I just finished reading this article from Matt Heaton, who is the CEO of Bluehost and Hostmonster. It is called “Win at all Costs!!” It is about the competition of business, particularly the web hosting business. In case you were not aware, the business is incredibly competitive. It is extremely easy to get into the business, all you need is an old computer, an internet connection, and some free software.

Of course something being easy to do, and easy to do well are a completely different thing. If anybody can actually make a good webhosting company, they would find no shortage of customers. It looks like Matt knows a thing or two.

This may seem strange from someone who has written in the past that many of my fiercest competitors are also my friends. We talk often, share ideas, and if they are really struggling with an issue I am glad to help out where I can. I do this because I respect these people in the industry and that respect translates into help and information if they require it.

Having said that, my goal is to take ALL of their customers. They aren’t stupid. They know that is my goal and I have even mentioned it to them on several occasions, and if they were smart they would be plotting to take my customers as well. I can think of several occasions where we have gone above and beyond what any sane company would do to get an affiliate relationship with a large advertiser.

His drive to win gives me confidence in my new webhosting company. Of course only time will tell, but from this article I wouldn’t want to go up against him!

We all have dreams or plans on becoming quite wealthy. The majority of the top 20 are all self made billionaires. How long until we see your name up on that list?

It also gives information on their background and what they are up to.

20 Wealthiest People

I could only guess the top two on the list!

Then again who wouldn’t guess Bill Gates and Warren Buffet?

This morning, I didn’t have time to write my post because I had to meet the insulation installers across town. As I watched them stuff insulation into every crack and corner and saw insulation blowing around in the attic as though it were a giant snowglobe, all I could think of was

Asbestos! Vermiculite! Lung cancer! Poison! Death!

(dun dun dun)

Now I KNOW that modern companies don’t blow that stuff into our houses any more; it’s been banned for years. Yet I can’t help but wonder what IS being put into our houses and lives that we don’t know the safety of. We trust others to make the judgment call for us–usually the business itself. Of course, being interested in business and money ourselves, you and I kind of know what most businesses usually focus on–the money. How can we know who to rely on?

It’s like everything in our lives is marked “low fat”. Sometimes I feel like I’m STILL trying to convince some people that low fat doesn’t mean (1) no sugar, (2) low calorie, or (3) chalk full of nutrients. Yet the candy isle is filled with reminders of low fat content. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see “low sugar” on a hunk of cheese? So we have this idea that it’s okay if the label says its okay, and marketers and businesses know this fact and they use it against us.

The silence… the deadly silence… of American industry has been shown in Libby, Montana where asbestos was mined. From the research and personal stories I’ve had over the years, I gathered that miners were encouraged to wear breathing masks, but the masks got so clogged that the men quit. These same men were sent to company doctors when they started to hack, and when these men came home from work, wives would shake the clothes out on the porch, sending the asbestos into the air. The stuff did wonders for gardens, too (hmm, wonders), so the company often donated to community members. NOW that the town is all getting sick and losing citizens, the EPA has an entire directory that educates newcomers to the superfund of Libby. Funny thing, though, do you think anyone actually thinks of moving there any more??

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what industry REALLY tells us.

It seams like most people have a horror story they are willing to share about financial services of some sort. It could be a bank, a credit card company, or online services such as paypal. Beyond that, many more people have had bad experiences with their customer support. Which kind of makes you wonder what their end goal is. Seth Godin has been having some problems with paypal freezing his account for having a successful project.

If you do get to talk to an actual person, they are usually a gatekeeper with limited abilities beyond answering simple questions. Then you will often be transfered to another person who asks you the same questions and also has limited decision making powers.

With paypal for example if your account is frozen you will have to go through a large hassle in order to free it back up. The idea is they are doing it to stop scammers and conmen. Naturally with any data there is a balance somewhere between security and usability. Any company must make trade-offs between the two, but alienating customers as a result is never a good plan.

As Seth puts it

The question I’d be asking is, “Do people who go through process and manage to prove that they are not criminals end up doing more business with us as a result of the way we treated them?” If the answer is no, you’re probably doing it wrong.

If you would like to read more about his ideas on customer support lines as well as learn about his story, check out “Thanks for calling, please go away.“

Prepare to be bombarded with Christmas sales, decorations, endless stress, and other holiday cheer. Even though Halloween is still fresh on the mind, you need to think about the coming holidays. Of course if you run a retail shop of any kind, then you probably already have.

What kind of sales are you going to have? What products are you going to promote? How will people who don’t already know about you find out? Will you have enough of the hot products in stock?

Christmas is coming quickly, and you will need to take care of any preparations right away, because once the holiday spirit comes and everyone begins thinking about the Holidays, it might be too late!

It’s easy to anticipate the holidays equating to more traffic, more customers, and of course more sales. If you haven’t already begun your holiday campaign, you have a bit of catch up, because you can bet your competitors already have!

If you are in a business where you need to ship, get the materials to ship. If you are in the service industry, get any extra help you might need. If holidays even remotely matter to your business, then get ready.

Everyone is just like you… or are they? Have you ever noticed that people don’t always take the action or make the move that would gain them the most immediate ground, Perhaps then you might have determined that people don’t always have the same motives? Most of the time, most businesses have a similar motive, create the highest value for the shareholders.

But with individual people, victory at any cost might not be the goal. Or perhaps it is. Many people assume that everyone else is competing for the same result as themselves. Or that a majority has the same thoughts as themselves and sees things in our world in the same, or at least a similar light.

Everyone will define their own values and write their own rules. Many of them are not going to align completely with yours on all of the issues. But you won’t know that they are not on your side until the issue comes up.