We’re jumping right in today, my friends.

I’ve heard from so many people in my online community that fear is holding you back from becoming the entrepreneur you want to be, and as far as I’m concerned, that just WILL NOT DO. Entrepreneurs are action takers at heart, and I think we’d all agree that working for someone else for the rest of our lives is far scarier than building our own personal brands, right?

Right.

You shouldn’t be scared to fail.. Ever.

So today, in the spirit of taking action, I’ve got three things you can start doing RIGHT NOW that will help you bust through the fear and the noise and the excuses so you can take meaningful steps toward building a business than changes the world.

3 Ways to ACT

Are you ready? I know you are. You were born ready. Let’s go!

Ask the Opposite Question

If you’ve ever googled “How do I succeed in online business?” and been overwhelmed into inaction by 10 billion results, try this next time: instead of searching for the thing you want, ask the opposite.

You don’t even need Google for this, guys. Instead of “How do I succeed?” ask yourself, “How can I FAIL in online business?”

Notice how different that sounds, and how differently you react to it. And I bet you’ve got answers already, right off the top of your head, don’t you? I bet you see people every day making bad business choices, and maybe you’ve made a few yourself. I can DEFINITELY think of a few ways to fail: how about overplanning without action? Or trying to do it all yourself

Asking the opposite question is powerful because it immediately illuminates the things we’re all doing against our own best interest. Try it. If you see yourself and your choices reflected in the list of ways to fail, I dare you not to feel instantly motivated to start making different choices immediately.

Schedule LESS Time than You Need

So many of our fears are about not having enough time to do the things we want to do. But how much time is ever enough? From my own experience, we will NEVER have all the time we want to perfect our courses, launch pages, books, whatever. We’ll always wish we had “more time” to make things better, but if we’re being serious, a deadline might be the only way to ever get it out the door.

That’s why I love the idea of forcing yourself into action by actually giving yourself LESS time than you think you need to get a thing done.

I’ve been here before, and I know you have as well. When our backs are up against the wall and we need to finish such-and-such by a certain time, we always deliver, don’t we? So let’s capitalize on the adrenaline that accompanies a deadline, and then supercharge it by trimming the deadline even further. I dare you to cut an extra 5-10% off the time you think you have to complete a task.

Enforce Consequences

My friend Jeff Goins has written about this concept before, and the gist is this: when dangling carrots (incentives) aren’t enough to get you past the fear of taking action, it’s time to introduce more stick (consequences). Have a blog post you’ve been procrastinating on, or a product you want to launch? Set your deadline (as above), and then make it more painful NOT to meet that deadline than to just do what you’ve set out to do.

When Jeff’s friend wanted to write a book, but hadn’t made any notable progress on it after two years, he signed a post-dated check to the political candidate he hated the most and then handed it off to a friend. “Mail this if I don’t meet my deadline,” he said. Of course, he then finished his book on time. OF COURSE HE DID.

Less carrot, more stick.

So there you have it!

Ask the opposite question. Schedule less time than you need. Enforce consequences. With these three tools, you’ll be so busy making tracks that you won’t have time to fear failure anymore. You’ll simply never be scared to fail again.

This isn’t rocket science, but I think we both know it’s not easy, either. The hard part starts now, when you turn back to your desk and decide you’re actually going to do them.

I know you will!

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know on my Facebook page or via Twitter. And… if you have some likeminded friends, I’d love for you to share it with them. Thank you!

“The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.” ~ Socrates

Pop Quiz: If you and I were talking, and I asked you a question you didn’t know the answer to, what would you say?

My experience over the years tells me FAR too many people will try to make something up.

I’ve done it, too. Let’s face it… we all have at some point!

We are conditioned to think we have to have an answer for everything at all times, which creates a culture of thinking everyone else is an expert, so we’d better catch up quick. It doesn’t help when we keep calling people gurus and geniuses after one win.

But see that quote above? From an entrepreneurial perspective, it’s one way to tell the difference between the people you want to listen to and the ones who should probably stop talking. Actual, real experts speak far less than we think, and they’re also far more likely to admit when they don’t know something.

Want to emulate an expert’s mindset when you don’t know the answer? I know I do! Here are three answers I’ve begun to use more and more often:

“I don’t know.”

Sounds so simple, right? But I can count on one hand how many times people have been brave enough to tell me they didn’t know the answer to something this week. And other people could probably say the same of me! But there’s a unique kind of authority in admitting you don’t have all the answers, don’t you think? Especially since we’re all building personal brands here, we should admit more often that we’re figuring it out as we go.

If you legitimately don’t know the answer, don’t become a politician who pivots the question toward something you DO know more about. That’s annoying for everybody. Instead, just admit that you don’t know, and then (this is the hard part!) see if you can avoid qualifying that statement with, “…but I DO know that…” and then rambling on about something else.

“What do you think?”

When you don’t know the answer, responding with “What do you think?” is a compliment to the person asking the question. It shows that you respect their authority and that you’re interested in learning more. It shows that you’re present in the conversation.

I’ll never forget the time I was asked what the more important thing to becoming a great parent was. I gave my answer and then asked ‘What do you think?’. The reply back to me was one of the reasons why I’ve not worked a Friday in over 4-years. Give more time.

Asking for your companion’s thoughts on a topic is also a great way to find out about other resources you can check out about the topic at hand. (Read on for more about why you want that!)

“I know someone who knows about that.”

If you don’t know the answer, but you do know someone who does, you’ve just found a great opportunity to connect people in your network to each other. There’s an inherent generosity here that builds businesses and communities in a very organic way, so keep an eye out for ways that the people you know could and should know each other.

Maybe you don’t know someone personally, but you’ve heard of resources that specialize in it. That’s great! Connect people to resources as often as you connect people to people, and watch as people begin to do the same for you. Before you know it, you’ll have a direct contact for every question you could possibly have about business!

Now that you’ve admitted you don’t know…

Congrats are in order!

It truly is a big step to admit publicly when you don’t know something, and it’s rare enough that doing so will catch people’s attention. Adopting this beginner’s mind is a crucial ingredient of success because it sets the expectation (for yourself and for others) that you’re always learning. James Altucher says he always assumes he’s the dumbest person in the room, which is probably why he’s often one of the smartest!

And here is why it’s important to seek guidance after admitting you don’t know—because now that you’ve admitted you don’t know, it’s your responsibility to go find out! Having some recommended resources to turn to, courtesy of people you respect, will set you ten steps ahead in the discovery process.

The longer I’ve been an entrepreneur, the less I feel I know about the right and wrong ways to do things, and the more committed I am to learning along the way.

What about you? What do you say when you don’t know the answer, and how willing would you be to admit ignorance?

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know on my Facebook page or via Twitter. And… if you have some likeminded friends, I’d love for you to share it with them. Thank you!

I talk to dozens of entrepreneurs every day.

Hundreds every week.

Thousands every month.

And do you know what so many of them struggle with? One thing that sounds like a strength, but is actually a hidden source of stress in business?

It’s passion. Yes, passion! More importantly, Passion vs Profit.

Too much passion—for your idea, your solution, your potential—will kill your business faster than just about anything else.

Why? Because passion makes a terrible CFO, ladies and gents.

Passion will tell you to start your business without a clear idea of who you’re serving or how you’ll make money. Passion will tell you to work for free or for “exposure.” Passion will tell you that loving what you do is the best reason to start a business.

Passion will also up and LEAVE the second things get challenging. And then what? (Because business gets really challenging, really quick!)

I’m sure you see it now. Passion is basically your inner five-year-old demanding a corner office and free reign of the accounts. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve parented a five year old (three times now!). Lovely people, but I wouldn’t hire one!

And neither should you.

The Problem with Passion

There’s a dangerous story entrepreneurs are telling themselves these days.

It’s that you have to love every single second of every single work day in order to be successful. It’s that you’ll never have to work again if you just “follow your passion.”

Guys. No. No! I love what I do, but I don’t love every single second. Some seconds are bloody AWFUL. Sometimes entire days are a wash. A few months ago, I deleted a huge document after weeks of working on it. And just last week, I sent out an email with a wrong link in it. 

Passion is far too fleeting for any serious entrepreneur to depend on it.

The Other P-Word in Business

If passion is a dangerous thing to chase in business, what’s the alternative?

I’m glad you asked. 🙂

I’m on a one-man mission to rescue profit from the list of things no one wants to talk about.

It’s not a bad word, my friends. Profit is great! It’s how you know you’re connecting with your audience and making a difference. It’s why you get to keep building and growing. It’s how you feed your family!!! Profit is an absolute non-negotiable if you want your business to actually be legitimate. 

Note the difference here between business and hobby! If you’ve got something you’re passionate about, far be it from me to tell you not to do it. But that’s totally different from trying to build a business that works!

The Passion vs Profit discussion is as old as business itself.

I’ve heard enough horror stories from people who started businesses purely because they loved something, and then not only lost a lot of money, but also lost the passion for the thing itself. It’s heartbreaking because it’s totally unnecessary. If you love something AND know how to make a business of it, go forth! But if you assume the latter will “figure itself out” if you just “chase your passion,” be very, very careful.

Chances are better you’ll end up broke and disappointed than rich and fulfilled in that scenario.

Instead, I recommend that my Youpreneur students and fellow entrepreneurs focus more on profit than they may have been comfortable doing in the past. When you force yourself to uncover the profit opportunities in your business, you’ll learn very quickly whether it’s worth your time to pursue. And if you don’t know all the answers right away, that’s OK, too.

Pursuing your business idea with a primary profit mentality lets you make quicker decisions about when to keep going and when it’s time to pivot. Passion, on the other hand, tells you to keep going even if it makes ZERO sense to do so.

One Question to Ask for a Primary Profit Business

The next time you have to make a decision for your business, stop for a second and ask yourself, “How will this decision affect my bottom line?” The how is important because it’s forcing you to itemize precisely what this decision will do to help build your business. A simple yes or no doesn’t suffice here.

You’ve gotta be able to quantify why it’s a good idea.

The Darker Side of a Passion-Driven Business

For all the entrepreneurs who launch passion-driven businesses, there are so many more who never start.

And that breaks my heart. Sincerely.

They’ve bought into the myth that they have to love something before they can begin, or that if they don’t have an inner five-year-old who’s always dreamt of building an online business, it’s not even worth trying to be an entrepreneur.

That’s backwards.

The idea of needing to love something before you can even start is like saying you need to be married before you can date. We’re all learning as we go here, “dating” our ideas and seeing what fits and what doesn’t. Sometimes it’s us who has to change. Sometimes the business idea has to be scrapped altogether. And that’s okay.

It’ll take you one step closer to the entrepreneur you’re meant to be.

So here’s a solution for you, in the month of love (if you’re reading this in the future, it’s February!): love BUSINESS.

Get passionate about building something that serves others and contributes to your family, and worry a little less about precisely what that something will be. Explore the ideas you’re passionate about AND the ones you’re not. Find out where the audiences are and how your expertise aligns with what they need.

Passion vs. profit? I’m for profit all the way, and I think you’ll find that when you are, too… passion is a wonderful by-product.

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know on my Facebook page or via Twitter. And… if you have some likeminded friends, I’d love for you to share it with them. Thank you!

Here’s a common objection to personal brand building: “But Chris, I don’t want my brand to be all about ME! I don’t want that much attention!”

And here’s what I say to that: Nonsense. Plain and simple.

If you want to grow as a personal brand entrepreneur, you need to plant yourself center stage. Right now!

5 years ago, when I decided it was time to go all in on personal branding as a Youpreneur, I’ll admit I stared down some similar doubts. I hadn’t ever been so prominently and personally featured in my businesses before, and it was a little nerve-wracking to think that I was suddenly stepping into the limelight.

What would people think? What if they didn’t like me?

But something freaky happened when I embraced the center-stage aspect of Youpreneurship: my business, and my brand, EXPLODED.

And here’s why: people want to do business with other people.

Always have, always will.

If you’ve read this post about Bob the Baker, you’ll know that Bob is memorable—not because of what he sells, but because of WHO HE IS. He’s the celebrity of his own little bakery, and you go out of your way to buy his bread because you want to see HIM behind the counter every day. You’ll even pay for more it.

Bob didn’t go into the bakery business to become a celebrity—that’s not what I’m getting at here. He just cares so much about his product and his customer that he puts his own stamp on every single aspect of that business.

And it shows, doesn’t it? You love the way he twists the bread bag with his signature flourish. You love how he doesn’t wear a name tag because he prefers to personally introduce himself to every new customer. You love chit-chats you have with him each time you pop in to grab a loaf.

It’s time to become Bob the Baker in your own business.

Why it’s okay to be the Center of Attention

I’ve found that there are three mindset shifts that many Youpreneurs need to make if they want to succeed.

Right now, you might believe the OPPOSITE of these things, so let’s go through them one by one.

ONE: You actually DO know what you’re talking about!

Especially if you have any experience in business, you have something to share. You’ve learned some lessons, and you do have solutions for your audience. You have to believe it first if you expect others to! Bob the Baker knows bread, and more importantly, he loves bread. The knowledge and the love work together to make Bob absolutely unstoppable and irresistible to his customers.

Even if you’re brand new to business, your experiences so far are worth something to the people you want to serve. Showing up on stage as “the student” rather than “the expert” is actually a BRILLIANT personal brand strategy. It’s clearly worked like crazy for people like Pat Flynn and Derek Sivers.

TWO: People are paying attention regardless!

Let’s just put this out there: It’s an inverse kind of narcissism to think that no one is paying attention to you. However small your audience, you DO have one, and they ARE listening to you. They do care what you have to say and how you approach this ‘thing’ of Youpreneurship. Start a blog and an email list to gather that audience in one place, and find out what they’re struggling with that you can help with. And then, like a true entrepreneur, start solving problems! The more problems you solve, the stronger your personal brand grows as a person to turn to when your audience needs solutions.

THREE: It’s not all about you!

Youpreneurship is about you, yes, but that’s only part of the story! The other half is your audience, the people you want to serve. When you find an underserved market whose needs align with your expertise, you’ve literally just struck gold, and so has your audience. Finding each other could well be one of the best moments in BOTH of your lives! Those people are waiting for someone they can trust and rely on, and when you show up in service of their needs, the loyalty goes both ways. You will very quickly become their go-to source of information and their favourite expert. And they will multiply before your eyes, growing your audience as they tell everyone they know about you.

Before you know it, your platform will reflect EXACTLY what you want for your business!

Step into The Spotlight!

Fellow Youpreneurs, it’s okay to be the center of attention in business.

Let me rephrase that: you MUST become the center of attention if you want to be an authority in your space.

It might be the best move you make this year, to decide that your brand and expertise are worth people’s attention. Go out there and earn their trust through service and generosity.

I promise you’ll be stunned by how quickly people respond when you put more of YOU into your business.

There’s one question that comes up more than most others in the personal branding community:

“Should I buy a personal or brand domain name?”

What is the best strategy to follow when you’re looking at buying the right domain name for your business?

What they mean is this: Should I buy MyName.com, or should I buy MyBusinessName.com? And I think the confusion stems from some common misconceptions about personal branding:

Misconception #1: YourName.com might be limiting from a business perspective. We think there’s a ceiling on our growth potential if we operate exclusively under our names. (In fact, the opposite is true!) Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on that later, as the year progresses.

Misconception #2: YourName.com isn’t as professional as YourBusiness.com. We think we won’t be taken seriously in business if our business is also our name. (Oprah would beg to differ!)

Misconception #3: YourName.com doesn’t resonate. We think we need a catchy and memorable brand name to get people to pay attention to us. (This one is just backwards. Memorability comes from the quality of the brand, not the name itself.)

Here’s the Truth

You should absolutely, 100% buy YourName.com. That’s your best real estate on the internet, and if at all possible, you want to own that real estate – especially if you’ll be building based around your experience and reputation. Cybersquatting (or trying to resell high-profile domain names for a profit) is illegal in the USA, but not in the UK, so give your future self (and your brand!) the gift of registering YourName.com sooner rather than later.

Remember what happened when P. Diddy tried to buy @SeanCombs from a fellow Twitter user? Entertaining for us, sure, but you don’t want that happening to you!!

Whether you should use YourName.com for your BUSINESS, however, depends on a few factors:

• What kind of business do you have? This one’s for the bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, coaches, consultants, authors, and speakers. Your business is based completely around you as an individual, which means doing business under YourName.com is the best choice for your brand. If your interactions with your clients are very personal and one-on-one, it makes the most sense to do business from the outpost of YourName.com.

⇔  Not got your website setup yet? Check out this free tutorial on getting setup!  ⇔

• Who are your customers? This one is a question of connection. Ask yourself, “Will my audience be able to find me at MyName.com? Will they be able to easily spell my name? Will they naturally visit .com looking for me, or will they expect a location-specific domain like .co.uk?” Your answers to these questions will make it crystal clear how you can make it easy for the people you want to serve to find you, without friction.

• Do you ever want to sell? This is a biggie, so read closely: if you’re building to sell, do not grow your brand using YourName.com. Trust me here, friends. No one wants to buy a business that’s dependent on someone else’s name (would you?), so know before you sink any money into web development whether you’re in this for the long haul, or whether you might want to sell and do something different in the future.

What About Room for Pivoting?

And yes, I hear what you’re saying right now: “What if I don’t know yet whether I’ll want to pivot in the future?” And here’s the main takeaway today: if you’re a blogger, podcaster, vlogger, coach, consultant, author, or speaker, pivoting is built right into your personal brand already.

The content of your personal brand business matters less than the person behind it. That’s a tweetable, right there – go on, click it… try it out!

If you start talking about one topic under YourName.com, I promise that it’s not actually that big a deal to change your mind and start talking about something else a few years from now. The common thread in both scenarios is YOU, so as long as you’re building trust, connection, and loyalty in your audience, they’ll be around as long as you are.

Last question for the day: what website are you on right now? That’s right: ChrisDucker.com. My name, my brand, and my business are all one, and I can’t think of a better way to do business than the way I am currently.

I believe I’ve now handled the question of buying the right domain name perfectly well. Once and for all. Ducker, out!

Take it to The Next Level

Want to learn more about personal branding online and building your business using your own name? Hop on the waitlist for my exclusive Youpreneur Academy, where we dive even deeper into the topic of how to leverage the strength of your name and reputation into a thriving online business.

Congratulations, my friends. You’ve made it to the final post in this miniseries!

While the entrepreneurs around you have been kicking back, you’ve been taking action. While the businesses around you have been selling, you’ve been serving your audience. How do I know? Because you’ve been proving it. Over email, social, and in the Youpreneur Community, you’ve been sharing every day about the action you’re taking.

I’m so, so proud of this community!

If you’ve done what you promised at the beginning of this month, you’re ready for Part 3 of the ‘Chase It Down’ miniseries. You’re ready for the ultimate solution for any business that isn’t converting. As always, however, you only get to read it if you’re committed to taking action on it RIGHT AWAY.

Ready? Here we go.

What About Bob?

You’ve heard me say it before: brands will always want to do business with other brands. But people want to do business with other people.

To that end, let’s focus this third post on Bob the Baker—see him?

Bob is a celebrity in your town, known by everyone for his bread and his bakery. You and everyone else you know is somehow willing to travel further and pay more for, even if it’s inconvenient for us. In short, Bob runs the kind of successful business we ALL want to run.

What’s so great about Bob?

Why on earth would we go out of our way, part with more of our money, and seemingly inconvenience ourselves just to buy Bob’s bread? Why do we tell all our friends to go to him, too? What does Bob have on the daily discount loaf of Wonderbread (for my US friends), or Sainsbury’s Sliced White Loaf (for my UK mates!)?

Here’s a secret for all the Youpreneurs out there destined for greatness: it’s not about the bread.

Now, granted, Bob’s bread is good. It’s excellent, in fact. He knows his stuff, and it shows. But the real, psychological, deep-rooted reason you’re loyal to Bob and his bakery … I promise you, it’s not about the carbs.

It’s Bob himself.

You go to Bob’s bakery because he’s already sliding your favourite loaf into a bag as you walk in the door. He made that loaf with fewer poppy seeds than usual since he knows you don’t like them. He asks about your kids, remembers you hurt your ankle, clipped an article from the paper he thought you’d enjoy.

Bob cares about you, and in return, you care about him. You can’t help yourself! It’s the P2P (Person-to-Person) Solution.

In short, Bob knows something that every personal brand-building entrepreneur absolutely must understand: in the new economy, success is all about relationships.

Become Bob the Baker

Don’t take me too seriously here, my friends. I don’t want you to go out and literally copy Bob the Baker’s every move. That would defeat the purpose of building the business of YOU.

What I want you to do is consider your personal brand in every decision you make:

• If it’s better to be different than it is to be better (and it is), what do you do differently than anybody else?

• What’s the thing you can offer that no one else can?

• How can you put more of YOU into every aspect of your business?
• What steps must you take to build a profitable personal brand in the 21st century?

These are tough questions. They can’t be answered in just one minute, but I do have a way you can start to answer them with just one conversation.

A few months ago, Gary Vaynerchuk and I sat down to chat specifically on this topic. We recorded the whole thing in HD video, and I made it available exclusively to the members of my Youpreneur Community. The community is closed right now (sorry!), but if you hop on the waiting list, you’ll get immediate access to this hidden recording. It’s literally one of the highest value conversations I’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot!

So that’s your final action item in the Chase it Down series: watch my chat with Gary Vaynerchuk. Do it now. I dare you to do it and then NOT to feel ready to tackle your biggest business goals this week, this month, and beyond.

Once you truly understand the P2P Solution, you’ll be unstoppable.

Get access to my chat with Gary Vee before it’s gone!

And that’s a wrap, friends! Let’s meet back here next week to take everything to the next level. It’s going to be awesome.

Welcome back to the Chase It Down 3-part miniseries. Missed the first post? Click here to get yourself caught up.

If you’re chasing it down in business these days, you’re in good company. I heard from so many of you on social and in my Youpreneur Community about what you’re doing every day to get moving, get ahead, and ensure a killer year of success. Here are just a few ways you guys are crushing it:

Awesome, right?!! I love seeing the ways you guys are growing and scaling, even as others around you kick up their feet and put things off “for another time.”

Today, I’m releasing Part 2 of the trilogy, and as promised, it is the #1 secret behind every personal brand success story. This is ‘the big one’, all about what successful entrepreneurs know.

Ready? Let’s go.

7 Secrets About Serving, Not Selling

Building a thriving business isn’t about selling. It never was.

It’s about serving. Here are the 7 things you need to know if you want to succeed as a service-based personal brand entrepreneur:

1. If you’re not serving your customers, you need to catch up. I am not kidding when I say that the most profitable personal brand businesses out there aren’t selling. They’re not in your face pushing you to buy things you don’t need. They’re not overwhelming your inbox with out-of-touch pitches and inflated discounts. They’re not asking for your money without first proving their generosity.

Nope. The most profitable personal brand entrepreneurs are humbly and consistently SERVING their audiences. They’re showing up regularly with high-value content that answers questions, opens doors, and rewards action.

2. You have to know who you’re helping. Everything is easier when you know who you’re creating content for.

If you’re not already super clear on who your ideal customer is, stop everything right now and get 3 pieces of paper. At the top of each, write three names of people who represent your target market. They can be real or invented. Once you’ve got their names, write down several bullet points about each of them. Where are they from? What do they do for work and pleasure? What’s important to them? What are they struggling with?

Once you get going, this is really easy, I promise. It’s even kind of fun to brainstorm the personas of the people you want to serve. Once you’ve got a page about each of them, tape them above your desk. Look at them every day. They are your North Star. They are the inspiration behind every piece of content you’ll create.

Speaking of creating content…

3. Create the right kind of content. What counts as the “right” kind of content? First, let’s talk about the wrong kind. The wrong kind of content is mediocre, inconsistent, poorly expressed, and poorly targeted. It’s the wrong message for the wrong audience. How do you know if you’re creating the wrong kind of content? Trust me, you’ll know. The proof is in the terrible engagement and conversion rates.

The right kind of content is three things: inspirational, entertaining, and educational. It has to be all three! Go through this 3-point checklist for every piece of content you create, and you’ll be amazed at the results. You’ll inspire change in the lives of the people you want to serve, and in turn, they’ll invest generously in the Business of You.

4. Your audience determines what the Business of You actually becomes. Even more good news about being an entrepreneur: once you find your audience, you no longer have to do things all on your own. Listen closely to your customers at every turn. They’ll tell you the problems they’re experiencing, which will give you ideas for the solutions you can offer. The more you listen, the more they’ll talk, and the more they talk, the more opportunity you have to serve.

5. Solve people’s problems. That’s all it takes! You may have a brilliant business idea, but if it doesn’t solve a problem…I hate to break it to you, but you don’t actually have a business. What you have is a hobby, or at best a side hustle. It’ll never become the big-time brand you want it to be. If you want to build a BUSINESS, though? You absolutely must solve a problem.

6. Here are some ways to serve. For online business owners, there are countless opportunities out there to serve the audience that needs you. Here are just 7, with links to learn more and take action on each one:

• Start a blog (in 10 minutes!)
• Start a podcast
• Offer coaching services
• Write a book
• Create info products and courses
• Start a membership community
• Host a live event

7. When you share with them, they share with others. The best part about the inherent generosity of serving your audience is that it encourages payback! That is, when you share freely with your customers, they will want to share you (and your brand) with other people in their network. This is the coveted word-of-mouth marketing that we should all aspire to. And it all comes back to people wanting to do business with other people.

Remember Your Promise!

And that’s what what successful entrepreneurs know.

We’re ⅔ of the way through the Chase It Down miniseries, and I want to hear how it’s helping you. Send me an email today, or use #ChaseItDown on social, to answer this question: How will you serve your audience this month, when everyone else is selling?

Let’s meet back here next week for the grand finale of this trilogy. It’s the big kahuna, guys…THE solution you need if your business isn’t converting the way you know it can.

I can’t wait to share it with you!

You may have seen me use the hashtag #ChaseItDown on social media, and this is what it’s all been leading up to: your free ticket to this exact three-part series. That’s right—we’re going to spend the next three posts talking about how YOU can chase down your goals like a beast this year, and finally build a successful online business.

What is Chase It Down?

It’s a peek at some of my best secrets, summarized from live talks I’ve given all over the world to audiences who paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars to be there. It’s an opportunity to learn and dive deep into the secrets of building a personal brand. And no, I wasn’t kidding up there. It’s free!

But there’s a catch.

You’re only allowed to read this if you promise me, right here and now, that you’re going to take action…

…AS SOON AS YOU FINISH READING.

Yes, I know you’re busy. This is a lot to ask, but let’s consider it a test. I’ve just had one of my busiest years EVER in 12 years, and I’m still trying to recover some days! But if I can keep up a steady, focused pace in the name of growing my own personal brand, so can you. Let’s do it together. Chase It Down will show you how.

So, have you made your promise? Will you take action this month on what you learn in this miniseries? If so, go ahead and keep reading. If not, let’s meet back here when you’re ready.

We’re getting started with some uncomfortable truths that every entrepreneur needs to hear. Four value bombs that have completely changed the way I look at and do business. Read them, remember them, internalize them. You’re going to need them in the next post. 😉

People Want to Do Business with Other People

For so long, we’ve been told to scale our businesses to behemoth status. We’ve aspired to be faceless corporations, and we’ve removed the personality and life from our brands so as to appeal to more customers. This approach is how we’ve ended up with bland brands that we endure rather than evangelize. I bet you can think of a few straight away.

Today, however, we’re learning that a better way to grow is to build a personal brand. Why? Because brands will always want to do business with other brands…but people want to do business with other people. The more of YOU you put into your business, the more loyal your customers and audience will be. That’s all there is to it.

For more: Check out episode #42 of my podcast: Why Building Your Brand Is Paramount to Success!

The Barrier to Entry for Entrepreneurs is at an All-Time Low

Seems like everyone calls themselves an entrepreneur these days. It’s funny that the word used to carry negative connotations—it was almost like telling people you were unemployed!—but now, it’s a status symbol.

The problem, however, is that the lazies have caught on. You heard me. People who’ve never built a business or a personal brand are calling themselves entrepreneurs, and they’re making it harder to stand out when you actually do have a great idea, an audience who needs you, and the drive to make it happen.

The good news is that there IS a way to stand out. (Keep reading!)

For more: Read one of the most important posts I’ve ever written: The Power and Duty of Entrepreneurial Professionalism.

A Business Built on Passion Alone is Destined to Fail

If there’s one thing I can teach you about how to build a successful online business, it’s the following…

And, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the worst reason to go into business is that you’re passionate about something. Why? Because when you do that, you go in blind. You think you’re going to make a bunch of money doing something you love, and you neglect the details that will creep in to take up your working time. I know too many people who’ve closed up shop altogether after realizing that it’s not as easy as it looks to make a living doing something you love. Don’t be one of them.

Go into business because you love business, and because you can solve a problem for people. Without those two ingredients, the passion will fizzle out long before you even get going.

For more: Read about how to frame your passion as a business in Think Like a Business Owner FIRST.

Building a Brand is Easy!

Building a brand is easy IF you create great content consistently. If you promise your audience a 500-word blog post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you had better deliver a 500-word blog post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Your audience will expect it.

Your business will depend on it.

That’s not to say that the above needs to be your publishing schedule. You need to pick something that’s realistic for you. If that’s once a week, fine. If it’s a newsletter instead of a blog, or a YouTube show instead of podcast, fine. Whatever content you’re putting out there, just make it great, and make it consistent. When you prioritize regular, high-value content, you are prioritizing your bottom line.

For more: Read How to Create and Promote a Blog Post Perfectly Every Time and check out episode 9 of my podcast: Developing a Content Marketing Strategy That Converts.

It’s Time to Do What You’ve Promised

Now it’s time to hold up your end of the bargain. You promised me you’d take action this month, but more importantly, you promised yourself.

And not just today, either.

You promised yourself at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey that you’d keep going. That you’d move forward. That you’d chase down your goals.

The next two posts in the Chase it Down series will give you even more resources to get moving this month.

Next week, I will give you the secret behind every personal brand success story.

In two weeks, you’ll get THE solution you’ve been waiting for if your business isn’t converting.

By the time we wrap up, you’ll have taken some giant leaps forward in your business. Your family will love you, your customers will love you, and I’ll love you, too.

And now I’m giving you the floor: share what action you’re taking in your business RIGHT NOW using the hashtag #ChaseItDown.

Brexit.

Yep—we’re going there. Today, for the first time ever, I want to share with you exactly what I think about Brexit, how it’s going to affect UK businesses (online and off), and why you should be paying VERY close attention.

(Hint: It’s probably not what you think.)

British entrepreneurs are full of fear and distrust lately. Even as the business community settles into and tries to understand Brexit, we are afraid to act until someone else does first. No one wants to be the first penguin to jump, which means a whole lot of would-be entrepreneurs are just standing on the edge of the iceberg.

We can’t go back, but few feel ready to move forward.

The US election may have made things worse: as of November 8, there are millions of Americans feeling much the same way we felt back in June. And instead of reassuring our fellow entrepreneurs across the pond, too many have chosen to retreat back into fear and inaction.

This kind of climate can stop an entrepreneur before they even get started, and can derail otherwise successful businesses. They’re even saying so themselves:

“This is bad news for the tech industry,” commented Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder of the London-based online background checking firm Onfido.

“The outcome is a disaster for this country,” said Angus Dent, chief executive of the UK-based peer-to-peer business lending firm, Archover. “You can expect foreign businesses, institutions, and other investors to start pulling out of the UK.”

The more I read about what Brexit is doing to our vibrant business community here in the UK, the more frustrated I get. Why?

Because Brexit isn’t the problem—fear is the problem!

I don’t say any of this to diminish the realities of the referendum, the US election, or anything else happening in the world right now. Quite the opposite! My life and businesses are in both countries, as are many of my family and friends. I know how many people are feeling conflicted right now.

But seriously, this reactionary panic has got to stop! There will always be things to be afraid of—remember Y2K? Remember 2008? Yes, those examples are different from Brexit for all kinds of reasons, but every example is different from the ones that came before. That’s how history repeats itself without any of us learning from it.

Here, let me prove it.

Here are 8 reasons why Brexit shouldn’t concern British entrepreneurs, along with alternatives that actually will make a difference for your business, your audience, and YES, even your country—my country.

8 Reasons Brexit Doesn’t Matter for British Entrepreneurs

1. Online business is global. The people you want to serve aren’t limited to one geographical space. That hasn’t been true for decades. In fact, if you’re globally focused, it’s never been true. This blog, for example, reaches an average of 130,000 unique readers every month. Only 10% of you are from the UK! Need another example? In an email to his staff after Brexit, Martin Mills, founder and chairman of the 43-year-old record company Beggars Group, said, “While we digest the consequences, we’d just like to reassure you all that the Beggars family is, always has been, and always will be, international, with no frontiers.” (Sounds a lot more success-minded, doesn’t it?)

2. You can’t change change. My dad used to say there are only three things you can count on: death, taxes, and change. It’s true, and it means there’s no excuse to ignore or stall on your business just because something has changed again. Things will keep changing, and those changes will always scare off the people who weren’t meant to be here in the first place. Will you be among them, or will you step up? If you choose the latter, you’ll be in good company. “We are where we are,” said Debbie Wosskow, CEO and cofounder of Love Home Swap and founding chair of Sharing Economy UK. “And now entrepreneurs need to draw on their ability to embrace change and deal with adversity by tackling these challenges and carving out a new way forward.”

3. Success demands risk. Some of the UK’s most successful businesses were started in times of uncertainty, including the £5-billion Virgin Group. And if we end up in another recession, there’s some proof out there that the business you start in a slump has a greater chance of being profitable. It is an entrepreneur’s #1 job see the same situations that others see and react differently. We don’t run for safety; we advance into uncertainty. And then we win. Like Bronek Masojada, CEO of Hiscox, said, “The dogged entrepreneurs are more likely to say that the economic environment has made them more likely to succeed. This is true grit.”

4. Your only boss is YOU. Government drama doesn’t dictate my success or lack thereof, and the same is true for you. Brexit doesn’t sign your paychecks, refer you for promotion, or sign off on your expenses. Why would you give it, or any random entity, that much power over your business? Who’s the CEO here, anyway?!

5. The stats are irrelevant. 80% of UK startups fail within 5 years. Early on, Brexit had a 72% chance of failing. Until election night, Hillary Clinton had a 99% chance of winning the presidency. What do all those stats have in common? They don’t matter. They make for great headlines the morning after, but all they’re going to do for entrepreneurs is scare you into thinking everyone else knows more than you do. They don’t. But as we learned above, the only one who makes that final decision is you. Especially now, when the pollsters are nearly guaranteed to be wrong.

6. Constraints make you more creative. If few are investing in business because they don’t want to put money out in an uncertain economy, you’ve just learned something very important about them: they’re operating on fear. You can choose to mirror and join in their fear, OR you can see this as an opportunity to either find funding elsewhere, or try to make things happen without outside funding. Constraints require you to think of things in a new way, and make no mistake: the ability to produce with constraints is an essential skill for any entrepreneur to have. The sooner you learn it, the better.

7. Entrepreneur is a verb. (It’s not, really, but stick with me here!) You don’t get to be an entrepreneur if you’re not going to act like one, and it is exactly NOW, when everyone else is too afraid to act, that your bravery and expertise is needed more than ever.

8. This is what we’re here for. If you’re REALLY an entrepreneur, it’s time to prove it—real entrepreneurs live for this stuff. Maybe not Brexit specifically, but what I hope you understand by now is that Brexit was never the thing that mattered, anyway. It doesn’t matter what your personal or political feelings are about it—it’s the climate of fear that Brexit has created that is a problem. Acting in spite of fear is what all the speakers, bloggers, and fellow entrepreneurs you follow have been talking about for ages. It’s what everyone else talks about when they talk about us. And now it’s your turn to live a story worth telling, and build a business worth talking about.

Download for FREE – Now!

Who’s Really Affected by Brexit?

If you’re afraid to start, scale, or act in your business since Brexit, it’s not you who’s most affected, though it can certainly feel that way.

It’s the people you serve, or want to serve.

The community you’ve been thinking about, gathering, and maybe even inspiring until now is still out there. And now more than ever, they’re counting on you to stay focused and keep sharing what you know. If you, as their leader, are acting from and projecting fear, you’re going to create more of that in your community.

If, however, you commit to action, forward momentum, and the “keep calm, carry on” mindset… well, then you’re really made of the good stuff.

British entrepreneurs have what it takes to get through this, and to inspire the rest of the world in the process.

Your ‘Beat Brexit’ Challenge

Brexit doesn’t determine your success (or the lack thereof), but your reaction to it will have a lasting effect on the community that needs you. This post has given you insight from a number of successful UK business owners, and I hope those insights have helped.

But there’s only so much you can do while reading a blog post. Your audience is still waiting for you to speak up, take action, and lead them to achieve their dreams.

This week, I challenge you to be the first penguin to jump. Despite fear, uncertainty, Brexit, buzzwords, blah blah blah. Jump.

Just jump.

I often get asked “If you could go back and start all over again, what would you do differently?”. My answer is always the same… I would’ve started blogging way earlier than I did (I started blogging January 2010).

Blogging has opened more doors for me than any other activity as an entrepreneur.

But, here’s the thing… that’s not the reason why I started blogging. I started doing so as a way to chart my course towards my 2010 goal of becoming a full-time Virtual CEO – a goal that I achieved.

However, I continue blogging today (with way more intent and focus behind it than ever before, I might add!) because of those doors being opened.

10 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging – TODAY!

1. Blogging helps you position yourself as an authority. Someone with something to say.
2. It gives you your own ‘home’ on the internet, without having to rely on other platforms.
3. Blogging is the perfect way to educate, inspire, entertain and create a community in your niche.
4. Blogging helps you build rapport and gain the trust of your prospective customers online.
5. Blogging regularly is the main ingredient in creating a powerful personal brand.
6. Publishing regular, high quality blog content will help the search engines fall in love with your website.
7. When you blog regularly, you’ll be creating a personal encyclopedia of rich content to link back to for years.
8. It’s the first step in monetizing your experience and offering, as an online entrepreneur.
9. Blogging opens the doors to creating life-long relationships with likeminded peers in your industry.
10. It’s just a lot of fun!!!

(This list could go on and on and on and on..!)

Getting Started on Your Blogging Journey

The first thing I remember about starting my blog is that I said something along the lines of “I have absolutely NO IDEA how to even get started!”. And I didn’t. I knew I needed a website, and that I needed my own domain name, for branding purposes. But, that’s where I froze, to be honest.

Then I discovered Bluehost, a website hosting company that I’ve used for virtually ALL my websites ever since.

They made the process of setting up my website and my blog so insanely easy.

And, the good news is that the process has gotten ever simpler and faster since!

I’m convinced that starting a blog will help you launch, grow and build your business online better than any other single activity. I’m so convinced in fact, that I put together this quick tutorial to help you.

In the video below I show you, step-by-step, how to start your blog with Bluehost.

And get this… it’ll take you no more than 10-minutes.

5 Reasons Why Bluehost is the Perfect Blog Hosting Provider

1. Outstanding Customer Service – 24-hour support via chat, email and the phone.
2. Reliable Beyond Belief – With a 99.9% up-time record, you can’t get any better.
3. Awesome Pricing – You simply won’t find a better ‘bang for your buck’.
4. Free Domain Name – Why pay for anything, if you don’t have to. Save whenever you can!
5. Money Back Guarantee – If you’re not happy, ask for a refund within 30-days and it’s yours.

Note: I am a Bluehost affiliate, which means they’ll pay me a small commission if you signup for their service, using my special link. But, please understand this doesn’t have any reflection on why I’m suggesting them. The fact is that almost all hosting companies offer roughly the same services.

I’m recommending Bluehost to you as your blogging host because I sincerely believe they’re the best choice for people getting started on their blogging journey.

That simple.

Start Blogging with Bluehost and Grab My FREE Bonus!

If you decide it’s time for you to go from thinking about it, to actually starting a blog to help grow your brand and business, and you decide to do so with my recommendation of Bluehost, I’ve got something VERY special for you.

Simply forward me your receipt via email and I will send you something that has helped THOUSANDS. An exclusive process blueprint.

How to Create and Promote a Blog Post (usually available to Youpreneur members only!) to ensure that you know exactly how to get the most out of your blogging. Time and time again!

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