I see so many people who want to make money quick online, without having to do very much. It never ceases to amaze me that people think they can find a magic formula that will translate into huge amounts of cash for them, for practically no effort. And yet, when presented with an opportunity to build a legitimate business from the ground up, with no barriers to entry, it just doesn’t seem palatable to them. “Where’s the quick return?” “Can’t I just share something on Facebook and make quick $$?” “You mean I have to work?” “I’m not going to be rich within 24 hours? Then I’ll find something else.”
Here’s the first post I saw on a Facebook business opportunity page today:
Interestingly, posts like these tend to get great responses. People comment “FREE” underneath, expecting that something magical will happen by commenting FREE. I see other posts that offer genuine business opportunities, but … shock / horror / gasp … some work might be required, and guess what? No one looks twice at those posts.
When people sign up to an online program, they want to know straight away “so when will I be rich?” What they don’t consider is how much time and effort goes into building an online business. There IS a formula you can use to sustainably build your online business, however there is nothing magic about it, it is based on hard work and dedication. It is based on training and learing how to do it from the ground up. It requires patience and determination.
When will I be rich?
Here is some of the narrative I see around people signing up to online programs and wondering why the dollars aren’t pouring in after a few weeks:
“I have done the first training module. When will I get rich?”
“I created a Pinterest account and pinned something. When will I get rich?”
“I don’t want to buy a domain name, I’ll just use a free one. When will I get rich?”
“I did a blog about what I’m doing. But I haven’t really shared it much. When will I get rich?”
“I can’t listen to the training because I’m too busy seeing my friends. When will I get rich?”
“I can’t be bothered setting up Google plus and posting there because I’m not convinced it will go viral. When will I get rich?”
“Keywords? Whatever! When will I get rich?”
“I did a facebook post about my website. When will I get rich?”
“I can’t complete more training this week because I’m half way though an awesome Netflix series. When will I get rich?”
“I’m skipping lots of the training because I’m pretty sure I don’t need it. When will I get rich?”
“I don’t read related blogs, who’s got time for that? When will I get rich?”
“I don’t have time to keep up with what’s happening in my niche. When will I get rich?”
“I’ve already told some friends about what I’m doing and they don’t seem to care so I’ll stop talking about and wait til people ask me. When will I get rich?”
“I hear that a friend of a guy I met in the grocery store last week said affiliate marketing doesn’t work so I’m not really putting it out there. When will I get rich?”
“I’m writing one post every three weeks. I’m just really tired OK. When will I get rich?”
“It’s already been a whole week and I’m sick of waiting. When will I get rich?”
“I don’t want to really commit to this because it might not work and I’ll be disappointed. When will I get rich?”
“I did a post and no-one ‘liked’ it so I don’t want to do anymore. When will I get rich?”
“It’s inconvenient having to consistently publish posts. I’d rather be out with friends. WHEN WILL I GET RICH?”
With that attitude, you will never get rich. Not only will you not get rich, you will not be successful. You’ll always be waiting for the next shiny thing.
Patience is the key to success
Just because an opportunity is online, doesn’t somehow make it instantaneous. Perhaps it’s because people hear of others who’ve gotten rich ‘quick’. I’m sure that for the majority of people who appeared to have made it rich quick, there was a whole lot more work that went into it behind the scenes – perhaps even years of work. Consider Rovio, the creators of Angry Birds. They were working away for six years before they were an ‘instant’ success.
For the majority of us, we need to work at our business to build it and see it grow over time. This is true for ANY business, whether it be online or not.
Sometimes, when setting up your own business, you might even need to work for free while you’re in the processing of building it.
WHAT? You mean I can’t just forward something to everyone in my friends list and become rich? Won’t this method work forever?
Didn’t you know that nothing happens overnight?
I created this graph to show a typical pattern of a new business venture. This is true for any business, whether it be online or not. When you are getting started, you will essentially be working for free. By that I mean you will not be seeing any returns while you are becoming established. However, this is a crucial stage of your business – you are setting up the foundation for your success. No business is successful without a solid base.
The first stage also includes things like learning what you are doing. There WILL be mistakes in this stage. They are to be expected. You will not be reaping rewards the moment you begin. You will be learning as you go, and starting to build a base on which to grow. It is going to take you some time before you become effective at what you do.
This will be followed by a stage where you are beginning to get some traction. This might be in the form of visitors and sales. This might be very sporadic for a while. And then it will become a bit more consistent. And then it will start to grow a bit. This stage could last for quite some time.
And then, following lots of time and effort, you will start to see your business grow. The problem is though, most people will give up before they reach this stage. For them, it’s all too hard and not worth it. The quick return didn’t happen, so they figured it wasn’t worth their effort.
This is the difference between successful people, and those who will never make it. That might sound harsh, but it’s true.
People who are willing to stick at it are thinking with an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. A scarcity mentality is that where you feel there will never be enough, so you hang on to what you have without being willing to genuinely pursue new opportunities. You only think about the here and now and the very next pay check. That mentality needs to change if you are wanting to build yourself a new career. I have written about the abundance mentality before:
https://winningcareerfromhome.com/create-an-abundance-mentality
You get back what you put in. Keep at it.
The keys to your success will be patience, determination and resilience. Don’t give up before you’ve given it a proper go.
I have written before about the perils of thinking that you can make fast money online:
https://winningcareerfromhome.com/want-to-make-fast-money-online-think-again
Changing your life takes time. With the tools, the training and the support available, the only thing holiding you back is you. Make the decision to change your life. I believe in you.
Leave me a question or a comment and I’m always happy to help!
I needed to read this! I just started a website and have been wondering if the time I have spent is worth it. Persistence is the key. Thank you for presenting the truth!
Hi Shelby, websites usually take a little to build up. Over time, your posts and pages will get indexed quicker, your rankings will start to improve, and your traffic will steadily start to increase. It will take a while, but consistency and time will help. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.
All the very best to you and your new website.
Cheers
Melissa
This is such an inspiring and correct post! I’ve myself fallen into the get rich quick mindset too many times and now consciously protect myself against it since it brings nothing for the long term.
This is easier said than done of course but it takes a lot of awareness and visualization to make this happen. Ironically, one needs patience with this as well! : )
thanks for the great post
Hi Vivek,
Thank you! I’m glad it resonated with you. Longer term thinking is the key, and you’re right – it is so easier said than done. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here and I wish you all the very best.
Cheers
Melissa
Hi Mellisa. we waste more time on the meaningless of things and then we complain about what we do in our lives as a consequence, You’re right about patience and hard work finding a legitimate program but, unfortunately, we always go for the magic pill that we want it now. we always go for the shortcut believing of a get rich scheme and which ended up most of the time it be a scam. I was one of those people and for years I was scammed more ways than one but I kept doing my research and this went on for a number of years until I found a site called wealthy affiliate which I done all my training in there to build my site. I know they were legitimate and genuine cause of the positive feedback and reputation plus they have been around a long time and now I have been with them for nearly 3 years, I’m still not making an online living at the moment but I honestly believe this will all happen and this is all due to patience and hard work and I know my day will come one.
Hi Michael,
It’s far easier for us to go for the magic pill! But more often than not the magic pill shows us no magic, and only leaves us with less money and more frustration. Lots of people get scammed, because lots of effort goes into the magic pills to make them look legitimate. Sometimes it’s hard to sift through what’s real and what is not.
I think your story is very similar to others – they wanted to change their lives and were scammed along the way. Then finding Wealthy Affiliate changed it for them. It sounds like you’re very happy with Wealthy Affiliate after being with them for almost 3 years. I see lots of very members who’ve been with WA years.
I wish you all the very best with your online aspirations. I know if you keep at it Michael your day will come.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your story here.
Cheers
Melissa