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With the upcoming 1st Annual Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Golf Outing and Dinner happening this Friday, we got curious about what golf can teach us about life; but, more importantly, what can it teach us about ecommerce. At first, it seemed like a stretch, but, after talking with a few golfers, we learned that ultimately the final goal in both is to get the hole-in-one!

In golf, in order to approach the ball, you have to consider the positioning, choose the right club, remain focused, and concentrate on your swing. In ecommerce, the approach is much the same; you must choose the right platform to sell your products, remained focused, and concentrate on the site. Both golfers and site owners need a great deal of patience, skill, and dedication to find success; it’s a lot of hard work, but the rewards are satisfying.

As with golf, ecommerce can turn out to be harder than you thought, when you’re first getting started. The first time you pick up a golf club, you find yourself inclined to swing for the stars and see just how far you can hit that little ball. Similarly, when launching an ecommerce site, you feel compelled to just throw all your ideas up on a website and show everyone your product. It may look that easy, but, as you know, nothing is as easy as it looks. Success in golf, and in ecommerce, requires a great deal of practice, a lot of hard work, and time – you can’t rush good results. Truth be told, there will be days when it seems like there is no end; but, that is part of the process. Success takes time and the only way to win is to stay in the game.

In order to be successful in golf, you need to have a solid strategy, just like you would need in ecommerce. Although the playing fields are different, both require the player to know the lay of the land, potential roadblocks, and exactly where the hole is (in ecommerce, this would be your target audience). Once this is complete, you are equipped to develop a strategy that will lead to your success.

Another important thing to note about golf is that misfortune does occur. Practice and strategy enhance your skills and performance, but, sometimes, there are obstacles, which can be very difficult to navigate. There is no perfect game and mistakes are common. In talking to the golfers about this Friday’s event, we learned that golfers feel like winners if they have had a hole or two with only a few minor mishaps.  If you let the mistakes get to you, you won’t enjoy the rest of the game and it will probably throw you off even more.  Both golfers and ecommerce owners need to stay in the game mentally and not lose site of the end goal.

The last thing we took away from the golfers is probably the most valuable lesson of all and that is to FINISH STRONG.

Have you ever noticed when watching a golf tournament or playing the game yourself that it takes a great deal of time? The same is true when you are launching an ecommerce site. There is a lot of what feels like down time when nothing is happening. It can be frustrating and it can be time-consuming. And, it may take some time to shake off the nerves and find your niche, but, once you get a good grip and pick up the pace, the road ahead becomes smooth. Golfers, like ecommerce sites, often start off slow, but, once the momentum picks up, you gain confidence to take it all the way to the end and finish strong!

Many people who own ecommerce sites quickly grow discouraged if their site does not come out swinging strong and setting the world on fire from the start. They lose their initial enthusiasm, question their choices, and wonder if they made a huge mistake. The advice from golfers is to snap out of it! No one finds immediate success when they start something new. Like golfers, if you do not stay in the game, you will never score a hole-in-one.