Previously...

8 Reasons Why I Know You Deserve To Work From Home

Posted on May 12th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, Marketing , , ,

Whether I’m out doing the laundry or standing in line at the post office, I find multiple opportunities to go “in the trenches” and talk to people about the one thing they desire: working from home. Their reasons all differ, and I’m deeply moved that I talk to so many people that could potentially be dancers in the self-employment shuffle.

I was talking to a young lady who wanted to leave and become a graphic designer, working from home and loving the time freedom. We talked for a little while, as I mentioned to her some tactics she could take to get the word out about her portfolio and services, until she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Who am I kidding, I don’t deserve to work from home.” she said quietly, looking at me like we were suddenly on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon.

No jokes here, my friend. But if you’re nodding your head along with my acquaintance, here are some reasons why you do deserve to work from home:

1) You have a burning desire to create value

Remember that conversation we had about that V word? Yeah, it’s back again. A business is all about value, and without a clear sense of what value we create for others, your business is doomed before you net a single client. I can tell you from experience (and the losses from that year *ahem*) that my first business crashed because I felt that everyone had to be my customer, when I only provided a clear value for a particular segment of the population. I was designing websites for people that didn’t have a clear need for them, and it was like bringing a fruitcake to a birthday party. In July.

It’s important to have a burning desire to do this, as you will undoubtedly run up against obstacles, including but not limited to slow days, costs, criticism from people you’ve never met, and of course my very favorite, the “I Don’t Wanna” days. Gotta love those.

2) You know how to find answers

Desiring to be an expert has nothing to do with knowing everything. Starting a business doesn’t mean you will have all the answers; it means that you will do everything in your power to find the right answer for the customer. If the right answer means you have to write an email to a strategic partner (what? did you think running a business meant being an island? Shame on you!) to get the answer, so be it. If it means drinking enough caffeine your eyes look like coffee beans while your fingers fall off from Googling, so be it. In either case, the takeaway isn’t the search for the answer, but how you present the answer to your customer.

For example: In 2003, I started creating webpages. My first client wanted a site that had a similar look and feel to another site that he liked the structure of. I had no idea how to do that at the time. I confidently gave him a time estimation anyway, that included enough time to research how to do what he requested, while delivering a quality product. The presentation was a little choppy — looking back, I wish I had provided more reasoning — but he was impressed with the site and I went onward $50 wealthier. Did I mention pricing is part of value too? That little venture taught me to charge enough to make it worthwhile. Lesson learned.

3) You are not afraid of hard work

Yes, you can automate a business — but unless you’re already an outsourcing guru, starting a business is going to mean a lot of bootstrapping from you. Even “working smart” tends to mean putting mental energy to the test, something that 90% of the people I speak with about starting a company are amazed by.

There’s a lot of things your boss at work does for you behind the scenes — meeting with clients, setting appointments, outlining expectations, measuring results. Falling into the world of the entrepreneur means managing your time and your results, two things that can be daunting when you start out.

Don’t expect a four hour work week out of the gate — you can work less over time, but expect to put in some long hours to start with.

4) You want to make the lives of others easier

The most successful entrepreneurs I know all have one thing in common: they love helping others do things easier, better, or faster. The best businesspeople know how to help people do all three. This goes hand in hand with the first point about creating value, but you have to want to help people.

I spend a lot of time talking to people in real time about the emotional hurdles they face when starting a business, because I want to ease that transition from employee to entrepreneur and see relaxed, confident individuals making the leap. Even though one could argue this lets me become an “authority” in a sense, that’s not why I open my mouth - I speak because I truly desire to make that person’s life easier.

When you’re helping others, you build yourself up. I used to struggle with the idea of blogging because I felt like it was throwing “dollars out the window” — giving great content for free without being paid for that content. Now, I write because I want to inspire and to create, and it’s paid off quite well.

5) You have a system

I’m not just talking about outlook rules and cute metal separators from Staples — I’m talking about your business as a whole. Building a strong funnel from start to finish is the secret that keeps the big players in business — the small business owner can join in too.

To build the system starts with a question: “What do I want them to do?” If you post an ad, do you want them to call? Email? Do you want them to view a short presentation before speaking further with you about their problem?

6) You love information

I always cringe when people mention how much they hate looking up information. I cringe twice when these same people want to run a business. It goes back to the “You know how to find answers” point — the desire to search for information, whether via Google or your “expert” friend George is paramount to business success online and off. No one is an island.

7) You take calculated risks

There’s an inherent value in testing what works and what doesn’t: it filters out 90% of the chatter you’ll hear on blogs, forums, and other places people mingle together. I’m not saying that these places don’t have value (ahem, Staying Paid is part of that category, you know). What I am saying is that new entrepreneurs tend to let the “X on forum Q said that Solution Z is bad” issue devour their business. X may be a great source of information, but I’d take comments on software and solutions with a grain of salt and vow to test ideas that you’re interested in, if you’re convinced it’ll work.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes — I’ve made thousands of mistakes before getting to the point where I can share all of them with a straight face. :)

8) You can sell without selling

We all have stories about that guy that keeps calling your house selling you something crazy you don’t need — bugs the heck out of you, doesn’t it? Don’t be that guy. Instead, begin a conversation by listening to the needs of the person, and learning something about them. I get people to call me about my services because I asked them about their kids, about the reasons why they want to start their own company — my reason for doing this is probably far far different than the grandmother looking for passive income or the stay at home dad who is trying to generate extra income to spoiling the kiddies.

The best products I’ve purchased came from salespeople that knew that creating an experience that was filled with positive emotion opened my wallet better than any quick, off the cuff, one-size-fits all approach.

Being an entrepreneur means that you will have more options, controls, knobs and gears at your disposal than you’ll sometimes know what to do with. That’s OK. Changing the way we think about the entire concept of “deserve to” is the first key ingredient to business and personal success.

I didn’t include #9 and #10 because I want YOU to create those last two. Tell me: why do you deserve to work from home?

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Growing Pains and Resetting Expectations

Posted on May 6th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General, Marketing

It’s been a while since we’ve had a conversation here; my apologies. Between crunching numbers for Intro to Office and Political Science, interviewing plus size fashion store owners, site flipping, and networking with other writers and marketers, I often forget that hey, you ought to blog and at least bring everyone up to speed on what you’re learning.

My goal for 2008 is to break fear - one of the reasons why I decided to end my 7 month waffling and go for the gold of becoming an entrepreneur. So far I’ve met some pretty awesome individuals, and reconnected with folks I haven’t spoken to in a while. It’s been a real blast being home, even though it does come with its ups and downs. It’s easy to sit in an office around people who are clocking in to do a task that’s clearly outlined, but it’s another thing altogether to erase all of that and go for what you want.

There’s a few things I’ve got bubbling on the fire: site flipping, SEO content solutions, and product/service creation. I’ve got a strong “army” of people that have become near-instrumental in shoveling coal into the furnace of my brain to keep me going.

Social media has been my friend, in more ways than one. I’ve built the bulk of my network between Twitter (I am @nichelady there - follow me around!), and I’m going to tackle LinkedIn next (heard too many good things about the site, as well as the community).

I was talking offline with a lady in a walgreens about the web, writing, marketing in general. The look of shock on her face when I told her that I was squat in the middle of it blew me away — I’m still in the “gosh, I thought everybody knew that” state. So my brain began bubbling, thinking about everything I’ve done in a short bit of time (combating my inner “but I have no experiences!” scramble): government computing security for a top aerospace/defense company, customer service for a wireless service provider, data entry for an health insurance liaison, front desk/hospitality for a regionally-known university…but I never thought that anything from those worlds would be staring me in the face, yet again.

I still get people who ask me about phones, even though it’s been a while since I’ve dug into the nuts and bolts of ordering a phone that won’t blow up in three months. I still get questions about securing computers and tackling the great big world of alternative operating systems (I’ve secured machines running various versions of Linux, Windows, Unix …), and now I’m onto my next big journey: marketing.

It isn’t that I haven’t been here before, but it’s just that I’m now devoted to taking action rather than hiding on the sidelines, helping everyone else without taking my talents and putting them to good use. I started reading through blogs that were consistently Dugg, Sphinn’ed and stumbled, and I realized: Whoa, this is common sense spun with a catchy title! I can do that! I have stories to share too!

It’s about resetting expectations. It’s tuning out the negative chatter and noise and focusing on a positive signal. You can do this. And like the blog title implies, my focus isn’t just on generating income, but maintaining it through multiple revenue streams. I want this blog to serve as a start to finish chronicle of everything I’ve been doing — maybe someday someone will read these first few steps and realize the same thing I did: everything is possible.

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Online Video Killed the Anonymous Internet Star

Posted on April 20th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General, Marketing

I confess that up to this point, I have been happy being the anonymous internet blogger, writing for clients and not worried about them seeing who I am, what I think and having to put a face to everything I do. Now with this push on social media and video — the secretive life of the digital diva is being exposed — in fast detail, even.

I love video — I think short videos around 6 to 7 minutes are the bee’s knees, but if the speaker catches a topic I’m highly passionate about — I’ll definitely watch lengthier videos.

Making video has been an uphill battle, because it’s that “first impression” issue all over again: how do I want to be perceived? When I write, I get to backspace, re-align, breathe, and keep going. If I come across mean in a video, I have to start over and re-do the whole thing. I also don’t get to hide behind the curtain — I’m in full view, unable to hide my face from the world. It’s definitely a big step, as I do have to break the fear of speaking “in public” — it’s something I’ll be posting on in the near future as this experiment goes along.

We want to see faces. We want to see lips move and hands shake, because it’s the surest way of seeing the speaker’s passion.

Have you gotten into video yet?

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Have You Shared The Wheel Today?

Posted on April 18th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General

When you’re used to handling all of the details, it can be hard to step back and let someone take over, even in small ways. The problem compounds itself when your business partner has the same skills you do. Flash forward to my particular scenario: I can’t seem to let go of the damn wheel and let someone else do things that will only push this business forward.

Joshua is, hands down, one of the most talented technicians I’ve run into in a long, long time. We’ve known each other for about five years or so, haven’t seen each other face to face in 3 years. We stay connected thanks to myFaves free calling, Gmail, and five years of finishing each other’s sentences. He’s not too shabby at writing copy either. I’m thankful that I get to run an exciting business with my best friend.

I’m a good techie in my own right — I code, I dig into the guts of computers, I record and edit video, I install scripts, I make webpages and I debug server problems. My shell script-fu is rusty, but I could still hack my way through any problem on that frontier.

For me, the problem is that I’m fairly skillful in both areas — writing copy as well as digging through tech stuff. I never thought I’d be thankful for being adept with code until I started reading other marketers needing help with tech stuff that I thought everyone knew! Sounds like a product ;)

Right now Joshua and I divide our business tasks into two main parts — sales and the back end. I do everything in sales and operations, while he handles all of our technical stuff. On a typical day, this means that Joshua is installing scripts, backing up databases, making custom additions to code we’re working on for websites, evaluating which tech things we need to invest in next…you get the idea.

On my end, I talk to our clients — if an advertiser wants space on our sites, they talk to me. If we’ve got a great idea to enter another niche, I generate about 90% of the copy (Joshua generally edits the bulk of what I write) and have Joshua look at it. It’s good to have a marketer and a tech together; Joshua’s skepticism is tough to slice through, so he picks through “holes” in my copy quite well.

I haven’t been working with Joshua very long — since August 2006. The hardest part is still letting go of the wheel. It’s not really a trust issue, as I would tear off a limb for the guy — it’s a fear issue, and that’s why it’s important to get to the root of it.

I still get caught in the “sharing the workload means you can’t handle it all” wave. I’m a tech too, I can do what Joshua does, and giving up and letting him do it implies that I’m less. The funny part is that I learned that he often feels the same way — he can write copy and he can  whip together some really cool articles.

Today, though, he let me in on some insight that I think really helps one nip this in the bud: just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you’re actually deriving any joy from doing that. For him, his joy stems from being head down in code, solving a problem. For me, there’s no other place in the world I’d rather be than writing copy. It’s just the way I feel right now. That was the reason why I left a comfortable job to be in the trenches, because communicating with all of you really is my passion.

So, from one entrepreneur to another, wherever you are: share the wheel. If both of you are trying to drive at the same time, the project will go nowhere. Our projects are running infinitely better now that I’m writing copy and he’s slinging code.

Have you shared the wheel lately? Is it easy for you, or is it more of an uphill battle?

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Revolution Eve: 3 Things To Do On The Last Day Of Your Day Job

Posted on April 15th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General, balance

As the title implies, I go in tomorrow for my last day of work as part of the headset bound. I’m ready and scared at the same time — and in the spirit of information, decided to do some thinking about what you should do to make the last day memorable for not only yourself, but for your coworkers and former bosses. Even though you’re now on the road to entrepreneurial nirvana, there’s no reason to mix matches and bridges together.

1. Start, Pause, and Finish the Day Right

Are you the person that greets everyone on their way in? Starts the morning pot of coffee? Waves hello to the visiting sales reps? Continue to be that person. There’s no reason to stop being the star you are just because it’s your last day. That said, it’s important to also continue to give 100% percent today, as hard as it may be to do when freedom’s knocking on your door. I would rather be the person they remember as part of the team, than that chick who sat and twiddled her thumbs while everyone else was holding the rope.

As far as the specific rules of your office, you’ll want to watch for those particularly on your last day — it’s so easy to take the leniency of the office as a given when you’re headed out the door but it’s still a loophole that others can use to unfairly tarnish your reputation. Avoid taking long breaks or lunches, and leave when scheduled — until you turn in your badge, you’re still on company property and should take care to not stir up trouble.

2. Shred all old information, Turn In All Relevant Material

Every company, including yours once you get the ball rolling, has proprietary information. Contact your team lead for the specifics, but as a general rule of thumb, you should take care not to take with you things that are sensitive to the company. It’s not a rules issue, but one of ethics — would you want a freelancer to hold your passwords hostage? How about taking all of your copy wholesale? Try to put yourself in the shoes of your former employer and you’ll find that it’s just better to toss out the old and turn in the documents that are still relevant. Do you really need copies of “Sales Expectations for Q1 2007″ hanging over your head? Delete and move on!

3. Find Something to be Thankful About!

Saying “thank you” is the quickest way to put a smile on someone’s face. A pack of thank you cards from your local big box retailer costs less than a run to the local fast food joint. For the frugal, a typed note from Outlook still speaks volumes about your manners as a person, as well as how you valued the connection you had to the recipient. Flag down old lunchmates and training buddies and tell them the basics: a) you’re moving on and b) it was a pleasure working with them. Be sincere — if it was a nightmare on wheels, a simple handshake and distance still carries the same message. You don’t have to love your coworkers; you don’t even have to like them. However, if you want to still have a link to one of the best word-of-mouth networks running, you have to respect them.

If someone asks you what you are moving on to, keep that conversation thread limited, and safe for discussion around the water cooler. Let’s face it, office gossip is rampant and badmouthing the company will only ruin the connections you have at the company. Save it for your locked diary, a non-related 3rd party you do lunch with, or even dear old Mom, but don’t vent out loud on company property.

Just For a Little Something Extra

For those that are interested in the same field you’re entering, leaving your contact information is another great thing to do. I like to have a little business card in my thank you note along with perhaps a discount code of some sort or a referral bonus — everyone likes to be in on a discount.

Thoughts

For the old hat among us, what did you do on your last day at work? Did you leave quietly, or did you have a goodbye party? Was it easier to do this while in a place you enjoyed, or did you deploy these same principles in a place that made you crazy?

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The “V” Word You Need To Hear Over and Over Again Before You Start Your Business

Posted on April 9th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General, Marketing

We don’t talk about this word a lot. Oh, there’s a lot of “V” words we discuss: verification, volume, even vision. I have a feeling that if we discussed this “V” word a bit more often I’d probably see more people in the entrepreneur group. It’s that important, because without this particular “V” word, your business is going to suffer big time. The truth hurts, so if you’re squeamish, the following words may be best saved for another day.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Quitting My Day Job: How a Head Injury Made Me Realize That Now Is The Right Time To Quit My Day Job

Posted on April 7th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, General , , , , , , , , ,

After three months of wringing my hands, writing pro-con lists, and asking everyone from my mother down to the taxi driver, I put in my two weeks’ notice at the day job. I did it without pointing fingers, without yelling, without being ugly or acting like a downright idiot. I went into a small meeting room, gave my boss a typed letter with all the important information, and thanked her for the obvious opportunity of being there.

There was some nervousness on my part, but putting in my two week notice was the best thing I could have done for this business. You see, there’s a lot of people that sit on their heels waiting for the “right” time to come when all lights are green and the angels sing and the clouds circle and reshape to form “It’s Show Time!” in big puffy cloud-letters. However, there will never be that perfect time, so why not assess your risk and keep moving?

I have little to lose and so much to gain taking the plunge into making a living online full time — I’m a college student with a passion for writing and selling product. I don’t have a lot of expenses, so even a modest attempt at making money online would indeed cover my living expenses.  A few lifestyle changes (like getting a roomate) would further drop my cost of living, but that’s another post for another day.

The emotion that’s running through me right now is excitement, but I’ll be honest — there’s some hesitation there too. This is what I’ve always wanted and I need to just do it, and correct course as I go along. This blog is about the journey, and I’ll be talking to lots of folks as I get there — I’m always reachable at nichelady at gmail dot com, if you want to drop a line.

Getting paid isn’t the question when you’re starting out — it’s staying paid. That was the inspiration for this site — I wanted to share with you both the technical aspects and the emotional aspects of leaving the workplace behind and keeping it behind you as you move forward in your life.

It sounds easy, but it’s not. In fact, if it were easy you wouldn’t appreciate it. If you decide to go on this journey, you will sweat, you will cry, and you will bleed. At least I’m being honest — I’ve derived a nice secondary income online since 2004, and now I’m going to leave the “security” of a traditional day job and do this full time.

For the last few days of writing blogs, reading boards, talking to interesting marketers and polishing my shiny portfolio, I realized that even though I won’t have the comfort of that biweekly check, I’m building something that I get to own for the rest of my life, rain or shine, sickness or health. That’s the power of business, and that’s what I believe will really change lives.

I want to create. I plan on writing free guides on building business systems online, everything from selecting the products you want to promote all the way up to pitching to your prospect.

I think that’s all for now, except for a drop of gratitude to my long time best friend and business partner, Joshua Tryon of Stumbling Through Life. I can’t thank him enough for his “in the trenches” support of me and this crazy idea of becoming a digital diva. Thanks, J! :)

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Where I’m Coming From, What I’m Fighting For In This Internet Business Game

Posted on April 1st, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Creation Station, Empowerment, General, Marketing, Rant , , , , , ,

If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you have at least 1-2 well meaning (well, they think they mean well) friends that are still giving you the “Oh, are you still on that internet business thing still?” line that we all hate. I despise the phrase as much as you do, but what I’ve been thinking is that instead of getting angry, to look at where they’re coming from.

Turn on any tv channel at any time of day and you’ll see countless offers to start your business right now and make bajillions of dollars — even my grandmother has seen those commercials. So when you go to friends and family and talk about your internet business that you’re building based on countless hours of study, planning and execution, their primary point of reference is going to be those damned commercials.

So don’t get too mad.

What I’m learning as I go along the making money trail is that part of your job as an entrepreneur is to not only educate, but inspire. You have to convince them not only about these abstract (keep in mind that SEO, affiliate marketing and all the rest are ABSTRACT to people that are NOT in this business!) concepts, but also to be the glowing example that yes, this can be done. You can have a passion that makes you as much money as you like, it just takes some fine-tuning.

I don’t recommend too many products anymore — I’ve spent thousands on training, and I prefer to bond with bloggers, hide in forums, and get selective about what products I’ll read or even promote. Quality is a virtue, and I don’t automatically sign up with everything a list owner sends down the tube — it has to match with my business structure.

I’m fighting for everyone that’s sat to themselves and said “There’s no way I can do this.” I’m battling everyday with learning as much as possible for people like my mother, that never knew there was a world that you could work once and sell multiple times. I’m fighting for myself, to give myself the life I’ve always wanted without being dependent on a single source of income that could crumble at any moment (if you don’t believe me, try googling for “at-will employment”) — but it’s not enough to want to get there, though that’s a good start. I have to follow through. This blog is my accountability.

As it stands, I’m in the business of writing content — this blog is a record of what I’m doing, thinking and dreaming of. I’m making my goals a reality by staying positive and not allowing anyone to make my mind change but myself. Sometimes being stubborn is the best quality to have after all.

So please, when your friends corner you to ask why you’re furiously writing copy instead of spending a night out in the club with them, tell them that you’re working on your goals — maybe even share with them your small victories.

I know, I know — you’re reading this and thinking “Gosh, Isabella, I don’t have any small victories!” Sure you do. You’re online aren’t you? Perhaps you’ve written your first blog post, or maybe you’ve gotten that first check from Google AdSense. Maybe you’re writing content that gets linked to in an e-zine, or perhaps it’s something as simple as just h4earing a paragraph, a phrase that really sticks with you and gives you the fuel you need to keep going.

 If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. — Chinese proverb

For me, the game is simple: earn passive, recurring income so that I’m free to enjoy the evening sunset from wherever I choose, rather than being bound to an office desk generating energy, fire, and income for someone else.  Granted, I enjoy exchanging time for money, but being able to make choices on where my time goes is the greatest gift that I can give to myself.

I know the stakes: I have a business partner that is also my best friend and confidante of almost six years, a family that uses me as their “light unto the world”, and countless friends that are watching with bated breath to see if I can do wha t they believe is absolutely impossible. I also know the rules of the game: keep your morals, test, and always believe.

I don’t subscribe to the “it’s been done” theory that is spouted so often in forums. Why? Look at the bestseller list on any leading bookstore and look closely at the subjects that we’re buying. How many books on personal finance do you have right now? How many books on caring for your sick child do you have? How many books on buying cars without getting beaten like a rug at the dealer’s office do you have? Even if you don’t personally own them, you can see them heavily advertised wherever you look. The authors certainly aren’t writing for their health, so that ought to tell you something.

Everything has a unique spin, a way of telling the story that takes your breath away. As enterpreneurs, that is what we are doing with life — pulling threads out of the air and twisting them to tell a story that takes someone’s breath away.

What’s your story?

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Honey, We Forgot to Ask The Merchants!: A Short Lesson In What NOT To Do In Affiliate Marketing

Posted on March 29th, 2008 in General

It’s all about learning from mistakes, so I’ll let myself be the guinea pig on this one. I was all ready to go — I had my swipe file at the ready, I was testing different headlines and playing with keywords for this upcoming project of mine that had me really, really excited. I was researching a couple of campaigns to try out, and stumbled across a great program that paid out really well with an affiliate network I trust (Neverblue Ads) — I was in the zone.

for a time, that is…

I wandered back into my affiliate login page, checked out that campaign again. I had written copious amounts of notes, checked keywords, and pretty much got ready to fire — except that I forgot to actually ask the merchant to sell their product.

Depending on what network you choose and what products/services you promote, you may need to gain advertiser approval. This can lead to a lot of mismanaged time if you didn’t stop to apply for the program before barreling into it. I found another program that I also want to promote, but I’ll be patiently waiting for advertiser approval. Generally, if you show them what you’re working on, the advertisers generally approve you with no trouble.

Just click the button. Don’t pick up a pen until you do — and wait for the reply. If there’s trouble in paradise, you don’t want to go through all the trouble of helping the merchant make money while you’re waiting for your check to come in.

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There’s a New Kid In Town

Posted on March 2nd, 2008 in Business, Creation Station, General, balance, life

Johnny come lately, the new kid in town
Everybody loves you, so don’t let them down– The Eagles, “New Kid In Town”

Is there a new kid in your town? How about in your business, or in your life? For a lot of would-be entrepreneurs, that new kid has a very classic name that nobody quite seems to get right: doubt.

Doubt can crush any chance you have of fleeing the office dance if you aren’t careful to watch out for those signs of doubt creeping in. When doubt sets in on my goal to stay paid, I tend to go back to the basics.

Remember why you’re doing this!

Do you have a visual reminder up of why you’re putting yourself through the testing, lead generation, research, and time away from the people you care about? If you don’t, put one up — I have above my monitor a list of things I want to do. I also have a picture of a sunset, something I think about quite often. I want to get paid and stay paid so I can watch the sun rise and set everyday from the comfort of my living room, not through some office window (if I’m lucky).

Get a Buddy

I limit my forum creep to places where people are positive and determined to make money. Thread upon thread of “why am I going nowhere fast” does no one any good, so I avoid places that tend to collect a cluster of that type of thinking. Finding people that share your passion shouldn’t be just limited to the Web — go out and find people in your area that have an interest in owning businesses. “Running” a business makes it sound too much like what you’re trying to escape from. Owning a business means management of resources and people, not grinding it out like a wage slave. Granted, as your business drools and crawls on the floor, you’re going to grind more than a gear at the widget plant, but that shouldn’t be your permanent setting.

Just Do It!

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Look at top selling products on television — are they perfect? No, and they have thousands and thousands of fans. The very characteristics that are seen time and time again in entrepreneurs are the very characteristics that morph into the Everything Must Be Perfect disease, crushing your business before it even comes out of the gate.

Got an urge to write something? Pick up a pen and just write. And write. And write some more. Thinking about an AdWords campaign? You’d be surprised at what you’ll learn with just 20$ ($5 a day to watch your ad run and get clicks and test which ad got the most response) and a couple hours of research.

Just remember: not everyone can even think about doing what you’re setting out to do — own a company. Pat yourself on the back and tell that new kid in town to get to the back of the line — success was here first!

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