Comments on: IBM 76 | Selecting a Profitable Niche for your Online Business, Part 2

By: Jay (Jason Van Orden)

Jay (Jason Van Orden) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:03:03 +0000

@Travis,

You’re headed in the right direction and taking the right actions. My advice: just keep taking bold action.

By: Travis

Travis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:34:21 +0000

I found this podcast almost randomly and have been listening steadily for the last few days. I’m going to give Mark Mason a run for his money with listening to these podcasts straight. I’m sure I’ll find a place to go into more of that later (perhaps when I sign up for the academy). For now, I felt compelled to comment based on Podcast #76…

What fear is holding me back?
I think I have a few fears in general, though not specifically related to the niche. While I’m currently involved in a long term adventure I’ve set out for myself, I’ve never actually been my own boss. One of the reasons for that is my general lack of knowledge of business. I’ve always told myself I would never settle for a job I didn’t enjoy, so I’ve been a web developer (for a major company), a photographer, an assistant director, a bartender, and I am currently in Japan teaching English. Some of these I had to give up for monetary reasons and would still like to pursue if I can get my finances on track – hence this direction.

I am currently going through the podcasts and plan on getting into the academy after I work on my niche list, DMP, etc. I’ve ready the 4-hour-work-week and am now in a place where I can spend some significant time outside my day job trying to set this up. Would appreciate any advice/feedback/etc.

-Travis

By: Jay (Jason Van Orden)

Jay (Jason Van Orden) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:45:50 +0000

@John,

Thanks for sharing that. I’m sure many others have faced the same fear. It really does come down to seeing it as an investment of your time and money to get a greater return later.

Involving your spouse is an awesome idea. I love it when my wife and I get to work together on business stuff. Her background in psychology is invaluable when it comes to marketing.

By: John

John — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:44:11 +0000

What fear is holding you back?
The cost. The time spent away from family and my “regular” work, that cost seems so high. When I think about taking the few hours after my 9-5 job where the kids are awake, I don’t want to lose that time, it’s too costly. Then the time I have with my wife (helping with the house and tasks, and having time with her) that seems too precious to spend away from her. Those costs seem high, when I could just do my job and go home and spend the time with my family. The dollars to get a business up and running are the other cost. Haven’t had a raise in 3 years, and the cost of living is increasing. This makes every dollar something to watch and use carefully.

What got you past that fear?
I realized this was a short term concern. The only way to get more time and money is to invest for the long term. I took a teaching job at a local college at night so that I could have some funds to spend on an internet business. I plan to take time around the Christmas holiday and use that “vacation time” to learn all I can from the internet business academy. I am looking at niches that my wife is passionate about, this way I can have her involved and it’s time spent together.

I realized I have to break out of the 9-5 work cycle and that means putting in extra time and money now, and I know it’s the only way to really change this lifestyle

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:48:11 +0000

Hi Guys.
As always a great show. Im so impressed how pumped up you get me after every episode.
I listen to you guys all the time. Have gone through your podcast from the beginning countless times and the hope and inspiration you two give me is brilliant. Its the only thing that gets me through my daily 1 hour train journey and 45 minute walk just to get to work.
Keep up the great work.
Tony

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:10:28 +0000

Great show as usual. Picking the niche and going to bat is the best advice you can give! I am working on a current niche and am just about at the 5 month mark. It is proving to being hard to monetize, so I have been thinking it’s time to move on completely, or at least put it into semi-autopilot since it would only take 2-5 hours a week to maintain. Today I will have a meeting with my partner and we are both bringing new niche lists. Luckily our jobs in teaching in Japan give us lots of free time to work on internet businesses, but of course we still want to ‘fire our bosses’!!