BANS User Forum
January 25, 2008 by Jon
Filed under Build a Niche Store, Everything Else
Until this moment, I would have said nothing but positive things about the BANS user forum. I really have learned a ton there, and it’s a huge bonus that’s included with the Build a Niche Store software. Unfortunately, I just had my first bad experience there…
Now some may think this is ticky-tacky on my part, but someone wrote a long post about a recession and whatnot, and they had to throw in some jabs about the war in Iraq. I responded in a not-so-subtle manner that there were better places to talk about that stuff than the BANS forum. As expected, the response back was how it was posted in the “general discussion” board, and they had the right to talk about it.
I’m sure they’re probably correct that they have the “right” to talk about the Iraq war there, however having a “right” to do something isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. I mean, I have the right to be a jerk, but if I exercise that right… well that just means I’m being a jerk. See what I mean?
Enough digressing…
Maybe I overreacted, but I really don’t want to talk about politics or anything like that at a place like the BANS forum. I checked, and there are over 19 million forums that show up on Google that deal with politics. Certainly these would be better places to talk about such divisive topics. And I realize it was just one comment in one post, but where does the slippery slope end? Should we talk about Democrats versus Republicans, religion, abortion, class warfare… where would it end?
So I wrote back and basically said “goodbye.”
Did I overreact? I don’t know, maybe… probably… But the thread also made me realize that I was spending way too much time posting to that forum… time I should have been spending developing my affiliate marketing business. Time I could have used to build new BANS sites, optimizing and promoting them. Time I could have used to build up this blog (where I can truly help people).
So I think it’s a good thing this happened, because it made me realize I was spending too much time posting to the forum, and not enough time taking action on my business. Which leads me to a valuable lesson I’ve already learned in the past, but apparently keep forgetting…
Take action!
It’s so easy to get caught up watching another “how to” video… or participating in the “affiliate marketing forums”… or “learning” or “experimenting”…
Let me say unequivocally that there is nothing wrong with any of those activities. However if all you do is watch, post, learn, experiment, then you’re not taking action to further your business. There always comes a point where the learning has to stop, and the doing has to begin.
That time has come–yet again–for me.
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I so agree with the major message in your blog. Do not get caught up so much in the “activities” of internet marketing, but get busy about DOING internet marketing.
I have struggled with this balance as probably most people do. I akd myself the question, “what did I do today that will earn income for me?” Some days I may learn a lot but if I did not put it into a project that will earn income I didn’t complete the cycle.
Learn - Implementation - Income - Repeat & Rinse
Hi Jon!
“(…) Did I overreact? I don’t know, maybe… probably… (…)”
I was there, and I watched your reaction with utter amazement. I’ve worked, boozed, fought, served, boozed, humped, discussed, boozed, played, spied, boozed, sworn, laughed and boozed with US Americans quite sufficiently to be aware of the American tendency to react somewhat more strongly than most other Sassenachs like Canadians, British and Australians. Yet your reaction to a minor statement made me shake my head with a mixture of amazement and amusement (grin)!
Truly and verily: much more than Matts initial statement, it was your reaction to it that turned what was not even a spark, into a sudden blaze!
Be well!
Jaap Verduijn, The Netherlands.
I personally think that the BANS forum should have an off topic forum. Many industry specific forums have an off topic forum, and they have religion and politics has a subcategory of it.
Wait a minute, I just realized that, like you, I am spending too much time learning on forums and not taking action. Time for me to go and actually do something!
YoungGuns
Jon, I’m with you. I haven’t read the posts in question, but I have seen others that are just like the one you describe and I wonder why are allowed to begin with.
I’ve just started this month with BANS. While at first it was a little difficult because of the bugs with cloaking and differences between hosts BANS has worked with and my personal dedicated server. Those issues have been resolved with patches and information taken from the forum and google.
Now that I’ve found your site I look forward to what I can learn from here as well.
Thanks,
Mike