Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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March 26, 2010

Online Business: How Do You Make a Living from This?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 9:28 am

A Guest Post by Terez Howard

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Successful entrepreneurs asked that question. You’ve asked that question, and sometimes I’m still asking that question.

An epiphany: it all goes back to gardening.

Let me explain. My brown thumb has kept me from killing another cactus and from watching seedlings waste away. But this year, I decided to give gardening a chance. Since it’s early in the gardening season, I don’t know whether the fruits of my labor will produce anything edible or not. I’m proud to say, though, that my green beans are towering and my spinach is plentiful.

What do you care, right?

Well, I did research, asked my friends for advice and jumped in. That’s what we do. We research how we can make a living as our own boss. We join forums, follow blogs and ask the experts to give us direction.

What happens after that?

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DO SOMETHING. Don’t get stuck as a professional student, always reading and studying but never graduating and starting a career. This might sound like lunacy coming from a blogger, but stop reading so many blogs and responding on so many forums. Take some time to build your own business, and don’t let the possibility of failure to paralyze you. Some seeds will not germinate. It’s part of business.

I’m not going to give you an exhaustive list of how you can get started as a business owner. You can gorge yourself on a buffet of such information. All I want you to do is one thing that will lead you toward your goal. Of course, you have to know what your goal is first. Maybe you want to make an income selling an original fitness routine. Today, sign up with Twitter with the goal of giving your potential and future customers daily exercise tips. It’s not much in the way of marketing, but it’s something.

With my garden, I knew that I wanted to pay $1 for a package of seeds and get 20 times that amount in produce. The end result motivated me to get started. This goes back to your business goals. If you know what you want to gain, then you’ll be more likely to get moving. Write your goals down and keep them handy as a personal motivator. Post them in your workspace.

Oh, and the time is now. Time to get started on that garden!

Do you know your goal? What sort of garden is it?

—–

Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez … you said it perfectly and with style.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Filed under Successful Blog, Writing | 8 Comments »




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8 Comments to “Online Business: How Do You Make a Living from This?”

  1. March 26th, 2010 at 9:53 am
    Stephanie Manley said

    I like your analogy of the garden. So often I have heard that we need to posterboard our goals and to see the direction that we are headed in. While may have been blogging for a long time now, I haven’t always done so with the best drive and focus as I should. Thank you for using the example of a garden. It is easier to achieve goals once you know what you are looking for.

  2. March 26th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
    7 Tips to Be a Successful Online Marketer | Adwords Tips said

    [...] Online Business: How Do You Make a Living from This? | Liz Strauss … [...]

  3. March 26th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Stephanie,
    It’s a great analogy that Terez used. She wrote this up beautifully.

    I agree it’s always easy to find our goals when we have something to look for. :)

  4. March 26th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
    Calking Chi said

    It is really not a easy task to make a living from online business.

  5. March 27th, 2010 at 8:07 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Stepanie,
    Goals are an important lynchpin to any strategy. They do just as you say, “set our direction and keep our focus.”
    I garden and agree that gardens are a lot like blogs. In some ways they grow with their own direction, but we have to nurture them with care. :)

  6. March 28th, 2010 at 8:29 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Calking Chi,
    It is not a really easy task to make a living … until you understand the domain you’re working in and you love the people you’re doing the work for. :) Finding that combination maybe the hardest part. But if we never get started at doing some little thing in one focused direction toward a real goal, we stand no chance at all. :)

  7. March 28th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
    Terez said

    Stephanie,

    Goals are wonderful. They keep you focused and determined.

    Calking Chi,

    You’re right. Success doesn’t come easily. It takes endurance. Sometimes all you can do is roll with the punches. Other times, you have to adapt.

    Liz and all,

    This is my first garden, and it might not turn out like I hope. Business is unpredictable, and we can only do so much to make it a success. Our best efforts might turn into a flop. But they might bring in the largest yield we ever could’ve expected! We’ll never know unless we try.

  8. April 12th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
    One Guest Blog Post Increases My Twitter Followers Sevenfold « Freelance Writing Mamas said

    [...] wrote How Do You Make a Living from This? for Liz Strauss’s http://www.successful-blog.com. I was tickled by Liz’s accolades via e-mail, Twitter [...]

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