Something has been weighing on my mind for a while now. As I look back on the evolution of my business I’m amused by the naivety that I exhibited when starting my Internet business. And, I want to share my mistakes with you so you can learn, grow and blossom with much less B.S. (yep, I said it).

To start, “I drank the Kool-Aid*”. The first sip was good. It tasted like success and possibilities. I was jazzed and couldn’t wait for a flood of visitors to show up to my website and want to do business with me. The Kool-Aid was kicking in but I didn’t have the right foundation to support the vision. The promises of quick, easy money online were not as promising as they had first seemed.

When I took a bigger sip of the Kool-Aid, I realized that the “if you build it they will come” mentality was killing businesses around me and so were the cookie cutter business models. Because with just a little bit of information the success formula was not complete — especially for websites. And, many of the “gurus” out there were spoon feeding just enough information to “hook” you so you’d continue to buy from them or start your own Internet business and fail because you didn’t have all the information you needed to succeed .To be fair, I’m not saying anyone was doing this on purpose. Some of the results or lack thereof were also caused by misperception of the information based on individual world view and the fact that we are each responsible for our own success(but that’s another musing in itself).

That’s why I choose my mentors wisely. And it’s why I only recommend people I know, like and trust or have personal experience with. People who tell you the truth about business with no B.S. or fluff.

Throughout this journey, I listened to my intuition and I moved forward with an unwavering belief that I could and would create a successful Internet business to provide service to others, and of course, support me.

I have to admit that when I first started out I thought things like:

* “This is going to be easy.”
* “Once my website is up my business will be on auto pilot.”
* “My business will always provide the same services.”

I was WRONG. The “set it and forget it” story I received in the begriming when I just started to sip the Kool-aid wasn’t true. So, I rolled up my sleeves and did some really hard work (don’t get me wrong — I love what I do and I have fun every day but…)

The truth of the matter is:

* My business has continued to grow because of my hard work.
* Fine-tuning my website is an ongoing processes to provide the best service possible and really work for my customers and my business.
* My services continue to evolve with the new knowledge and experience I gain and with the needs of those I serve.

These are just some of the reasons I stay passionate to the core about my business. I love figuring out the best way to be of service and helping others bypass many of the mistakes I made. And I love creating success…even if it does take some hard work.

That’s why I’m now offering my Manyon Marketing Web Makeovers on a regular basis to help your website really work for your business. (I have 6 opening available per week and they are scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday PT and my schedule is filling fast.) And, I’m working on a new offering (well, I’ve been offering it for a while but I’m adding to the site soon) the Manyon Marketing Web Flow Map that will help new Internet marketers get really clear on their website flow and strategy before they even hire a designer(trust me this will save you time, money and many headaches).

My point is, I want you stop drinking the Kool-Aid, grow quickly, learn from my mistakes and have the best resources available.

* The reference to “drinking the Kool-Aid” is a term often used to demonstrate caution when blindly following the advice of others. No offense to actual Kool-Aid is meant by this reference.

Author's Bio: 

Lisa Manyon specializes in POWERFULLY communicating your marketing messages to increase results. She’s a Professional Copywriter dedicated to making life easier for business owners and entrepreneurs by knocking one more thing off your “to do“ list. Manyon is the Copywriting Expert for The International Association of Web Entrepreneurs. Get a Free Copywriting Action Plan & discover 7 Power-packed Insider Tricks of the Copywriting Trade to Dramatically Increase Sales of your Products & Services http://www.writeoncreative.com