I spend a lot of time chatting with individuals in coffee shops, and networking events. Most people when they hear that I’m running my online business, ask me a lot of similar questions. I used to answer these questions over and over again, until I realized, I should really write this guide down for people who are wondering about these questions, but don’t have me face-to-face to ask them.
What I want to say first is that it isn’t easy. It is simple, but as you know, simple doesn’t mean easy. Online business needs a lot of effort, time, energy, focus, determination, and will power. It will take your all and you still might not see any results for months or years. So you are in it for the long haul. If you are unwilling to do the work, then stop wasting my time and everyone else’s. Stop asking questions because you are not going to put them into effect. If you are willing to do the work, then bravo! I commend you for taking the step.
What Niche Should I Focus On?
This is one of the first and biggest blocks that people new to online business have. It’s usually the point at which people give up and give in. They fear that they don’t have THE niche that is going to make them millions of dollars. Let me say this about it. There are very niches that haven’t already been taken. So forget about finding a niche that doesn’t already have a lot of competition. The people who are going to care about you and your business will find you. Your vibe will attract your tribe. You have nothing to worry about on that end.
The problem is that many people get paralyzed by the thought of choosing one niche, so much so that they never end up choosing a niche. That’s not a good thing. Choose a niche. Any niche! It doesn’t mean that you are stuck with that niche for life. This isn’t a dictatorship. You are allowed to change your mind. So change your mind after a year or two if necessary. But choose one niche and stick with it for a little bit.
Don’t waste your time dilly-dallying and going back and forth. Choose one niche right now. Pick one. Right now.
Who Would Listen To Me?
This is a big block that comes up in my conversations with newbies. They are so enamoured by the images of all of these experts out there, that they feel like they are not good enough. No one will ever listen to me, or why would anyone listen to me, or why would anyone care about what I have to say.
This is normal. Everyone feels this Imposter Syndrome at one point in their online business career (or more than a few times). So get over it. If everyone is feeling it, then it’s a non sequitur. It doesn’t matter. It truly doesn’t.
Stop worrying about who’s going to listen to you or what impact you will make. Remember all you need is a 1000 true fans. Seriously go read the article by Kevin Kelly on this concept, and apply it in your business right away. We do not need a million or a billion followers. We just need a 1000 true fans that really really care about our projects, products, and promotions.
Once you realize that fact, it makes life much easier. You can start right now and have a 1000 true fans in a year or two. Boom!
Where Would I Find The Time To Focus On My Business?
Listen, y’all. We are all busy. I get it; I was busy when I first started my business. Also, I know of people who worked 3 jobs, whilst they started their online business. It’s all good.
Think of it this way. All we gotta do to build momentum in our business is to do ONE thing every single day that will move our business forward. One thing.
One little teeny tiny thing.
Reduce the pressure on yourself. You don’t have to spend hours and hours working on your business every single day. If you have a day job while you work on your business, then don’t worry about spending hours on it. Do one thing every single day.
One day it might be writing a blog post, and another it might be doing a live video. In this manner, you can keep on building momentum little by little and build a business over a period of time.
No pressure. Take all the time in the world. Just chill.
What Technical Skills Do I Need?
This is a sad one, because I experienced it myself. I thought I wasn’t techie enough to start a business, so I delayed and delayed and delayed. Finally, I decided I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’m going to start an online business, and I’ll figure out the technical side of it even if it takes me a decade.
In the beginning of my business, I spend hours watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts on how to start a podcast, and how to set up Google Analytics, and more. It was quite shocking to me how inept I was at a lot of this technical stuff.
But I taught myself. Slowly but surely.
Now, I’m an expert. All of this technical stuff that used to take me forever, takes me a few minutes now. It is seriously insane how great I’m at most of it. It surprises me how much I have learned in a matter of a few months. I can’t even wait to see where I’ll be with all of this in a few years. So exciting!
You can do the same. Everything you need to know is already online. Someone out there has created a video or a blog post explaining exactly what you are trying to do.
What If I Fail?
What if you don’t fail? Of course, you might fail. That is a definitely possibility. But how about we rephrase failure to mean learnings.
The more experiments we run on our business, the more we learn about our business. Start thinking of all of your business as play. Have fun with it. Run as many experiments as you can.
I’m always trying new things out with my business. Some of it works out. Most of it fails dramatically. That is the name of the game. I fail all the time and the more I fail, the better I feel about my business. Because life is a pendulum. If you swing the pendulum enough times towards failure, you will move it back towards success eventually.
So try new things. Expect to fail. Be surprised when you succeed. Experiment like insanity. Keep on doing.
