If You Meet a Sea Monkey On The Road....

Do you remember those old ads for Sea Monkeys? When I was a kid, I was obsessed with them! I would stare at those colorful pictures for hours, analyzing every last detail and carefully contemplating whether or not I’d be a good candidate for such beguiling pets.

I was especially excited about the prospect of teaching these adorable little creatures to perform tricks (add the bow on the female Sea Monkey’s head – sold!). Luckily, my parents, who were not fans of any kind of pets, nixed this notion.

Later on, I found out the bitter truth. The reality was that there were no cute sea pets eager to please anyone. In fact, these were nothing more than “brine shrimp”: ugly mini crustaceans that had no humanoid faces (or bows!) and not enough intelligence to do anything except eat their “growth food”.

It was all hype, no substance – nothing more than empty promises designed to trick pet happy kids like myself into parting with their hard earned allowances.

To say that I was bummed to discover the reality is an understatement.

Often you’ll see this same thing when it comes to online businesses that promise to help you create an “easy road to online wealth” or books that give hope to a “four hour work week”. You might get lured in by a flashy ad or story that suggests you can have a six figure income while putting in very few hours of actual work. Sounds exciting, right?

This shizz might get you fantasizing how you too, could be an overnight success, kicking back with a mojito and doing nothing but selling information products while your outsourced “VA” (virtual assistant) handles all the dirty details and icky parts of the actual running of the biz.

It’s enticing to think of a lifestyle where you don’t have to do anything but chill out while collecting piles of cash.

And it’s also disheartening when you discover that it doesn’t work out like that for you. When that promised easy money doesn’t materialize, you begin to wonder if you are doing something wrong. After all, you did everything the gurus preached. So why isn’t it happening for you? Why are you still barely making ends meet while all these online celebrities are rolling in the dough? What do they have that you don’t? Do you need yet another class on marketing or do you need to get more coaching?

This sets you up for spending more money on stuff you really don’t need and worse, getting neurotic worrying about what the other guy is doing that you “should” be doing.

Here’s the truth: some business models do succeed wildly with less work. Leonie Dawson is a lovely example of a woman who has created an extremely profitable and smart business (you gotta love that woman – she’s amazing! I have mad respect for her killer biz skillz.). She IS able to work fewer hours, make big bucks and have a fab crew to keep it running at full speed.

But I guarantee you this: she worked hard to get there and probably didn’t start making serious coin until she was at it awhile. All you have to do is take a look around her online hub and you can see the love, energy and hardcore effort she poured in to build the Goddess Leonie empire. Her stuff is original and she’s always evolving. Even if she now only works a few hours a day, this woman is not stagnant (prolific more like it). She’s creating real growth and innovation on a consistent basis.

She’s the perfect example of what is possible if you are creative and ambitious – and stick with your grind long enough.

There are other online businesses that do exceptionally well but if you look under the hood, you’ll also see that many of these businesses either:

work their asses off round the clock
have been at their games a long time and had time to figure out what works for them
have gotten used to variable income and budgeting
have another job or source of income
are supported by a partner
are so damn talented that it’s easy for them to attract work and command high salaries (good street cred is valuable)

Rarely is there the true “overnight success” or “the four hour week success story”. Being an entrepreneur is hard work and in most cases, it takes a long time before you see tangible rewards. There is nothing wrong with humble beginnings nor with having to actually do real work (psst work may be a four letter word but it’s not dirty).

For my own business, the keys to my success are:

I’ve been at this game a long time.
I’ve evolved over the years and adapted well to technology.
I am consistent (I don’t disappear for months at a time – you know where to find me).
I set reasonable goals.
I am absolutely hyper organized. Everything in my life is on a schedule.
My personal problems never get in the way. EVER. I still show up, fully present, no matter what is going on in my life. I’m committed to my clients and my work.
I budget like a mofo and invest when necessary.
I follow through with what I promise and I care about my clients + their experience with my work.
I create products based on what my customers want.
I never stop learning. I continue my education – both in tarot and business.
I market the heck out of my stuff (PS when you create an information product, you still have to pimp it out – it does not sell itself so please don’t believe that hype).
I get support when needed and I never, ever give up.
I pay my bills + taxes on time. ALWAYS.
Oh, and I work my ass off and do almost every frigging thing myself (I hire out for the stuff I suck at but almost 95% of my biz is done by moi.).

That doesn’t sound very glamorous nor easy, does it? But here’s the deal: this is the way many small businesses operate. If you think we’re all sitting around making easy money, eating bon bons and outsourcing the “un-fun” stuff, you’re dead wrong. Many of us are grinding away, day by day, staying committed to our work, our clients and our mission. (We are driven by something other than money: passion.)

Sustainable success doesn’t require gimmicks, flashy sales techniques, sucking up, nor selling out. In other words, there is no magic bullet, no secret formula, no insider tip, no surefire path to easy riches.

The next time you see an ad promising get rich quick schemes, “passive income” or special secrets to “six figure incomes” (does everyone really feel a need to make that amount?), take a breath and then do your due diligence and take the time to investigate beyond the hype. Ask questions before you plunk down your hard earned dollar bills on yet another program, gimmick or coach (most entrepreneurs will be more than happy to give you the straight scoop on how they roll so do NOT hesitate to ask) – and then let your gut lead to you the right decision.

More importantly, ask yourself: am I doing this because it’s a passion or am I looking for an “easy path to six figures”? If your sole motivator is that you want to make tons of cash without having to do any actual work, then it’s time to hit the pause button.

Earning big bucks without any genuine enthusiasm or labor is like having “instant sea pets” that obey your commands, wear bows on their little horns and perform tricks: pretty much non-existent.

“A sea monkey has my money” ~ Dori from Finding Nemo.

Blessings!

Theresa

pictures from creative commons and stock photography