Herman School of Business
Using the Internet...
Remember now…I will be sixty years old in June. That means I remember where I was when Kennedy was killed. I remember when four kids died in Ohio as the National Guard started shooting at war protesters. I saw man take his first step on the moon. And the first computer I ever saw was as big as the kitchen in my house. The point is I was here before there was an Internet.
I am a very smart person. But I can’t tell you anything about where the Internet is or how it all works. I hold Steve Wozniak as a genius and hero for bringing the Personal Computer (PC) to the world, not Steve Jobs who just turned out to be a Master Salesman. Bill Gates essentially stole an idea from someone else and also became a Master Salesman and had his product stuck in every working PC thereby making billions.
These things are mentioned because I want you to know what I know about the greatest invention in our lifetime and one that will prove to be greater for people than almost everything else except the invention of fire. The Internet makes the world so small we live on top of each other. Answers to business questions are on the Internet. Answers to medical questions, how to grow fruit, vegetables, tobacco and drugs are all on the Internet. How to do terrible things and how to find out who is sleeping with whom in Hollywood? There is both bad and good on the Internet.
People under thirty never question the Internet. They think it has been here forever. People over fifty can barely handle emails, let alone fully understand the intricacies and advantages of what the Internet can do for the world or their business.
For about a year I have struggled with finding the people who hire speakers and what they want for their meeting or event. Surely there must be a place on the Internet where speakers can go and meeting planners can be waiting for them with dates, times, themes, and fee structure for upcoming events. Speakers could just fill out a proposal on the site and with a click submit their information directly to the people looking for you. SPEAKERMATCH.COM actually exists. And in two weeks I have submitted 34 proposals for events that will be held this year. For free. Not a penny in printing, not a cent in postage, not a single trip to anyone’s office. I did one this morning for Rhode Island in my bathrobe. Ahhh, the Internet.
In dozens of speaker’s magazines, countless discussions with speakers, meeting planners, or on untold websites that I visited, not one soul brought up this unbelievably easy to use site that solved so many problems to me. That is, until I specifically asked one magazine publisher why they didn’t list events and who to contact in their magazine touting ways to be a successful speaker by actually giving you a chance to book events.
If you are struggling with an issue in your business or your life, help is waiting for you on the Internet.
- Posted: 12 January 2009
- Comments: 1
- Category: Running a business
A new, critical skill is the ability to find information on the Internet. There is so much out there, along with so much garbage making the ability to use search agents effectively a big advantage. Remember “Google is your friend.”
Written by Michael on 13 January 2009