So you've been building your website with the free 5 Day Website Challenge, and you're learning quite a bit:
– how to use WordPress
– how to design your site to build that know, like & trust factor
– the perfect homepage layout that's designed to get you more subscribers
– how to make sure your site is secure, searchable and seen
– how to deliver a freebie to entice people to join your mailing list
And then you submit that sitemap to Google, take your site live and go on your merry way to start selling your products and services online, right?
Wrong.
I realize that I'm pushing you out of the nest without one of the most important lessons I've learned since starting WP+BFF over a year ago.
But before we get to that, I have one question for you:
WHY?
- Why did you sign up for the 5 Day Website Challenge?
- Why are you spending your spare time building a website?
- Why do you want to make an extra $1000, $5000, $10,000 a month?
- Why do you want quit your job and start your own online business?
- What would be different about your life tomorrow if you woke up and had exactly what you wanted?
It is a very important question to answer, one that you have to be crystal clear on, or else you will quit.
Why I Still Haven't Lost Those 30lbs I Told You About
I send this blog post out to every one of my new BFFs after they've taken the 5 Day Website Challenge. If you just signed up, you haven't gotten it yet, but you will 🙂
I want you to get to know more about me, what motivates me, why I'm giving so much content and time away for free in hopes that it motivates you. And even though losing weight is something I say I really want, I haven't put the time, energy and effort into it. My actions don't align with my words. In fact, I've gained 5 more pounds since I started this business.
I recently started a women's wellness program through my doctor and had all my blood work done. Everything is normal is except low Vitamin D (and I live in Ohio and it's winter, so apparently that's pretty common around these parts).
I was secretly hoping for something in those results to scare me, to motivate me into trying harder. Because I can't see what would be measurably different about my life if I were 35 pounds lighter.
I looked like this when my husband and I met 10 years ago. He still loves me. I have amazing friends and family that love me. I feel great, I can wear the clothes I want to wear. I can run, I can squat, I can do pushups, I can lift heavy weights.
Except I want my arms, legs and hips to be smaller. And I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to be 5'3” and weigh 180 pounds. I also recognize that just because I don't have any health problems now does not mean I won't have them later due to this excess weight I wear.
So I'm trying to reframe the why. Trying to find a reason that motivates me, because simply being smaller will have no measurable impact on my life tomorrow. Why do I want to lose weight? It's still a question I'm trying to answer…
On the other hand, when I tell you that I am extremely motivated to build my business so I can quit my day job, my actions align with my words.
I make time for it every. single. day.
I get up an hour earlier than I need to to get to work on time to check email and respond to Facebook messages. I work on it all weekend long. I let my boss know of my goals and intentionsso that I didn't have to live a double life.
I share the finances of the business with my husband and ensure that he knows I'm investing every last dime I make back into the business – so he can see that all the time I spend up in my office and not with him is paying off even though it's not making an impact on our bank account (yet).
I've invested in premium courses that I've finished and hired a mentor – because while I know every single last piece of the tech you need to run an online business and how to set it up in my sleep, I needed to learn how to market myself. Where to find my ideal customers. How to write copy. How to price my products and services. How to close a sale. How to stand out from everyone else doing what I do. How to get over all the fears I have about conflict, saying no, and setting boundaries. Realizing what my knowledge is actually worth in the marketplace.
I'm not doing this for the money. I make a great salary at my day job. I could stay there and be able to make ends meet and then some. (Okay, that's not entirely true. I like money because money = freedom. I'm not trying to make a million dollars this year. But when it happens in a few years, I'm gonna love it.)
I want freedom. I want to decide what I do with my time. I want to empower people. I get so much joy out of seeing others succeed and helping them do something they didn't think was possible. I want to make a difference. When I help a wellness coach or a senior caregiver or a piano teacher or a graphic designer build a website and it enables her to connect with someone and change their life, that gives me pure joy.
So back to that key lesson that I haven't shared with you yet…
I don't like risk.
I've been grinding away for over a year. Working on WP+BFF, going to work, coming home, and working on WP+BFF. Because for the first 6 months, I wasn't willing to spend a single extra penny on my business unless I was absolutely 100% positive that people were going to buy what I was selling.
What a huge miscalculation! That makes the assumption that I knew exactly what I was doing, and if it didn't result in sales then I didn't lose anything. Back to the day job, no harm, no foul.
You know what I didn't give any credit to in that first 6 months? And what kept me from being able to build this business faster?
My why.
This business is successful because my why outweighs any external factors. Not because I'm scrappy and did everything on a shoestring budget. I see now how that hurt me. How it slowed my progress down.
Why am I willing to spend every moment of my free time helping people learn how to build their websites – for free?
Why am I willing to invest every penny that I earn into business coaching, a high-end email marketing system, a fancy-schmancy online course plugin, and people to help me with the workload and not pay myself (yet)?
Why do I want you to be so successful?
Because I can see exactly how my life will be different when I don't have to go to my day job every day.
I can picture exactly what those days will look like. I see myself healthy, happy and fulfilled. I can see how work doesn't feel like work when what I'm doing helps other people. I can see the impact it has on other people. And that's why no matter what happens, I don't quit.
Next week, I'm going to share with you the common mistakes people make when building their website and the framework I've developed for leveraging your WordPress site to get you more customers.
But first, you need to know why. Or you're not even going to open that email, and if you bother to read it, you're not likely to implement.
What is your goal?
– Is it to quit your job and make $10,000 per month?
– Is it to create an online course and get 500 people to sign up?
– Is it to launch your first group coaching program by the end of the year?
Why do you want that?
– Do you want to quit your job and make $10 grand a month so you can be happier, focus on clients you enjoy and have the freedom to travel with your family? (That's what I want).
– Do you want to launch that online course to 500 people because your husband isn't supportive of your business and you want to prove him wrong?
– Do you want to launch your group coaching program because you know you can help transform people's lives?
There are a lot of things out of your control that can derail your progress. But the what and the why are totally in your control.
Your assignment for today is…
1. Identify your what and why.
2. Hit reply to this email and share them with me.
Next week, we'll take the next step together.
