Well, being in the position I’m in where I talk to dozens of people every month about the problems they’re facing in their lives and businesses, I thought it would be smart to try and come up with solutions for some of the most common new entrepreneur problems.
I’m especially passionate about this because, at one point or another, I’ve personally had every single one of these problems.
Luckily though, there are answers! You just have to be willing to have an open mind and actually take action.
I’ve found some people don’t really want to solve their problems. They’d rather bitch about them, and tell people their entrepreneurs, but not actually make any progress towards their goals. They get 90% of the ego boost, but none of the hard work – or long-term benefit.
If this is you, then you may want to find another site.
That being said, if you’re ready to take real action and blow through your roadblocks, then read on.
1. New Entrepreneurs Problem: “I have no traffic.”
Solution: Guest Post
The vast majority of all the traffic to my blog when I was first getting started (and even nowadays) came from doing guest posts.
There’s a right and a wrong way to pitch other bloggers on this, but if you build a relationship with them, offer legitimate value to their audience, and work hard to make it a win/win guest posting is the most effective way I know of to not only get more readers, but to increase your search traffic as well.
When I guest post for someone else, I do the following:
- Link to the post from my blog
- Promote it on Twitter (several times)
- Share it on Facebook
- Thank the person
- Stick around and respond to comments on the post
While not everyone does this, it’s not a bad idea. However, this is important: If you have to choose between getting people to guest post on your site or guest posting elsewhere, do the latter. It’s always better to get your name out into new communities.
2. New Entrepreneurs Problem: I have traffic, but I’m not making any money
Solution: Become a Better Marketer
So many new bloggers and business owners still think sales and marketing is evil. The fact is, it’s 100% necessary. And more importantly, if you truly believe in what you’re offering you should view what you’re doing as a good thing for your audience and potential customers.
Become a Better Digital Marketer in 7 Easy Steps:
- Learn to leverage the data
- Get involved in paid social advertising
- Do more visual marketing
- Get the most out of email marketing
- Become a better content marketer
- Get your hands on more technology
- Dig into social media marketing
I just wanted to shoot you a quick email to say thanks for providing such a valuable program. Location Rebel is more than just a community for hungry entrepreneurs and aspiring world travelers. It shows us how to create opportunities using the talents and skills we already have and how to develop new ones to achieve the life we want to live. I’ll admit that I was skeptical when I first signed on as a member, but after being part of the Location Rebel community for nearly nine months, I can say that without it, I wouldn’t have taken the leap to follow my dreams.
If I hadn’t honed the marketing of the product, she may have never been persuaded to buy it, and still be in her old life that she was unhappy with. As long as you don’t have evil intentions, marketing is a good thing for both you and your customers.
3. Problem: You’ve Run Out of Money
Solution: SEO Writing
Newsflash: Making money on the internet isn’t that hard. It may not be the super sexy, passive income you want, but if all you need is a little cash in the bank, start SEO writing. Blair, one of our Location Rebel members who joined earlier this year made over $4k in his first month, just by SEO writing.
But if you need to make some extra money while you’re building out a different business, this is a great way to hold you over, as well as build confidence in your ability to generate an income for yourself.
Bonus points? You can do it from anywhere on Earth as long as you have an internet connection.
4. Problem: You Can’t Manage All of Your Email
Solution: Sanebox
The easiest answer is to declare email bankruptcy, delete everything, and trust that anything of real importance will find its way back into your life. However, obviously, that isn’t much of a long-term solution.
Sanebox is, however.
With features that help you prioritize your email, get rid of things you never want to see, and re-notify you after a set period of time if a desired action hasn’t been taken, this is the absolute best service I’ve come across for helping people manage email overload.
Other Resources that Might Help:
- Boomerang – Not quite as full-featured as Sanebox, but has some similar features. Also, free.
- Rapportive – Get all the relevant info about the people who send you email, so you can quickly decide how much time to spend on your response.
- Postbox – Don’t like your normal Gmail layout? Try this alternative.
5. Problem: You Can’t Focus Long Enough to Get Anything Done
Solution: Focus@Will
This has been probably my absolute biggest problem as an entrepreneur. Sitting down, focusing, and getting shit done is hard for me. I’m constantly distracted, and great at making excuses, and my morale can be severely affected when those things get the better of me.
That was up until I found Focus@Will.
Focus@Will is a service that plays special instrumental music that is supposed to have the same effect on the brain as ADD medication. I have no idea if this is actually true. I do know however that when I use it, I get more stuff done. In fact, it’s become a pretty essential part of my workflow these days.
Other Resources
- Bose QC15 Headphones – These bad boys aren’t cheap, but they make it possible to work from anywhere. I could be surrounded by a dozen hardhat-clad dudes with jackhammers, and the QC15 and Focus@Will combo keeps me on track.
- Pomodoro – Set the timer and Focus@Will to the same time and get to work. Get 3 sessions in a day and I guarantee your productivity will increase substantially. You probably don’t need the full book, and there are plenty of free timers you can find online.
6. Problem: You’re Unorganized, and Thus Unproductive
Solution: Read and Study Getting Things Done
I’ve talked to people who both love Getting Things Done by David Allen, and those that hate it. Overall his system can be a little intense, but the important part about it? It is a system.
The reason most people are unproductive is because they don’t have any system in place for productivity. They just sit down and try and bang out work. Can we take a moment to pause and think about just how terrible of an idea that is?
Got it? Ok good.
Does that mean I’m not guilty at times? Of course not, but if you’re really struggling with productivity and organization, David’s book is a fantastic starting point.
Other recommendations:
- The Top 5 – Prepare your “Top 5” must-dos for the next day every night before you go to bed. Put them in order that you’ll work on them, with the hardest first. Doing this takes out any question of where you’ll get started. Once you get that first hard thing done, it’s much easier to make progress from there.
- Calendar – Start scheduling individual activities and tasks on your calendar. Treat it like a meeting, you can’t miss it!
If you’ve found yourself making any of the excuses in this post, try something new, like, not making excuses.
First start by making a conscious decision to make a change. Then follow the instructions in this post. If you make a habit out of regular progress, good things will begin to happen.
What major problem do you find most new entrepreneurs face? And what’s your solution for that?
Article Published by Liz | Two Weeks to Travel
