illusion of perfect – they’re smart as hell for doing so! You don’t need to be academically trained (although it helps) – it just takes a lot of hard work – anyone can do hard work and succeed.
I think the all important thing, in relation to decisions, is to realize that nothing really matters in the long-run. Sure, you’ll take a temporary hit if something goes bad but it’s infinitely better than never taking action because that IS failure.
Hi Murray,
Excellent stuff! I completely agree, and my personal fight with the technical proficiency curse is ongoing. 
This post brought me out of lurker mode.
Only hanging around technical people can also further the impression that the most important thing to worry about is the back-end database being used, or platform being deployed on…whatever. A lot of frameworks and programming platforms that would meet with Hacker News derision are out there in the real world solving needs and running businesses making folks a lot of money.
Thanks for this post,
Matthew
I couldn’t agree with you more Matthew.
Working on the backend of an eCommerce website, I never got a lot of interaction with the customers directly so it was really skewing my view of who I was working with. However, things started to change over time and the business relaxed some of the policies so I could get in touch with people. What I found is that I could make dramatic improvements to the front and backend because I was the one doing the coding – I could create something specific to the customer on the fly.
For example, we had one customer that started to become confused because we needed to break up a product into two parts. Instead of forcing them to go to the new pages, we created a page specifically for that person to bookmark that let them use the old stuff they were accustomed to. Additionally, we went ahead and did a discount because they were one of our long term customers. I love the interaction we had with people.
If all I did was stay up to date on information and push for “perfect systems” we may have lost that person because we’d be to focused on getting the new version of the product to the market. You sometimes forget the human side of business because you’re too busy trying to learn the next big thing.
Anyway, thanks for swinging by and adding your own insight – great to hear thoughts from a techie
Murray,
That’s it! I am going to drop my laptop into the ocean and go with my Turing machine running Windows 1939. (or would that be a Mac iTuring)
-LOL-
I agree with you. While I would say that having -some- facility with computers,SEO and technology in general can really help… it is way to easy to get caught looking at those trees and not see the forest.
(Yes, I busted out an old school analogy on yo’ ass)
Well Steve, I see your Turing machine and raise you one Babbage Engine!
So freaking right on, Murray. You need a business website that shows you are a professional. You need to speak the language of offline business. Then you need to go out and talk the people who actually getting it done in America today. Or wherever you are.
I met with a business owner recently, for an IT company no less, and he had never read a blog before. He had no idea what it might do for his website. He was planning to go through lists of potential clients in certain industries, identify X that are the right size and $$ range, and then send a series of three emails (unsolicited, no-opt-in emails) concurrent with a direct mail campaign to this same list.
I was flabbergasted, but that’s only because I have spent a lot of time in that Internet echo chamber where we think all the stuff we hear must work and everyone is familiar with it.
You know and I know from all the “social” advice we get that everybody is promoting everybody else. Are they helping real companies? Companies where the boss isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and a list of contacts and start making cold calls?
I know some of them aren’t because they talk about Facebook and Twitter as the ultimate marketing machines. I’m sorry, but based on my experience, I tend to believe those who say that fewer than 50% of American adults are active on Facebook. I know the CEO of the IT firm I mentioned above wasn’t on Facebook. I know in my immediate family, adults aged 35-50, only 20% are active on FB daily and I’m the only one on Twitter. This includes a couple of engineers, the CEO of an inspection company, and the manager of a retail store. Real people are getting work done without Facebook.
We’re all being pulled toward an easy money trap of selling the same solutions to one another, when we need to try a little harder to be the liaisons for these other businesses.
Jeepers, someone wanted a landing page from me, “then we’ll see how it performs, maybe we’ll have more work for you.”
Performance being an issue, I asked, “What about split testing? Anything I create for you will be less than what we could perfect with split testing.”
It would have been fine if this company planned to do their own split testing, but all I got was a blank look that asked why I would think I couldn’t get it right the first time. The more I tried to explain, the worse it got.
I know I need to learn a better technique for dealing with that situation, and I’m working on it. One thing’s for certain, an indignant sniff and claim that 3,000 or 300,000 people on Twitter think I’m a genius would not go as far in the real world as some people in our social media bubble believe.
Tammi … wow!
You wrote the same thing I was thinking about business owners and the idea that the web is ever present in the lives of these companies. Simply stunning!
The question that kept running through my brain was “Why wouldn’t an IT company be present in social media and so on” but it’s really not a bad thing because these people obviously have bigger tasks at hand. It reminds me of the company I dealt with recently; they didn’t even bother with a website but they’re completely tapping into Groupon to explode their business. This idea, that bloggers are teaching, where EVERY business needs to be EVERYWHERE isn’t truly practical on a large scale – it’s like you said, I wonder how many of these “tips and tricks” really work for real businesses.
The interesting thing is that the people that are talking about “marketing” are mostly doing so from the perspective of their own blog – they don’t have a “real” business because it’s only selling information. Sure, a tech company selling a piece of software is technically information but look at how 37Signals work compared to say … someone selling an eBook – there’s a lot more going on than just throwing up a company blog and linking to a product – they have sales teams that are working on landing new clients – it’s a real business.
What bloggers are teaching *real* businesses is their own bastardization of marketing that doesn’t exactly apply to every business around the block. Why should a company that sells hand made soap bother with email marketing if they give better support through walk in customers? In a lot of ways, a lot of the marketing tricks people cover are creating a void – there’s little customer support.
If these companies do get on board with social media and web technologies – I think, quite honestly – it’s better they try their own things instead of reading a ton of information that doesn’t’ really apply to their industry.
This is a bit of a shoot in the foot for me but I would much rather have a business succeed than to take the wrong path down a suggestion I may give that doesn’t truly apply to their model. If we, bloggers, are to help businesses like we say – we ahve to create our own and share our experiences rather than compiling information.
You’re damn right, bro!
My sweetheart works as a consultant and she’s seen lots of dumb people running fully fledged businesses. Amazing how ignorance can be a bliss, right?
Thanks for getting me pumped!
It’s always surprised me because these are the same type of people that are completely resistant to change, as well. They much rather hear about something from one of the “big boys” rather than listening to a young associate that does the whole “internet thing” day-to-day; they’re ready to dish out thousands of dollars on the big companies when the little guy is itching to get their hands on the code and make it work for them (to build up their experience).
I guess, overall, if things work than it’s good in the long run. Sometimes you have to play ignorant because there is simply too much to focus on each day. I remember reading that Bill Gates doesn’t bother with a lot of work but he takes a few weeks out of the year to catch up on everything; reducing the information overload and using those moments to get really up to speed and on edge. That’s what I’d like to do in the long run because I know that I’m not going to have the stamina that I have now, especially in trying to keep up and stay on the edge of technology.
Have you ever had a feeling of being in the dark and then wham the light bulb comes on! Well, that’s what just happened to me reading your article! OMG how true is that! I’ve always wondered how someone with no knowledge of anything technical could run an Internet Business? They’re MWM’s Moron’s with Money!
Thank you, what an eye opening experience this has been. I’ll be back to see what you have next.
Pam
Glad I could be of some help Pam.
In fact, I can see how this can even help you understand on how to craft your marketing message. It’s like they say ‘tell benefits, not features’. When you realize that a lot of business owners don’t understand what “a Twitter is” or “the hell is a Facebook fan page?” you’re completely off the mark when you talk about the coding aspect and rise of these platforms – instead, people want to know your track record, what you results have been and how much you’re going to cost because they’re not trying to learn a new skill – they’re working on their business – they’re not necessarily stupid, they just don’t have as much time on their hands as we do – so get their attention by putting your value right in their eyes instead of burying it in technical mumbo jumbo.
no words at all.. i too have experienced such scenarios. between, your choice of images to explain the title suites very well
Cheeers.
Robin.