Personal Development

What I’m about to tell say is as much for me to remember as it is for you to know. You will make mistakes with your online business. This is especially true if you are doing things right. So, what do I mean by that?

Well, we tend to forget that this whole online business thing hasn’t really been around all that long, compared to other industries. New ways of making money and channels for promotion are being developed all the time. When someone steps up to offer a truly unique product or service online, they are really stepping into uncharted territory.

Take Apple for example. They entered a stagnant mobile phone market with an fresh perspective and an idea. Since then, Apple has managed to open up worlds of opportunities for mobile developers and consumers that didn’t exist before. But, that hasn’t come without headaches. Apple has repeatedly set policies about their iTunes App Store only to change them later. They’ve had to endure developer complaints, customer feedback, and industry critiques, all while moving forward with new offerings. The truth is, just like you and me, they continue to learn by doing. And, that means mistakes.

Here is an excellent snippet from a PC World article about Apple’s response to developer complaints.

The success and model of the iTunes App Store is unprecedented, as Steve Jobs himself likes to point out, so there really isn’t a blueprint for Apple to follow here. Every other company, from RIM to Palm to Nokia, is following in Apple’s app store footsteps while Apple is left to blaze the trail. That’s obviously the position Apple wants to be in, but it’s also a position that brings with it a lot of unknown variables which make it prone to making mistakes.

So don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail online and remember that new ground also means making mistakes. Mistakes mean new information to act on. So welcome mistakes as part of the creative process and just know that if you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything, which is the biggest mistake of all.

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com