Are You Caught in the Headlights?
Are You Caught in the Headlights?
I was talking to one of my subscribers the other day and he was describing how he was finding it difficult to make any progress with his Internet business.
Like lots of people today he was finding it harder to make ends meet as the economic recession continues to bite and getting more desparate than ever to generate some extra money online.
As he described to me his frustration I could feel his pain, the sort of pain that lots of people are feeling now. It took me back to the time when I was in that situation and I was surprised that I started to feel those feelings of stress, anxiety, worry and internal turmoil that he was feeling and I felt back then.
It reminded me how I got to the point where I didn’t know what to do next. I’d been online for a long time already trying all sorts of things that were supposed to be sure-fire winners but weren’t. I also remembered the stages that I went through as things got worse. I started off full of hope that in no time flat I would be enjoying the life I dreamed of, with no money worries, able to work when I wanted, take the vacations I wanted – when I wanted, you know – everything we are told to expect.
At first I worked through things thoroughly telling myself that if anything was worth doing, it was worth doing properly. It didn’t work, so I bought into another plan and started to work that one. That didn’t work either and so it went on.
The only thing that I seemed able to achieve was get deeper in debt. Working on the Internet can be a very lonely life, you lock yourself away in your back bedroom or the corner of a room somewhere and end up having less and less contact with your friends or family. You don’t discuss what you’re doing or ask for help from them because they don’t understand why you don’t just get a better job.
It is also very addictive, before you know it you can’t bear to be away from your computer in case you miss an opportunity.
I started to get desparate, I found myself buying program after program, each one guaranteed to generate quick cash. You see I was now at the stage where I needed cash quick to pay the mounting credit card bills. When you need an instant cash generator, all of your sense of reason goes out of the window.
Let’s face it, if there really was a ‘press this button, sit back and watch the money come in’ system wouldn’t the person that developed it just keep it to himself/herself? I mean, why share the secret to unlimited wealth with anyone if it took no effort to generate? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there aren’t any people in the world who genuinely want to help others, but think about it for a moment.
How long would any system like this remain effective if everybody online got to know about it? Not long is the answer and then the original owner would lose his goldmine – and that’s not going to happen.
But back to my experience. The crazy thing was that looking back, even though a lot of what I bought into was junk, a lot of them would have worked if I’d given them time. But at the time I wasn’t thinking that way, I was blinkered, I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights, paralysed, frightened to move in any direction.
It finally struck home to me that I needed to sort myself out when I experienced a total burn out. I’d been working at this thing for so long that I didn’t have the energy or willpower to do anything anymore. I stopped reading my emails, I didn’t trust anyone anymore anyway so why bother.
I decided that I had to do something and that the Internet wasn’t going to give me the immediate answer. So I started looking for the dreaded job again. Although I didn’t want or like working for anyone else I knew I had to do something. I also knew that I wasn’t going to give up on my dreams for good. Just for a while to sort things out.
The first thing I did was to get a contract in my field of work, IT, that paid my immediate bills and removed the pressure a bit. That’s not as possible today as it used to be I know, and not an option for everyone anyway, but there is usually work of some sort if we look for it. One of the biggest difficulties when you’re in this situation is to face up to where you are.
I remembered reading one time about how John Paul Getty approached things. Apparently whenever he was facing a potentially worry or stress situation regarding a business venture, he would ask himself what was the worst possible outcome that could happen. Having done that he would accept that if the worst happened he would be prepared to live with it but would then do everything possible to make sure that it didn’t happen.
I used the same principle and it really helped me. I had to accept that I had debts to pay off and that the only way to do that was find something that was guaranteed to get me some money, and that was a job of some sort. I also faced up to the fact that if the worst happened and I went bankrupt I would live with it.
The biggest tragedy of the Internet in my opinion is that it is being peddled by lots of unscrupulous people as a way to make quick easy money. And they prey on vulnerable people to do it.
The Internet is potentially the best invention of all time, when used properly. It has made many, many millionaires. In fact there are Internet millionaires created everyday, but not overnight.
What this did for me was allow me to go back to basics. To read some of the material I had accumulated and put together a plan of what I needed and wanted to do. I chose affiliate marketing in lots of different niches. This time I worked on one project at a time and stuck with it until I had it all working properly before moving on to another niche to start again.
It’s easy and cheap to host as many sites as you want now. I use Hostgator. I purchased one of their reseller accounts and host all of my sites there using WordPress.
The key lesson for me was that any business, offline or online, requires time to build. There are virtually no overnight successes despite what any of the Guru’s tell you. If you dig into their past you almost always find that they have been very successful at something else before.
My advice to anyone in this situation is to pick one coaching program that you can reasonably afford and work all the way through it. Do every single step that you are asked to do, don’t skip through anything.
If after you’ve done everything, worked all of the way through the course and you have not started to experience the outcomes that you were promised, tell the product owners, demand your money back. It’s time more people stood up and said this stuff doesn’t work. Most people online now are so quick to move on to the next best thing that they don’t know if a program works or not because they don’t actually try them.
I’m putting together the finishing touches to a new coaching program aimed at complete beginners. Although suitable for people of all ages, I’m particularly passionate about helping retired people, or rather people who should be retired. Unfortunately, too many people now can’t afford to retire and face having to work for the rest of their life and I find that really upsetting.
To make sure I cover everything that you guys are having difficulty with, I want you to post your comments down below this post. I will acknowledge all of you that contribute by either referencing your business or website in it or providing you with something special. I need to hear from you if I’m to help you overcome your difficulties like I did my own.
So take a few minutes and post a comment now while you’re here.
until next time,
“Remember nothing happens until you take the Right action”
regards,
Trevor
