Greed Can Be The Death Of You AND Your Business

Since 1998 I’ve been blessed to make a very “comfortable” living (to say the least) working on the Internet.  I’ve never had to work a “real job” and don’t even know what a time clock looks like (much less do I care).  However I’ve never entered ANY business with money as the motivate.  I do what I do because I LOVE it and the day it becomes “work”, regardless of how much money I’m making, I’ll quit.  I’m motivated by success and not money.   Defined as one of the Cardinal Sins, greed can be a very bad thing and along with envy, in this industry, can also cause the demise of you and your business.

I graduated college in 2007 with a degree in Business Administration and minors in Communication and Advertising.  While doing my senior-year studies I began to analyze small, medium, and large corporations including both retail powerhouses and small local businesses.    One of the biggest thing I personally began to notice was that the companies that participated in profit-sharing with employees flourished while those that retained the large profits for themselves and their executives began to suffer.

What exactly is profit sharing?  Let’s say your business specializes in local Internet Marketing doing lead generation for doctors, lawyers, dentist, and others.  Your profit in a particular quarter exceeds expectations (very common in Quarter 4 with the holiday shopping season)…  While the executives do deserve a bonus (the CEO, COO, CFO, President, VP, etc.) employees should also receive a certain percentage based on performance.  ANY company that employees people and exceeds expectations has their entire “team” to thank rather than just the guys at the top.   I honestly think you have to beat some executives in the head with a sledgehammer before they understand this (and sometimes they still don’t get it).  Company morale has A LOT to do with the success of a corporation as if your employees are not happy; their productivity, motivation, and overall worth ethic WILL suffer.  Especially in the Affiliate/Internet Marketing industry I see way too many greedy corporations running around skipping out on payments to publishers, clients, and treating employees like shit all for personal gain.

Another big aspect to making high profits is donations.  I personally feel being in the top one percent income bracket in the United States I have a responsibility to give back.  Therefore I contribute ten percent of what I make each and every year to charities.  Sure, I cannot stand laziness or deadbeats, however there are some cases out there where people cannot help the situation they’re in.  I conduct very careful research before donating but there are a number of different charities out there that are definitly worth giving to.

While I do not want this post to come off as a rant, rather something that you can ponder, regardless if you’re an employee or corporate executive.

If you’re a corporate executive answer the following questions:

• When was the last time you “bonused” your employees?
• How did it increase their performance?
• How high is your retention rate when it comes to employ turnover rate?
• Are you losing good employees regardless of solid profits?

If you’re an employee answer the following questions:

• When was the last time you were “bonused” or rewarded for your hard work?
• Does your boss/employer participate in profit-sharing?
• Do other employees in your company feel like they’re being properly compensated?
• Are you happy with your career?

I’ll leave the answers to yourself but if you have any doubt with the above questions you may need to re-evaluate the position you’re in.  I teach countless strategies and techniques that can literately create multi-million dollar businesses in a rather short period of time (much due to the scalability of the Internet).  As you begin to have success and expand please keep what I said in mind to ensure you continue moving forward and fight the greed/envy that goes along with making a lot of money.  When the time comes and I pass on, I want to be remembered as someone that helped others and bettered other lives rather than the “rich Internet guy” that had a lot of nice cars.

Ryan Gray

Ryan Gray is the founder and CEO of NameHero, one of the fastest growing independent web hosts in the United States. Ryan has been working online since 1998 and has over two-decades experience in Internet Entrepreneurship.