Passions That Pay

When I talk to those new to running an online business, I hear the word overwhelm spoken with extreme frequency and with strong emotion attached.

I remember the feeling very well when I first became a coach. The lesson I quickly gleaned was that initially I had to be a marketer first and a coach second. But I had NO marketing experience as my previous job was as a teacher. I was faced with learning many new things - from building a website to learning how to market my services. The learning curve was very steep.

Here are the steps that I took to overcome the daunting task.

1. I learnt how to market online through affiliate marketing. When you are marketing your own services, there tends to be too much emotion and blocks which get in the way. When I was marketing other people’s product, I was able to detach enough to be able to see the logical steps to take. I could experiment with various techniques without worrying too much about the outcome. I still dabble with affiliate marketing when I see a product that really impresses me but my major focus these days is on my own products and services.

2. I focussed on one or two things at a time. When you have so much to learn, it is impossible and unrewarding to attempt to learn everything at once. Work out the logical first steps. I chose a niche and a target market as my first step and researched exactly how to reach them, what words they used, what their pains and passions were. This research made making my website (my second step) easier as I knew exactly who I was talking to.

3. I realized that there is no such thing as perfection and I gave myself permission to know that it was better to have my work good enough and done rather than sit in limbo because I was afraid it wasn’t the very best I could do.

4. I had a support group that was at a similar stage of newness and we learnt things together - this really helped as we shared resources and discoveries.

5. I set myself small goals that could be achieved in 15 minute intervals - I am very quickly overwhelmed if I feel I have to stay at a task for a long time. I quickly get antsy and find myself searching for all possible distractions. If I know I only have to focus for 15 minutes, I find it much easier to settle down to the task in hand. There are some days and some tasks that even 15 minutes seems unpalatable so I use 5 or 10 minute goals. I am constantly surprised at how much I can get done when I hyperfocus for 15 minutes.

6. Having a coach throughout the whole process was vital for me - I needed the clarity, the brainstorming and the encouragement that a coaching relationship provides. My coach was able to keep me from being overwhelmed by helping me work out manageable steps whilst holding the big vision in sight to motivate me.

Do you suffer from overwhelm? Have you found some strategies that work for you to conquer this dragon?

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