Not to be a total downer or anything, but have you ever noticed just how much…well, crap… is out there lurking, just waiting to come between you and your success?
There are pitfalls, slip-ups, miscalculations, rumors, myths, trends, fads, bad advice, and the all-too-familiar overwhelm. It’s a jungle out there, and it seems there’s a threat around every corner.
Which is exactly why I’ve made it my business to look out for you as you build yours!
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the top four mistakes that keep entrepreneurs from ever making money online, and just last week we talked about the incredible overwhelm that comes with building a business and, more importantly, how to beat it.
This week I wanted to cover a different type of threat: the little white lies we tell ourselves that make us feel all warm and fuzzy about our businesses … but that are actually holding us back from real success.
These myths are ubiquitous on the internet, so I’m sure they’ll sound dangerously familiar as you read through.
If you find yourself nodding in acknowledgement as you read, understand I’m calling you out on this not to shame you (I care about you too much for that!), but to pull you back to reality so you can go on to achieve your dreams.
These are limiting myths disguised as affirmation, and you simply cannot go forward with your business without being aware of them.
4 Persistent Online Business Myths (with the Same Feel-Good Punch Line)
There are all kinds of business-related myths bouncing around the internet. Even after they’ve been debunked time and time again, they persist – these things seriously seem to have nine lives.
The ones that can be most damaging are those that make you feel super good about your work for all the wrong reasons. These sneaky little lies we tell ourselves all seem a little different on the surface, but they tell the same story in the end.
Here are the main culprits:
- Tell people you’re a professional such-and-such…
- Create an offer, post it to your website…
- Just do this one important thing (e.g., show up on social media)…
- Sit and meditate on it / attract it / intend for it to be…
… and people will hire you, you’ll make lots of money, and it will all work out!
See what I mean? These myths are all selling the same snake oil: that doing one specific thing or working along one particular route is enough to bring in clients and make your business a success.
This overall “myth of enough” is incredibly pervasive (almost every entrepreneur has fallen for it at some point) because it’s so darn tempting.
Why? Because it feels great to be done! It feels good to check things off your list and be released from the responsibility. “I’ve put up a great website that says I’m a dietician. Check! Now I just have to sit back and wait for the clients to call.”
Who hasn’t given themselves a pass on putting more work into something with a heartfelt “I’ve done enough.”? (I’m guilty!)
Busting the “Myth of Enough” Wide Open
Labeling the work you’ve done so far as enough and putting the responsibility of your success in the hands of future clients is no way to build a business.
After all, it’s not a potential client’s job to seek you out – it’s your job to let them know you exist and can help them. (I know that can be hard to hear!)
You have to do the work of figuring out who they are, what they need, where to find them, how to speak to them in their language, and why they should hire you.
If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it definitely is. It’s so much work, in fact, that even the most successful entrepreneurs don’t feel like they’re ever doing enough!
Building a successful online business requires a full, comprehensive strategy and a lot of work – and there’s just no way around that.
You need to work both ON your business and IN your business, which means you need to be both the visionary executive and the dedicated employee. You need to have a super solid foundation to build on and a plan for how to move forward. And you need to focus primarily on getting clients because the more you do that, the more clients you’ll get.
I know this all sounds ho-hum and maybe even a little obvious, but plenty of business owners struggle with this. Good thing it’s totally fixable!
Recognize Yourself in Any of This?
If the four online business myths I outlined above hit a little too close to home for you, or if you’ve caught yourself falling for some other variation of the feel-good “myth of enough,” please know you are most definitely not alone.
And if you want to change your situation, then all you need to do is change how you approach your business.
For those who are not sure exactly how to do that or who are feeling stuck in the “enough” mindset, check out my latest video of my free training series. In it, you’ll discover six power practices of successful entrepreneurs that will tell you how to take your business to the next level. Dive in now!
Tell Me Your Story!
Virtually every entrepreneur I know has been held back by one of the myths above at some point. Tell me…
When was the last time you fell for the “myth of enough”?
How did you snap yourself out of it?
Sometimes enough is enough. How do you judge for yourself when that is?
I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments. Dish it!
Ah, Jenny, I’m such a list checker-offer I’ve gotten in the trap of working so much on fine-tuning my content that I felt less and less comfortable going out and talking about it in the world! I’ve fallen in the trap so many times of thinking – “If I just tweak my website a bit more…” or “If I just blog more…” – I’ll be bursting at the seams with clients. I’ve realized lately it’s less about doing MORE, but rather doing the right things!
Love the insights you discovered, Kim! Thanks for sharing them! I am quite the novice at this, and sometimes I feel like I’m taking too much in as far as ideas, advice, etc., and I get to overwhelm! Not good!! I, like you, feel I have to have the ‘perfect’ content, ‘perfect website’…so thinking about tweaking rather than doing is ever-present! Switching the focus to doing the RIGHT things is needed for me! I just have to figure out what those ‘right’ things are, I guess. Still trying to find my ‘ideal’ client as a new Integrative Health Coach!
Overwhelm is common with new business owners (okay, it’s easy for any business owner to feel that way!). And it’s our job to nip it in the bud by creating solid plans and focusing on just that. (You’ve got to cut through the noise, too! There is just so much information out there about what to do — that in itself is overwhelming!)
As I often say, “Clarity comes from taking action,” so figuring out your ideal client is done best through action, not thinking. Work with clients for free or at low cost to test things out. See what you love most and start there.
Like we talked about in training video #1 – clarity here is way more important than a perfect site. Are you ready to go out and practice to learn? You’ve got this!
I appreciate your honesty, Kim, and your business success will improve dramatically because you acknowledged this… IF you change your habits! Like we talked about in last week’s blog, you should focus in about a 3:1 ratio on client-getting activities as compared to web presence tuning. So tell me… what are your top three client-getting actions this month?