So Why Are You Here
Posted On: 2015-08-20
Well for me, this has undoubtedly been an interesting week. My mainstream business has gone absolutely ballistic in the last four days and that's made my bank account look very healthy but I'm not happy.
But of course, that's why I'm in business isn't it? Surely I'm in business to make money so I should be happy that I am shouldn't I?
I'll answer that question in a moment but first let me ask you why are you here?
I suppose I could be asking why you're here reading this column but that's not really what I mean. What I'm really asking is why are you here building a business in adult online marketing ... so why are you here?
I would be very surprised if, somewhere in your answer, there wasn't some reference to making money and that's ok. There is nothing wrong with being here in this industry simply because you want to make money.
The desire to make money is the reason everyone goes into business. Even those who may have some altruistic reason for going into business don't want to go broke so I guess that basically everyone wants to make money.
But are you making enough money for the amount of work that you are putting into your business?
I've just been reading some rather interesting statistics about people and money. 15 per cent of people are sinking further into debt. They may have a regular income but they have credit cards and they are spending more than they are earning.
55 per cent are living pay day to pay day. They can't take time off work to enjoy life because if they don't get paid then they don't eat.
27 per cent of people are financially comfortable. These are people who may be paying off a mortgage but have enough savings to be able to take a year off work without ending up deep in debt.
3 per cent of people are what we would class as wealthy. They have a couple of million dollars available to invest at short notice.
So basically 70 per cent of people are either living on the edge or have already fallen over the edge while only 30 per cent are living comfortably. So which group are you in?
Perhaps now I should answer that first question I asked ... the one about why I am in business. Yes, I'm in business to make money but there comes a point where making money is not enough because of the lifestyle you have to lead to make that money.
For me and my team the next few weeks are going to be filled with long, long hours of frantic work to meet the deadlines we are now facing and that's not uncommon for us but maybe I'm over that kind of work. Maybe making money has moved from being the principle reason that I'm in business to a secondary one.
Maybe making money has been replaced by something to do with lifestyle. Maybe over time I have forgotten that I wanted to make money so that I could have an enjoyable lifestyle.
So tell me again, why are you here?
Are you working crazy long hours just to make money? I would be surprised if you're not working those crazy hours.
So if you are working those crazy hours has it helped to improve your lifestyle or have you forgotten that you came here to make money because you wanted a better lifestyle?
Sure you might have the money to now buy things that you couldn't buy before but has owning possessions really improved your lifestyle if you don't have time to get away from the computer?
When was the last time you were able to take a vacation? When was the last time you wished that you could take some time off? Do you really have any chance of taking a vacation any time soon?
Sure, you may have the money to take a vacation any time you want but do you have the time to take a vacation when there are sites to build and galleries to submit every day?
Seth Godin ... that well-known mainstream marketer ... says:
"Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from."
It seems to me that he has a point. Perhaps it's time to restructure your life and business so you can do more than just make money. I'm not suggesting that you quite the industry but perhaps it's time to look at ways of doing things so that you now have the freedom to enjoy the lifestyle that your money can give you.
It's just a thought ... and something to remember if you are still striving to reach an income level that can give you a lifestyle that you will enjoy.