If you've ever watched your favorite football team in a
Super Bowl game, you can readily relate to the
maddening frustration of the below example with,
hopefully, some exclusions contained herein...maybe...

There your team is...4th quarter, 4th and goal. The
opposing team is leading with a score of 21 to your
team's 20. Instead of using a bit of insurance by
electing to punt for the extra point to, at least, tie the
ballgame and buy some "overtime," some bright idea
is circulated throughout your team to, instead, run the
ball into the end zone.

"No! Don't do it!" you yell.

However, your yells and screams at the television go
largely unheeded. You have an instant premonition of
Murphy's Law coming into full effect. In fact, Murphy's
Law is now upon you.

The quarterback cries, "33! 46! 33! 27! Hut! Hut!
Hu-..."

Crash! Boom! Knock!

"Ouch! Oomph! Ugh! Get off my finger!"

This sudden interruption in the quarterback's final "Hut!"
was largely the result of several very LARGE men, with
even larger uniforms, piling atop him.

"Well, on the final 30 seconds, a brick wall was awaiting
the quarterback," the television announcer comments.

Oops! Ye olde Quarterback Sneak just ain't what it used
to be...the linemen are much smarter today.

When America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, would lose
in this ostentatious manner, in my house, you had better
be long gone from the room, and out the front door, lest
an unexpected trip to the Emergency room awaited you.

For my brother, who was a wee bit more than simply an
avid fan, would literally cry, curse, slobber, break
furniture, hurt innocent bystanders and, subsequently,
seek a small caliber handgun for full effect (it is truly
awful to witness a grown man react in this manner).

Several minutes later, about a mile down the street,
and from behind a tree, I would yell back, "Mickey!
They're getting millions of dollars to lose the game! All
YOU'RE getting is acute hypertension! Can I come
home now?"

While this article isn't about football per se, it is about
a game...the serious game of "Business." The goals on
each end of the field are called "online" and "offline."
The main player is you. Your opponent is "publicity."

One of the widely held misconceptions about the
Internet, is that it is an alternative, a replacement, a
"savior," from the traditional processes of the business
industry.

I often wonder how many business owners, upon
learning the 'Net could be used for promotion and
distribution, executed the "middle finger salute" to
traditional offline processes.

I can hear them say, "Ha! I don't need you! Away with
you! Be gone! Look at me NOOOOW! I built it, and
they are a-coming! Check out MY piece of the world!
Ha!"

Any online business owners who believe the surefire
road to maximum business sales success is strictly
through allowing the Internet to replace any offline
promotional efforts, are certainly misleading themselves.

And, the reason it is misleading is, primarily, due to the
fact that the greater number of consumers (and potential
buyers), for whatever reason, are still without Internet
access. Though that is difficult to accept most times,
nevertheless, one certainly can't afford to ignore this
particular sector of the population.

But, the same is, otherwise, true of business operators
who are still functioning, primarily or exclusively,
WITHOUT promoting their businesses via the Internet.
What this particular group sacrifices in its promotional
efforts and successful results by NOT using the Internet,
is time and the ability to quickly establish business
relationships in the long-term promotional process.

Now, a detour for a moment in translating the above
football elements to your business:

4th quarter = You are almost there...poised for success.

4th and goal = You're poised to overtake your competition.

Opposing team leads = Your competition is still ahead.

Run the ball instead of punting = You make a wrong
decision that is not considered smart, possibly, due to
a state of greed.

"No! Don't do it!" = Your common sense attempts at
all costs to intervene and save you from disaster.

Your yells and screams go unheeded = You throw
caution to the wind.

Murphy's Law premonition = "Uh-oh..."

Murphy's Law is upon you = "Oh, no! What have I DONE?"
Resistance is futile...disaster is imminent.

Crash! Boom! Knock! "Ouch! Oomph! Ugh! =
Dare I utter, "Translation complete?"

What BOTH of the above types of business operators
need to understand is that, in order to get the maximum
yardage out of the whole business playing field, they
must utilize BOTH ends (online/offline) of the field,
together and effectively. Learning to utilize both ends of
the business field today equally well, in regard to
marketing, promotion and, distribution, is the only way
to score a business touchdown and, ultimately, a win.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kenny Love, of Kenny Love Enterprises.
Provider of diversified information, products, and
resources. See his extensive web site at
http://www.kennylove.net.