I have been meaning to write a post on how important being passionate about what you are doing online is for a while and now is a good time to do so because it follows on perfectly from previous posts about why I am doing this and how to create an authority blog. It is vital you become involved in a niche or area of online business which you truly LOVE because otherwise you will fail miserably. Take it from someone who knows and experienced this in the last year.
Get it Right from the Start
I want you to think clearly about this opening section because it really is important. If you are going to succeed online then you have to be true to yourself and be passionate about what you are doing.
If you are only “in it for the money” then you are doomed to fail. I experienced this first hand during the past year when I felt like I was swimming upstream during my dalliances with CPA marketing. If you are passionate about CPA that’s fine, go ahead with it and make millions of dollars. The problem was, I wasn’t.
I was involved in the murkier side of blackhat CPA marketing techniques and it simply wasn’t me. While I was able to make some money doing it, I found there were too many variables which needed to work together in order to profit consistently. I struggled with it for nine months and after spending thousands of dollars, making about half of it back, I decided to just cut my losses. I had lost the best part of a year in terms of taking my business forward and it was time to do something different.
As soon as I decided to quit the blackhat stuff and move forward with blogging for a living, the stress I had endured for the past nine months just melted away and I felt more at peace with myself. It sounds strange that stress can be turned off like a light switch but that is what happened with me.
One way to determine whether you are in the right “area” is to think about whether or not you could do it for the rest of your life. This is not set in stone and you can take a different path in the future. At this present time, if my online career amounted to no more than writing great content on my blog, producing valuable products and communicating with my readers and customers then I will be happy.
Writing content is where I have the opportunity to play to my strengths, where I can be the authority and where I can make a positive impact on other people’s businesses.
So… What are YOU Passionate About?
While you may be passionate about eating cheeseburgers and watching football on TV that is unlikely to open up any career opportunities for you!
You should consider what you are passionate about in terms of something that is meaningful to yourself and others. With me and several other “professional” bloggers, it’s writing content. Now I have found a rhythm to writing my blog I enjoy doing it even though it is not producing me much in terms of income… and yet I will still crank out the content.
Whatever it is you decide to do in terms of business it MUST be something that turns you on and you enjoy, otherwise it is going to be a grind. Most people feel that way about their 9-5 job and I felt that way about the CPA marketing I was involved with.
If you can see yourself still involved in your business in the future and are willing to educate yourself along the way so you stay at the cutting edge, then you are onto a winner!
Why Passion is Important
Put simply – if you are involved in an area you are truly passionate about you will have an advantage over competitors in the same marketplace who are merely going through the motions.
Passion for a subject will shine through in what you do and people will pick up on that.
Share your passions liberally with other people and watch how quickly even more people become drawn to you and what you are doing.
Passion also enables you to build a shared community. Blogs which are built on passion for their subject matter get infinitely more comments and interaction than those which have been thrown together because the blogger thought they would get into that niche because there was money to be made.
A shared passion lays the foundations for lasting community and that is what I am trying to achieve right here at DavidWalker.tv.
Passion Fuels Your Brand
Your passion for a particular subject fuels that tireless drive to achieve something you feel matters. It will help you to overcome the obstacles you face along the way.
Success does not happen overnight and I know that while my blog is nowhere near as popular as the likes of John Chow and Shoemoney, I have the passion to stick with it until the time comes when I can be mentioned in the same breath as them.
When you are passionate about something, people can see you are authentic. This authenticity will encourage people to trust and like you and want to get to know you better.
In contrast, it is easy to spot someone who is inauthentic and has removed themselves from what matters to them. If you enter a niche you have no knowledge or interest in, this will be reflected in your output. Nobody will be interested in your products, nobody will read your blog and ultimately you will become insignificant.
You must stay true to your passions!
Hey David,
Glad to see you’re back. Was weird not seeing your face all over the place for a few weeks.
Feels a bit more normal now.
As for your post I think that it’s a very important subject. Passion for your niche should be top of your list when choosing one. You can’t spend hours every day working on something that doesn’t interest you or in your case, just feel wrong.
I haven’t really gotten into niche marketing yet but I do love the whole IM thing and it helps me escape from the real world. Learning new stuff, even seeing the new products that come out and how you can use them as well as reading other blogs, or writing articles etc. It’s great fun.
Anyway, good to see you back.
Regards
Andy
Hi Andy,
I am glad my return to the internet has pleased you! It felt weird for me being away for so long as well. I was actually getting used to not working on my online business and even… having a life!
It’s great to be back online and my passion for doing what I am doing here ensured those three weeks away felt a lot longer and I was missing the day to day blogging and networking.
I agree entirely with what you say. Internet marketing is not just a “job”, it is a lifestyle and if you don’t love it, then you will not be able to commit the time and effort to succeed.
I look forward to reading more of your blog posts!
David
Great to see you on here David. Great post, and just a darn nice blog, too. I, too, dallied in some of the other murky stuff and came away feeling like a slug. At first, I could hardly drag myself out of bed because I knew I’d have to “get back to it” if I wanted to “succeed.” It devolved into not wanting to get up at all and not caring if the day happened or not. Passion is so important, but I had to learn that real passion comes from within, and can’t be forced. When I tried MLM, my upline sponsor kept telling me I had to “get passionate” about the product and the process. How can I “get” passionate? If it’s not in there, it’s not in there! I like niche marketing, but not if the niche isn’t interesting. CPA sucks (for me), and throwing up AdSense minisites didn’t do it for me either. You are so right… and it’s that important! I can tell by the way you write that you enjoy doing it. And, like you said, the success will follow. Thanks for spotlighting this all-important subject.
Hi Roberta,
Thank you for leaving me a comment!
You are so right about passion. It has to be real and cannot be forced. I felt really uncomfortable when I was involved in the black-hat side of things – it just wasn’t “me” and I felt it was a bit of drag. Blogging is much more fun!
I wish you every success and hope you drop by more often!
David
Hey David,
Great post as always, you certainly know how to write good content, and I like the way your posts follow on nicely from each other.
Like you say, passion is definitely something you need have before you think moving into any niche. I plan to move into the anxiety and panic niche as a side project, simply because I have a problem with anxiety , and I’m passionate about helping people who suffer from it.
I’m doing a lot better with my anxiety these days, that is why I’m in a position to help people. At one time I rarely went out of the house. I’ve moved on so much now that I’m quite confident about going to the upcoming event in Manchester, which you said you are going to in a recent comment on my blog. So I look forward to meeting you there.
Paul.
Hey Paul,
Thank you for your kind words about my blog post!
I think you could do really well in the anxiety niche. You are building up a head of steam with your personal blog and you can use that as a platform for bigger things in the future.
I am glad you are going to the event in Manchester, it will be great to meet you. I am feeling a little anxious about it myself as I have never been to a seminar before but I am sure it will be great when we all meet up!
David
Great post – many words of wisdom in there, its what we all should know but it needs to be said to give one a sense of focus.
BTW – these pics really help your Blog posts – where do you get half of them from?
.-= Peter Davies´s last blog ..Strategic Profits – League of Extraordinary Minds =-.
Love it, David.
It makes me think of all the time I spent trying to do and be someone I’m not. At the end, I became a personal development guy because I can talk about that stuff with people all night and never get bored.
In the end, we’ve only got our passions anyway, everything else is just pretend. Thanks again for the post, man,
Nathan Zadworny recently posted..Life Coaching- Powerful Questions – Episode 1