How Much Time, Effort, And Money Does It Take To Build A Six-Figure Online Business?

If you’re trying to build a successful online business, have you ever wondered (or even asked) how long it takes? How much work will it be? How much does it cost?

Or better yet… what is your probability for success?

Well, let me ask YOU a question…

Are you ready for some “real talk”? Because, I’m about to answer those questions head-on and the answer might not be what you expect.

It Started With A Guy Considering Joining The Blog Monetization Lab…

Like people do every day, I had a guy out there considering joining the Blog Monetization Lab. And, he asked me a question via email. A…. long email. 🙂

First, he told me about another course he had enrolled in. And that course had failed to meet his expectations. He said…

This course cost $1800. He said in the offer webinar that money would start flowing within days after the first basic system was setup (2 page optin/ thankyou page, to get people on email list for free info report, and process to sell them affiliate info products on specific email sequence templates.) He didn’t explicitly promise. But the language was almost exactly ” after this is setup I start making minimum $500-1000 a month after a few days on these, up to $6000 a month.” and ~ “I have setup 100 of these and this was the model I used. So just set up as many as you want to get the income you need.” –So that is where the expectations were set.

Apparently, this person who offered that course led people to believe in “push button” income. And a lot of people weren’t realizing that income and were pissed about it and asking for refunds.

But, based on the promises made in the initial offer, people bought it. He said:

I didn’t think it was possible to get money, at the promised rate, flowing that quickly, but I tried it out based on that offer.

Yeah, that was a mistake. Truth is, there are a lot of “gurus” out there who make all kinds of promises to teach you their system, but the reality is they’ve only had success with that system once. And now they’re teaching it to you. And if you can’t get the same results… they’ll pretty much just blame YOU for it.

That’s why I never say on this site that I’m going to teach you “my system”. Because, this isn’t my system. It is based on fundamentals that are pretty universal. That’s why it works. What I bring to the table is my skills at teaching and making it doable, but what I teach inside the Lab isn’t some unique system I “discovered” one day. 🙂

But, the email went on….

Probability Of Success?

He said:

If I DO the X,Y,Z on some internet business model will I have a high probability to profit? Because so many make big promises, and are always willing to sell you the shovel and the map to the gold mine, it seems like hype. Of course no one can guarantee it, and I accept that. This is not the question. It is more nuanced than that. I know SOME people will make money. But I don’t know, “What the real DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR will be for a person that makes $100 vs $100,000 or a $1,000,000 success in this business model?” And that is how I am trying to determine if this is the right business model for me.

That’s something that I hear alot from people.

It is the old argument about how most businesses fail in their first year. And that most people who go to build a business online don’t make it.

And that is true and will always remain true.

But, do you think it is because of luck? Do you think this is a matter of probability?

Building a successful business isn’t a matter of the roll of the dice. It comes down to two things, really…

1. A willingness to take action. Real, definitive action.
2. Having a true product/market fit.

Now, “taking action” has been preached so much that it is almost trite at this point. And I think you get that already.

But, product/market fit. It is right there at the top of the Blog Monetization Model for a reason. EVERYTHING is based on it.

So, What Is Product/Market Fit?

Let’s first define our terms…

• Market: A market is a group of people where their uniting factor – that thing which defines them as a group – is an active seeking of a solution to a problem or desire. They have a need or want… and they are looking for a solution for it. The one last criteria would be that this group has an ability and a willingness to pay for that solution.
• Product: An offer. It could be an info product, a physical product, a service, etc. That product will be a delivery mechanism for a TRANSFORMATION. The product will be a delivery mechanism for the solution this market is seeking.

So, what we need to do in order to find a product/market fit is:

1. Find a hungry market.
2. Find out what they are looking for.
3. Create the offer to match it.
4. Prove it by way of actual sales.

When you have at least one offer which you’ve found is the perfect fit for a particular market… everything else kind of just falls in line. Blogging becomes easy. Product creation is easy. Setting up the mechanics of sales is easy. Even traffic is easy. It is all just… mechanics. But, for it to work, we need to have a product/market fit.

When you find this, “luck” is a minimal component to your success. This isn’t a matter of probability anymore.

When people come in searching for a “system” or a “business model” that they can just blindly build in some “paint by numbers” system, they’ve already violated the basic rule of business. Because they’re only chasing money and they think the way to get it is mere mechanics. No, the way to get it is to provide a solution to people who are looking for that solution.

How Much Time Does It Take? How Much Does It Cost? How Much Work?

In this email, he asked…

How much time, effort, and money, will go into having 6 figure success?

How SKILLED do I have to be, and in what key areas, to earn that 6 or 7 figure income? Do I have to be a great copy writer? Great traffic finder? Great specialist in a topic? just lucky? What makes the difference in the big money and little money.

I don’t want to waste my time money and energy with something low probability.

These questions are, again, based on the search for a “system” to blindly apply, as if a six-figure income is just a matter of mechanics executed in some particular order. There are plenty of “gurus” out there who will gladly take your money on the hope that such a thing exists.

Again, your probability has everything to do with establishing product/market fit. As I told him in email reply, ​your success is based on:

1. Identifying a problem that people are looking for a solution for.
2. You effectively delivering that solution to them in exchange for money.

That’s why those who succeed in this business aren’t nearly as worried about the mechanics of the business as they are in how well they SERVE. A successful entrepreneur has the primary skill of being able to recognize a solvable problem and then arranging resources so as to provide a solution to it. The blog, the lead magnets… all the stuff we talk about… all that is just bait to attract the kinds of people with the problem you solve so that you then proceed to solve it for them.

In terms of those other questions….

• How much time does it take? If you spend your time chasing shiny objects and concentrating solely on the mechanics of things, then it’ll take a damn long time. That is, if you ever make it. On the other hand, if you laser in on the exact things you need to be working on at the time, it doesn’t have to take much time at all. If you have that product/market fit figured out, we’re talking a matter of DAYS you could be generating an income online if you move on it and stop over-thinking.
• How much work will it take? Alot. But, you know what? It’ll take a lot less work if you properly focus your efforts. Its the difference between driving in fifth gear and first gear.
• How much will it cost? That’s the wrong way to look at it. Every business has startup costs. That’s just a fact. But, if you have product/market fit, then it will be very clear that when you spend money, you’ll be making money. It is very mathematical. A six-figure business isn’t something you can just buy in a box, but there will be costs.

What Decides Those Who Success Or Fail?

He asked…

What the real DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR will be for a person that makes $100 vs $100,000 or a $1,000,000 success in this business model?

That one is easy.

The person who succeeds comes into this with the attitude of a problem-solver. They usually already know when they come to me what they wish to do and how they intend to serve. Arriving at a solid product/market fit is done or could be arrived at with some tweaking/testing.

The person who succeeds doesn’t get bogged down in the mechanics. They grasp the big picture and that is attract the right people, present your solution, sell it, then deliver it.

The person who is going to have a tougher time at it is the person who has no idea what they can or even want to do… but they just know they want to make money online. It is those people who are in search of a “system” they can buy. They’re not really looking at it from the perspective of looking for a problem they can solve for people, but instead they’re looking at it from the perspective of “how can I get people to give me money”.

Bloggers look for a “niche”. Those who succeed look for a solvable problem that people are actively looking to solve.

Those who don’t solve a problem – they just talk about stuff – those are the ones who might make $100 in Adsense money or something.

Those who solve a problem well and effectively reach the market they want to serve, those people will build a six-figure business.

Those who learn to scale it and build real funnels behind it – those are the people who can build a 7-figure business.

Which do you want to be?