Be Professional

Do be professional if you are going to be in business.

Okay, stay with me for a minute it will all make sense eventually.

I am going to start talking about being professional by talking about donations. To explain further, there are websites who post on their website that they give a certain percentage of profits to a given named charity. Red Cross, Feed The Hungry or whatever. This is to be admired so long as they are honest and ethical and follow through. This is good!

There are a few other websites that offer software programs for free, or information for free. These websites are not commercial. They advertise nothing on their websites and they do not feature Google adsense. They are not commercial, they simply offer something for free. Some have software as I said, and I recently used one that featured useful statistics.

On their website they may have a note that says something like---"If you find this service or software helpful and would like to forward a donation" (and then they tell how). No problem here either. I am free to give or not depending on how I value their service.

Now we're getting to the part about being professional. 

I simply wanted to explain that I am not referring to either of the above situations as I proceed.

I have visited a number of websites that are commercial in nature. They are businesses. Meaning that their website is built to sell their own product or service or to promote and hopefully sell someone else's. Good so far. However, (now we're getting to it) also on their website they will have a note, usually in a box. This note will say something like "Please help keep this website running by sending your donation..yadey yadey".

Now I got a problem. Be professional.

What does this say about that website? Think about it. Is that professional?

If you went down to your local hardware store, drug store or clothing store, and saw a sign next to the cash register that said "Please help keep this business running by giving your donation..yadey yadey". What would your reaction be?  How would you view that business? Be professional.

If you are going to have a business on the internet, it is not unlike a business in the brick and mortar world. You need to be professional.

If money is tight for you as you start your business, and you have to keep it running by recycling soda cans, then recycle soda cans!  But don't request donations. Be professional. You are a business person.

It is to your benefit to give a professional appearance. Who wants to deal with a business that may not be there next month? Would you? Think about how you would feel when seeing one of these websites. Keep this in mind as you are building your business, and do be professional.

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