When I Had Only 50 Names on My List

Back in the Days When I Had Only 50 on My List

Once I began achieving some success as an online entrepreneur I vowed to never forget what it was like in the beginning. Most of my early prospects were people I had met at local networking events or through the non-profits I was volunteering with in my new community. Each time I sent an email I imagined someone I knew scrutinizing every sentence and noting any typos or grammatical errors. Finally I put those thoughts out of my mind and just kept writing. When I had only 50 on my list, marketing became my highest priority.

There were three products and people I recommended over and over again. One was from Jim Edwards, another was from Denise Wakeman, and the third was from Frank Kern. All three were already legendary marketers and I know them personally these days. I had yet to create my own product, so it was affiliate marketing that brought me my first income. Then I began marketing online for local business owners and increased my income significantly. By the end of my first year I had one product of my own and was outlining the second.

Why am I sharing this “walk down memory lane” with you today? Two reasons. First, way too many people reach out to me and assume I hit the ground running and made it to six figures a year overnight. Not true. Secondly, people regularly share their feeling that it’s too hard to make a good living online from your home computer. They state their reasons and beliefs but few are even close to reality. The truth is that if you’re willing to do the work, your business will grow exponentially.

Is it truly that simple? Simple, yes. Easy, no. Why? Because “doing the work” means different things and we all have our own interpretation. I believe that if you put in fifteen to twenty hours a week, every week, you have an excellent chance to build a profitable business in 90 days to six months. This is based on my personal experiences working with hundreds of people over the years and observing what is required of you as an entrepreneur on the internet. When I had only 50 on my list I worked hard each day to accomplish some goals.

At first, my goals included writing two or three blog posts, two hundred fifty to three hundred words in length and publish them on my blogs. Each one had a call to action (CTA) at the end, included in what we referred to as a resource box. This is a block of text, typically two or three sentences in length that says who we are and what we have to offer. Then I would copy and paste each post into the article directories that were popular at that time. Now all but defunct and definitely obsolete, those directories are the dinosaurs of marketing days gone by. Instead, we have social media and sites like Medium to market our content.

When I had only 50 on my list affiliate marketing made the most sense for me. I hand picked what I shared with others…and I continue to do this to this day. I thought of it as putting my name and reputation on the line each time I made a recommendation. It felt good to be able to share what I considered to be the very best people and products with those who had chosen to walk this journey of online entrepreneurship alongside me. We were learning simultaneously and sharing our experiences. I became my best Case Study as I gave detailed accounts of what I had been able to achieve as a result of buying a specific product or book or course.

My list grew, but I did not change from the person I had been back when I had only 50 on my list. My first product was for sale before I hit the one year mark and I followed it up with a second course within a couple of months. Every day I worked smarter instead of harder and it paid off well.

Robert Kiyosaki shared his thoughts on entrepreneurship and you may benefit from what he had to say…

Anyone can become an entrepreneur. Yup, that means you, too. There is no “entrepreneur gene”.

But so many of us never attempt become entrepreneurs. We don’t take the personal and spiritual risks required. Notice I did not say financial risks. A lot of entrepreneurs often start with nothing. Becoming an entrepreneur does not have to cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Often it requires nothing more than a computer and a few hundred dollars.

So why, if money isn’t an obstacle, isn’t everyone becoming an entrepreneur?

That’s the question, isn’t it?

I just asked you why everyone isn’t an entrepreneur. I posted the observation that very little money is required. So why aren’t more of us becoming entrepreneurs?

Fear. You have to overcome fear. Sometimes your fear is justified. Fear of leaving your family starving and homeless is a real, understandable fear. What makes someone an entrepreneur is when they acknowledge their fear and then find a way around it.

For example, you do not have to quit your job. Start your business on the weekends or after work when your family is tucked in their beds.

The point is, fear is real, but it’s not a real excuse. Excuses that stop you are not fear, they are laziness. So, anyone can be an entrepreneur. It’s not a gene. It’s a spirit.

Find your fear, then think of ways that you can work around it. Now you’re an entrepreneur.

I will encourage you to take seriously the prospect of building a lucrative business you can run from home, or from wherever in the world you happen to be. This concept has now gone global, with more people than ever before running businesses while on the go. It is also a gift, in my opinion and one that must be nurtured and shared.

How may I best serve you in your quest to be a successful online entrepreneur?

I’m Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, marketing strategist, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and I would love to connect further with you to help you to achieve your goals. If you are interested in learning how to optimize the syndication of your content, please take a look at my popular Syndication Optimization training course and consider coming aboard to increase your visibility, credibility, and profitability.