Don't Give Up Persevere!

This morning I read a comment from a community member who has great traffic, excellent content and is passionate about her business but is considering giving up. I know from personal experience promoting my coaching business online and selling my e-books on Amazon that each of us will face moments where we feel like throwing in the towel and quitting.

I started my blog in 2011 and wrote pretty consistently for the first few years. I have had over 2 million views and over 200,000 unique visitors. I have conducted interviews, been interviewed and had multiple external contributors on my blog. My best month selling coaching packages online via Skype through blog traffic earned me almost $5,000. But I have given up more times than I'd like to admit.

I would be kidding myself if I said everyone can do this. That's simply not true. There are people who don't have the desire, skills or belief in the process. But it you do have the desire, skills and you truly believe in the process, you can definitely make at least a part time income through an online business.

The one time I gave up, I seriously damaged my blog. I changed the name (I didn't originally plan on having any readers so my blog is very personal). Then, once I changed the name, my stats began dropping...something just wasn't the same and people were confused by the name and focus change, so I made my Wordpress.com blog private. This combination of actions were made by me without understanding how detrimental it would be to my readers and my traffic.

I changed everything back and made my blog public again. Because I am so authentic and trasparent in my writing, people seem to truly need my posts. They feel inspired by what I write. I decided that inspiring people to maintain their romantic relationships, increase intimacy with their partners and learn how to communicate openly and comfortably about intimacy was even more important than making money. I believe that is at least part of the key to anything in life...you have to feel so passionate and inspired that, even if you didn't make a penny, you would still do what you're doing.

While I was contemplating writing this blog, I was clearing out the WA emails and came across an email from Kyle. I am sure many of you have read it but it is worth re-reading his inspiring words of wisdom.

"....Did I give up?
Absolutely not. Although I wasn’t financially successful, I had created a website. My very own website. That was a freakin’ accomplishment to me! I had also learned how to write a page of content and get it published. These were both successes in my eyes.I was still in the process of learning and building my foundation. Really, how could I be mad at myself, I was in the process of spending $10,000’s in school fees and several YEARS of schooling before I ever had the chance to make money.
So moving on, guess what I made my 2nd month?
$0.
Now you are probably saying, what the hell Kyle, why didn’t you quit? The reason. I had built my foundation for success and I knew from other “success stories” and the fact that the Internet had billions of people buying stuff online every day, that an online business was a reality for me. I just had to give it time and make it work!I knew I was getting close.I was....and my hard work from the first two months PAID off.
Early in month 3, I made my first SALE online. WOOHOO! I nearly jumped out of my seat when I logged into my affiliate account and saw a sale of just over $40!!
And from there, things started to snowball. The work I had done in the first two months started to pay dividends.
Then by Month 6: I was making a consistent income. I was able to pay off all my student debt and I was able to fund my “school” lifestyle. :)
By Month 12: I was pretty much full time. I was earning enough to work full time, but I was still scared of the idea of working from home. This fear quickly dissolved and a few months later I started to work from home full time.
And here we are 11 YEARS Later: I am still working from home and I love EVERY MINUTE of it! I would not trade this lifestyle for the world.
I just had my first child (baby girl, Scotland) and I couldn’t imagine how much more difficult it would have been if I wasn’t able to work from home and help my wife with the day to day duties. :)
BUT, none of this would have been possible if I quit. If I gave up. If I said after that second month of $0 in revenue, “this doesn’t work”.
This leads me to YOU and YOUR success. How can I ensure that you will be successful online? Quite easy.
Give yourself ENOUGH time to achieve success. By this I mean, giving yourself more than a month...and even two months. Give yourself at least one year to get your own personal business and success rolling and you will ensure that you will be successful.Go Yearly and Save!"

If you are thinking about giving up and you are just now reading this post, feel free to reach out. I have been there before and I am positive I will be there again. The key to success is creating mutually beneficial connections so you realize that you are not alone on this journey. There will be peaks and valleys along the way but if you are deeply passionate about what you're doing, don't give up! Persevere!

From my heart to yours,

Joy