Procrastination, time, money, and fear are all obstacles that plague small business owners, especially if you run a home-based business. Here are some tips to stop deciding and start doing!
Five frogs are sitting on a fence. Two decide to jump off the fence. How many frogs are left on the fence?Answer: Five frogs are still on the fence.
The explanation: Deciding to do something is not the same as doing it. "Deciding" is about the head. "Doing" is about the heart. Get out of your head and into your heart. (posted on Tom Heck’s website at http://www.teachmeteamwork.com)
But "doing" is pretty hard for some of us, right?
It's especially tough for those just starting your online business: you need to setup a website and/or blog, create a free offering such as an ecourse, set up and distribute a newsletter, not to mention all that marketing and promotion! For those of you who have been in business for awhile, you may be thinking that you want to take your business to the next level; creating information products, establishing yourself as a maven of your market, or getting away from trading time for money.
You know there are things you would like or need to do in order to move your business forward. But, for whatever reason, you haven't taken the steps. Lack of time, money, or just plain fear – these are all very good and valid reasons (excuses).
But let's face it, tackling these roadblocks are what will separate those that "do" from those that "do not" and ultimately the have's and the have not's. Let's look at each of these, maybe these obstacles aren't as big you think.
Time and Money
There are only 24 hours in a day, but what if I told you there is a way to clone yourself and make money at the same time? For example: your business is a part-time venture and you devote approximately 20 hours per week. You soon find that you spend more than half that time working IN your business than ON it. You update your own website, you submit your own articles to article sites, you answer customer service emails… This is time spent on administrative tasks that COULD be spent on generating revenue.
This is where a virtual assistant proves valuable. By delegating these administrative tasks to a virtual assistant, who may charge less than half of what you do per hour, you are getting things done, moving your business forward, AND making money all at the same time.
Deciding to move forward in your business and actually providing the infrastructure are two different things.
Fear
Let me tell you a true story. Last week a colleague of mine, Lauren Halagarda, put on a teleseminar for people experiencing "email overwhelm." She had been planning this for awhile and kept putting it off. She was fearful that people wouldn't show up, not be seen as credible (even though she has a bachelor's degree and taught similar subjects at a college!), and fearful that something would go wrong. Sound familiar?
Things started off a bit rough as the webinar software was a little difficult to install and navigate for some. Then the free conference call service wouldn't let her record.
But wait, it gets worse.
Even though they were in separate rooms, both her dogs started barking. I totally thought she was going to lose it because I probably would have, but she politely put everyone on hold, quieted her surroundings, and continued. The rest of the 75-minute teleseminar went off without a hitch and she received great feedback from attendees.
Yes, a few things did go wrong, but so what! We are only human and in this online business, things that can go wrong will go wrong. That's just a given. I applaud you Lauren – you didn't decide to do a teleseminar, you DID one!
Special thanks to my friend Lauren Halagarda of The Organization Connection. If you are experiencing Email Overwhelm or would like to sign up for her upcoming seminars on online productivity, you can contact Lauren at lauren@2organizeu.com. Tell her Lisa sent you!
Copyright 2008 Lisa Wells.
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