Lesson 2: The First Thousand
I think that after love, how you handle time is the next
most important aspect of true web success.
Now we all have time and it's one of those commodities
that cannot actually be traded amongst ourselves - imagine!
- but web business has a very definite time related
structure and it develops over time in a very specific way.
People hear these claims about millions on the net and
get excited about the possibilities - rightfully so!
They build their site and then they wait and - nothing
:-(
Or, and that seems even worse at the time, one or two
visitors once in a while, but they don't buy, don't sign the
guestbook, just seem to be passing through.
Now I have been through the development and beginning of
the life of a website a number of times and have assisted
others in this strange form of parenthood, so if you have
not, you must put your doubts aside for a moment and listen
carefully.
Web traffic is centrally about accumulation over time -
one month, two month, a year, two years, four years and on.
Over time, the numbers mount up.
Now I don't know if your website receives a hundred hits
a day or a hundred thousand, but for our current purposes,
imagine you just get one single visitor each day.
If you get one visitor a day, that's 365 visitors a year
and a thousand in three.
Compared to millions, sure that ain't much but think
about those thousand who have made contact, no matter how
fleetingly, with you, your products, your person, your
message and your mission.
The First Thousand Meditation
As you're reading this, the first thousand who have made
contact with you are beginning to drift towards us in a
timeless space where they will all be together and at the
same time for once, today.
They are gathering from all around the world, and they
are approaching your country, your county, your town and
finding their way to your neighbourhood.
You have a strong sense of this gathering, and naturally,
you will get up and go to your front door and as you open
the door, you can see these thousand people, the First
Thousand, standing in the road outside your house.
There they are.
You are surprised how many of them there are; one
thousand doesn't look much as a number, but when you
actually look at them really standing there, you realise
that's a lot of people, a lot of individuals.
They are standing quietly, waiting for something, waiting
expectantly, some a little wearily, but they are all
waiting.
Look at them.
Take your time to look at these visitors that came to
call, looking for something, waiting for you to tell them
*something special*, change and expand their time, their
life, their universe in some way, be it a small amusement or
a product purchase that will enhance their lives.
Allow yourself to get a sense of what these people have
in common, why and how they arrived here with you, what you
might say that would explain why they came to hear.
Allow yourself to get a sense of what it is that YOU in
all the world have to offer these people today, in your own
special way, in a way that no-one else ever could, simply
because they are NOT you!
If you don't know, can't think, then just clear your
throat and say clearly,
"Thank you for coming. Thank you for giving me - me!
- some of your precious time and some of your precious
attention, me and not any of the other 350, 000, 000 people
with their 4 *billion* websites.
I am deeply honoured by this, and if you come again in
future, I'll promise I will do my best to welcome you fully
and profoundly in all ways and in return for your visit,
have something for you that made it worthwhile for you to be
with me."
You might be with your visitors for a time, receive any
feedback they may have for you, their gratitude or even
their wishes of what they were looking for but couldn't
find, or couldn't find easily at the time.
You might notice that they wish you well and when you're
all done, they wave farewell and then they leave.
You may watch them go on their way as they would; wait
until everyone has gone, then softly close the door and
return to your house and yourself.
As you come back to your computer and take a seat in your
chair, you might well begin to wonder if not some of these
First Thousand remember you now, and think of you, having
made contact with you in this way.
They might tell a friend on the phone, a chatgroup, or
mention you in an email.
Indeed, the First Thousand are your seed, they are where
it all begins, they are the most important visitors you will
ever have.
So treasure them and think of them often, when you are
preparing a mailing to your list or re-designing your site,
adding new content. It always starts with the First
Thousand.
In the next lesson, I'm going to talk about another form
of increase over time and there is a very nice meditation
about the Exponential Experience.
Until next time,
bye for now :-)
Silvia Hartmann
http://starfields.org
