The idea of having an online business is attractive to many people. The freedom! The flexibility! The ability to make money doing what you love! Who wouldn’t want that? But building a successful business requires a lot of knowledge, skills, and work. And when we first start out, most of us have no idea what we’re doing. So we start leaning. We read blogs and books, watch videos, take classes, and look to more experienced business owners for advice.
These are all really good things to do – until we start thinking we have to do things a certain way.
I’ve had more than a few people come to me who were totally stuck because they didn’t know how to or didn’t want to do the things they thought they “had to” do. And they were all pretty shocked when I told them they actually didn’t have to do those things if they didn’t want to.
But won’t it kill my business if I don’t…
So many business “experts” are more than happy to insist that you absolutely must…
- have an email list and send out a newsletter every week
- frequently create tons of useful, informative content
- be active on every social media site
- create and launch huge courses
- etc., etc., etc.
… or your business will fail.
The thing is, not every strategy/technique/tactic/etc. works for every business.
Think about that for a second.
Not every strategy/technique/tactic/etc. works for every business.
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I know of people who are not doing any of those things listed above, and their businesses are doing just fine.
There is no such thing as “one size fits all”.
And doing (or trying to do) what you think you’re “supposed to” do without giving any thought as to why people recommend this thing, what it’s supposed to achieve, and whether or not this thing will actually work for you is a very easy way to end up unhappy with your business.
Yes, learn from people who have more experience than you, but remember that there are often different ways to achieve the same objective.
Look for the objectives behind the advice. A weekly newsletter is a way to stay in contact with potential and previous clients. So is social media. So is simply emailing people personally to see how they’re doing. Creating tons of useful, informative content is a way to establish your expertise. So is being interviewed. So are testimonials from happy clients or customers. So are good photos of your products.
It’s YOUR business -. do what works for YOU.
And if you need help figuring out how to adjust traditional business advice to fit your business I’m happy to help.
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