Sometimes I wake up with nasty little doubts that prick my confidence and hamper my flow: What if the blog is a bad idea? What if I run out of topics? What if the blog doesn’t get any traffic?
Other times it’s other people’s doubts that knock me off course: “Do people actually read that?” “What’s your backup plan for when this blog thing doesn’t work out?”
Lovely.
Thankfully, my business coach encouraged me to develop “re-railers” for when I get derailed by these progress-hampering thoughts. I’ve found that reading and hearing about other people’s success is a guaranteed boost for me. Here’s my go-to list for low confidence moments….maybe it will work for you too:
When you doubt the value of visibility remember that Rachel Ray’s “30-Minute Meals” first gained popularity as a cooking class at a local gourmet market. From that, a local television station offered her a slot on the evenings news, she was interviewed on local radio, and she published a cookbook that swiftly sold 10,000 copies. The cable folks saw all this and snatched her up. Within six years she’s got: four Food Channel shows, a talk show, 12 bestselling cookbooks, and a monthly magazine. Rachael says it all a “very happy, wonderful accident”, but it’s no accident that visibility generated more visibility that led to her grand success.
When you doubt your work history and education remember that Diablo Cody is known to many for her brief career as a stripper, but she wrote for years before penning her Academy Award winning screenplay. She has a degree in media studies and worked as legal secretary, proofreader, newspaper journalist, magazine columnist, serial blogger, and was already a published author. She’s also been a peep show girl and a phone sex operator. Diablo didn’t leave college with a plan to write that screenplay, and there wasn’t a straight path to it either. From that, I’m wondering if what you’ve done isn’t as important as who you became by doing it and what you’re doing now.
When you doubt a small audience can support your work remember that Alexandria Brown has build a multi-million dollar solo business in 7 years with a relatively microscopic clientele. She’s open about her earnings and business practices; from listening to her seminars it sounds like a healthy chunk of her $2 million income for 2007 was generated by fewer than 500 people. Aside from her workshops and ebook earnings, subscribers pay $97–$297 monthly for access to small business marketing advice and resources. Her $97 group has around 450 people in it—that relatively small subscriber base yields $523,800 per year.
So if you don’t believe your business will be any bigger or better than it is right now, doubt that your marketing efforts will add up to anything, worry that your meandering work history doesn’t contribute to your success, or think you’ll need the attention of millions for steady, heavy cash flow—take heart in the stories of folks who invented their opportunities, persevered and continue to thrive.
Who inspires you when the going gets tough?
Photo credit: Microsoft Design Gallery Live
