Business is a Lot Like Driving

Today I was driving home on Interstate 81. I was listening to some music and cruising along at 65 MPH. (Yeah, I follow the speed limit.) Suddenly a State Police Trooper appears not-so-far ahead on the side of the road. I’m amused as everyone who was speeding suddenly slows down and follows the law. The driver behind me, for reasons that I do not understand, decides to pass me – driving at least 70 or 75. Was he unaware of why everyone had slowed down? Did he simply not care? I have no idea. A few seconds later I begin laughing hysterically as the trooper’s lights begin to flash and he forces the guy to pull over.

By now you’re probably wondering what the purpose of this post is. Rest assured it’s actually quite clever! As I continued along on my journey I started thinking about how business is actually a lot like driving. If you’re driving safely and following the rules, you’re almost certain to arrive home successfully. If you decide to be like our friend in the above story and seek a shortcut to success, you’re more likely to end up in a terrible mess. Of course, we have people who will speed and drive like they have lost their mind and they end up making it home. We also have people that do everything right and still don’t arrive safely. There are exceptions to everything, so we’re just looking at the general picture here.

So how does this apply to business, exactly? Think about it. I’ll use a relatively-recent incident concerning Shawn Hogan and his company, Digital Point Solutions, Inc. and a lawsuit brought against them by eBay for allegedly participating in ‘cookie stuffing.’ Cookie Stuffing is when you design a system so that your visitors are taken to your affiliate link and back to their desired destination without realizing that they made that stop along the way. Later on, when the aforementioned visitor drops by a site, for example: eBay, and makes a purchase – it goes through your affiliate link! You can make a significant amount of money with this method if you have a site that gets a lot of visitors. However, eBay will track you down and get their money back.

My point? Shortcuts rarely work. The best way to make money, and I stress this very often, is to work hard and put your heart and soul into your projects. Down the road you’ll be glad that you did it through legitimate methods – trust me.