We have all heard of Wayne Gretsky’s famous quote:

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”

Can you take that same viewpoint or mantra for your eCommerce business?

I think so.

Imagine seeing the recent Amazon restrictions before they happened?

Where you had your approvals already set.

Where you had enough wholesale accounts.

You were first (second, third, probably being up to number fifty is still okay) to market! Wouldn’t that have been cool!

You would be sitting pretty ready to take advantage of the market force changes. (outside of your control)

You know what, someone is in this position. Actually many are in that position. Think back to two years ago, this issue was being talked about. Honest, look back into the posts. You see some people stepping up and saying they expect it. Anytime now, or now, or now……

Were they prognasticators? Were they psychic?

Were they the second coming of Nostradamus?

Not likely. Have you heard the phrase:

“Success leaves clues”

by Tony Robbins?

The premise is that you need to find successful people and model them. In other words: if the best workers are showing up early and staying late you need to also. You need to behave in a similar matter to get similar (not the same for sure) results. Generally this works. Think of going to the gym and actually working out with real athletes. You push harder, you feel better, usually you get healthier. How, you show up and do the work.

So what does this have to do with the soothsayers? They paid attention.

That’s really it.  They added up the clues. The droppings left by others. Insinuations by Amazon in what they did and more importantly what they didn’t say. They saw what happened with Ebay, they inferred it would happen on the Amazon platform. BTW. This is a clue that it will happen in some form on Amazon.eu. And all other Amazon marketplaces, Jet, Walmart, Newegg, etc….

They jumped two or three steps ahead.

Again I ask: Were they psychic?

No, they were honest with themselves. How many of us (Of course I mean ME first) put our head down and did the work only? How many of us pushed past the signals, the clues and put our heads down and did the work, only? Me, maybe you too? I get it, I am guilty as charged. I had work to do!

So rather than get caught off guard again, I am paying attention. Really that’s it. I am not overreacting, just paying attention. I will track and filter the comments from the experts. I will pay more attention to the endless emails from Amazon. The “nudges” as Chris Green calls them. They really are hints to future possibilities. (Only possibilities at this point based on other outside market forces unseen)

So let’s wipe the slate clean, let’s start over. Do-overs are good, they can take you from average to excellent. They can lift the burdens of past mistakes and make you a new You!

I can’t wait for the new You to meet the new Me! You’ll know me I’ll be the one paying attention!

About the author, Stephen

• Links:
• Website
• Facebook