David Dell, research director for capabilities management and HR at The Conference Board, has observed, “Both HR and IT have many new issues to address and many decisions to make and implement. But the speed of change in both areas makes the challenge more difficult as it increases the promise.”

Why do people resist change? Leslie Smith, a clinical psychologist and former Web designer in McLean, Virginia, outlines these reasons:

• Fear of making mistakes or looking foolish.
• A lack of understanding or confidence about the new system and its benefits.
• Anxiety about doing more. Employees often feel overworked already, and resist learning something new when it’s layered on top of their existing duties.
• Change fatigue. Once people learn something new, they’d like to stick with that new knowledge and take a rest.

Jeanie Daniel Duck, author of The Change Monster: The Human Forces That Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation & Change, writes, “The knee-jerk answer (to failed change efforts) is the people ‘resist change,’ as if ‘resistance to change’ were some kind of sorry genetic code that, if it could be reengineered, would magically produce people instantly eager to do things differently whenever anyone asked. The ‘resistance to change’ answer… is appealing because it takes the blame off the leaders and puts it on those ‘no-good followers.’”

Leaders must take charge of change. There are many things that you can do to ensure a more successful initiative, including:
Communicate. Explain what benefits you expect from the new system and how people’s roles might change. Also make sure that change is championed from the top of the organization and communicate that support.

Collaborate. Involve prospective users in change decisions and choices. Duck says it’s not the change that’s the problem, but the way it comes down. “People are changing all the time, but those are changes of their own choosing,” Duck says. “People resist being told they have to change.”

Demonstrate. As Duck observes, people are powerfully motivated by self-interest. Technological change is likely to be more successful if people are shown what’s in it for them. “When they’re motivated, it’s amazing what people can do,” she says.

Evaluate. Look at the whole corporate culture, not just IT, to determine how many other changes people are being asked to deal with at the same time, such as a merger or reorganization. Perhaps it’s time to give them a breather.

Commiserate. Let people know it’s okay to complain, Duck advises. It provides a useful outlet. Although IT may feel like the corporate whipping boy, “that’s the nature of the beast. IT departments have a checkered past,” she says. “They must accept that and be more careful.” Further, allowing complaint and disagreement might enable you to measure resistance before you spend millions of dollars on that new initiative.

Don’t denigrate. Mary Lynn Pulley, Ph.D., is a faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. She maintains that the learning curve is upside down: “It’s more of a valley than a hill,” she says. “Whenever you learn anything, your performance actually declines before it improves.”

She refers to that performance dip as the Valley of Chaos, and urges learners to remember that chaos and creation go hand in hand. “Things have to fall apart or disintegrate in some way so that they can come back together in a new way.” Managers must make it clear that mistakes are okay and avoid any kind of punishment for error in a learning environment.

Eradicate. “You must allow for the notion of un-learning as people abandon old ways,” Pulley says. Know that people have to rid their minds and routines of that which no longer works, but be aware that getting rid of the old and familiar can engender fear and confusion.

Just like with houses, you often cannot tell by looking at a person if the foundation is strong. You can only tell when the hurricane blows by or the earthquake strikes – and then it’s too late to do something about it. The time to build a foundation is BEFORE you build the house. Often, you will spend more time on the foundation than the house itself – that isn’t good news for impatient people who want to see results yesterday! If you build the house and notice later that you should have built a stronger foundation, you may need to tear everything down and start over again. Even patchwork will be tricky and very costly.

As people, we need a strong foundation with strong pillars which, in my mind, are made up of health, relationships, finances, and work. These, in turn, must be strong.

Strong health means strong physical, emotional, and mental health. It means being in that state now and it means working on maintaining that state. Everyone may come in contact with disease, but generally those with a stronger foundation of health will combat the disease faster, often even before you know you are sick. Building strong health includes working on a positive mental attitude, working out regularly, positive eating habits, regular time off work, and some form of spiritual work. This may include going to church, meditating or volunteer work to benefit others.

Strong finances don’t only mean a lot of immediate cash flow. It means good cash flow and the knowledge that if the cash flow stopped (due to injury, divorce, downsizing, changes in market conditions), there would be a cushion made up of insurance and income from various sources like businesses and investments. Strong finances are built for the short term as well as the long term.

Strong relationships mean clean and happy, satisfying relationships with others. It has been proven that people with social interactions and married people, on average, live longer than those who are alone. Strong relationships mean that there are no outstanding issues with the people in your life. All family secrets have been dealt with, all the times that your spouse has left the toilet seat up have been forgiven and forgotten. Of course, it wouldn’t be human to never have any disagreements, but it is human and possible to have such disagreements cleaned up quickly. Strong relationships feel great and provide an incredible opportunity for support when needed.

Strong work environment, to me, includes a number of things. Relationships with coworkers, owners or partners, and customers need to be good. There needs to be a sense of purpose, meaning, and appreciation for the work being done. The work needs to “fit” your particular personality and nourish you financially and otherwise.

How strong does the foundation need to be? That depends on the kind of house you want to build. A doghouse doesn’t need much of a foundation. A tall apartment building does! What kind of a foundation does YOUR dream life need?

And I’ll have to admit, it is a walk in the park compared to what you have to put up with in the working world punching a clock being a subordinate to someone who does not have your interests in mind, but there are still rules you have to follow and pitfalls you must avoid to actually make Internet marketing work for you.

Most people will not make a dime online and yet there are others who will make more in one month than most people make in a whole year. Why is that?

My answer begins with the age-old chicken or egg question, “what comes first the chicken or the egg”? Personally I vote for, well never mind, each argument you or I make comes back to the same old conclusion – I have no clue and I don’t think many of us do either.

But one thing I do have a clue about and know for sure is that to make money online you must first have Passion for the company products and/or service of any Internet business from which you expect to make money.

Passion in this sense simply means that you’ve researched and like the company and products or services. It is then that you translate that like (or Passion) into the education, excitement and work that usually a company Passion.

I will have to say that many online entrepreneurs are so good at what they do that they ignore passion because they can sell anything. But I’m concerned about those of you who are not so knowledgeable at working an online business successfully.

Now, I’m not trying to make anyone believe that Passion is the only thing necessary. Because to be successful you must also have a good website, good marketing, widespread advertising, company support, effective keywords, and etc. Those things are often learned from the company you join – but sidestep Passion and you reduce your chances for success dramatically.

It therefore follows that, if you have no Passion for the company and the products and services provided by that company, again, you won’t attempt to do the work you are being taught.

Internet marketing work is typically not all that difficult or time consuming but it does take motivation caused by Passion to get you off and running with a sustained effort so that you won’t stumble.

You have a great resource in the Internet search engines to search about the Internet Marketing industry for business opportunities, USE IT!

Your research should uncover a company that you like and have confidence in. It should be solid, founded on great principles, and easy to understand with great products and services that are sell-able for which you can have Passion. If you don’t find it move on,
you can find the right opportunity containing the attributes identified above.

Comments like, well, that one sounds good and the compensation plan is excellent so I guess I’ll start that business – does not sound like a decision based on anything near Passion. And remember when you hear that an Internet “guru” does that, don’t be tempted, because as I said earlier they are experienced and can sell just about anything, without being Passionate about the company products and services.

Note: By the way it’s your goal to get to the point where you can sell about anything online. That end skill and goal is a worthy one indeed.

Remember, there are other steps you must make before you step into Internet Marketing but if you don’t first find the right company products and services to be passionate about, all of those other steps may just cause you a lot of frustration instead of bringing you great success.

Not being Passionate about a company and products and services that has market proof that it will sell is a pitfall you simply must avoid.