The Real Reason Most People Struggle To Build A Successful Business
Why do so many of us struggle to make even a single dollar from our online business?
Some people, especially those starting out, might wonder about what they actually should be doing to build their business and never make any progress because they are confused about what strategy they should be following
Others might feel that they know what they should be doing but don't know exactly how to do it because some of the necessary information has been hidden from them or perhaps they need to pay a lot of money to learn the secrets from a guru.
But the real reason most people are struggling to make a success of it online is actually:
TOO MANY CHOICES
How many of these things have you heard recently?
- You should be creating your own online course!
- You should be learning how to create facebook ads
- Blogging is the way to build a business
- Affiliate marketing is the best way to get started
- High ticket products are the way to get rich online
- Public speaking is the way to establish your authority
- Offer SEO services to local businesses
... to name just a few off the top of my head.
The more choices you face, the less likely you are to make any choice at all. Instead we dither about, try a little bit of this and a little bit of that and just get more confused.
Worse still we pay $997, $4997 etc for the next big thing only to find it doesnt work as well as the sales letter or video promised, we hit a problem and we lose heart and give up only to jump at the next shiny object that comes our way.
To be successful we need to pick our strategy and then resolve to see it through, no matter what problems arise. All the things I mentioned above are viable ways to run a successful business. Pick one and run with it and you will achieve your goals - if you focus on it.
As members of wealthy affiliate we have the strategies Kyle teaches in the training. We know they work because Kyle and others here are living proof of it.
That's it from me today. I'm off now to focus on building my business.
Make your choice and then stick to it (ignore the rest). Failure is not an option!
Recent Comments
63
Hi Dave,
What a valid post and it would be in peoples interest to take note of the principles of "doing", rather than just talking about it.
We learn most by taking action, making mistakes, and then evaluating what we did right compared to what we did wrong. And of course, that is personal to everyone's situation.
Cordially
Dedo
Thanks for the feedback Dedo. I certainly agree about taking action. Better to make imperfect progress than stagnate trying to do things perfectly
There is certainly a lot of conflicting advice around on what we should and shouldn't be doing, and it is physically impossible to follow it all,(even if you wanted to).
Of course, some of it is from entrepreneurs wanting to make money, while some are from the scammers.
Like many, I had a hard time picking my niche and offer wonder if I made the right choice, but as I get more proficient I will start a new site on a preferred niche.
A great post for all to read.
Derek
Thanks Derek.
I spent a lot of time myself working on a niche that turned out to be hard to monetize but I learned a lot in the process. I'm using that experience now to work on something more profitable.
love your post. When i first started, i didnt know what niche to choose, which direction to take, i thought the tasks were unimportant. Now, i can choose a niche in a matter of seconds, knowing what im going to write, and how to implement the menus and widgets. All of these things comes from experience.. I still have a long way to go, but i can relate.
Thanks Doug. Ah yes - experience is great and definitely helps with being more decisive about these things. One of the best things about WA is learning from the experience of others.
I agree with your post to a certain extent, and for what it is worth this is my take on the subect, especially if we are building online
We need to build a list, the list pays us and we need to advertise our business, we need to communicate with the list, by sending out offers to it, which will pay us commissions.
So, the only thing to focus on is list building, which can be done through a marketing system and our blogs
The rest takes care of itself
Hi Dave. I agree that the ultimate goal of our business is to build the list. It's the myriad of choices we get bombarded with to do it that cause the inertia for so many.
I agree which is why I stick with evergreen choices that were around before social media and still work today
Strategic as well, that helps
You've hit the nail on the head here. The online business World is full of information overload. The key thing is to FOCUS, ie, Follow One Course Until Successful.
Far better to get one thing completed, and only then move on to the next, than it is to have a multitude of things half done.
Shiny Object Syndrome with the big ticket items is a big temptation to many, leading them into the trap of thinking it's a short cut to the big bucks, and that's a lesson I've learned the hard (and expensive) way.
We've got everything we need here at Wealthy Affiliate in one place. It's streets ahead of the competition.
Thanks for sharing your insights with us, Dave.
Cheers
Rich :-)
Hi Dave,
Good post with many good points.
Business is not easy and will take time, it is best to find the area you know the best and focus on that.
With WA you have everything available to succeed from seasoned professionals who have done it.
Make a choice today and keep on going, never give up.
Regards
Darren
Hi Darren. There are many choices available but the strategy here at WA is right up there with the best and available to every member here
I like that the core of the training here in WA is about blogging, and writing quality content on a blog on a specific niche. I just want to write (no, I don´t want to speak publicly or do Facebook ads), so my goals are in line with the WA training.
The training here at WA will take you wherever you want to go with your business. Having goals is great too
Hello Dave, thank you you gave a great advice, to just stick to one thing and see it through. I also believe that a lot of people fail is because a lot of these programs will promise that they will see revenue in a month or two and when it doesn't happen they get discourage and start to fade out until they completely just stop trying.
Again Great Post
Yes there is a lot of over-hyped garbage out there and its so easy to fall into their trap. Follow the WA strategy and you'll get wherever you want to go
Dear
At first 2 years on WA , i have made something like $50 from amazon and ebay .
Now i have $100 from a test website that i even did not promote..
I have made also a new website , may be 2 months ago , still i have only 5 posts and guess what , i have got a sale on amazon .
I just follow the trainings here on WA , and i still did not finish all training .
Nowadays i am very very busy in my work and i barely find the time to work on my websites , so i started to give some articles as freelance . Yes i am now paying for people to write for me , and still i have a lot alot of work to be done , still i am experimenting .
My advise for people , just focus on one thing and try to make it succeed . That's what i did in my first website , it as about hats and how to clean hats and stuff like this , i insisted for 2 years to rank it , and i did at the end . now i know how to rank a website , and i think google wont dramatically change their ranking factors . Quality is key .
This type of work and rankings takes time , but what is more important , needs persistence and continuous learning.
Success is not easy , but you can do it.
This is just the beginning I'm sure. It only goes up from here. I can't wait until another year passes and I see your financial gain get even better! Congrats!
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I always recommend writing a business plan, even if it is one page.
The plan should cover:
Vision - what and why you are building a business
Overview - target market and unique selling proposition
Financial - breakeven analysis (how many sales to make a profit, and how much traffic to make a sale)
Marketing strategy - promotional efforts
Goals - content development, sales,
Resources - tools, supplies, training, equipment, services needed
Action plans - with milestones for achieving goals.
Otherwise, efforts become random and success elusive!
Thanks Glen - this is great advice!