Online Business Archives

Turn An Idea Into An Online Business

When I started my business in 2016, one of the first things I did was research how do I turn my idea into an online business? My idea was to work from home as a virtual assistant. I researched all the things such as; writing a business plan, figure out your niche, who is your ideal client, what services you want to provide, the list goes on and on. All the information can be overwhelming. How do you turn your idea into an online business?

My struggle

As a newbie to the online world and entrepreneurship, I thought that I had a really good idea for my work-from-home business I went out and did all the hard stuff that turns out was the way easy stuff.

I did all the research on the competitors that were offering similar services.

I spent extensive time building a business plan. I invested in online learning. I thought I had everything figured out logistically such as contracts, invoices, proposals, software all the things like that I needed to onboard the clients and make an impact.

Don’t get me wrong, those pieces are essential when you turn an idea into an online business. As it turns out, I also believe those are the easy part of starting your online business.

Yes, I do know that sounds crazy. But stay with me here, the actual hard part is getting out of your own way. That was my struggle when it came to turning my idea into an online business.

I can almost hear you thinking what the heck is she even talking about. The problem was as a new online entrepreneur I let my monkey minds get in the way of the things that I wanted to achieve in my online business.

No Stones Coming From Here

If you are experiencing the monkey mind, let me assure you that no stones will be coming from this direction, LOL. You see it takes one to know one, am I right?

This was me when I started out going from an employee to an entrepreneur. I did all those things, all those easy things. Thinking they were the hard things.

Here’s the main issue with that, doesn’t matter how fabulous your business plan is or your onboarding process if you do not have the confidence to put yourself out there and find clients that need the services you are offering.

All the things

If you take months to get everything on the back end figured out, you have zero money coming into the business. That’s the problem.

How do you even know if people want what you have to offer?

The solution is simple, start with a beta test for your idea.

When you start with a beta, it allows you to figure out if there is actual interest in your offer.

Here’s why it’s important to validate your offer, you will bring money in the door and it builds your confidence to actually provide that service or create that course.

With a beta, you’ll figure out if you’re on the right track. Are you giving people what they actually want versus what you think they want? Because they are truly two different things.

Stops the Worry

Because the thing is when you build that confidence piece of what you have to offer, your idea is desirable for people.

This my Friend, in turn, helps you to not worry.

Worry about saying the wrong thing, worry about putting the wrong social posts out on social media, worrying about all those things that come along when you aren't confident in what you're doing, what you’re saying, and putting out there in the world.

The hard part to Turn An Idea Into An Online Business

The hard part is when you're just getting started and you do not have that confidence to getting out there and tell others about your offer.

The hard part is staying focused when you hear no to your idea.

It feels so personal. But, it is not. It is the feedback to tweak how you are presenting your idea to others.

It's having the confidence to keep going even when you do not get the yes.

Fortunately for me, as a former sales rep, I understood that you have to get a lot of no before you hear a yes.

As long as you have the confidence that you have a solution to a problem. You don't have to worry about any of the other things.

The result of worry will get you absolutely nowhere to turn an idea into an online business. It will only keep you stuck in worry and questioning if you're doing the right thing or not.

Say You Can

Guess what, I believe in you, I know that you can go out and have the confidence to turn an idea into an online business.

l

Little Side Note

I have a mean girl, how about you?
I can hear her whisper to me anytime that I’m having doubts in regards to my ability. She is attempting to keep me safe, really she only keeps me stuck.
Because I know that I’m a mean girl, I’m able to do the work need to shut her down to change my thinking about myself. If you’re a new online entrepreneur, this work is essential to your success.

✁ Just a Snippet

Here is just a snippet of the important points, you know for the skimmer in you. 🤪

I researched all the things such as; writing a business plan, figure out your niche, who is your ideal client, what services you want to provide, the list goes on and on.
I found out that the actual hard part is getting out of your own way.
It doesn’t matter how fabulous your business plan is or your onboarding process if you do not have the confidence to put yourself out there and find clients that need the services you are offering.
If you take months to get everything on the back end figured out, you have zero money coming into the business. That’s the problem.
How do you even know if people want what you have to offer?
Because the thing is when you build that confidence piece of what you have to offer, your idea is desirable for people.
The hard part is when you're just getting started and you do not have that confidence to getting out there and tell others about your offer.
The hard part is staying focused when you hear no to your idea.
Get your offer out there!

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Step Into Clarity In Your Online Business

by Michele | Online Business

Is this ever you? It’s the end of the day you’re reflecting on the stuff that you worked on in your online business. Even though you were busy bee looking back your heart sinks as you realize that time and hard work were directed at items that will not push you into the six-figure club anytime soon. Heck, you’d be lucky if it brought you a coffee at your local coffee shop. How do you step into clarity and stop wasting time on stuff that is not moving you forward?

What is stepping into clarity?

You must be wondering, what do you need to do to actually step into clarity and why is it even important as an entrepreneur.

Stepping into clarity is getting crystal clear on your actual topic, the thing that you love to talk but it is so second nature you don't realize that you love to talk about it.

Here’s the interesting part discovering your thing that can be hard. I had a coach tell me it's really hard to read the label from inside the bottle. That one phrase has stuck with me.

Because it is really hard to read the label from inside the bottle. Sometimes you need to have somebody else to guide you through that in order to figure it out.

Figuring Out Your Thing

And now you’re thinking, what is my label? Fortunately, there’s a simple solution pay attention to the thing that people seek you out for to ask about.

What do you have so much life experience with that you could talk about it for days. Or is it the thing that you think you’re not an expert in but really you are? The thing that you love so much even though you’ve taken hundreds of online courses you can’t help yourself to sign up for 101. Is that your thing?

So what is your thing?

So instead of starting and stopping, or trying to do too many things, what is the one offer that you could focus on to actually make your business easy, and to make everything else come easy to you?

Stepping into clarity on want you want to offer allows you to put you're focused on one thing.

And the best part is, with all your time and energy focused you’ll know what is that next action to create an offer.

You have the idea

How do you know if your idea is the right offer? Stepping into clarity on your offer will be something that people want, need, and ask you about. You will feel comfortable and confident talking about it.

Stay on your path

Stay with me now, please not get discouraged if clients aren’t knocking down your door in the beginning.

Focus on one person at a time. That's a perfect place to start. Keep on putting your offer out there for prospective clients. Sales it's really just a numbers game. It is making sure that you talk to enough people to be able to find the ones that actually resonate with your message, your offer, and what you have.

It's getting clear on your path to know when you start to stray off of it. When the next shiny object starts to pull you away from your offer before you’re finished. You're creating that clear path of where you need to go in your business.

Once you have a plan in place, then you can tell when you start to get off track a little bit. That’s okay step back into that clarity.

It boils down to this, gaining that confidence and belief in yourself.

Because you can do this, you absolutely can do this.

We all have our stories

We all have our stories that we tell ourselves when stuff feels difficult in our business.

Case in point, this stepping into clarity happened during a coaching session with a client.

She’s been struggling in business for the last few years. Frustrated, stressed, and overwhelmed with all the decisions.

She was jumping from one offer to the next without taking the time to understand what makes her shine. She was only focused on finding an offer that made money.

She loves to talk about simple living, her garden, her farm but never truly stepping into clarity or confidence on her offer. Instead, she was going back and forth with what she could offer that she thought people would want to buy.

Her list of coulds was long. She had so many things, so many half-built ideas she could do and offer. Not one of those offers truly made her shine with the energy of excitement.

But what was happening is she wasn't actually stepping into her clarity.

She wasn't looking at what people were seeking her out to asking how she does that. The things that when she talked about it came naturally and you could tell she was excited to talk about it.

So what happens is, that is the intersection of clarity at that point was when she actually figured out what it was that people asked her about and what it was that she truly loved doing. Amazing, isn’t it?

When you get to the intersection of what people seek you out for and a topic that brings out your energy of excitement, That is stepping into clarity of your offer.

Once that became clear, everything else became very simple for her. Her offer became easy to create.

She knew exactly the next actions to take.

I was able to help her fill in on the few that she wasn't sure about or missing.

She finally understood business can feel really simple and easy. When you figure out what you want to offer that brings the energy of excitement, what you love to talk about, what answers your sought out, and what you feel confident doing.

When you're not continually running into self-doubt.

When you step into clarity then all the other pieces seem to fall into place seamlessly without much thought or effort on your part.

The days of wasting time and energy thinking about what you could create seems to go away when you step into clarity as an online entrepreneur.

I hope you found this post beneficial, I look forward to seeing you next week and I appreciate you.

l

Little Side Note

Where are you not clear in your online business?

Spend time journaling out your thoughts to get clear on what you love to do.

Start with a mind sweep and use those as your journaling prompt.

✁ Just a Snippet

Here is just a snippet of the important points, you know for the skimmer in you. 🤪

Stepping into clarity is getting crystal clear on your actual topic, the thing that you love to talk but it is so second nature you don't realize that you love to talk about it.
What is your one thing instead of starting and stopping or trying to do too many things.
It is getting focused on what comes easy to you.
Getting clear on next actions to create an offer
Understanding that sales are a numbers game
Creating a clear path when you start to stray from your path
That is stepping into clarity
Having the confidence to believe in yourself
One of my coaching clients had a clarity breakthrough. She has been in business for a few years and loves to talk about simple living. But never was finding the right offer for her.
She has so many ideas she could do and wasn't stepping into her clarity.
During our session, we broke down what she loved to do and what people asked her about all the time.
That is the intersection of clarity.

← Overcome Negative Thoughts Quarterly Review & Planning →

Overcome Negative Thoughts

by Michele | Online Business

Hey, do you look at other online businesses and think, ah, they are just lucky or I wish I would have started my business when they did? Well, friend, that is really just a thought and it's you that makes it work in your business.

Repeat Negative Thoughts

Let me guess you have that repeating thought going in your head saying, Oh, well, they're just luckier than I am. Or maybe you have that repeat negative thought, if I would have started when they did, I would be just as successful.

Here’s the interesting part, that’s just a thought, that is just something that you are telling yourself about your online business and achieving success.

What can you do to overcome negative thoughts?

Let’s go ahead and look at some of the things that you can do when you come up against that repeat negative thought, and what to do to overcome it.

Here’s the big secret, it's you. I know crazy right, here’s the thing in the long run it is you that putting in the work to make your online business successful. Friend, you put in the work, and you make it successful.

What does that take? It's simple. It takes persistent effort.

That's the importance of taking action in your business.

But not any action it's taking the right action at the right time. You must be wondering, what's the right action at the right time?

The answer? Now. Right now is the right time. How do you figure out the right action?

Right Action

The solution is simple you can figure out what is the right action by taking a look at what it is that you want to achieve.

You have the goal, work backward breaking that down into little tiny actions that you can do every single day.

When you work backward think what is the last thing that will happen before you achieve this goal? What is the action right before the last action? And so on.

It just takes that small consistent action every single day, in order to be able to move forward with it.

Now, this is important, this small action is proving to your brain that you can do, that proof, in turn, overcomes negative thoughts.

You keep you stuck

At some point, you have to take the leap of faith and you have to believe in yourself that you can actually do what it is that you want to achieve.

I know what you’re thinking, you need some reassurance. Here’s how to do it yourself remember a time in the past when you did something that you didn't think that you could do, but you took action and did it.

Okay. Do you have that thought in your mind? Great, now step into that person you were at that time. Feel what you felt, hear the words of encouragement you gave to yourself.

Do you remember all the feelings? How did you view it at that time? Stick with me now what did you need to become to get over that mindset and that obstacle you're facing?

Remember specifically.

That's what you need to do right now, at this time as well. This is proof that you are the one that makes it work in your business.

What’s the difference?

One of the things that I do for myself.

When I find myself you know, doing that comparison thing, or I'm not good enough or imposter system syndrome, whatever you call it.

What is the difference? Take a step back, what’s the difference between that entrepreneur and you?

What is the difference between their business and your business?

What’s that business owner doing that you may not be doing in your business?

I have a feeling that it could come down to this. They just started. They had the belief that they could do it.

That online business owner they are taking action. But what if, instead of staying in negative thought you actually put in 1% effort every single day to make it work.

That’s the magic, that's all you need to do.

You see my point, right? To move forward do that 1% of work every single day to make it work in your online business.

I hope that you found this was beneficial and encouraging.

If you have any questions, go ahead and leave me a comment. I look forward to seeing you next week.

l

Little Side Note

When you find yourself in a negative thought pattern, pull out your journal and figure out why you're feeling that way. What were you doing that made you feel this way?

✁ Just a Snippet

Here is just a snippet of the important points, you know for the skimmer in you. 🤪

Do you look at other online businesses and think aww they are just lucky or I wish I would have started when they did. That's just your thoughts, it's YOU friend you're the one that makes it work.
It’s not about luck
You Make It Work
You Make it Successful
It’s about the persistent effort
That’s the importance of taking action in your online business
It’s not about the right timing
It's about small consistent actions
At some point, you have to take the leap of faith
What is the difference between you and the business owner that you admire?
They started. They had the belief they can do it. They put in the 1% every day to make it work.

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