If you have been researching the "how-to's" of online marketing and have thought about quitting altogether, you probably just need one major thing:  I call it patience.  

I recently created an online video with this title and posted it to YouTube.  Then, I read "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk and in it, he said that patience is the "secret to the sauce".  So, I'm not crazy after all.  It is the one ingredient that can take a person from mediocrity to greatness over time in internet marketing.

Cultivate It!

How does one cultivate patience and what does that mean to the online marketer?  Your patience is tied to 3 things:

1)  Your vision

2)  Your will

3)  Your results

First, let's bring the concept of patience into your consciousness.  How is it defined?  Mirriam Webster defines patience as the act of being patient, meaning "bearing pains or trials without complaint; steadfast despite opposition; not hasty or impetuous."  The Bible uses the word longsuffering.  This would be a synonym for patience.  So begin to accept that your online marketing business is going to take time to build and you are going to need to look boldly into the future and envision your life a few years from now.

Let's start with your vision.  First, you have to have a passion and a vision for accomplishing your purpose in life. Your purpose is tied to your gifts, talents and interests.  As Mr. Vaynerchuk puts it, "it's got to be in your DNA."  If you don't have your vision and passion outlined in your mind and on paper, you may flounder for months, maybe even years.  Spend the time to figure out who you are.  I became a yoga teacher at 43, but my body has been physically active for about as long, so it was no surprise that once I was exposed to yoga, it became a passion for me.  The same holds true for my online marketing business.  I have a degree in Public Relations.  I spent many years working in advertising agencies and then the next 20 years in some form of advertising, marketing, PR and direct sales.This was a natural evolution for me. Think about your natural evolution.  What makes you tick?  If you already have this down, let's get to your will.

Your will is connected to your passion and you will do and act in accordance with that.  Your daily activity must be such that it begins to manifest what you want to share with the world.  There are people who will be interested in what you have to say, so you need to get busy identifying what that is, how you will communicate it and how you want to be perceived.  Every day you will create something which will add to your knowledge and ability to be the expert in your area of interest.  This part of your business is filled with learning, applying, mastering and teaching.

Pay Attention!

Once you begin to output your content in whatever way you choose, you will begin to look at the results.  Is anyone watching? is anyone reading your stuff? Is anyone commenting?  Are you getting any feedback at all? This is where analytics comes in and you would be doing yourself a big favor by paying attention to where your visitors are coming from and what they are watching, listening to and reading.  When you see results, that's when you start to fine-tune your communication and your strategy.  You want to respond to your audience.  You want to continue to build.  This is where many people quit.  They either receive a lot of response and think they've hit pay dirt and slow down, or they don't receive enough response and think they aren't good enough.  You have to be willing to look at your results and respond with what your market wants.  If you want to be successful, you can't stop. You have to keep forging ahead and trying new things and seeing what works and what doesn't.  I believe that this is the most critical stage because if you are being seen, you are doing something right.  It will give you confidence to keep going.

I'm going to use the very simple act of driving a car to illustrate what I mean by cultivating patience. We all know that the point of driving a car is to get from point A to point B safely, right? (Think goals.) Maybe we aren't always conscious of that, but it would help to be, don't you think?  We get in the car and we do the simple acts of backing down the driveway, stepping on the gas peddle, turning the steering wheel and all the things we learned in driving school.  (Think action.)  While we're driving, it would also help to assess our situation at all times, so we can get to our destination safely.  (Think analytics.)  On occasion, you'll run across a road block or detour or something that's going to take you out of your way.  (Think possibilities.)  You get back on the right track and keep driving until you reach your destination.  

Make sure you don't allow car accidents, cell phones or other things to completely distract you from getting to your place of interest.  This is so typical in online marketing.  People will spend thousands of dollars trying to learn all the secrets of "driving" and they never get in the car!

Okay, I think you get the point.  Be patient.  Give yourself some time.  Keep learning; stay active, but keep moving. You will be successful if you are happily sharing your gifts and passions and once you get your system down, you can monetize to your hearts content!

Please let me know if this has been helpful to you by leaving a comment.  If you already have all the patience in the world, your success is imminent!