What you need to know to even stand a chance.

Hiya, it’s Pat! 👋

When it comes to building an online business, I like to keep the first steps simple:

1. Pick a target market.
2. Find a specific problem to solve in that market.
3. Solve that problem in a different or better way.

Throughout this process, include real conversations with real people in that market, and you’ll stand a great chance of creating a revenue-generating business.

There’s one problem we need to address, however.

Time.

And no, I don’t mean having enough time to work on the business. Even if you’re busy, you can find small pockets of time to talk to people and find out how to solve a single problem. That’s just a matter of prioritization.

By time, I mean how much time do you give an idea until you decide whether to keep going or move on from it?

This is an age-old question, and I’m going to give you a specific answer.

Let’s get unstuck.

THE STORY

---

In 2010, I bought tickets to my very first business conference — Blog World Expo in Las Vegas.

I was super nervous to step away from out behind my keyboard for the first time and engage with people in real life, but I was also very excited to see one of my blogging inspirations speak on stage.

Darren Rowse's blog, ProBlogger.com, was a daily read for me back when I first started, and I’m grateful we’ve become good friends. He even had me speak on his own stage in Australia, which was an absolute honor.

But it was on this Vegas stage in 2010 that I heard Darren tell a transformational story about his career which involved just nine words from his wife. It changed his life, and in turn changed mine, too.

When Darren started blogging, he had a dream to eventually go full time with it. The problem was, he was a hobby photographer who treated his blog like a hobby, too. As a result, it really never saw a return, and his wife took notice.

It was then that she said:

“You’ve got 6 months to make blogging full time.”

If he didn’t, he’d have to get a regular job.

Darren writes about this exact moment here, the harsh ultimatum from his wife that finally made him take his dream seriously.

As Darren describes, “In the moments after Vanessa's ultimatum I had a realization that while I dreamed that one day my blogging would become a business that I'd been treating my blogging like a hobby. I knew that if I were to succeed in going full time in the next six months that that had to change. I needed to start looking at my blogging as a business now — even though it was only earning a day or two a week's income. That moment changed everything.”

This is when digital-photography-school.com was finally set on a path to be one of the top photography resources in the world, and then later he founded ProBlogger to share how it was all done.

Six months.

That’s the magical number I see come up time and time again in entrepreneurship, and I can validate it from personal experiences, too.

A six month deadline can be used to reach a certain income level, like in Darren’s case. Or it can simply be a matter of commitment, to see an idea through to a point at which you can determine if it’s worth going forward with.

Like seeds, businesses need time to germinate into something fruitful. But too many want the results now, and sometimes you just have no idea how it’ll turn out until you patiently give it a chance.

This six month impending deadline can be used as a great motivator to make decisions now and take bold actions that would have otherwise been put off until next week, next month, or even next year.

Your Call to Action

Commit to a business direction or a plan, and give yourself six months to make it happen. Remove distractions (i.e. other ideas that need their own six months of energy from you), and you’ll get to a point where you can make a real informed decision to either move forward or scrap it and move on to something else.

And even if you do scrap something, it’s not all for a loss. There’s learning and discovery there that you can take forward with you into the next six months.

This is also great practice for avoiding the “sunk cost fallacy” — going ahead with something just because you already invested the time. The six month checkpoint is the perfect amount of time to commit to an idea without investing too much time, but just enough to give it a chance. If you need to move on, you can do it without regret.

Six months.

You got this.

We work hard at SPI to remain unstuck and consistently provide you with the latest news, trends, and events to support your businesses. Check it out:

1. ​Join us tomorrow from 2:00pm - 3:00pm (EST) for our free virtual Networking Event. Meet up with other entrepreneurs from across the globe. Whether it’s a podcaster from Paris, YouTuber from New Zealand, or a blogger from San Diego, you will be sure to find great people to engage in meaningful conversation with. Become motivated and get inspired while you grow your network. Sign-up today and we’ll see you live tomorrow!
2. It’s officially a new year and the motivation is running high. Is one of your goals to finally start that podcast, or take an existing one and make it better? Veteran podcaster, Colin Gray of The Podcast Host, shares his tips and tools to create a great podcast in the shortest amount of time. Learn more in this feature article: How the Best Podcasters Do Their Work Faster.
3. Dive deeper in specific topics and grow your skills with the All-Access Pass workshops. From monetizing your podcast, boosting your website traffic, improving headlines to increase conversion, or the fundamentals of cash flow, you’ll discover a variety of tools to help grow your business. Gain exclusive access to new monthly workshops or peruse existing ones, and complete asynchronously when it works for you. Become a member today!​
4. Does it make sense to be on every social platform? Which ones are right for your business, and how do you increase engagement organically? These questions and more are discussed on the Smart Passive Income podcast. Pat Flynn chats with Eric Siu the founder of Single Grain, a digital marketing agency that help clients grow their traffic and conversions. Pat and Eric cover all the bases and share tips for the top 5 social platforms, podcasting, community, and high-ticket offerings, as well as a business growth blueprint for 2023. Click here to listen.​

​