It is tough to focus.
There are so many distractions.
It’s easy to visit social media for a ‘few minutes’…and soon an hour or more is gone.
As online entrepreneurs, all these distractions also lead to a paradox of choice.
You’re surrounded by opportunities today.
You don’t have the time or the attention to take advantage of them all.
This means you must choose.
Which hungry market will you go after?
And how will you niche it down to find your tribe and share a message that resonates with them?
Once you’ve chosen your market, how will you grow your audience?
It could be through a Youtube channel, a blog, a podcast, Instagram, or another site.
Whatever you choose, you need to dig deep…not wide.
For example, if you choose Youtube, get good at producing videos.
Do them faster. Give yourself a challenge to create 30 videos in the next 30 days.
You might share those same videos on a few other sites as well, but focus on producing videos for your audience.
It takes time to build those loyal fans.
Then comes monetization. You can earn money as a coach, by creating courses, selling ecommerce products, or as an affiliate promoting other people’s products and services. And of course, you can also pick up an additional stream of income through advertising or sponsorship as well.
You can get stuck on any of these steps, but the majority get lost during the audience building phase.
Because it takes time and a whole lot of effort.
And frankly, it can be discouraging…especially when things aren’t happening as fast as you expect.
This is true even when you’ve made a good plan and you’re following it consistently.
Your head can play tricks on you.
A little voice will tell you, “It shouldn’t be this difficult.”
You’ll hear about so-and-so’s launch and how they attracted 100,000 subscribers seemingly overnight because something they shared went viral. They forget to mention the years they spent building relationships with other authorities in the market…and all the ads they purchased to jump start the process.
Your head might make another suggestion, “Perhaps you should have chosen XYZ market instead…or you should have focused on Instagram.”
That line of thinking is dangerous because it’s impossible to 100% refute it.
It’s possible another market would have been more profitable…or another channel might have worked for you.
You can get lost in those “What If” weeds. And you lose what you’ve built up till now.
You’re going to take a few punches on your way to success.
“Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
Sometimes you need to tell your head to shut up.
And keep moving forward.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t analyze where you’re at…and what you’re doing. If something’s clearly not working, change it. But don’t give up just because it’s difficult or moving slower than you expected. It seems like everything initially moves slow…until you build up the momentum.
Then those months (or years) of foundational work seem to translate into overnight successes.
Choose a market. Focus on a method of building your audience. Monetize your message.
Authority Lists & Traffic can help you grow a big, responsive email list.
But it will take time…and I’m not promising it will be easy.
Often the right strategy makes the process simple. But it still required consistent commitment and effort to make it happen.
