I received an email this morning that I would like to share with you. Just after midnight today, I sent out a press release to bloggers announcing our eCourses. The opening of the press release read,
“October 13, 2008 - The same economic meltdown that is wiping out stock portfolios like a Category 5 hurricane is going to open opportunities for savvy bloggers, both entrepreneurial and corporate, to generate revenue that may have been elusive during better times. Two innovation entrepreneurs have developed a way for bloggers to learn how to thrive even when the market dives.”
You can see the full press release here. It is only one page in length.
This morning I received a response from a blogger who wrote,
“Dear Sir,
Comparing the economic meltdown to a Category 5 hurricane and then hailing it as an entrepreneurial opportunity is in incredibly poor taste. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Please remove me from your mailing list.”
My first thought was frustration that anyone could take that perspective from the full text of the press release. But as I began to think about it, I realized this response is exactly why these two eCourses are needed. I live in Texas. Most everyone I am close to has a family member, friend, co-worker or client who was adversely affected by Hurricane Ike in September. Ike now has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive natural disaster in Texas history. My community, like so many others, has taken up donations of supplies and money to help those displaced. Many in my community are literally housing families who no longer have a home.
You don’t hear anyone saying, “Don’t send in the construction companies, we don’t want that re-building process to begin if those builders are going to make a profit!” You don’t hear, “Don’t employ any of those displaced citizens in your community if you are going to just turn around and make a profit by their work!”
That would be insane. What’s the difference, you ask? Construction companies KNOW their role. They know their value proposition. They know they will help others and derive an income at the same time. Hard to find more satisfying work than that. Employers know they are putting people back to work, and the people they hire will bring revenue to the company - so what? That is as it should be. The employers know their role. The employees know their role. Restoring someone’s dignity and independence by providing them gainful employment is a noble thing, not something to be ashamed of. The roles and benefits are known.
This is exactly my point with these eCourses. The role of the blogger is changing - at least for those who want to contribute to the rebuilding of our economy. Most bloggers are not like the construction companies. They don’t see themselves as being able to help or participate. And against the backdrop of personal survival they sure don’t see how they can help someone else and save themselves from being swept away by the economic undertow.
When I compare the economic disaster to a hurricane and then tell bloggers to get ready for entrepreneurial activity, I’m not sounding a call to economic predators, scam artists or the Internet version of looters. I am sounding a call to those bloggers who don’t think they have anything to offer to others, and who may fear that trying to use their blog as an economic life preserver may result in their own drowning. I am sounding a call to those who would like to help but who would like to know that in the course of helping others, they will help their company and their family.
I’m not too worried about scammers getting into our program. Sure, anyone can use their power for evil, so it could happen but there are some natural deterrents built in to the program.
(1) It is an eCourse. I don’t think most scammers like to learn so much that they’ll put forth the effort to get through an eCourse. They’ll be turned off by the prospect of becoming a better professional and thinking while doing;
(2) It is a membership community. I don’t see the members of the community tolerating the scammer’s perspective;
(3) Even if both 1 and 2 fail to dissuade the scammer, the skills and steps we teach are antithetical to scamming and do not provide the sense of unfair power, conquering at the expense of others or other emotional gratification a scammer seeks. I think the content will be a real buzz-killer for the scammer. And that is as it should be.
I am grateful this person called to my attention that people are so out of touch with how a blogger can become a part of the solution that to suggest they have entrepreneurial opportunity in this environment is tantamount to something inappropriate. That just confirms what I’ve been saying - bloggers need to see themselves and their surroundings differently, and they need to get involved.
Blogging is but one of several alternative paths companies and entrepreneurial innovators will take to get their products to a buying market during the coming economic crunch. I can’t wait to get the stories of those who helped others and their companies and families at the same time.
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