In this article I’m going to focus on helping people who are just getting started online or have been trying to quit their jobs for a while but might be feeling overwhelmed by the whole ‘make money online’ concept.
The key thing I want to get across is that it isn’t actually that complicated to get from having a JOB to being a full-time digital entrepreneur, in fact I think there are just 6 steps you need to take to be successful.
But before I begin, I just want to take a quick detour which I promise will be quick, although it could actually be the most vital thing you’ll need to understand if you’re planning on being successful online.
Understanding your “Why?”
This can actually be one of the biggest reasons for being successful or failing in your quest to building your own online business.
The fact is, if you are focused on the wrong thing(s) then you are highly unlikely to succeed in any business venture you begin.
Don’t make the common mistake of focusing on “the money”!
Instead, concentrate on what you can achieve and who you can help.
Look at the long term; family, friends, community or charity. Think about experiences that you might want to have or have dreamed about.
There’s no doubt, successful entrepreneurs will tell you that the money they make through building their online business is all good, but it’s actually what it enables them to do that’ll have a lasting effect.
And let’s face it, money in the bank won’t get you through the tough times that aren’t financially related (maybe a few, but not all).
What about your dream holiday, or maybe the look on someone’s face when ________ you fill in the blank…
There are entire programs available dedicated to this stuff and most people I have spoken to say the ‘mindset’ stuff has made the biggest difference to their success in business.
So, my advice… find your most powerful “Why?” and let it guide you…
You’ll thank me if you do.
And now, back to the main point of this article, 6 Steps To Becoming A Full-Time Digital Entrepreneur”.
1. Find YOUR right opportunity
Remember, “one size does not fit all”, it all depends on your skills, personality, desires etc.
You need to find something that suits you, gets your creativity or passions flowing and stick with it in the long run.
There’s nothing worse than bouncing from one “next big thing” to the next just following the crowd because that’s the latest great way to make money online.
Without any interest or passion it doesn’t matter, you will not generally be successfully doing something you cannot stand.
2. Build your online presence
I’m talking about securing your domain name, signing up for web hosting and building a website/blog and getting those pesky social media channels sorted.
You know… YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
As well as getting to grips with a few popular tools like cPanel, Softaculous, WordPress among others.
While you can outsource a bunch of the technical stuff it can be really useful when you are trying to explain to someone what you want, if you actually know how to do it yourself.
3. Generate leads and build a list
Leads are the lifeblood of any business… not just digital entrepreneurs.
You could have the best product or service in the world, but if you can’t interest enough people to invest in it, you won’t make any money.
There have been plenty of good ideas that ultimately didn’t result in profitable businesses… “build it and they will come” does not apply!
Your goal should be to provide exceptional value to those who have expressed an interest and then ultimately aim to convert them into paying customers.
After all, you’ve got a great product and people will benefit from it so why wouldn’t they want to invest in it?
4. Create valuable content
This is key, people love to consume content and solve the problems they are having, so if you can do it then there’s no reason why they won’t come back for more.
Ensure that action can be taken from the advice or training you are providing, the old adage of “teach them how to fish” is important…
The solution might be build a website but what good is that unless you show them how or provide resources that mean they can do it themselves?
Your aim is to become trusted in your niche and build relationships with your prospects/customers.
Not only will this mean there is a higher potential they will buy from you, when you make a recommendation they’ll also listen (as well as refer others to you who might have the same problems to solve).
5. Product creation (or promotion)
Learn what people need to build their business and offer it to them.
There, I said it… you actually have to make offers to people, whether it’s in the form of products you have for them to buy or other tools/services they could use to achieve their goals.
You will never be successful building a business if you are unwilling to make offers (not all of them have to be about selling though).
Identify quality products or services that will help your prospects and/or customers, or create quality products yourself to meet their needs.
6. Automate, rinse and repeat
Your business needs to continue to grow and develop, it’s not a love it and leave it situation, so the key is to keep moving forward without ending up spending too much time looking after others instead of yourself.
So… use tools and technology to free up your time, scale your successful campaigns or offers to new markets/niches.
There are a range of tools out there that can allow you to move away from small scale, manual processes to reach a wider audience all while actually reducing the time it takes for you to run your business.
Ultimately, you should find that in the long run you can automate a number of things that you used to do yourself and enjoy the “laptop lifestyle” by running your business from anywhere.
In conclusion
So there you have them, my 6 steps to becoming a full-time digital entrepreneur ( at a high level of course).
Granted this was a pretty quick look at each step and by rights there are entire training courses or products that could be created around each step.
So, in the future I’ll be taking the time to go into a little more detail about each step and expanding on them to help you make more progress.
So, don’t forget to check back for new updates and of course feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, I’m always open to new ideas and constructive criticism.
Until next time!
