Once upon a time - shortly after the NFT craze, but before the Metaverse became a thing -, in a not-so-far-away digital land, a brave man’s destiny was about to get changed by an extraordinary fluffy fellow…
Liam was a lad with a heart of gold and an enthusiastic aspiration to make it in this world and leave a mark on people’s lives through his ideas. Despite everyone’s discouraging attitudes, warning him about the risks of entrepreneurship, Liam gathered all his courage and ambitiously decided to open his own business.
After sleepless nights of research seeking the ideal products, getting himself familiar with accounting and legal matters, building a website, and contacting countless suppliers to sort out logistics, Liam’s online shop, coolstuffandmore.com, finally started taking shape.
Exhausted but hopeful, Liam started telling everyone around him about his business. But after a couple of months, despite all the hard work and dedication, only a few people actually got to visit his online shop - and the majority of them were his friends or acquaintances.
“What am I doing wrong?” Liam asked himself. “My business will never grow like this. I need to do something ASAP!” So he went ahead and asked the mighty Internet how to get to the many people he knew were out there, ready to buy his products too.
The results were surprisingly similar and most articles revolved around the same idea: “If you want people to know about your business, you just need to pay a fee to Goopy and Facenote every month - it’s that easy!”.
Liam headed to the two gluttonous giants who were sitting in front of some huge iron gates behind which he could spot a sea of people, all with their eyes glued to the screens.
“Hi,” Liam said, intimidated by their ogreish appearance and their golden thrones decorated with brilliant jewels, “I’d like to… Uhm… let people know about my business…? Could you help me…?”.
Goopy and Facenote took a moment from shoving stacks of cash in their already bursting-full pockets, looked down at Liam, and whispered in a throaty ghoulish voice “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Of course we can help you, you little one. You just have to pay us a symbolic entrance fee, let’s call it CPA, and we’ll give you access to more people than you can handle.”
Liam thought he was getting himself a great deal, so he agreed and headed home, and that month he had his first two clients.
“That’s good”, he braced himself. “I will be growing my business in no time”.
And so he did. His smart move helped him get the orders rolling and he was happy to see clients coming in and even coming back. He was finally putting smiles on people’s faces and getting closer to achieving his dreams.
But this excitement wouldn’t last for long. As the months passed by, Goopy and Facenote kept asking for higher and higher CPAs and his inventory was getting more expensive due to rising transportation costs. This made Liam’s business barely profitable, which meant he was facing a cruel reality - to either give up on his business or continue paying the two giants almost all of what he made to keep his business visible.
Helpless and lost, Liam headed to the park to meditate about his business and his future. As he sat on a bench by the lake on the brink of weeping, a worried voice interrupted him “Are you ok, buddy? You seem a bit troubled. Can I help?”
Liam raised his eyes and saw a fluffy Border Collie with his ears pinned back against the head. “I’m Timmy. What’s your name? What happened?” the dog asked.
“Good to meet you, Timmy, I’m Liam. I’m just lost… and worried I might need to close down my business and give up on my dreams”.
Timmy petted Liam on his back trying to cheer him up. “No, no, don’t say that. You’re in the right paws now, this is your lucky day.” And out of nowhere, the dog started putting on a performance.
“I’m not just any weenie,
I’m an expert, I am Timmy,
Here to help you shine and smile and win!
Think you’re little? Well, so what?
I will give you all I’ve got
To fight those sleazy ogres and fulfill your dream.”
“Hold on - how will you do that?” Liam interrupts him abruptly.
“Well, my dear friend, I’ve traveled the world learning from the best experts and helping people just like you, ever since I was a little puppy. You see, I was gifted with these superpowers that let me reach anyone anywhere and turn strangers into lifetime friends. My supersonic howling can spread the word about your business in no time; these little ears tell me when it’s the right time to get in touch with people - whether they need something or they have some free time and could use some entertainment -; my ultra-sensitive smell helps me learn everyone’s preferences so together we can surprise them and make them feel special, and with these puppy eyes I can make everyone come back for a playdate! Plus, I have some super cool lightsabers and shields I’ve always wanted to use!” Timmy says wagging his tail. “So what do you say? Are you ready to take on Goopy and Facenote?”
Liam was surprised, yet excited to hear Timmy’s suggestion. And by evening, they had the whole plan laid out.
At the crack of dawn, they geared up for the fight, and off they went. As Goopy and Facenote were waking up, ready to brush their green teeth with golden toothbrushes, Liam and Timmy sneaked behind their backs, tied up their laces, and used the lightsabers to pierce their pockets and force-open the gates.
“Nooooooooo… Don’t let them escape! Our wealth, nooo!” the ogres shouted as they stumbled and fell to the ground causing a small quake that made the golden thrones collapse on top of them. As the gates opened with a shrieking sound, Timmy rushed in and joyfully jumped from one person to the other, letting everyone know they were no longer captive.
“We can’t thank you enough for setting us free,” one man said as he came to shake Liam’s hand.
The enthusiastic crowd threw Liam and Timmy up in the air and a festive mood took over the place. Everyone started singing and dancing together and rumor has it that the celebration lasted three days and three nights and that it was organized with Goopy and Facenote’s loose change, which had scattered on the ground as they had fallen.
Shortly after the coup, Liam became one of the most successful entrepreneurs in his digital town. His business started growing rapidly and organically as many of the people whom he’d saved were delighted with their shopping experiences and started referring his online shop to users from all corners of the Internet. They also remained loyal to his business, some ordering something from coolstuffandmore.com even on a weekly basis.
Happy to have gained a true friend and a partner in… success, Liam boasted about his experience with Timmy and his incredible superpowers in front of all the business owners he’d come across. This made the fluffy dog the secret ally of numerous digital entrepreneurs and, fairly speaking, everyone’s best friend.
He even got a statue built in his honor right in the center of the Metaverse - or at least so the legend has it. And to this day, Timmy has been using his superpowers to help other brave and innovative entrepreneurs and marketers from all around the digital world. Maybe you too? :)
