You can outsource pretty much everything you need to start an online business, but…?
…There are two things you have to do YOURSELF…
First, the idea has to be yours.
Second is overcoming fear. Only you can do that.
So say you come to me and tell me you want to start an online business.
You’re a blank slate, with no?clue where to start or what to do.
That’s actually good. That means you don’t have a disadvantage of know things that don’t work, things you have to unlearn before you can learn what’s really needed.
So you come to me and ask what you should do.
I put a paper and pen in your hand, and tell you to go somewhere quiet and think.
You’re going to brainstorm like you’ve never done?before.
You’re going to write down every idea you get, whether good, bad, stupid, and even the ones you KNOW you cannot possibly pull off.
You’re going to write them all down.
Teach cooking to people who currently can’t even boil water.
Build an app that tells people how to find?vacant parking spots are in New York City.
Build a community gardening site for people who live in southern Florida.
And so forth.
Be vague.
Or get specific.
Just brainstorm your heart out.
Watch for those ideas?that feel especially near and dear to you…put a little star next to them or underline them.
And then keep writing. Keep going until you get at least 20 ideas.
Why 20? This is a technique I learned from Brian Tracy and it has never failed me. When you start, the ideas come fast, probably because they've been in your mind a while (and never acted on, but that's a different discussion). Then they slow down...and soon they stop. You stare at the paper, you're mind is blank, but you know you HAVE to finish the 20, you're not going to let it win. So you keep thinking, and eventually an idea comes... Then another one... They keep coming... Very soon, you've blown past 20 and you're still getting more ideas...and they're usually better ideas then you started with! It's a powerful technique...Thank you Brian!
What do you want to be?
You’re going to start your business on YOUR idea, not on what’s necessarily gone before or what other people are doing.
Ignore you conceptions of what will and won?t work for now. That comes later.
Your business model can be anything you can imagine.
Of course later, when you’ve narrowed your choices down to a handful, you’ll do research to make sure there really is a market for what you’re proposing.
Don’t spend a lot of time looking at any potential competitors. Ignore what and how they’re marketing, how they’re advertising, and so on.
Because that is where people learn to fear their own idea.
It’s already being done, it’s too late!
They’re already doing a good job of covering this market so there’s no room for me.
Their idea is different from mine, they must be the right, I must be wrong.
And so forth.
By ignoring the outside world, you’re eliminating one type of fear that plagues new marketers.
Face the darkness
But there is a second fear you?ll need to face… the one that comes from your friends saying, YOU’RE going to start a business? Yeah, right!!
Or maybe your friends are supportive, but you lack confidence in you. What if people don’t like my product?
Yup, that’s a real heart stopper. You have to conquer that yourself,?you can’t outsource overcoming those fears.
So how do you deal with them?
Start by acknowledge them instead of fighting them. Yes, I?m afraid, but no, I?m not going to let it stop me. “So Mr. Fear, I don’t have time for you now. Please just wait there off to the side?while I work. And feel free to leave whenever your get bored”
Believe it or not, this attitude works. When you stop letting fear take hold of you, when you stop feeling like you?re trapped in its icy grip, when you just acknowledge it and do the work anyway, then fear tends to get real quiet. Fear will wait and watch for an opportunity to strike but?if you don?t give it one, eventually it just leaves the way it came.
Ignore what?s going on around you. Put blinders on, manage your fear and above all else, stick to your idea.
When are you doing your 20?
