Solutions for 5 Of Your Biggest Challenges

Business Plan in a Day book
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Recently I posted an article that discussed some of the big challenges that prospective internet marketers face when they make the decision to work full time at their home based business.  Now as promised, here are some solutions that can effectively overcome those issues.

Information Overload- The answer is, in short, stop listening! I don’t mean to stop listening to everyone forever, but once you have recieved what you feel is good advice and made a plan to carry it out, stop listening to all the other gurus for just a little while so that you can evaluate where you stand.  There will always be conflicting advice out there but a lot of it is bad, so you need to know when enough is enough and be able to stick to your plan without changing it every time another guru screams in your ear.  It’s your business, you control it.  It takes time to build a business and you will make mistakes, but you will never move forward without sticking to a single plan to see if it works.

Getting Things Done- To overcome inertia, act!  That is advice from one of the most famous positive thinkers ever, and it is so true.  You cannot finish what you don’t start, and that is where the problem lies for most people.  They plan and learn and theorize, but taking action somehow eludes them.  Many people confuse planning (which is very important) with doing.  Carrying out your plans is the only way to be successful.  One of my mottos is “go to work, and do something-anything!” because I know sometimes I get bogged down in the learning or planning stages and I need to produce something.  Most people have a need to be productive and will become demotivated if that need is not met.  So when you are stuck, pick something to do that will yield actual results no matter how small they are, and focus on that until you feel better.  Break your day into sections and always include some planning, some learning, and some production into each one.

Not Knowing The Answers- This is a tough one.  Nobody knows everything; there is always more to learn.  On one hand the answers are available on the web to almost any question you might have, but on the other do you even know the questions to ask?  The key here is not to get overwhelmed by focusing on what you do not know.  Decide what the NEXT thing is that you need to know, and find the answer.  Planning is important here too, because you need a logical progression from the known to the unknown to keep your business efforts flowing.  What is the one thing that is stopping you from acting right now on the next thing in your plan?  Do a web search for that one issue and learn about it until it is no longer an obstacle.  Then you can move forward until you hit another hurdle, and repeat the process. DO NOT get overly concerned by the big picture when it comes to lack of knowledge because learning is a process; you will move from known to unknown, learn it, and move again.  The end result will be what you need to keep building your business.

Being Held Accountable- If you are not your own harshest critic, it will be difficult to hold yourself accountable for your production.  It is very easy for days and weeks and months to go by while you unconsciously devote your time and effort to unproductive activities like the ones mentioned above.  Planning is essential, but failing to execute your plan will be deadly to your business.  You must have the mindset that producing results is what counts by far the most, because if you don’t, and you become satisfied with the other parts of the process you will fail.  If you become results oriented you will develop a feel for plans that don’t work and when to change them; you will be able to identify flaws in your business model quickly and be able to fix them.  Work on becoming accountable to yourself and expecting results.

Technical Hurdles- As far as technical issues that hinder your business, there are no easy answers.  You may think that having an old computer with a dial-up conncection is not acceptable, but I assure you that many of today’s well known marketers started that way.  Ten to fifteen years ago high speed internet was not nearly as widely available nor was it as inexpensive as it is today.  So, while I recommend that anyone get the best internet connection and the best equipment that they possibly can, you can start right where you are.  Just keep in mind that upgrading your equipment should be part of your business plan.  That brings us to the biggest hurdle that I hear about all the time- lack of money.  Although it is true that you can start an internet based business with very little investment, too many people think that it should be free.  They want free websites on free hosting, free advertising, free everything.  Unfortunately for them, everyone that I know to be successful realizes that there is at least a small investment required to do the right things you need to do to be successful.  The good news is that you can start with an investment that anyone who is motivated can handle.  For just a few dollars a month you can have real professional hosting for your website, and for a few dollars a year you can have your own unique domain name.  So you can start for less than ten dollars a month, and grow from there very easily.  Don’t let money be a hurdle- if you can’t see spending $2.95 a month on hosting you may not be ready to start a business.

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How Much Is Your Web Based Business Worth?

Social Internet Marketing Change Your Mindset
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How much is your business worth?  With all of the hype and exaggeration you see every day on the web, I am sure that it would be easy to find people with all sorts of wild claims as to what their internet based business is worth.  But most of them are actually worth a grand total of 0.  If you want I can put it this way too- $0.00.  Or you could say zip, nada, zed, or whatever you want, but I am telling you the way it is.  I can prove it too!  There is a simple test I use, and I promise you that it is accurate.  When you are trying to determine what another marketer’s business is worth, ask them this question:  “how much money are you willing to spend on your web based business?”.  The answer you get will almost always tell you exactly what the value of the business in question is.  What I am telling you is not normally all that well received, no matter who I am speaking to, and the reason is that the average person out there wants to hold on to the “easy money with little or no work” myth.  Business is hard!  And deep down inside you know that.  But we all would love it if there were a way to make huge amounts of money just by using some system that costs nothing, is simple to use, and doesn’t require much time.  Heck I’ve looked for that sort of thing myself, just like everyone else.  But it is a fantasy to think that you will actually find an opportunity that really gets you something for nothing.  And the sooner that you face facts and realize that your business will require a lot of hard work and most likely at least a small investment, the sooner you can get on the road to actually making some money.
Right now you hate me don’t you?  I may have just punctured your balloon, made you feel dumb, or otherwise slaughtered the sacred calf, but you will be better off because of it.  And there is no need to feel dumb, or have any other bad thoughts about this, because we have all traveled the same piece of road to get where we are, so you are in good company.  You are most likely thinking that this is where I reconcile with you, rehabilitate our relationship, and start trying to get you to buy whatever I am selling, but that isn’t why I am writing this article.  I like to see others succeed, especially if I have helped in some way.  So now to the pointed end of this issue:  We all kow that it is easy to set up an internet based business, but really hard to make any money at it.  And don’t email me and tell me how it isn’t that way for you because you joined some program and it works.  I have most likely taken a look at whatever you are promoting, and it most likely isn’t much different than any number of other programs. There are a lot of good programs or “opportunities” out there that will help you if you have already built a solid foundation for your business.  But look at the words the gurus use to get people excited:  “turn key”, “business opportunity“, “new”, “pre-launch”, “ground floor”, “free”, “guaranteed”, “brand new”, and the list goes on.  Every one of the terms they use are designed to push your mental buttons.  And it works pretty good too.  But I have learned a thing or two in the last ten years, and it has become painfully obvious that people do not design and open these “opportunities” so that you can make a ton of money doing little work and spending no money.  Although I am sure that the operators of these things are mostly good people, there is no way they are doing this from the goodness of their hearts.  They are going to hit you with a sales pitch sooner or later, and you should expect that.  Whether it is an “upgrade”, “personal mentoring”, or whatever, they are going to try and get you to buy something.  And I think that’s ok, as long as what you are buying is really worthwhile.  Problem is, it is so hard to tell who is being honest that it makes people afraid to part with their hard earned money.  So here is the main point I am trying to make:  You are most likely not going to be successful with little or no time and money invested.  Sorry, but this is the truth.  If you place great value on something, you make it a priority, and if it is a priority you won’t agonize over skipping that Big Mac combo or that pack of cigarettes in order to invest those few dollars in it!  This is advice that many will not take until they learn the hard way, but I will give it anyway- plan to spend a few dollars on your business.  If you don’t, then it is unlikely that you will succeed.  I am not talking a lot of money, just a few dollars per month.  And use the money wisely.  Get yourself some paid hosting and build a website to market whatever it is that you are doing.  Plan on paying for some help once in a while.  Go to school on web based business, and get your Masters Degree.  Budget for it, make it a priority, and plan on working hard.  If you do this, and it turns out not to cost anything or take any time, no harm no foul.  I am not aware of one single person that has succeeded in online business without investing some time and money.  If you have done it, please enlighten me so I can eat my words.  I am not too proud to admit to being wrong; in fact I find it educational!

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