Finding that Work-to-Entrepreneur Balance
Honestly, I don't know the first thing about being an entrepreneur other than I know that I want to be a very successful one. As I've been thinking about this project I've undertaken, with the desired end goal being able to dictate the terms of my economic life, i.e., not be the indentured servant to a wage or salary, I realized that as of right now I face two "problems:. I place "problems" in quotes because I don't really view them as problems in the negative sense of that word, but more like hurdles. All things considered, hurdles make running a race more difficult. If they were removed, sure, the race would be a lot less strenuous...but then you would be doing something other than hurdling. Problems are to the entrepreneur what hurdles are to the hurdler...necessary.
To the problems. First, because one-size-does-not-fit-all, I'm generally adverse to picking up a book or subscribing to a service that offers an entrepreneur-in-a-box program.
Uhh...isn't that what Wealthy Affiliate is?
Perhaps, but then again perhaps not. As I mentioned earlier, I'm fairly new to this whole "doing your own thing for money" so in my naivete I might be making an incorrect assumption in thinking that there is a way to learn the ends and outs of this enterprise without using a ready-made process. If you are a YouTuber (of the non-paying variety) I'm sure you've come across the handful of online entrepreneurs who are peddling their wares. Now, they may all be super legit BUT the general theme seems to be that "I am going to sell you information which you otherwise could learn either cheaper, more detailed, or both, elsewhere."
I think that Wealthy Affiliate is different in that it is, at least in my short time involved with it, primarily an educational venue, albeit an informal one. I feel as though Wealthy Affiliate provides you a very sound foundation in building an online business. It provides a blueprint, but that blueprint is "flexible" in that it is highly adaptable to fit the users needs.
With that said, though, the problem for me is finding a way to mold my content in such a way that it fits with the "scaffolding", a process I am still working on and through. I feel fairly confident that as I progress through the lessons, review the content, and apply the strategies, I will get a better feel for how to "adapt" the WA blueprint with my content. In other words, success, intellectually and monetarily, will come with time.
Which is the second problem, time. The late psychoanalyst, Robert L. Moore, quipped that you know you're grandiose when you find yourself always saying "If only I had more TIME!" Well, grandiosity aside for a moment, I find myself having to figure out how to manage time being an entrepreneur with time keeping myself fed, clothed, and educated. I currently work as an allied health professional who, aspiring to be a physician, has been working and studying for the majority of my adult life. Save for some brief moments here and there, either the demands of my job or my education (most of the time BOTH) have kept me neatly occupied for the vast majority of my waking hours...and even sometimes the sleeping hours! This is, thankfully, adjusting a bit now that I've officially finished my prerequisite coursework, but my job is one of those jobs where the more you know the more you grow. That has meant that I've had to take the initiative and educate myself with regard to my particular specialty, i.e., Ophthalmology.
Time, I have found, is the quintessential component to success. I've concluded that in order for me to really give this process my best, I have to invest time DAILY, even if it is only a small amount. That is the lesson that I'm learning, and I think it is a valuable one. One that will inevitably pay rich dividends.
Recent Comments
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It is good that you realize that time is totally under your control. Everyone on earth as the same 24 hours a day allotted to us. How we use it is entirely up to you.
I be to differ on your assessment of the first problem you have because while the program points to becoming a wealthy affiliate. The basics of what we learn here to the point of you wanting to become and affiliate or perhaps, sell our own products and services are essentially training you must have before determining your ultimate online venture.
With 2 billion possible buyers on line the potential for earnings is awesome. Sell, e-books, club memberships, cars, boats, homes, knowledge, how-to this or that, OR other corporations products and services without the need to hire a sales staff, order products, warehouse them, take orders, fulfill them, deal with customers upset about their products not working, returns and more.. That's why maybe affiliate marketing has its pluses.
Oh but some will say... the Affiliate commissions are so low.. Yes they are in the beginning. But WA allows you to have 50 websites in total to make it happen. After you build your first one, its a matter of replication for the next, and next and next.
I think I can do this and in a couple years perhaps I'll be making enough to be satisfied. If not, and I was younger. ha ha... keep on going.
It's all up you you bro... where do you wanna be in a number of years, not overnight thats for sure... Let Do This!