Having an online business is amazing, but is passive income really a thing? And are 6 figure launches really as easy as they make out?
When I first started my own business and worked with other online marketing and business experts, there was a lot of talk about success and what that meant or how that looked and how easy it was!
I am sure you have seen the photos on Instagram of the business owner who is away again on another holiday because their business makes money as they sleep. One of my biggest bugbears is when you see the owner standing in front of super cars, or a yacht showing off their “laptop lifestyle”.
We are often sold stories of success in the marketing industry but sometimes these don’t quite reflect the reality behind the scenes.
And the problem with all of this is that it makes people end up feeling like they are failing because they think these successes happened overnight, but rarely does that happen!
The truth is, it takes hard work (A LOT of it!) to run a successful business. You know I am all about being authentic and honest, so I want to discuss what it is actually like, share some opinions, and hopefully in doing so, help to release the pressure that any of you feel working in the marketing industry.
#1 There is no such thing as an overnight success
When you look at the overall picture of someone who has a big following, they’re really popular, lots of people buy their course or are in their mastermind and you think wow how did they get all that?
The truth is, you never see the whole journey. All of that stuff didn’t happen to them overnight. Jasmine Star didn’t wake up one day and have 478k followers on instagram! She worked for it – everyone starts at 0 and has to build it. You just might not have known them at that point and when they came into your world they had the following and the business – but they had to build it like everyone else.
I always use my podcast as an example…I showed up every single week with a new podcast episode and my downloads increased by a few each week. Then, after 9 months of consistently showing up and releasing new weekly episodes, there was a sudden spike and the podcast had a huge positive impact on my business! But there was 9 months of showing up and doing the work before I had that growth. What if I only gave it 3 months or 6 months? I would never have seen that growth and would have thought it didn’t work.
So unless you have friends in high places in your industry then the chances of becoming an overnight success are slim. However, tenacity and consistency are the real keys to success.
#2 You don’t need huge followings to be successful
I think there is a part in most of us who get excited when they get new followers or someone signing up to our email list. I remember the first time someone bought something and I didn’t know who they were, I was beyond excited.
And when we look at some of the people we follow we can feel a little disheartened that we don’t have the followers they have or we don’t get as many on a live or a webinar (one of the first webinars I did there was only one person on it!).
I know the more people who see our stuff, the more people are likely to buy it. h
However, it’s not true that you need to have a huge following and a big email list to be successful.
Give me quality over quantity anyday!
The key is to ensure that the people you attract are actually interested in hearing from you, want to engage in your things and want to buy from you.
If it was just about numbers you could buy 10k followers on Instagram today for pennies – but that would be pointless!
As I said before, everyone starts at zero. It takes time, commitment, and perseverance to grow these things. As you are growing make sure you don’t ignore your current audience!
Ignore the vanity metrics and focus on growing a community that are your biggest fans!
#3 It’s likely it isn’t all going to happen in 3 months
In the world we live in now, everyone wants things to happen as fast as possible, however, success doesn't work that way. If you want longevity, if you want real people to buy from you and then love you and stay with you, then you've got to be known for the things you do.
To do this you have to be consistent and stick it out when times get hard. You have to show up regardless! Go live on social media when no one is watching, keep posting when no one is commenting, be consistent to a fault and it WILL pay off.
I have been in business now for over 7 years and although my offer has changed over that time as I have grown, my messaging has been consistent. I have not started things and stopped things. I have shown up consistently for years. The podcast now has over 230 episodes. Has my business grown fast? Not as fast as I would like but I have people with me who have been with me since day one and are my biggest fans and you can only get that from showing up time after time.
Don’t forget to feel proud of yourself and be grateful for all you have achieved within your business so far, continue to work hard, be dedicated, and it will happen!
If you need some mindset support and a community to keep you on track, why not check out my membership – The Dream Business Club where like-minded business owners connect, support and learn how they can get their dream business.
