If you've ever watched your favorite football team in a Super Bowl game, you can readily relate to the maddening frustration of the below example with, hopefully, some exclusions contained herein...maybe...

There your team is...4th quarter, 4th and goal. The opposing team is leading with a score of 21 to your team's 20. Instead of using a bit of insurance by electing to punt for the extra point to, at least, tie the ballgame and buy some "overtime," some bright idea is circulated throughout your team to, instead, run the ball into the end zone.

"No! Don't do it!" you yell.

However, your yells and screams at the television go largely unheeded. You have an instant premonition of Murphy's Law coming into full effect. In fact, Murphy's Law is now upon you.

The quarterback cries, "33! 46! 33! 27! Hut! Hut! Hu-..."

Crash! Boom! Knock!

"Ouch! Oomph! Ugh! Get off my finger!"

This sudden interruption in the quarterback's final "Hut!" was largely the result of several very LARGE men, with even larger uniforms, piling atop him.

"Well, on the final 30 seconds, a brick wall was awaiting the quarterback," the television announcer comments.

Oops! Ye olde Quarterback Sneak just ain't what it used to be...the linemen are much smarter today.

When America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, would lose in this ostentatious manner, in my house, you had better be long gone from the room, and out the front door, lest an unexpected trip to the Emergency room awaited you.

For my brother, who was a wee bit more than simply an avid fan, would literally cry, curse, slobber, break furniture, hurt innocent bystanders and, subsequently, seek a small caliber handgun for full effect (it is truly awful to witness a grown man react in this manner).

Several minutes later, about a mile down the street, and from behind a tree, I would yell back, "Mickey! They're getting millions of dollars to lose the game! All YOU'RE getting is acute hypertension! Can I come home now?"

While this article isn't about football per se, it is about a game...the serious game of "Business." The goals on each end of the field are called "online" and "offline." The main player is you. Your opponent is "publicity."

One of the widely held misconceptions about the Internet, is that it is an alternative, a replacement, a "savior," from the traditional processes of the business industry.

I often wonder how many business owners, upon learning the 'Net could be used for promotion and distribution, executed the "middle finger salute" to traditional offline processes.

I can hear them say, "Ha! I don't need you! Away with you! Be gone! Look at me NOOOOW! I built it, and they are a-coming! Check out MY piece of the world! Ha!"

Any online business owners who believe the surefire road to maximum business sales success is strictly through allowing the Internet to replace any offline promotional efforts, are certainly misleading themselves.

And, the reason it is misleading is, primarily, due to the fact that the greater number of consumers (and potential buyers), for whatever reason, are still without Internet access. Though that is difficult to accept most times, nevertheless, one certainly can't afford to ignore this particular sector of the population.

But, the same is, otherwise, true of business operators who are still functioning, primarily or exclusively, WITHOUT promoting their businesses via the Internet. What this particular group sacrifices in its promotional efforts and successful results by NOT using the Internet, is time and the ability to quickly establish business relationships in the long-term promotional process.

Now, a detour for a moment in translating the above football elements to your business:

4th quarter = You are almost there...poised for success.

4th and goal = You're poised to overtake your competition.

Opposing team leads = Your competition is still ahead.

Run the ball instead of punting = You make a wrong decision that is not considered smart, possibly, due to a state of greed.

"No! Don't do it!" = Your common sense attempts at all costs to intervene and save you from disaster.

Your yells and screams go unheeded = You throw caution to the wind.

Murphy's Law premonition = "Uh-oh..."

Murphy's Law is upon you = "Oh, no! What have I DONE?" Resistance is futile...disaster is imminent.

Crash! Boom! Knock! "Ouch! Oomph! Ugh! = Dare I utter, "Translation complete?"

What BOTH of the above types of business operators need to understand is that, in order to get the maximum yardage out of the whole business playing field, they must utilize BOTH ends (online/offline) of the field, together and effectively. Learning to utilize both ends of the business field today equally well, in regard to marketing, promotion and, distribution, is the only way to score a business touchdown and, ultimately, a win.