Running an online business isn’t necessarily easy. Yes, it offers a freedom that most jobs don’t but there is still work involved. So many people don’t get an online business established simply because they give in too quickly. Like any business an online business takes time to set up and it takes time before you start to see its potential.
You need to think of your online business as a shop which has just started in a particular neighborhood. Initially there is the building of the shop front and advertising and getting all the supplies in and making it look right. This is your store front and in internet terms it is your website or advertising. Then you need to provide your service and make it appealing to your customers. Then you need to check that everything is working well and check to see if you could be doing things any better. Just opening your shop doesn’t equate to selling hundreds of your products. You need to build a value and advertise for people to know about you.
When I first started on the internet I thought that once I had built a money making website then the pounds would come rolling in! In fact no-one saw my website because no-one could see it. I wasn’t advertising and I didn’t appear on Google’s organic searches – I simply built a website which no-one could see!
You need to look at your business from a holistic point of view in terms of the overall business system. Building a website, doing the advertising and setting up regular emails to go out to your list are just parts of your business. Don’t confuse parts of your business to your whole business. As an owner you need to make sure the parts are all working and consistent with each other. Often we neglect to see ourselves as part of the system and our own knowledge needs to be kept up to continue to move our internet businesses forward. Remember that the parts are not the business. I got so caught up in the parts of the business that I never got anywhere! I learned lots of skills like building sites and banners and links but I missed a vital part. That part was people! People have to see your store front and like what you’re selling. Not just like it but like it enough to buy it!
You need a ‘why’ to keep your business going
When things are going well and the money is rolling in it’s great and easy to stay positive. How about when things are not going so well? What about if all your friends are all going on holiday and you can’t afford it? Or you have been working for months and haven’t made a sale? What then??
You need to have a reason why you are doing what you are doing for these times. For an internet business there are plenty of reasons why it is a choice for many but have you got them written down? You need to get specific about why you are doing this specific business because ultimately you are the driving force behind it and if you lose your motivation the business stops. That’s the difference between people who are self employed and and those who are employed. If you’re having an off day at work for an employer the business will still keep going. If it’s just you by yourself, the business stops!
One of my ‘whys’ is because if I have an off day I can take it off! I accept that I won’t feel great all the time and factor in ‘off days’ into my online business. I know when working for someone else it was much more difficult to do this. There was guilt, shame, duty and obligation involved. With my business I can take a day off whenever I want!
Another one of my reasons for having an online business is that I can earn an income without having to accept the terms and conditions of an employer. Often the tables are stacked heavily towards the employer and this is becoming more and more so particularly when there is scarcity of employment. It puts employers in a powerful position and employees feel obligated to over perform in order to impress their employers and keep their jobs.
With an internet business I have total flexibility of my time and can choose my priorities in life without having an employer choose them for me.
The income potential of an online business far outweighs pretty much all other job possibilities and even in well paid jobs I would be required to do far more for the same rewards as I would do for myself as an internet entrepreneur.
I am prepared to work far harder for myself in order to achieve complete time and wealth freedom than I would ever work for anyone else for what most employers are offering. I can work at my leisure with no-one looking over my shoulder and no-one tapping their watch on my back! My life is my own and no-one is buying my time or my integrity.
So if you run an online business have a ‘why‘ list so you can look back through it when times are tough. Make a list of your small successes and put them up somewhere where you can see them regularly and they will grow into big successes.