Lee McIntyre’s Honest Marketing Blog

What Laundry and Marketing Have in Common?

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I suppose that when we all first took a peek at internet marketing, we had a visions of racey cars, endless nights at the pub with your buddies, sleeping in (!) with no more alarms clocks and someone yanking your chain.

NO more mundane hours from 9 - 5.  FREE TIME, here I come!

It wasn’t long into the business of internet marketing that I realized that it isn’t all parties and easy money.

Nope.  Not only does this business often not get you rich quick, Internet Marketing has it’s “laundry” type tasks.  You know, the ones that you have to drag yourself through day after day.

For me it is coming up with articles for ezine directories, installing scripts, creating catchy squeeze pages, stuff like that.

Those who know me know I do like to write and teach but in order to really promote my internet marketing products, I knew from experience that the more articles I can get out there, the more exposure my sites get AND the more money I make!

In the beginning I did all my article writing, for example.

I was too cheap to pay anyone at the time and frankly hadn’t made enough from my niches to justify it.  I would be up all hours creating content for my business niches often times wondering if it was all worth it.

Especially when I knew I faced a long day in school the next day!

But the time came last summer when things really took off for me.  It’s like I’d done my due diligence and put in my time and the money started seriously flowing in.

All that writing of articles and visiting forums and “stumbling” and “digging” began to pay off big time!

Do I still do the “laundry” tasks?  Only when I want to now.

It’s kind of like hiring a housekeeper to do your laundry.  Now I can outsource or staff it out.  I still love to write articles but now I don’t have to.

I’m no one special of course and you could do the same.

I just put in the time to build my business and worked hours late into the night when my buddies were messing around or sleeping.  Of course I wanted to be out with them or sleeping too.

But I wanted my freedom even more!

So here I am, messing around, doing what I want on my own time, sleeping, paying someone else to do the “laundry” while my buddies do their 9 - 5 and still have their laundry to do when they get home.

Be willing to give up all those fun nights out for a while….well, most of them….cripes, you got to have some fun, right?.

Pay your dues when everyone else is watching football and it will pay off.  Roll up your sleeves and “do your laundry” today…and then soon I’ll see you on the beaches!

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Do What You Love Not What You Hate

Right now it’s 11:19 on a Saturday morning, and I’m having a blast. What am I doing that’s so fantastic? Well, I’m working that’s what!

Now I know that you’ll think the fact that I enjoy working so much to be a bit crazy, so let me explain.

I genuinely love what I do for a living, and every morning I wake up with a spring in my step. I seriously can’t wait to get to my desk and get cracking on the day ahead. I just love it!

And here’s why…

Helping people and sharing what I know is my real passion in life. This is what gives me an incredible buzz each day, and what motivates me to push hard.

That’s not the only thing I enjoy of course.

I also love continual learning and discovery, and I have a real passion for education. Do you think I have all the answers? No way!

Each day I expand my knowledgbase, and learn a drop more. Cripes, the day I stop learning will be the day I get bored and look for something else to do with my time.

And if I’m talking about what I really enjoy about my work, I’d have to give a nod and a wink to the freedom that my business gives me every day.

Want to know why I’m working double hard today? Because I’m planning to enjoy my weekend on Sunday, Monday, and maybe Tuesday that’s why.

You see, unlike most others businesses out there, when you run your own online enterprise YOU get to decide when to work.

One of the most enjoyable things about this freedom is when some friends are on holiday for a few days and suggest doing something fun. What do I do? Yep, I just rearrange my schedule and head out the door.

If you spend any time around marketing forums, people will always talk about money as being a chief motivator.

That’s never worked for me. When I completed my Law degree people thought I was crazy for turning down a very well paid position in Northamption at a big national form.

My friends just couldn’t understand how I could turn down such a high paying job, and why it didn’t seem to bother me.

Do you want to know why? Because money doesn’t motivate me, and it never has and it never will either.

Money is just what you need to achieve freedom from life, and so it’s a means to an end, and not an end in itself.

After finishing my Law degree I spent 2 1/2 years training to be a management accountant, while studying for the CIMA qualification. It was the most boring few years of my life, and I clearly wasn’t suited to this type of work.

In this time I had 3 different jobs, and each time I move to a new business I received a hefty payrise (even though I hated it I was pretty good at it).

And guess what? The new payrise kicked in and I felt happy again. For about two months.

Three months later and I was bored again. Bored of never ending long hours. Bored of tedius spreadsheet work that didn’t really matter. Bored of watching the clock again day after day.

In my first accountancy job I handed my notice in 3 times in 9 months. Every time I did so they offered me a big pay rise to stay! Did it make me happy? Well it did for about 2 months, and then I was miserable again.

Money doesn’t buy you happiness. Freedom does.

When designing your Internet Business don’t become too concerned with how much money you can earn each and every month. Instead focus on doing what you love and not what you hate.

Focus on creating a lifestyle that you enjoy, a job that you love, and a sense of freedom that won’t ever escape you.

I know plenty of full time Internet Marketers and the happy ones aren’t the ones who make the most money. The happy ones are those who make enough money to live a life they enjoy, and who do what they love and not what they hate.

Is that too deep for this blog? Maybe, but it took me a long time to understand this point and I really wanted to share.

So are you doing what you love or what you hate? Leave your thoughts in the comments below….

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