“People often say that motivation doesn’t last, Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
– Zig Ziglar

Humanity is impatient and desires acknowledgment, we’re not used to delayed gratification. We want what we want – and we want it right now… Yesterday even!

There is an unfair proposition in online marketing and commerce as a whole. This inequality can be found in list building, blogging, search engine marketing and virtually every other area of establishing a web presence.

For the website owner there is no such thing as instant gratification. You are not likely receive the feedback you’re hoping for initially and it can seem as if you are improving your website for only one person and quite frankly you’re getting tired of impressing yourself.

Many times it can seem like establishing your ecommerce store is a bit like being asked to fill the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon. You persevere, but it’s hard to see the results.

The silver lining is while you keep working to establish your web store and its position you are finding better ways to describe your products, better content/copy to present, and all of the rough edges are slowly getting smoothed out. Still you have great difficulty measuring your progress.

Ecommerce is really a thankless job that is best suited for individuals that understand the true virtue of patience and are willing to work grievously hard to envision a future when the present doesn’t look so great.

“The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable pre-requisite for success”
– Brian Tracy

We live in a modern time when immediacy is so important to so many people, that a significant number of businesses come and go simply because the owner failed to understand that delayed gratification is the payoff for perseverance, hard work and patience.

In 2006 there were 671,800 new businesses created and 544,800 businesses closed according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

We know that many of these small businesses did not have a clear understanding of the long term trench warfare that comes along with the territory of a new business start up.

This post is actually plotted to encourage you to think long term. Your ability, as a small business owner, to look further ahead than the next sale is crucial if you want to succeed.

Ecommerce can certainly provide a substantially improved market for your products, but you still must do the hard work, and put your best face forward even when your website statistics may seem as if your playing in an empty concert hall.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill