I just did my monthly stats and…not much has changed 😭

So how do I deal with progress that’s not as fast as I’d like?

If you’ve ever had a meltdown because you’re not achieving as much as you’d like in your online business, you need to listen to this. I get real about self-doubt, downward spirals, and being tempted to go off on completely random tangents to ‘fix’ the problem – but I also talk about how I’ve learned to deal with my business freak-outs in a productive and positive way.

After listening to this, you won’t feel alone, AND you’ll have strategies to deal with your inevitable business stress.

Because we all get a little irrational sometimes, right?!

But it’s how we deal with it that makes the difference between someone who quits, and someone who keeps going and creates a successful business.

Listen to the episode right here

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Resources mentioned

Episode 2 – my business goals. You know, the ones I apparently won’t reach until 2050 unless I pull my finger out and do clickbaity things on Pinterest?
I’m glad I got over that quickly 😆

My Pinterest account – nah, I’m still not putting effort into it! I’m far better off to focus on my evergreen strategies, like I discuss.

Transcript

Hey, I’m Kelly Kotanidis, and welcome to Online Business from Scratch, where I’m taking you behind the scenes as I build my new online business from scratch to a full-time income while making sure it’s a great fit for my traveling homeschooling life. I’ll be walking you through everything I do and why, so you can follow along and build your own flexible online business quickly and efficiently.

Now, this is a little bit of an extra episode to let you into a secret, and that’s that even those of us who have been in business for a long time are sometimes, or even oftentimes, a little bit irrational. I had a freak-out this morning. I did my stats like I do on the first of every month, and while they’ve increased, they’re not exactly skyrocketing.

So, I looked at my slow progress and thought, “I’m not doing enough. I only got 18 new subscribers this month. My page views are still only in the triple digits, and it’s just not enough. How am I ever going to reach the goals I detailed in episode 2 before the year 2050 with this sort of snail-like progress!? It’s JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!”

That led to panicked scheming, like, “I need more traffic. Maybe I should put some effort into Pinterest. I only have three followers on Pinterest, but I could put the app on my phone and start some sexy boards that will get me more followers. You know, like brand color palettes and other really pinnable stuff. I also need to find more promo opportunities. I need to get on more podcasts. I need to get some higher DA backlinks to boost my site. I need to increase my site speed. And I really need more paid products because selling a few labor-intensive business reviews each month is not going to pay the bills.

I really need to pull my finger out and get serious!”

Luckily, before I spiraled too badly, I came to my senses and realized that I need to take a step back and get a bit realistic about this. Maybe, and that’s just throwing it out there, maybe I’m not being completely rational. No, I haven’t seen huge growth last month, but it’s month four.

Month four, people!

I’m building the foundation. I released a podcast and set up my evergreen email automation. Both of these are strategies that will bring me far more in the long run than the few page views I would get from having a bigger Pinterest following. Let’s face it, getting Pinterest followers with brand color palettes is a dumb idea because I don’t even do branding or design, so I wouldn’t even be attracting people who were suited to what I do.

When I look at my stats a bit more sensibly, they’re all positive. My email subscribers are increasing, my domain authority is increasing, my search visibility is increasing. I sold a couple of my only offer, the business idea review that’s embedded in the Business Idea Blitz, and people have been really happy with the results of those. It means I’m making some money only a few months in. My email open rates are over 60%, and click rates are between 13% and 19%. So, the stats are really awesome, and all of these important metrics are improving, even if it’s only slowly. It means I’m on the right track, making progress on the right things in the right direction, and really, that’s all I need to know.

When I look back at what else I did in April, well, I think I really need to chill the hell out because I’m traveling with my husband and our two sons. We’ve stayed in five different cities in Greece, which means four moving days and lots of exploring. We ran a bloody marathon in April, plus two half marathon events, and all the training that involves. Even if your to-do list doesn’t look quite like that, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other stuff to fill in. You’ve got the endless housework, ferrying family around to activities, the work you do, sorting out homeschool curriculum or NDIS paperwork, appointments, helping your family and friends, community involvement, all the useful and important and necessary stuff that we do. So, the fact that my business has made any progress at all is fantastic.

It’s much more rational, better for my mental health, and actually truthful for me to step back and reframe all of the above and say, “Wow, I had a really full-on April. I started a podcast and set up evergreen emails, which are great long-term strategies. I’m laying all this groundwork in the background for a really strong business foundation, and I still managed to get 18 new email subscribers who are all here because they actually like my stuff, not because I made some random clickbaity color palette stuff on Pinterest.” After that, I felt much better about it all and bought myself a pistachio gelato to celebrate pulling myself up before I fell into a great big spiral.

So, when you also hit the inevitable freak-out—the “Oh my God, I’m not making enough progress, I need to do more, I need to be bigger, I’m such a failure,” etc.—just remember that everyone freaks out.

Then take a break, and have another look at your stats. But pretend you’re looking at a dear friend’s stats.

Find the positives, focus on them, give yourself a big pat on the back for them, and have a look at your big goals, like having a great email list, increasing traffic to your site, or creating paid products, and congratulate yourself on all the progress you’ve made in those areas, all the great results that you’re maintaining. If there are negatives that need to be fixed, think about them from the perspective of your big goals. Try not to fall into the trap of deciding that you absolutely have to be on TikTok or learn how to run Facebook ads or go off on a completely new clickbaity tangent like color palettes on Pinterest. Have a look at what you’re already doing, identify any gaps, and work out how you can polish it before running off in an entirely new direction.

I hope that small insight into my brain has helped. You are definitely not alone when you freak out. Please know that you are doing a fantastic job. Building a business takes time, especially when we have a lot of other stuff on our plates. Just keep going; progress is progress, no matter how slow it is. You will get there in the end if you keep doing the important things. When you look back in a year, you will be absolutely amazed at how far you’ve come with all those little bits and pieces that you’ve put together. Please always feel welcome to email or message me with your small wins. I will always celebrate them with you.

All right, I’m signing off now because I feel another gelato calling me, so I will see you next time.

Thanks for listening!

Got any questions? Feel free to to drop them in the comments below.

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