I sent out a check-in email to my list last week, and I was blown away by how many people said they are stuck in neutral with their sites or businesses.
What’s even more interesting is that the underlying reason for the standstill seemed to be the same for most…
Fear of failure!
Stop Trying to Make Everything Perfect
There’s nothing wrong with planning and making sure you have all your ducks in a row.
But when you start obsessing over insignificant details, making excuses for not moving forward and keep putting off things over and over again, something bigger is going on here.
Perfectionism often means you are deathly afraid of making a mistake.
So you adjust, tweak, pause, plan, hesitate, and over analyze details until you end up doing nothing at all.
In the end, that makes you feel even worse because now you’re not doing anything.
The reality is, you won’t REALLY know what’s going to work and what’s not unless you put it out there.
No one and I mean NO ONE gets it 100% right the first time, but online businesses are incredibly forgiving. 🙂
You can always adjust or tweak your strategy.
I often hear from people who want me to validate every aspect of their website idea before they continue because they are so incredibly afraid that it might not work.
Sure, you can get guidance and tips from others, but the only real way to know if it will succeed is to DO SOMETHING.
Success Stories Never Tell The Whole Story
I love it when marketers share their success and earnings.
It’s inspiring and can leave you feeling motivated and ready to follow in their footsteps.
But…
Many successful people are not talking about the sacrifice and the time they’ve invested.
They aren’t sharing how many times they failed before they eventually got to where they are.
So when YOU set out to try what they’re doing and encounter roadblocks, you start to doubt yourself because you aren’t matching their results.
That is exactly why I share when I’m struggling with something.
I suffer from distractions, insecurities, setbacks and many of the same problems you go through.
So when you see those big payments plastered all over the net, don’t forget there’s always a story behind how that person got there.
And they probably went through many of the same things you’re going through now.
They just don’t tell you.
The only difference between you and them is they kept going and didn’t let fear of messing up stop them.
Derek Halpern talked about this very issue where he reminds us “Everything is NOT awesome and that’s OK.”
Don’t Be Fooled By My Earnings I Will Reveal
When I launch my content and courses about POD, you’re going to see screenshots and videos of some pretty sizable and inspiring earnings.
I do that for proof and credibility — nothing else.
February and March were amazing months. I haven’t been as excited about a passive income opp since AdSense launched in 2003!
Sure, revealing those payments may help get a handful of people into my courses, but don’t be fooled.
You also need to know that there was a time when I hardly earned anything with POD.
I remember joining Zazzle in 2011 after reading about people making thousands per month and yet it took me 6 months just to earn a measly $15!
But you didn’t hear me talking about my pitiful earnings then did you?
I wasn’t blogging about how much time I spent tinkering in Photoshop an uploading stuff that never sold.
However, I never gave up on POD because it’s something I genuinely enjoy doing in my spare time.
Even when I was making less than $20 per month in 2012 I was still working on it as if I were making thousands.
Thanks to Merch, my earnings are finally matching the time I invested.
I have now expanded into other niches and the time I spent learning over the past 6 years is finally paying off.
So those nice 4 figure monthly earnings may be inspiring, but to get to that point I spent a LOT of time learning, finding niches, fiddling around in software, uploading crap that never sold, studying POD blogs, you name it.
You don’t get to see that side of it.
You have to invest the T-I-M-E and know the money is not going to come instantly.
It’s important for you to realize that you HAVE to go through those slow or low periods. It may seem like failing, but it’s all a matter of perspective.
You’re not failing. You’re LEARNING what NOT to do. And you will never learn ANYTHING if you sit and do nothing.
Stop seeking idea and concept validations because you want protection from failure.
No one can guarantee your idea will work or protect you from making mistakes.
Put it out there and adjust based on what you learn!
You’re Not Alone In Your Fears
I wanted to do this post to let you know that many people in my audience are stuck just like you.
A very honest private group member admitted that she really wants to get started with POD but keeps making excuses about not having time out of fear.
That was super brave and very self aware of this member to admit that.
It also made me wonder something…
I polled the group a month ago to ask about their biggest challenges with POD.
I thought the number one answer would be “software/technical issues” or “making the first sale.”
The most popular answer BY FAR was “I can’t find time to work on this.”
I didn’t think much of that at first, and took the answer at face value.
But now I wonder how many people use the “I don’t have time” excuse when it really means, “I don’t want to MAKE time because I’m afraid I won’t be successful.”
Let me ask you this…
Why do you fear failure so much when it’s something almost EVERYONE goes through at some level?
So what if you stumble? Who doesn’t? And who is going to know about that stumble but you?
Why do you put so much pressure on yourself to succeed at something when it’s completely normal to make multiple mistakes before you find success?
Don’t let previous failures rob you of an opportunity to try something else or start again. Learn from what you did wrong and keep pressing on ’til you get it right!
I Didn’t Really Know My Audience
Isn’t it funny how Internet marketing gurus are always talking about growing your email list, opt-in strategies, landing pages, what email provider to use, etc?
But how many of us really understand the problems our subscribers face at the core?
After many years, I’m just now figuring out how much deep-seeded fear is ingrained in many of my subscribers.
Think about why it’s important to fully understand where your followers are mentally.
Here you are, using your list and trying to sell products while not realizing that a big reason people aren’t buying is they are crippled with self doubt and fearing failure.
They’re stuck, confused and paralyzed with fear and indecision. That’s not exactly a buying mood is it?
It’s our jobs as infopreneurs to bridge that gap because that roadblock could be the difference between whether they ever buy or not.
Honestly, I don’t know what that bridge is going to look like for this audience, but your responses were a BIG wake up call for me.
Many of you don’t need a website course right now.
You need help with motivation, getting over fears and conquering massive bouts of indecision that are paralyzing you before you even START.
I’ve always known that was a problem for some, but I don’t think I realized how many struggled until the responses I received last week.
It was amazing to see how similar the problems were with fear as the underlying root.
And I don’t think I’ve done a good job of addressing many of those core issues with my content.
I’m very, very comfortable with the Internet, software and computers, but a lot of you are not. And sometimes there is a disconnect because I assume you’re moving along and you’re stuck.
Here I am encouraging you to go to step B, and many of you haven’t even started step A due to fear.
Here’s The Hard Truth
I can’t validate your website or business idea and protect you from failure.
No one can.
But I can guarantee this…
You might stumble and do some things wrong, but you always have a chance to recover. That’s how the process works.
In fact, that’s how LIFE works.
However if you stay stuck out of fear, I can promise you will NEVER succeed because you aren’t giving yourself a chance.
Not trying is far worse than any failure you could ever have.Click To Tweet
And I can say that because I’ve had more failed sites than successful ones, yet I’m still out here doing this full time. 🙂
But it’s important that you understand I go through the same destructive inner dialogue and setbacks as you.
Everyone does at some level.
Now here’s what separates those that succeed from those that fail…
Successful people take action. Period! Click To Tweet
Are you going to sit and drown in indecision or make the choice to step out on faith and try?
It’s all up to you! 🙂