Volume 2, Number 10
May 15,1996
A column by Ed Rochelle
Build it and WaitA while ago the movie "Field of Dreams", popularized the thought that if you build it they will come. Of course this was a screen play and not based on real life yet people began picking up the phrase and using it in all sorts of ways. It almost took on a cult like following. Believers started to think that all they had to do to be successful was to execute a plan, no matter how poorly thought out. It was a wonderful scene in the movie after the baseball field was completed and the music rose to a crescendo to watch the ball players appear out of the cornfields. I must admit it did bring a tear to my eye.Wouldn't it be great if life were really like that? It may sound 'corny' and my daughter will call it one of my 'colonial day' stories, yet I can remember doing my first 'build it and they will come'. It was long before the movie. I constructed a stand in front of my house and offered various drinks for sale. I had all different flavors of Kool Aid. Need I say that I built it, I waited, and basically no one came. That doesn't count the 'hoods' in my neighborhood who believed that they were entitled to the same privileges that the cops were in the local stores. Who was I to argue with that logic. Had there been some real sales then the freebies would have been part of my business expenses listed under insurance. One of the reasons no one came was the fact that I lived on a dead end street and though I built it, no one knew it was there. Once they became aware of my business then they had to have a reason to want what I was selling. I assumed that because I liked Kool Aid then everyone else would. Putting a basketball court in an area where there was none, will cause lots of people to visit if they really have a desire to play. One of the best examples of this 'build it' stuff appears on the Web. If you are reading this I need not go too deep into the statistics of how many Web sites appear on the internet on a daily basis. The last I looked it was an average of 1000 per weekday. I tried to keep track of them and found that I couldn't keep up the pace. I felt exhausted. My bookmark file was growing to the point where I think it was an exact copy of Yahoo's data base. Every one connected with the site presentation feels like they are part of a 'build it' team and when 'they come' they feel a sense of success. Have you seen sites like ESPN, The Spot, Yahoo! and The New York Times? Those are but a few extremely popular examples. The IRS created a site and it instantly became one of the most visited on the entire Web. They had nothing to sell and weren't giving away any free trips to the lucky visitor. They have built it and they are coming by the droves. There are thousands and thousands of Web sites that were built and no one has come. Nobody ever told them that not only did they have to built it, they had to provide something of value to their visitors. How Come?
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