Can you make money online in your holistic business?
“Nothing of great value in this life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value lies deepest in the earth, as do the diamonds.”
– Norman Vincent Peale
The internet is certainly a powerful tool. And, you may have seen all those ads out there telling you that you can make loads of money online. You may have even bought some products or books that teach you how to leverage the internet for your business.
But is it really possible to make lots of money quickly online like these products promise?
To leverage the internet, you need a few essential things happening in your business.
First, you need to be reaching a lot of people. A “response rate” is how many people respond to your offer. A good response rate is 1%. Yes – 1%. So, if you are reaching 1,000 people with your marketing message, 10 responses is considered good. Now, if you are reaching people who are really qualified – meaning they are really right for your products or services, your response rate will be a bit higher.
The second thing that you need for successful internet marketing is an established name – or a way for people to get to know you. 95% of the time, when people land on your web site for the first time, they will not make a purchase. The internet is a great place to window shop, and people don’t readily hand over their money. Think about it, how often do you purchase from someone the very first time you land on their site?
You need to have a way to stay in touch with people when they land on your site. You’ll see a lot of people do this through a newsletter or a blog. This way, you can build a relationship with people who may be interested in your business, but just aren’t ready to purchase from you yet.
The third thing to remember is, it takes time to build a business – online or offline. Just because the internet is accessible 24/7 and it has the potential to give you exposure to 100’s of 1,000’s of people, doesn’t mean it’s any easier to build a business. You still have to work at it.
I realize these internet marketers promise that you can make loads of money with seemingly no hard work. And, if you had a list of 100,000 people or more like they do, and you’ve been in business online 10 years or more like they have been, then yes, it’s really easy to be making 5 or 6 figures per month pretty quickly.
It’s entirely possible to make money online. You can create products, and even services that are available to people across the world. But it will take time, and you need to employ effective marketing techniques to really leverage the internet.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Jenn, this is fabulous advice about the internet and growing a business online. I do agree that there is alot of “icky ill-fated” and hyped information online about how fast you can make TONS of money. And that isn’t really true. Just like most things in life…it takes time, however, it can be done.
I do think that it is very possible to have a successful business online even if your main business services are done offline. It is about taking the time to set processes in place, seek and find the right help, and maintaining consistency in your efforts. Also, asking lots of questions of those who have been there before…become a member of groups, hire a coach, ask for a mentor.
I like your information about gathering a list of people through a newsletter and/or blog. However, in doing so, I think it is important as well to be sure that the information you are providing is of quality and value or you won’t retain those readers and subscribers.
Thanks Jenn again for another wonderful post.
Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
Key Business Partners
Virtual Assistance & Online Promotion
for Coaches, Speakers and Writers
March 19th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I agree that writing a newsletter is a great way to keep in touch and build your list of people. I always spend time thinking about the content of my newsletter articles as I want to make sure it’s valuable for my readers. But this does take a bit of effort! However you get the rewards when people sign up for your newsletter - and stay! But it doesn’t happen overnight - which I’ve had to get used to as I can be a bit impatient…. I have tended to focus on building my business online rather than offline (although I’m thinking now of how I can build offline too). It’s also worth having a free gift of value on your website which people can get along with your newsletter. This can all complement your holistic business. And the best thing is that you get to reach people across the world - I have a very diverse list of readers! Great post, Jenn!
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 am
I am teaching more and more on the higher levels: Reiki II-Reiki Master, and I work with lots of aspirant healing professionals, who want to make a living from having a healing practice. And, yes, I do find that one of the challenges is the unrealistic expectation of INSTANT success, fame and glory.
Furthermore, I find that an even bigger challenge is the fantasy of magically creating a profitable holistic business with lots of clients and abundance…. without them doing ANY work (besides the actual healing)!
However, someone has to wash the dishes after a workshop. Someone has to buy the toilet paper ahead of time for next workshop. Someone has to do the laundry from the treatment table. Someone has to punch in the names and email addresses of all the people you met in the last few days into your Outlook program, so that you can send them a follow-up email, give them free relevant article, an introduction offer for your service, and ask them to join your newsletter… In other words: there is lots of W O R K to do, besides healing.
The law of attraction works such that you attract opportunities. Then, YOU HAVE TO TAKE ACTION to realize these opportunities. Whether you call that ‘doing your life’s work’ or just ‘work’, you have to … take total action on the hunches you receive (not just do the 3 bittybits you fancy). Usually the greater learning lies in those activities you do not like at all.
Of course, the better you become at manifesting, the more magic there seems to be in the air, and the faster things seem to move forward.
Reactions?
March 24th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
All I have to say Astrid is AMEN to what you said! I think that alot of people who start their own businesses (whether a healing business or any other), they don’t realize that it does TAKE WORK and ACTION in order for things to get completed.
Yes, it is very nice to be able to have positive thinking and use the law of attraction to visualize those clients and business customers. However, as you mentioned, there are many things that you have to DO in order to bring those people to you and keep them as clients. That is the way it works.
To me it is unfortunate when some people “buy into” this notion that all it takes is sitting at your desk THINKING about others coming to you and then you will “have abundance”. You may have abundance of clients however, that still means that you have to DO and TAKE ACTION to do your work with them.
If you are a coach, you have to set up the outline for your conversation with your client. You have to speak with your client on the phone. You have to write the client back if they email you questions.
If you are a speaker, you have to contact those people whom you would like to set up a event with. You have to check your schedule to make sure you are available at the given time. You even have to wash your clothes if you are going out of town and pack them.
All of this is part of the work and all of this is a part of owning a business.
However, I think that when you are doing something that you truly enjoy and you are thinking positive and have systems and/or processes in place to help you in your business, AND you are taking the action…things do go a lot smoother.
Great response Astrid!
Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
Key Business Partners
Virtual Assistance for Coaches, Speakers
and Writers
March 31st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Such amazing insight shared here! Thank you all!
Astrid - I couldn’t agree more. I think there are a lot of “marketing gurus” out there giving the impression that it’s “easy” to create massive amounts of income.
The bottom line is, if you want a business that is truly in service to others, you MUST work at it. It takes time, and it takes action.
But - if you love what you do and are truly passionate about making a difference for people, you recognize that even purchasing toilet paper is a small part of the whole
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I am in the process of self-publishing a book. I’m thinking you might be a resource for it’s marketing. Your thoughts?
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hey Wilson! Great to see you here
I would love to chat about your book - I’ll shoot you an e-mail and maybe we can schedule a time to chat!
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
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