3 Myths About Starting an Online Business

Spoiler:  This is brutally honest.

The 3 Top Myths in Online (Course Creation, Coaching, Membership) Business Creation

So you’re thinking about starting an online business - Fantastic!  

Let me guess either:

1. You’re trying to manage tons of social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, WhatsApp), an education delivery platform(Kajabi, Kartra, ClickFunnels), plus doing ads, writing emails and creating content. Or, 
2. You’re scared as hell you have to do #1 and as such are completely stuck. 

Everything I originally believed and (many clients that reach out to me) believed about starting their online business was false.  Here are my top 3 myths about starting an online business.

1. You have to have tons of products, contents and offers.
2. It has to be glitzy, pretty, flashy and sassy and PERFECT.
3. Once I have #1 and #2 all set, the cash will start rolling in.

All false.

Let’s take them one at a time.

Tons of products - Start with 1 product for 1 audience on one social media platform.  You don’t need to be all things to all people and you don’t have to have all the answers.  Provide your knowledge in one key area but make it transformational. In other words, take your student from Point A to Point B.  

Let’s look at an example. I want to teach folks how to bake a cake from scratch.  We don’t need to teach them how to bake a double layer cake and we don’t need to teach them how to create innovative frostings and fillings. Just teach them how to bake 1 simple cake to start. 

If I want to teach digital marketing, pick one specific area, for one specific audience.  Instead of Facebook ads, Google ads, websites and email, pick email.  And, within email, teach how to craft the best emails for a specific audience, i.e., local pet shops.

It has to be glitzy. It has to be perfect.

No. It. Doesn’t. This is 2-prong NO.  1. It doesn’t need to be a beautiful landing page with bells and whistles, graphics, etc.  2.  It doesn’t need to be perfect.

If people need what you are offering, they’ll take it plain vanilla without dotted i’s. I’m not saying produce garbage and expect people to buy it but I am saying, stop with the procrastination.  Yes, I’m talking to myself too!  The “not perfect” course, blog, video, webinar is exactly what someone needs right now.  

Do you have tons of 97% completed projects on your computer? (Guilty)  If so, pick one that resonates with you right now and finish it.  “Ship the work” per Seth Godin, The Practice. Release the blog.  You can always write the updated version or part 2. Get out the door with what you have. 

Start without the tech. Once you’re making money, you can invest in the technology.  In fact, at that point, you’ll have a better understanding of what you need.  Right now, you’re paying for crap you don’t need.  

Well, Ro, how can I do it without tech?  Facebook groups are free.  Google docs are free (well, practically.  Please use Google Business Suite and not a generic gmail).  Literally write that sh*t out, do some videos and get it out to the right people. You can literally put content in a free Facebook Group or in a Google Drive, and send it to people after they pay you via PayPal or Venmo. Free or dirt cheap to start.

The biggest MYTH. Once I have all my products done and have my fancy landing pages up, the money will roll in.

Um, no it won’t.  I don’t care what you read on the internet, Facebook pages, etc.  If you don’t have an audience in place, you won’t sell anything.  I don’t care how polished and pretty it is. You have to start with the audience and by that I mean a niche audience.  And before you even do that, you need to have connected with your audience, understood their pain and selected a solution that transforms them away from their pain, to their happy place or some other fantastic outcome. 

 I no longer build products for people that do not have audiences. Reason being, they are not going to make any money and they are going to be sad. I will work with them and help them define, grow and learn from their audience and THEN grow their products. But, the other way doesn’t work.

If you are ready to step into this world, focus on your zone of brilliance first.  What lights you up?  Once you find it, do your due diligence with the audience.  Find them, listen to them, lurk where they are and discover their greatest challenges.  That’s where the gold is.  

Now, go about building your own mini-world of those people.  This can be in-person networking, Linked In groups, Facebook groups or other online communities.  Once you have researched the group, understood their pain, established your audience, you can start delivering solutions to them. The money will start flowing (trickling) in.