We All Have That One Entrepreneur Friend Who Doesn’t Want a 9–5 But Still Needs A Stable Paycheck

Or we are probably that friend entrepreneur

Correct me on this but I think the internet economy has a special breed of entrepreneurs that haven’t existed before.

You know the type that quits their job to start a business but the business is about settling for a stable income.

Don’t get me started on how this breed complains about algorithms and how you should have your own mailing list…

The one I can’t understand whether it is a joke or a serious conviction is the latter or an iteration that asks people to make sure they own their audiences.

I can’t stop cringing at this advice that makes you think an email list is still your audience. Sure it may be under your control but that’s only as good, and as long as the computer servers or the providers of that list are still in business.

Ok unless you literally have your list in hardcopy or on a very secure softcopy, I don’t think you have sh…. — I promise I won't curse.

There is nothing that undermines and detracts you from the goal of having a successful business more than the carrot danglers who promise to shortcut your way to financial stability.

Trust me. I want to believe that most of them mean well. I have even written articles about that. I really want to believe that. But it is hard to believe their intentions are pure when their written wallets and hands are out to receive your attention and money. I want to. I just want to get past the wallets and begging hands first.

But everything has a price. Now, you can pay for their services and rarely have tremendous value but if you don’t, your attention is at least the value they get from you. — Eyeballs!!! (insert eyeball meme for dramatic effect)

They bombard you with daily emails with your first name in the subject line. I hope you know that that's just a dynamic code and you aren’t out here feeling special and stuff.

These are attention entrepreneurs

Can I call them “attenpreneurs”? Too soon?… Ok too soon.

Don’t get me wrong. All businesses need attention otherwise they wither and die. But there is a difference between a business that needs attention vs the business of attention.

Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, your mama’s liquid soap business… These businesses need attention. They are amazing. The guru in your inbox on the other hand is most likely in the business of attention.

There is hardly any unique value you can get from them. Much, I mean all of the stuff you need is in books, youtube videos, and your daily executions towards a worthwhile ideal.

Maybe they can occasionally inspire you with their flexes and achievements … Or you can have a crush on them. These are probably the only unique value propositions that they have.

But when it comes to the actual content, you need about 0.00000001% of them around you.

If you have more than one guru in your inbox for the same topic, you are paying a premium for your attention.

If you are starting out in writing, for instance, your focus should be on writing. You have no business trying to build a writing empire when you are not writing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably stretching out their written wallet to guilt you into parting with your money.

It’s sneaky.

When you have consistently written for about a year, you are going to be a much better writer. You are going to be better at expressing your ideas and you are going to be much better at giving your audience value.

If you want to start building an email list without even knowing what Grammarly is, you are hurting your brand from day one. What’s the point of building a house with a terrible foundation. To kill you in your sleep? Forgive my building references, I am a civil engineer.

You have a terrible foundation when your brand is about half as much value as the dog shit you collect when you take your dog on a walk. — Can you tell I am a dog person too?

Focus!!!!

Block the gurus out for now. I promise you, you will be much further ahead.

Since 2017, I spent time and money trying to follow gurus. Does anyone know of or remember Digital Altitude? People were making bank but I had no business being part of that thing. But I did and made one guru rich as I sank back into the misery from whence I came.

Multiply that experience by 26 and you have the number of times I was failing.

It was not until 2020 when I for the first time stopped listening to gurus that I started making money consistently. Money that I could actually spend not the one that wasn’t enough to cover wire transfers lol.

You must understand that there is no simple path. Even those secure and stable paths that the gurus tell you are all filled with difficulty. You weaken your attention and resolve when you advice-hope because of guru recommendations.

The process of building businesses is tough but it is also the best lesson on personal development that you can have.

I can teach you how to generate AI art in a few minutes which is miles better than a Van Gogh but you will miss the lessons of patience you need to bend form and make interesting compositions with a story to the painting.

At first, it sounds like nothing much but then this quick reward sips into other areas of your life and you suffer because of it.

The growth of any business requires that you pick up the necessary lessons to move on to the next step.

In the beginning, though, you must focus on the core product. Developing and making it competitive enough. You shouldn’t be cutting lines with bells and whistles, sugar coating garbage with fancy systems.

Once the lessons are learned, you will progress on to the next step in your business, increasing your knowledge and competitive edge along the way.

Those who try to stray your attention are just as terrible a hurdle as the hardest thing you know about your business.

Focus!!!!! Leave the carrots alone.