If You Believe You Can Do It, You Eventually Will

January 14, 2010 by

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it.”  – Mahatma Gandhi

Starting any business – even something as “simple” as writing a blog – can be a pretty scary thing.

There are a lot of things do and plenty of other things to learn, and on top of that, there’s no guarantee you’ll be successful. In fact, the odds are actually stacked against your success.

Sounds like a pretty risky proposition, and is probably the reason why many people to through their life without ever entertaining the idea of branching out and doing something on their own, even if they stumble upon a great idea or opportunity.

While you might be a little intimidated of the idea of starting a business, don’t let that fear hold you back and keep you from pursuing your dream of owning your own business and going after financial independence.

After having been in business for three years now, I think the biggest factor in my success – and considering 50% of businesses fail within the first five years, making it past the three year mark should be considered a success – is the fact that I have always believed in my abilities as a business owner, web site developer, and writer.

Especially when I first started out and had no idea what I was really doing, this belief in my abilities was enough to sustain me while I acquired the skills necessary to ensure I was running a sound, profitable, and growing business.

If you’ve come up with an idea for a business, whether it’s a new website or a revolutionary product, run with it! Trust in yourself and your abilities; you’ll figure out everything you need to know. If you run into barriers, ask for help from people who have already solved similar problems.

Believe that you can do it, and, eventually, you will.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Starting a Business Tagged With: , ,

The Mass of Men Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation

January 12, 2010 by

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

The above quote comes from the classic book “Walden” written by Henry David Thoreau and speaks to anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.

I’m not trying to get all spiritual or new age on you, but I think the above quote is one of the most powerful and telling things I have ever read.

the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, walden henry david thoreau

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation...

What this says to me is most of us go through our lives wanting more but accepting less. We accept a life that is lacking passion.

We know we want to do more or make more of ourselves, and it tears us up inside, but we resign ourselves to accepting the status quo and not taking any action to make our life and the lives of those around us better.

“… and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

I think this is the saddest part of the quote, because, to me, it says that not only do we know we want more and to make more of ourselves, but we have the ability to make the changes we want, but are simply too tired, drained, and discouraged to do so.

Pretty depressing, right?

This Quote and You

So, how does this relate to you?

First, if you feel this quote applies to you, work like heck to get out of your rut and start making some changes in your life, even if it’s something simple like driving a different route to work.  Sticking with your current routine shouldn’t be an option!

(Although, be smart about it.  Quitting your job or not paying the bills might feel good, but will probably leave you in an even worse bind!)

Second, find something you’re 100% passionate about and spend time doing it. For me, it’s writing about entrepreneurship, personal finance, and the environment. Whatever your passion is, find it and embrace it!

Third, if you’re so inclined and want to take on the challenge, try and find ways that you can turn your passions into a business. Even if it’s something that you do on the side in your spare time, I think you’ll find even more fulfillment in your passions by transferring them to your “work.”

What are your thoughts? Are you one of the quietly desperate with a song in you? Have you broken free and made extraordinary changes in your life? Leave your comments below!

Resources:
Turning Your Passions into Your Business

Per FTC regulations, please note that the above link to Walden is an affiliate link, and should you purchase the book I will receive a commission.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Starting a Business Tagged With: , , , ,

Patrick Bateman’s Morning Routine and Your Blog

December 28, 2009 by

Yesterday, I was watching American Psycho – a movie about a young, wealthy investment banker who has a psychotic alter-ego – on Blu-Ray, mostly because it was either that or watch the Redskins lose yet another game.

Because the movie is about a businessman – albeit, a psychotic businessman – I wanted to see how it might relate to us smalltime online entrepreneurs. What I came up with was appearance.

Bateman spends a lot of time talking about how important it is to always look your best. In many cases, he is correct. His picture-perfect looks help him to skate by and hide the fact that he’s actually a raving lunatic. For example:

I live in the American Gardens Building on W. 81st Street on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman. I’m 27 years old.

I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I’ll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now.

After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine.

I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.

Yep, that’s just his morning routine.

So, what am I getting at? Take the time to make your writings orderly. Add pictures, give your writings a nice flow, make things look pretty.

You could have the greatest post in the world, but if it’s not broken up the way your readers want to see it – if you use weird font or an ugly background color – your post is going to automatically be dismissed. If the post is presented to look crisp and clean, you’re going to keep your readers on your site, and possibly turn them into loyal, credit-card-in-hand buyers.

It’s ok to be a little neurotic about making your posts look nice. Just don’t turn into Patrick Bateman along the way!

Per the new FTC regulations, the above links are affiliate links, and should you buy any product after clicking on the links, I will receive a small commission from the seller.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , ,

Your Audience is Out There

December 5, 2009 by

“Somewhere someone is looking for exactly what you have to offer.” – Louise Hay

I saw this quote the other day, and immediately thought about how relevant it is to those of us who run an online business, in particular blogs and information based websites.

According to the World Bank, as of 2008 the world’s total population was nearly 6.7 billion people.  Of those 6.7 billion people, roughly 21.3% of them — or  1.4 billion people — have access to the internet and use it with some regularity.

It probably goes without saying, but 1.4 billion is a gigantic number!  When you multiply that number by the fact that each of these internet users have a wide range of interests, it’s impossible to fathom a situation where you could create a site or blog that wouldn’t be of interest to at least several thousand people.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you decide you want to blog about a niche that only .01% of the world would be interested in.  Obviously, that’s a pretty small percentage, but when you take .01% of 1.4 billion people, you’ll find that there are 140,000 people who would be interested in your site.

Now that percentage doesn’t seem so small, does it?

So, if you’ve been on the fence about starting a blog or a website because you weren’t sure you’d have an audience, get over it! There are so many different types of people online that you’re bound to have not just an audience, but a captive audience.

For those of you who have already started an online business, keep it up, even if you have yet to see a significant influx of traffic or revenue. Although it may take a while for your audience or customers to find you, they do exist and will eventually make their way to you because you have exactly what they’re looking for!

What do you think?  Please leave your comments below!

Filed Under: Starting a Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,