Lynn's Online Business Failure

By: Lynn VanDyke  

Lynn slumped down into the cushiony chair. She had been holed up in today’s profit building business meeting for two hours already. She gazed down at her watch, took a deep breathe and pulled herself upright. This meeting was one of the many that Lynn spaced out and heard nothing that her supervisor said.

She often spaced out at work. She thought about all sorts of things. She thought of asking for a raise, but knew her company would counter with, “We are being conservative right now because of the economy. Perhaps you could work more hours if you need additional income?”

Lynn certainly did not want to work more hours, but she knew that she deserved more money and a better quality of life. She also knew that her present employer was not going to give out raises. In fact, they have been laying people off for months now.

Lynn did have a small hope though. She often dreamed of being her own boss. She craved owning a successful business, but had no idea where to start. She came close to starting a few small businesses before, but in the end she always decided the risk was too high. Lynn had taken small business courses, read marketing manuals, and networked like a pro, but she still did not have a business of her own.

Today was different. Lynn was spacing out because she was consumed and excited about a new business idea. She recently read an article about starting an online business. She had done some research and knew that she would need a domain name and a hosting company. She figured the domain name would cost about $10/ year and the hosting was about $100/year. The hosting company even offered a free website building tool. All in all, this was perfect for her. It was a low financial risk investment with an opportunity to succeed big time.

Lynn rushed home after her boring work meeting. She had decided it was time to turn her dream into her reality. Today was the day! She wanted to build an online business all about her passion- fitness. She had huge dreams and was positive that once she bought her domain name and hosted her web pages that droves of visitors would flock to her site. They would buy workout DVD’s and spend loads of money. She could not believe how easy this was going to be.

She bought her domain name and built a nice looking site in a few hours. Everything was going according to the plan. Domain? Check. Hosting? Check. Website? Check. Products to sell? Check.

Three months later…

Lynn curled up in her office chair. She gazed out of the window and let out a huge sigh of failure. She did everything she was supposed to do. What had gone wrong? Her only visitors were her family and friends. There were no other customers. There was no income. There were no more dreams of running a successful online business.

Lynn had tried everything to save her failing business. Within that last three months she hired a website designer, she paid an SEO firm to optimize her pages and she bid on top pay-per-click positions. She spent over $5,000 in less than three months and she had nothing to show for it.

She knew she had to return back to the 9 to 5 grind if she was not successful soon. Who was she kidding anyway? Everyone told her that she was being a dreamer with this Internet thing, and they were right. She was so gullible. She should have known things would be harder than buying a domain name. Lynn was out of money and out of luck. She needed a miracle.

She sipped her coffee as she checked her email for the afternoon. She scanned all the subject lines. Most of it was spam. There were a few forwards from her Aunt Ciss and one email from Emily, her best friend. Lynn read Emily’s email.

“Lynn, I found an interesting article today. It talks about common struggles with building an online business. It reminded me of you! Anyway, the article offered the reader’s a free program on building a successful Internet business. I had to chuckle when it exclaimed- those looking for a quick buck, need not apply. Only those looking to create real businesses should ask for the free ebook. Have a good one, Emily.”

Lynn did not get excited. She had heard nothing but slimy salesman talk about the next big Internet marketing tool. She really did not need another greasy sales pitch. Lynn paced back and forth for quite a while. She knew she needed to make a move. It was now or never. Something had to give. She decided to check out the program recommended to her. After all, it was free.

Three months later, Lynn’s site is a massive success! Her business is built around her passion. It offers tons of information and generates highly targeted visitors each and every day. Lynn never returned to the 9 to 5 grind. In fact, Lynn is getting ready to pursue two other online business ventures. Just in the month of October, her site brought in over 4,600 visitors!

To get your copy of the free program, please visit the author’s resource box below.

Lynn VanDyke’s website now ranks in the top 1% of all websites in the world. Her Alexa ranking is 115,146 of over 56 million websites. Visit www.strength-training-woman.com/sone.html for your free program today!

This article is free for republishing