How would you rate your online business? * Super - My site and system are up and I'm making a "good" profit. * Great - My site and system are up and I'm making some money. * Average - I am making some progress and will be ready soon. * Good - I am working on it but haven't finished anything yet. * Fair - I have no idea what to do but am learning. * Poor - I tried but am ready to give up Now I'll tell you that my business goes between Great and Super on a monthly basis since I don't have everything in my plan done yet. However, last week I listened to a recorded seminar that almost threw me into the "Poor" category. No, I am not mentioning names because I don't want you to go searching for the same recording I heard. It was just way too depressing. However, I will share what was said that made me almost quit and then tell you why I didn't. The speaker gave a definition of what an online business is and stated that everyone is doing it wrong. He quoted from books I had read and agree with. He showed some impressive charts. He made some statements that made a lot of sense. And he told us how to compute what our time was worth (his example showed our time as being worth $210 an hour.) But the "gotcha" statement was: If you can pay someone else to do a job for less than what your time is worth, then you should because if you don't, you're wasting your time and you don't have a "real" business. (This is not an exact quote since I was in too much shock to write it down.) When I heard this speaker's proclamation that all online business owners should be paying someone else to do just about everything there is to do to have an online business I went from feeling "OK" with my business to "I may as well throw in the towel now and give up." Fortunately, 1 of my readers back in 2003 gave me the nickname, "The Lady Conqueror" because I don't give up without a fight. (Thanks Hodges, it was that nickname that reminded me to "push back and "fix it ".) But how do you fix the problem of not wanting to or being able to hire someone to do most of the work for your online business? Answer: Examine exactly what was said and know exactly where you are in your online business. Here's what I did to examine what was said: 1. The speaker's statement that we're all doing it wrong - That was a good attention grabber. 2. The speaker's definition of business and his quotes from well known authors affirmed his attention grabbing statement. 3. His charts and statements were great because all online business people could emotionally identify with them. 4. His walk through on computing what our time was worth was impressive since he used numbers we could easily assume as our own. And the end value was very flattering (I've never earned $210 an hour - have you?) Hey, I just listened to a video "sales letter"!!!!! (Oops, I forgot to mention he was having people register for his next big coaching session.) By the way, I computed the hourly rate after I regained my senses and found his end result was 3 times what it should have been. To know where you are in your online business: 1. First understand that a business should be able to operate when you're not around so until you've got it going like that you are considered "self-employed." 2. For most people starting any type of business, "self-employed" is the first stage. (You think Bill Gates started by hiring everyone who works for him now when he first got started?) Since we're all working to get to "business", that's the term I'll keep using for us. 3. Until you get to where you want to or can afford to hire out some of your work, you automate as much as possible. 4. When you start making an income you re-invest in your online business to not only expand but to also hire-out some of the work. In case you're wondering if I pre-registered for this speaker's next coaching session the answer is - No. Not because he's not good - he's probably a great mentor if you have a ton of money to spend to start or expand your business. But from his sales pitch I suspect that: * Most newbies can't afford his coaching or his methods. * Many of those who think they can afford his coaching will find that they've overextended their budget and can't afford to implement his methods. * Of those who can afford to implement his methods only a few will because most won't be able to come up with projects to spend their money on. So while he'll make a ton of money from the 1000 who buy his coaching, only a few (less than 10) will use what he has to offer and make any "real" money. While I may be wrong in my suspicions, at least I have conquered my feelings of giving up. I know where I am in my business and no matter how my business rates, I am feeling good about it. Can you say the same? |
About Us
