Staying Paid

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 balance, Business, change, corporate, entrepreneurship, growth, working

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?