I remember when I first started learning about this Internet Lifestyle and the people who were having success in it.
At first there was a ton of skepticism if what they were saying was actually true.
You mean these people were able to quit their jobs, remove the ceilings on their income and have total control of their time while the rest of us were stuck slaving away at our 9-5 jobs all day?
After accepting that what (most of them) were saying was true and even more, then came the next hurdle.
I started to think that there must be something special about these guys and gals that they were able to have so much success online.
Maybe these are just really unusually smart and talented people?
But after meeting many of them in person at conferences, I came to another realization. Most of them worked really hard for sure, but for the most part they were pretty much like most of the people I have known my entire life. Some were smarter and more talented than the average person and some not so much.
But the more and more I thought about it the more I realized that there are some common reasons why these particular people were more successful than most but ONE stood out above the rest.
What separates the people who have achieved their goals of a successful online business and the ones who quit and never accomplished them?
Well like I said there could be plenty of factors depending on the situations but the key here is THEY DID NOT QUIT.
Situations are different for everyone which could contribute to faster or slower success but no matter what the situation is, one thing remains true for everyone; if you quit at something you will never succeed.
It really is that cut and dry. If you quit you will not succeed. If you have tried and tried but still cannot make this Internet Business thing work, that is still not failure.
Failure only comes when you have given up because only then do you guarantee yourself no chance of success.
Reasons Why We Want To Give Up
Comparing Ourselves to Others
One of the reasons why we want to quit Online is when we compare ourselves to others. Maybe you know or see a person who is having success online in a similar niche as you but you are still not able to make it happen.
You begin to question yourself. Why is not working for me like it did for this person? Are they just smarter than me? Do they know some secret formula that I just do not have?
One of the problems with comparing yourself to people you see who are having success online is its not an accurate or fair comparison.
Often times you are seeing their end success outcome, while never experiencing the struggles they had at the start. In other words, in the past they may have had the same or even more problems getting good results then you are having now.
At some point they overcame those struggles and now you are just seeing the fruits of their success but you did not see how difficult it was for them to get there.
People online are typically slow to share their difficulties but quick to share their victories. This is natural as people want to feel smart and crave recognition for their accomplishments.
But this also sometimes gives the impression that success is quick and easy and if you do not have good results right away your not going to be successful.
That is why I started this blog now before I am making crazy money and before I have even quit my day job. I want to share the struggles, not just the success.
Hopefully a year or two from now I can say that I’m wealthy and living the life of my dreams online but you will be able to go back and see that is was not always like that.
I want to give you a quick example of the problem with comparing yourself to others.
This is Gregory Ortiz story:
I first came across him when he appeared on the SEO scene as a teacher for Alex Becker Source University. This guy was absolutely killing it!
He used to be the manager of a Bed and Beyond in NYC. After discovering Internet Marketing and working his tail off he had tremendous success in a very short amount of time. So much that he became a recognized teacher of Internet marketing.
Here is the thing. While I was inspired by Gregory’s story it actually discouraged me a bit as well. You see Gregory discovered Online Marketing after me. Not only that he was making $40,000 GRAND a month after just 6 months of getting started!
I had been at it for a year already and was NO where near that (even now I’m not).
But this discouragement was very short lived. After beating myself up a bit I quickly got over it. He has a different story than I do. His path to quick success should not be compared to my slower one.
I mentally shifted his stories impact on me to where it should be. An inspiration! I realize that its very possible to accomplish this and I just need to work as hard as Gregory and my time will come as well.
Feeling Like A Failure
Another reason people quit is because they feel like a failure or are embarrassed because lots of time has passed and they have not had the results they wanted yet.
If you are like most people you are probably your own harshest critic. You do not want to add to this pressure by telling all of your friends and family about your plans on building an online business.
Look lets be real friends or not, there are A LOT of haters out there. Even the folks who love you and want whats best for you sometimes subconsciously do not want you to kill it online because that would make them feel a bit jealous or inadequate.
The last thing you need when your struggling in the beginning and dealing with your own internal dialogue is to have someone else close to you throwing more shades of doubt.
Besides, why would you listen to the advice of anyone who has not achieved what your goals are?
If you wanted to get six pack abs would you listen to your buddy with a pot belly or the fitness trainer who already has the exact abs you want?
Same is true here. People who have never tried to make a dollar online will tell you up and down that it wont work.
Listen to the people who have actually succeed at what you are trying to accomplish. Most, if not all will tell you that they did not have success their first time out.
Even if your family and friends have the best intentions its best to downplay what your doing online until you have started having some success. If you show to much enthusiasm they might constantly ask you about it which may discourage you at the start when you have not hit your traction yet.
What Your Doing is Not Working
One way to guarantee bad results is to continue doing tactics that have been shown not to work. The great thing about the Internet and technology is you can test things and usually for a cheap price.
I never get those people who insist something does not work when they only tried one way of doing it. If something is not giving you the results you want the lesson is: Do not quit, change tactics!
Applying Kaizen To Your Business
There is a Japanese philosophy called Kaizen. It basically means: Working towards constant, continuous improvement.
It is ‘getting better at getting better’. Instead of just randomly trying things, you can put something in place and then make tiny tweaks constantly trying to improve to perfection. In this way you can eventually reach maximum potential for your business and profits.
Kaizen philosophy works very well in Internet business because as I mentioned before its usually pretty cheap to test new changes.
So for example you could create a new product and throw up a funnel selling that product. Kaizen would keep you busy as you continue making small tweaks every day with the goal of incremental improvement. The sales page copy, the auto-responder, the product, its really endless what you can test, tweak and improve on.
Putting Things In Perspective
Lets say you worked part time on your Internet business and for 3 months you saw little to no profit. In fact you even lost money.
Now another 6 months go by and your still nowhere near where you want to be. Now you have spent over a thousand on your education and tools.
You start to question where this is worth it and if you should just quit. Another few months go by and now its been over a year. So one year of giving up precious free time and spending your own hard earned money with not a ton of money to show for it.
But here is the thing. You DO have something to show for it! You have knowledge that you did not have 12 months ago when you started. You have 12 months worth of knowledge that gets you closer to your goal!
Really think about this. Even if it took you 2 years to succeed wouldn’t it be worth it?
After all a college degree takes about 4 years and can cost between $20,000 and $100,000! And trust me, after 4 years of hard work and thousands of dollars that does not even come close to guaranteeing you a job.
Compare that to starting your own Internet Business. Some people see success in the first 6 months but even if it takes you 2 years to start making money that’s less than a college degree and with a way bigger upside.
Typically people get a college degree after 4 years, then start at the very bottom of some company and take another 5-10 years working their way up the corporate ladder until they finally make good money. With good money comes long hours and giving up all your time and freedom to a boss.
With an Internet business the gold at the end of that rainbow is no boss, complete time freedom and unlimited ceiling on the income you can make.
Trust me. If you are passionate and focused on any niche in the online business world and you work at it every day for 2 years, you should not only be successful but be one of the most knowledgeable people out there on that subject.
So in conclusion. No matter how discouraged you get. No matter how long it takes.
The real secret to succeeding in your own Online Business is. DONT. EVER. GIVE. UP!