In today’s wired world we’re all looking for some type of gratification. If we want to know what are friends are up to we’ll simply pick up our mobile device and scroll through our Facebook news feed. If we want to buy a new car, we simply do a quick Google search, and find out all the details on who has the lowest price and what our current vehicle is worth. In some cities around the US we can get on the Internet and have our groceries delivered to the front door within the hour. It’s amazing at how far we’ve come in the last decade and where we are heading as an entire civilization. However along with this we’re slowly reprogramming our brains for “instant gratification.” To some this begins to create frustration especially those that are just starting their businesses, especially new Internet Marketers. Inside our Private Forum we’ve discussed many ways to overcome our frustrations by setting obtainable goals, having realistic expectations, and taking time off when needed.
Without a doubt I owe much of my success in business to goal setting. Without clear goals you’re just reaching each day for what? It’s like going into a football game without any plays. Players would simply just run around all trying to get the football. That would be silly! This is a lot of the same in Internet Marketing. If you’re starting your own business you need to have your own playbook that outlines your exact goals. “To make $1 million dollars in the next year.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Money is a poor motivator. Sure, you want to set some quarterly revenue goals, but if you’re just getting started out you’re going to get frustrated as hell doing this. Your initial goals should be simple such as, “setup my first website and install my tracking software.” This is a goal! For some just getting started this is one of the hardest parts of the entire process. Getting their website/landing page setup and installing the tracking software so they can analyze the traffic and conversions as they come in! Another goal would to be starting traffic to your first campaign. How are you going to make a million dollars or become profitable for that matter if you don’t even have your website setup, tracking installed, and traffic flowing? Don’t get ahead of yourself when you’re setting goals, take things one day at a time but just make sure to have the goals physically written somewhere so you can view them everyday. Cross them out when you reach them and make sure to reward yourself.
Let me just throw one thing out there… A lot of stuff you see out in the media is bullshit. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will become successful. It’s super inspiring to hear stories like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg where he created a website in his college dorm room and it’s turned into the most visited website in the world and a billion dollar revenue stream. Or Larry Page and Sergey Brin that created Google from a graduate project. Let’s not forget the late night infomercials that promise instant riches after revealing some “top notch” secrets. Just because you’re wanting to start a business online doesn’t mean it’s it’s going to be instantly successful. You should set expectations like you do in an offline business. The first could be getting your business plan finalized. Another realistic expectation could be saving up enough money to have a budget that you’re going to be investing in getting things started. You also may just need to re-schedule your entire daily routine so you have time to work on your new online venture. I’m not saying that you won’t become as successful as Mark, Larry, or Sergey, but I am saying that it is not going to happen overnight. We could interview all of them and I’m sure they’re all going to come back with two words: “hard work.” When you’re just starting out don’t set unrealistic expectations. We all want to go from $0 to $1,000 a day. But that’s not a good way to look at it. Setting a monetary value like this is going to do nothing but make you more frustrated as the clock starts ticking.
I love to burn the midnight oil. It’s not uncommon for me to get started on a new campaign or project and work clear through the night until the sun comes up. However there does come a time when I get burned out. Working online I’ve failed more than I’ve succeed. Except every time I do fail at something I keep trying until I eventually succeed. When I succeed the success comes heavy because each time I failed I learned more and more about what I was doing wrong. But sometimes when I’m going through these failures I get so pissed off I try to “force” what I’m doing to work. 99% of the time this leads me to making stupid mistakes. It’s like trying to go run a marathon after staying up a week straight. You’re so physically exhausted your form suffers and you’re unable to compete. The same goes when you’ve failed at a new campaign or website. Your brain becomes mentally exhausted and then you begin to burn out. You cannot work through this. The best remedy is to close everything up, turn off the computer, and take some time off. For some it may just be a couple hours, others it maybe a day or two. But get away for a bit, collect your thoughts, and come back motivated and ready to solve whatever challenge you’re trying to overcome. The worst thing you can do is become so frustrated that you forget everything you’ve learned and start losing money and making costly mistakes.
In conclusion frustration is part of our everyday lives. We can blame it on a number of factors but the best thing to do is recognize it, accept it, and then over come it. When you’re starting your first campaign or online venture make sure you set goals that you’re going to reach in a timely manner. Don’t be so unrealistic with your expectations that you expect to go from never working online to the next Internet millionaire. Remember that before you were able to run you had to walk. Before you could walk you had to crawl. The same goes for starting your own business. Finally, know when enough is enough and it’s time to take a break. Even the most successful Entrepreneurs in the world have to take time out eventually to collect their thoughts and mentally relax. By practicing all of this you’ll find yourself becoming more patient, less frustrated, and much more productive.
Ryan Gray is the founder and CEO of NameHero, one of the fastest growing independent web hosts in the United States. Ryan has been working online since 1998 and has over two-decades experience in Internet Entrepreneurship.
This is so helpful, I am very frustrated and came across with this article. Thanks so much Ryan. Really motivated to take baby steps until I get there.
No problem, glad I can help.