DON’T “CHARLIE SHEEN” YOUR BUSINESS!

Written by Edward A. Sanchez
Brass Ring Multimedia

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IS YOUR BUSINESS LIKE CHARLIE’S LIFE…going downhill?

Charlie Sheen - crazy eyes! (image)

Charlie "shares" on national television

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. I’ve gotta tell you, I like the guy…always have…it’s tough not to on some level. He’s got chops, he’s definitely a talented guy and Two And A Half Men is one of those shows I can always watch. Hot Shots, Wall Street, the list goes on…very cool. But, lately? (oy!)

One of the habits I’ve learned to employ is that of looking inward whenever something “out there” irks me. (Like Charlie’s Vatican Assassin dive-bomb into hell.) I discovered long ago that I have little control over much of what goes in outside my realm, but I do have considerable control within my own circle of influence (a term I learned from Napoleon Hill).

So, as a designer and a small business person, what can I take from “The Charlie Sheen Meltdown?” What defects of character am I (and the rest of the civilized world) seeing that Charlie isn’t? And, further, how can we learn from this sad episode which seems to have captured the planet’s fascination?

Denial has got to be one…certainly denial. I’d have to then look at an unwillingness to heed advice…good advice, certainly Charlie isn’t listening to anything rational right now.  We know he’s got people, his family for instance, advising (pleading?) him to get into recovery, for instance. Then, there’s an absolute lack of humility. By the way, I have a very straightforward definition of humility. I simply define humility as “coming to grips with the reality of me.” Poor Charlie doesn’t seem to have much of a grip on anything right now. He’s lost three wives (four, if you count Kelly Preston, who broke off her engagement with him when he accidentally shot her in the arm…whoops.), he’s now lost his kids, and an argument could be made that he’s lost his freakin’ mind. His recent blitz on the media, popping up God-knows-where all over the media is also an excellent example of doing as much as possible in order to gain the greatest effect. (And, my what an effect!) Not sure that’s going ultimately to where Charlie wants to go.

HOW MUCH ARE YOU (am I?) LIKE CHARLIE SHEEN?

In business, denial, especially in today’s economy, is death. One of the challenges I run across as a web designer and SEO (search engine optimizer) is the business person who is unwilling to accept that the internet and positioning his business intelligently and well is crucial to success, particularly in today’s less-than-friendly economy. I’m talking smart people here, mind you. They want to make more money and yet are unwilling to make the time and/or monetary investment marketing requires. Even if you hire someone to do your marketing, you need to be part of the process. Time to have the conversation(s) necessary to create, implement and adjust your marketing. No one knows your business better than you do. I also run into people want to pay someone a “couple of hundred bucks” in return for which, they want to make Google’s Top 10. Easy right…why can’t they have that? If it was that easy (and only a couple of hundred bucks), EVERYONE on the web would be on the Top 10 and, somehow, that doesn’t sound possible.

Employing effective web design at every stage of the website planning and creation process is key if the site is to position well in the search engine rankings and, further, convert successfully. (Motivate the client to a predetermined action: sign-up for something, buy something, request a contact, etc.)

Another type of client I run across is the one that thinks that they can “do it themself.” Their business has suffered from the economy and yet they won’t invest one cent to obtain the business that is transacting. And, yes, business is going on. Thriving for many! And the $$ are going into the pockets of those who are creative and willing to step outside of their “comfort zone.” (If it was so comfortable, why do they want more business?) Humility plays into this by one understanding that not everyone is capable of, nor should they, handle their own internet marketing alone. Effective site design is a balance between planning, goal-setting, copywriting, analytics, design and regular monitoring and adjustment of a number of aspects of the site. Success in business is not for the impatient, nor is it for proponents of “we’ve always done it like this, so…” Unlike Charlie, seeking (and heeding) appropriate and trustworthy advice from friendly, trustworthy sources is crucial for the business person who wishes to grow their business, regardless of economy.

I was reading a blog post earlier by Search Engine Optimization specialist Nick Stamoulis and he focuses on how “Black Hat SEO” is like doing a Charlie Sheen to your website. I’ll quote Nick here. “Black hat SEO tactics like buying links or being involved in link exchanges might look appealing because they could result in some quick search engine results page rankings, but much like Charlie Sheen’s popularity, those rankings will not last long. Black hat tactics only create rankings for the short term.”

If you’d like to learn more about how Brass Ring Multimedia can help you use “white hat SEO” (what we “good guys” use) to employ effective web design in your marketing efforts, please feel free to contact us anytime.

In the meantime, let’s all hope for a happy outcome for Charlie and his family. I hope he turns around before he crashes and burns.

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