Are you not sure what business to do? But have you realized that you need to be an entrepreneur to have a free and affluent life?
Do you hear people talking about following your one passion that will eventually make you happy and wealthy no matter what? But do you have so many things you want to do that you sometimes end up agonizing about your indecisiveness?
Do you look at peoples’ self-staging on social media and feel pressured to develop a personal brand on the Internet? But in truth, you dislike ostentation, and shallow consumerism and much prefer to live in peace and privacy?
Do these questions and feelings sound familiar to you? Then this article is for you.
There is a business you can do when you are not sure what business to do. And this business offers a lifestyle that allows you to develop multiple important business and life skills. All the while, you may well find out what it is that fulfills you in life.
Now, here is how the story goes. Let’s begin with how to get out of the valley of despair and get moving.
Beat Procrastination and Agony
The first step is always the hardest. But of course, every mountain climb has to start with a first step. Yet, instead of boldly launching into new ventures, we remain immobile like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car at night.
Why is that? And the longer we wait, the more miserable we feel. Until we make this feeling of being unfortunate a part of who we think we are. Then self-criticism can lead to further delaying. And with every day that goes by, the first step becomes even more challenging.
Until we think that the distance between our current state of misery and that lofty goal we see in the news and on social media seems impossible, that we don’t see the point of even starting anymore.
It is this chasm of apprehension that feeds the downward spiral of procrastination.
If You Are Not Sure What Business to Do, Start Where you Are and Focus on What You Are Doing Right Now.
Now let’s break the procrastination. Forget about goals for now.
Don’t think about what you want to do. Instead, think about what you have been doing during these last few days.
See, many people say they want to do this and that. Perhaps they want to learn a new language and start to practice yoga. But they don’t act on what they say. Only look at what people do. Forget about the rest. If you want a real change in your life, only actions count.
So look at what you were doing last week. Please write it down. Consider your daily activities and write them down.
Writing is the best tool we have to add another layer of reflection to our life immediately.
We start observing ourselves when we begin to write about ourselves. That is why most highly productive, creative, and successful people keep a journal. High achievers take advantage of the additional level of reflection that writing or journalling offers.
When you observe and reflect on your actions, you automatically become better at what you are doing. Whatever you observe in your life becomes bigger.
You are now on a mission to become the best version of you that you can be. And we all have to start where we currently are.
Yes, Whatever it is You Are Doing.
So, let’s say you are a couch potato and binge watch TV series while overeating on burgers, chips, and sodas. Then this is what you write about: series, burgers, chips, and sodas.
Yes, I am serious. There is never anything wrong with accepting who we are at this moment. Do not judge, observe, and write down your activities. Absolute self-acceptance is part of the process.
This is your life. And it does not matter from where you are coming. But it means the world you are going to.
Start with a minimum of five minutes writing every morning and every evening. Write down how to spend your time, what you feel, what you learn. And what you wonder about and would like to understand next.
Think Like A Martial Artist
A critical principle in martial arts is not to stop moving. Because once you stand still, it will take you more energy to start again. Once you are moving, it is easy to change direction.
You know this to be true for any heavy object on wheels. The initial push takes a lot of energy. And once the truck is rolling, there is no stopping it. It is the same with establishing new routines in our life.
As a result, to get moving now is crucial. You can and will adjust direction in the future.
But what is necessary for now is that you keep to your writing schedule and practice every day. Force yourself in the beginning, knowing that it is one key to changing your life. Keep moving and develop routines. Those routines do become self-reinforcing withing weeks.
Become an Expert at What You Are Doing Now
Remember, you are doing this because you are not sure what business to do – yet.
So, you develop your writing routine to become an observer of your own life by introducing an additional reflection layer. And to become an expert on what you are doing now.
Whatever that may be. In our example here, you become an expert on the best TV series, burgers, chips, and soda.
Elevate your current life and realize that there is something at which you are good.
Increase your writing time every day. Enjoy the transformative power of writing.
In the beginning, write in your journal. It’s excellent even to write on paper with a pen. Writing with a pen provides a very different sensory experience than tapping away on a computer keyboard.
But when you feel more confident about your writing, it is time to build your platform and share your knowledge with the world.
And this is where the business starts when you are not sure what business to do.
The business is called affiliate marketing, and it may well be the best business model in the world.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and let’s look at what you need to build your successful business.
The good news is that you can start virtually without any investment. But there are crucial skills you need to develop to succeed in the affiliate game.
Luckily, these are all critical skills in today’s world that will never go out of demand.
They are equally useful in business as they are in your life. Developing these skills will make your experience better in multiple ways.
The skills I am talking about are web design and development, research and writing skills, psychology, and understanding how we make decisions.
Develop Critical Skills for Today’s World
So, let’s look at the three skills you will need to develop your business. As mentioned, they relate to the Internet, writing, and psychology.
Developing your skills is a journey, and there will always be more to learn. Today the world is changing faster than ever before, so we still will have to adapt our skills. Lifelong learning has to be a reality if you want to be at the top of your game.
But the great thing about being an affiliate is that you can develop your skills playfully as you go along. And anything you learn immediately has a positive effect on your business if you apply the new insight to your platform.
Of course, you can also consider outsourcing, but the more skills you cover, the more independent you can be.
I would recommend getting as good as possible at these skills. And consider outsourcing to create scale and free time when desired.
And with that, let’s talk about how to start online.
Create Your Platform
So the moment you feel you have something worthwhile to share, create your platform on the Internet. Think about it as a focal point where you develop and share your knowledge.
This platform usually is a website, and eventually, it is best to have your independent website. But to get started super fast and for free, begin with one of the open blogging networks.
We recommend Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger:
Tumblr – In its own words, ‘is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It’s where your interests connect you with your people.’
WordPress – On WordPress.com, you can, in their own words, ‘create a free website or build a blog with ease. Dozens of free, customizable, mobile-ready designs and themes. Free hosting and support.’
Blogger – And Blogger allows you to, in their own words, ‘Publish your passions your way. Whether you’d like to share your knowledge, experiences, or the latest news, create a unique and beautiful blog for free.
These blogging networks are excellent to start, and some people never move on to their website from here.
All three networks are suitable for affiliate marketing. But eventually, you want to have total control over your platform without any restriction that your free provider may impose on your content.
Having total control and being independent would mean building your website. Hence, you need to consider a domain name, hosting, and publishing platform.
We will cover these topics in a later post.
Engage People’s Interest
Being able to write is a fantastic skill to have with which many people struggle. A lot of folks hardly ever write coherent sentences in the time of social apps and microblogging systems.
You can become a good writer by, surprise, writing regularly. For our purpose here, it is essential to understand that writing on the Internet is not the same as writing offline.
The reason for the difference in between copy for the web and offline lies in the fact that search engines and other bots will crawl your content and rank web pages according to what they find.
Hence, good writing for the web takes into account both humans and machines.
As for the humans, you need to capture interest and engage your audience, so they stay on. As for search engines, you need to understand their algorithms, so your content ranks well, and you get found in search engines.
Look out for further articles here on this website on how to write good copy for the web.
Better Understand People’s Behavior and Motivation
To better design, your web site, a good grasp of human behavior and motivation can help.
How can you best trigger people’s interest and turn them into buyers on the Internet? In short, understanding human behavior and motivation is the lubricant for making money on the Internet.
So Not Sure What Business to Do? – Think Again
Here you have it. Affiliate marketing is the online business model you can do when unsure what business to do.
The idea is to leverage what you are doing in life on a web platform and recommend products that fit your topic. You make money from the vendors whose products you recommend if people you send to them buy.
When you become an affiliate, you will be part of a growing industry. And you are in control and independent because you choose what products you will promote.
Also, you are location- and time-independent. And there are so many other businesses you can do with the skills you acquire when starting an affiliate business.
From my own experience, I can say that affiliate marketing is like dipping into life’s magic and see where it takes you. The learning potential enormous.
Most people fail by not staying on course during the dry spell of the first months when a new website usually does not have traffic or business.
