In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about a hypothetical 15 year old NFL coach and what you as an Internet Entrepreneur need to know about that.

This newsletter focuses on giving you practical, interesting insights into how to successfully use technology as a tool to improve the way you do business. Bridging the gap between knowledge and understanding that all entrepreneurs have will help you make money online.

Please hit reply and tell me about your favorite summer meal. I answer every email sent to me.

All the best,

15 Year Old NFL Coach

One of my favorite things about the web is that it equalizes people. Small little businesses have the same possibilities as do huge mega corporations. Every reader of the web can become a publisher of info if they so desire - and that is just really cool. I have dedicated my entire professional career to the Internet and this basic principle of total equality is an awful lot of the reason why.

You hear folks talk about this all the time and it sticks in your head - the idea that you get the same amount of space in someone's inbox when you send an e-newsletter as Coca-Cola does. The concept that PayPal - little bitty almost free to use and originally built for small time businesses - PayPal now processes about $2,000 per second in transactions. For those of you with a speedy calculator that means the outage PayPal had in the beginning of August had an estimated cost of 7.2 million dollars per hour.

All of these fun facts can lead Internet Entrepreneurs down the path to a common mistake based on the idea that all people are created equal. I most often see this error occur in "traditional" type marketing meetings.

I can not of course dispute the obvious reality that all people certainly are created equal - my mother broke gender barriers and I was raised with a deep and abiding respect for that very American principle - I won't quote the constitution right here but you surely get the idea.

So with all of this equality - which is so pervasive on the web - in mind I have a question for you:

How come there aren't any 15 year old NFL coaches?

I mean why not - all people are created equal after all, and there are plenty of 15 year olds coaching Pop Warner football so why shouldn't they be given an equal chance as equal people to coach in the big leagues?

And yet so many Internet Entrepreneurs indeed have "15 year olds" running their web efforts. They stop marketing meetings to make sure all people have an equal chance to be heard and they treat everyone as though they have the exact same skills when it comes to the web.

Here is the fact: all people are created equal, but their opinions are not equal at all.

When folks are doing the round robin consensus based web conversation tango I often ask a few stunningly simple questions:

• How many of you here shop on the web at all ?
• How many of you shop the web regularly ?
• How many of you bought the majority of last year's holiday gifts online ?

As you watch the hands go up in the air (or not) as an Internet Entrepreneur you have to ask yourself a really hard question: Would you seek the opinion of someone who never eats in restaurants if you were trying to figure out how to operate your restaurant?

Obviously the answer to that question is no. Today the web had become a team effort - great websites are created by groups of people. As an Internet Entrepreneur you end up managing this gang the same way you might have to manage a wide variety of vendors if you were building a new house. It is important to understand the skills and background of each person on your team. It is often even appropriate to figure out who is the "Head Coach", the "Offensive Coordinator", and all the way down the ladder to the "Waterboy". (and if you click that link you'll find out I like silly Adam Sandler movies)

Keeping all of this in mind will help you avoid ending up with a 15 year old in charge of your NFL team.

Welcome CobraHead

I'd like to extend a big old welcome to my new client CobraHead. I am working with them on a web strategy plan and it is lots of fun.

The CobraHead is a precision weeder and cultivator - they call it the best tool in earth and they've got a very accurate tag line there. They were kind enough to send one of their tools to my wife Amy and she has added it to her bag of tricks in the Spruce Nubble Farm Veggie Garden.

I met these folks via The Mailorder Gardening Association (MGA) and I just love the fact that they are dedicated to helping people in their gardens based on their belief that the world would be a better place if everyone gardened. I totally agree.