Is It Time to Quit, or Are You Simply Afraid?


Home \| Tell a Friend \| Get Help with Site \| Contact Us \| OBU Forums \| Text Size \| Search \| Member Area

July 2010

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

View All Events

About OnlineBizU

Publicity

Tell a Friend

Get Help with Site

Audios

Ebooks and Reports

Templates and Forms

Consulting

1:1 Biz Acceleration Coaching

Email Coaching

Donna as Guest Speaker

Get More Clients Blog

Recommended Tools

Member Success Blog

Sample Articles

Ezine

Ezine Archives

Member Profiles

Step 1: Preparation

Step 2: Tools

Step 3: Your Offer

Step 4: Target Market

Step 5: Competition

Step 6: Funnel

Step 7: Incentive

Step 8: Stay in Touch

Step 9: Your Website

Step 10: Traffic

Step 11: Info Products

Step 12: Team

Affiliate Marketing

Article Marketing

Audio Marketing

Blogging

Book Reviews

Branding

Business Automation/Tech

Business Planning

Collaboration

Competition

Copywriting

Customer Service

Discussion Lists/Forums

Ebooks

ECommerce

Email Marketing

Encore Career

Ezines

Implementation Tools

Information Products

Internet Legal Issues

Internet Marketing

Just for Fun

Life Issues

Membership Websites

Motivation

Multiple Income Streams

Networking

Offline Marketing

Podcasting

Productivity

Professional Development

SEO

Selling

Social Networking

Speaking

Support Team

Target Market

Teleseminars

Traffic Generation

Video

Website Design

Work/Life Balance

Here are some of our rave reviews from our members ... .

------------------

"Donna Gunter is THE expert for online marketing. Her OnlineBizU website has so many meaty resources for the online entrepreneur that there's no way you won't find what you need there. Her blog posts are filled with useful information that I don't have the time to ferret out for myself, and her classes and products are clear and useful. I'm glad that Donna dedicates herself to serving her customers so well, and

Sue Painter, Marketing Coach and Consultant
ConfidentMarketer.com

------------------

"I recently joined Donna Gunter - OnlineBizU.com membership and from day one have found simply loads of useful and valuable information to support my online business. What a generous lady to share so many 'trade secrets.' Thank you so much and keep the great information coming."

Caroline Nelson, Business Coach for Salons
NelsonBeautyBusinessManagement.com

------------------

"Look at the spring facelift your site got! I am loving the new, softer, rounder look and the colors do POP! Your care about keeping content fresh and your attention for detail is indicative of how you run your business."

Kathy Dannel Vitcak, Entrepreneur
KathyDV.com

------------------

"Thanks for hosting such a great OnlineBizU.com member call on Internet traffic for local business. One of the questions asked was whether this would be a business model for a consultant. You said it was, and I'm here to say it is, too! The list of directories you gave that provide listings for local business was invaluable. I didn't know about most of them! I never would have thought of Craigslist.com as a place to advertise. Also, the tip you gave about setting up a 'throw away' email address was pure gold. Not only will that prevent spam in my 'real' business mailbox, but I can set up email addresses for either different types of inquiries or from different sources. Not only can I help my clients with laser-targeted advertising, this is another way I can track the sources of my own traffic!"

Georgann McCrosson, Marketing Consultant
CatchPhraseMarketing.com

------------------

"I just finished listening to the members-only teleclass, Repurposing Profit Machine. I soooo appreciate the value, content and clarity you put into everything you do! The content was well worth paying for and you gave it away to OnlineBizU.com members for FREEEEEE!!!! Your class was just as clear and to the point as your many articles and your handout was PHENOMENAL -- not one of those weak 1-page fill-in the blank sheets that some hosts use for their teleclasses -- yours is CHOCK FULL of the totally valuable content you shared within the call. The whole topic of REPURPOSING work so we don't have to re-create the wheel is just so useful in and of itself and you broke it down into over 15 ways we can do it!! HOORAY!!! Thanks, as always, for being such an awesome resource! You totally deserve your title as Queen of Online Biz Resources! : )

Stephanie Bell, Spirit Coach, Speaker, Author
GrowYourDivineSpirit.com

------------------

"Just wanted to thank you for a great teleclass. I dialed in because I needed help to structure my own teleclasses and your method of turning a previously written article into a teleseminar was especially appealing. You led us through some easy-to-follow steps - and I'm looking forward to trying them out for myself! My membership at OnlineBizU is proving invaluable as I build my own business online - you're very generous with all the articles and resources you share - thank you!"

Louise Barnes-Johnston, Business Accelerator & Coach
Frontline-Results.com

------------------

"Just wanted to let you know that you are brilliant! I'm fairly new here and have found so much helpful information already! I became a member of OBU and within a few days cancelled my memberships I was already a part of on other site(s). OBU offers SO much information and helpful products! You are so quick to answer any questions I post on the forums and you always give up to date information and guidance. I am so happy to be a part of OBU and am looking forward to seeing where my business goes from here! Thanks a million!!!"

Camilynn Bradford
HomeBizCoach.com

------------------

"Thank you for developing and offering Online Biz University - it is one of my top go-to resources. I get so much value from my membership. I enjoy learning new programs and tools (and Donna offers several fantastic resources for continual learning to occur). As my knowledge increases, I am able to demonstrate this new expertise to my clients and offer additional services in my practice, which has allowed me to grow my business."

Kelly Johnson, Virtual Assistant
Cornerstone Virtual Assistance

------------------

"Donna's OnlineBizU.com website is THE source for Internet marketing ideas and expertise. I found a wealth of information and resources that helped me strategize and find new ways to "get noticed" in cyberspace -- presented simply and intelligently. As always, Donna gives you a huge return on your investment. This is the real deal -- check it out!"

Robin Stephens, Professional Organizer
YourLifeinOrder.com

------------------

"Donna definitely knows her stuff and seems to have an endless supply of ideas for marketing on the Internet that apply whether you are selling products or services. I found her information very helpful at a moment when I needed recharging."

Stephanie Buehler, MPW, PsyD, CST,
TheBuehlerInstitute.com

------------------

"The uniqueness of what Donna offers is what is most impressive. She'll either have an idea or lead you to a source that no one else who might have a similar product is talking about. I LOVE having that kind of unrivaled information. I rate it as one of the top return's on investments for people who want to get more clients online."

Pat Weber, America's #1 Coach for Introverts, Shy and Reluctant Who Sell,
ProStrategies.com

------------------

Donna knows her stuff and will go the extra ten miles. I highly recommend that anyone starting an online business check out her excellent consulting and coaching services. You can't go wrong!"

Ana Young

home | Life Issues | Is It Time to Quit, or Are You Simpl . . .

Is It Time to Quit, or Are You Simply Afraid?

Donna Gunter

"You give up too easily," is what my 10-year old next door neighbor, Mike, told me in 1972 or so when I wanted to quit playing our game of chase. I couldn't seem to tag him "out" as the last player the game, despite my best efforts of 10 minutes of trying. Of course, I vigorously denied that accusation, but have been given cause to think about what he told more than once, especially recently.

In my teens and early 20s, I was the most goal-driven, type A personality of anyone that I knew. Whatever I wanted, I set a goal to achieve it, no matter what. And, to my credit, that determination helped me a great deal. It helped me find a way to pay for 2 college degrees without any help or support from my parents, who thought college was a complete waste of time. It gave me the courage to move to take my first professional job in the northeast U.S., a "foreign country," as I thought of it at the time, since I'd never stepped foot out of southern culture. That move that opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking and of doing things. At that time in my life, failure wasn't an option. And, I most certainly viewed quitting as failure.

And, through the school of hard knocks in the subsequent years, I became intimately acquainted with failure. I "quit" both of my college degrees, as I discovered too late that I was bored out of my mind with my choice of my bachelor's degrees (Speech Pathology/Audiology), and then stayed in a job too long and suffered from severe burnout so that I "quit" my career afforded me by my master's degree in higher education administration and completely left the field. I then started a business in the crafts industry but "quit" that when it was no longer fun, and I realized that I didn't really have the skills to pull it off.

My life was in shambles at the time, as I desperately searched for what I wanted to do when I grew up, and when I finally latched onto the notion of starting my own business as a virtual assistant, my marriage couldn't take the strain of that decision. So, I decided to "quit" my marriage and ask for a divorce and move back to my home state of Texas and reinvent myself. A few years later, after successfully launching my business, I decided to relocate to Arkansas in pursuit of another business opportunity, which turned out to be yet another failure, and I "quit" that as well.

I spent much of this time second-guessing myself and my decisions, wondering if I was quitting too soon because the going got rough and I was afraid, or if it was just really time to quit and move on. I discovered that I wasn't alone in my thinking when I recently read Seth Godin's book, The Dip. He defines the dip as a temporary setback that you will overcome if you keep pushing. So starting a new business venture is fun and thrilling in the beginning, but after two or three years, it can become very hard and not much fun at all. But, on the other side starting a successful business, most people can see that they are changed for the better, have learned much along the way, and are hopefully making money from the venture.

So, how do you decide if you're simply in a dip, or if you really need to quit? Godin says you need to make two considerations:

Do you have the resources to get through it? and
Is it worth what it will take?

As I evaluated my "quitting" as described above, it occurred to me that the answer in all cases to both questions was a loud and clear "No!" Why? Because I'd been secretly settling for mediocrity all along. It was time to quit when the things I was measuring weren't improving, and I simply couldn't find anything better to measure. Most importantly, the sick feeling in my gut that I experienced at the time at the thought of continuing wouldn't let me continue.

I've had moments of panic and fear along my journey, as well, and trying to distinguish between the fear and when I'm at a dead-end has been difficult. What have I discovered? The difference between a dead-end and a dip. The dead-end won't get better, no matter how much I try, and the dip makes me feel panicked and scared because I know that I will be great at something and that scares the hell out of me because it pushes me completely outside my comfort zone. More importantly, in a dip, I've realized that the end justifies the means.

I'm currently involved in moving a business venture extensively outside my comfort zone, and it scares me to death. I often wake up in the middle of the night thinking, "What, are you crazy? You have no idea about what you're doing. Everyone is going to figure out that you're completely clueless -- a complete fake."

And that tells me that I'm right on course for success.

Comments or questions? If so, please post them to the discussion forum.

Related Articles

· Are You a REVERSE Money Snob?