Do you think PreneurPal is losing steam and in need of a boost?

I don’t know what to tell you, Les.

No entrepreneurial venture, online or off, is a guaranteed success at all, never mind in 12 months.

And when it comes to any kind of investment, you should never risk money that you can’t afford to lose.

Amateur gamblers risk their future in the hope of getting the big one in the present. That’s why the casinos are rich, and the punters are poor.

The “opportunity” you describe doesn’t sound like an opportunity for anything except to lose your money. I say that because of the risks involved with just one refund request and the fact that you’re a middleman.

Middlemen have no future. When companies restructure, for example, positions are often combined. When a market is disrupted, middlemen disappear and entire industries are affected.

And a single refund could cause you to lose your money? That’s not much of a margin.

I’d steer clear of this if I were you.

That said, how could you do it so that you weren’t the middleman? How could you steal the march altogether? How could you remove them from the equation? That’s how entrepreneurs think.

As for the forum itself, it’s worth remembering 80/20; and this is true of almost any volunteer organization: 20% of the people will do 80% of the work. And you’ve said it yourself: 70%, which for all intents and purposes is near enough to 80%, haven’t come to the forum at all.

So I don’t think that we need to be too concerned about the numbers of people who do nothing. If anything we ought to expect it.

When more people join, there will be more interaction, but it will still only be about 20% on a consistent basis.

My concern is that those who were active seem to have lost their steam. The success of the forum depends on the people who are in it. If we stop participating, then it will die.

When the forum was first launched, I asked what people were expecting to get from it. The vast majority of respondents said that they wanted to help people.

That rather begs the question then, doesn’t it?

Does the lack of participation mean that they have changed their minds?

Seems to me that there’s scope for the people who were once active to develop relationships with those of kindred spirit in the forum. It’s what you’d expect to happen in other forums.

This forum is going to be what we make it.

We just have to decide what that will be.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Mark Rhodes, Leslie Leftley

Came across this article a few moments ago: 11 Ways to Make Money Online.

And here are a few more places to look listed by source:

Entrepreneur
Forbes
LifeHack
The Balance
Scott Alan Turner

And one more. This is the Side Hustle School with Chris Guillebeau. Each episode is less than 10 minutes long, and there are hundreds to listen to. In every case, these people were working full-time jobs and in their spare time created a side hustle.

Side Hustle Podcast

3 users thanked author for this post.

Kristin VanTilburg, Mark Rhodes, Leslie Leftley

Les

thanks for sharing, and I take full responsibility that folks haven’t been participating as much lately . . . it usually takes a firestarter to kick things off strong and over the holidays (Christmas and New Years) I haven’t been firestarting here in the Forum.

I imagined it would be a place where folks would ask questions of each other etc, and comment on the things they are learning on my weekly Coaching Calls, and other things . . .and perhaps there aren’t as many questions right now.

And of course I haven’t been asking any either . . . so you taking the time to ask a question is great!

I’m sorry you’ve felt pressured to participate . . this really is designed to be somewhere where folks willingly help when they want to, and others ask questions when they want to.

I’ve been watching that kind of thing, and thinking that a few little tweaks . . so that there is a distinction between people who need help and people who are offering it . . . might help things . . .

it’s like everyone is supposed to need help – and also offer help . . but in reality, that may not be the case as much as I thought!

Les, I’ll be doing something big here soon, nearly ready to put finishing touches on it . . . and I think when I do, participation will go up soon!

But please don’t feel obligated to participate – just help when you want to, and ask questions if you have one!

Thanks

Sean

3 users thanked author for this post.

Kristin VanTilburg, Mark Rhodes, Leslie Leftley

Hi Les:

I am just completing a basic training about removing money blocks on income, debt, saving and financial trauma. If you are having trouble in any of these areas it is possible that freeing up some energy could make a big difference no matter what actions you decide to take.

If you would be interested in checking out my course for free in exchange for a testimonial if you like the content, please email me at kvtilburg@gmail.com, and I will be happy to share my course with you.

Standing with you for clarity in your endeavors in 2018!
Kristin

1 user thanked author for this post.

Leslie Leftley

Les,
I want to commend you on starting this topic.

We all know there is a time honored tradition of shooting the messenger. You did a pretty brave thing and can borrow my bullet proof vest anytime.

I want to thank and encourage Sean, a lot has been done here and hopefully he won’t lose interest and will come back to take it to the next level.

Things aren’t working out here as expected, but I find that to be a learning experience too.

I see several things at play here in no particular order.

1. Activity breeds activity.
When the core players fell back, the rest followed. When things are buzzing along I think there is a temptation to jump in. No activity, no temptation to add your 2 cents or 2 pence as it may be.

2. We went against human nature.
My stepdaughter couldn’t get a job, she wore her blouse inside out for a fashion statement when she was a teenager and took a general hippy look. I told her people would judge her by her appearance. She said they shouldn’t and I agreed, but honey they do. She finally dressed “up” a bit and got a job.
You have to give people a reason to do something. We took away the leader board. The other contests mentioned didn’t occur. There was no reward or positive feedback. I know, people should do things like help others without some reward. They should, but they don’t. We have few self actuated people at the top of the hierarchy pyramid.

There has to be some reward, bragging rights, a good feeling, a contest, something.

Can you imagine asking someone to marry you and they ask what is in it for me and you say, nothing? Sure we have information and a lot of good logical reasons to be active here, but we aren’t as logical as we like to think.

3. It wasn’t like many expected.
People don’t look at things as being like we say, they take them as they take them.
My wife and I are the world’s worst communicators. I say something and she runs with it based on what she was thinking, not what I said.
Take, what do you think about eating out tonight? She doesn’t reply. An hour later she is dressed up and ready to go. I am surprised.
“But you said we were going out to eat tonight!” No honey, that was a question not a statement and you didn’t respond so I am thawing out some things for supper.
Sean made it pretty plain what this would be, but I still think we were looking for some live step by step course to follow. Let’s face it, we all need some structure and coaching isn’t usually telling people what to do, in my practice it is getting them to do what they know to do, but aren’t doing. Sean has done that in a lot of his other training and I think we somehow expected or needed it here.
The library here is fantastic, but libraries are pretty static.

4. Where are all of the people?
I thought that after this was up and running Sean would promote it and it would grow by the hundreds. At this time we have 108.
I was hoping to see how you blow up a platform here so I could do it, but when it didn’t happen and things stayed about the same there was little reason to log in and see that little changed. Meeting and greeting new people is a way to generate activity and to feel helpful and get that positive feedback.

5. It is hard work.
I think Sean has put a lot into this, but it didn’t take off as planned, that has to be discouraging. A lot of good has been done, let’s hope he feels like putting in more hard work to get us over the hurdle.

6. Where is Sean?
We are all here because we like Sean and he has helped us. When he isn’t here it is a bit like the house without the grandkids, it just isn’t the same. I know the holidays distracted us all and Sean too I am sure. But until this thing gets to buzzing we need regular doses of Sean.

Just some of my thoughts.

I have a few more, but I don’t have my bullet proof vest on….;-)

best to all,
Scott

2 users thanked author for this post.

Leslie Leftley, Mark Rhodes

Hi Les (& Scott & Bruce),
Yep- great discussion and much needed. For anyone following Sean for a while you’ll know he’s agonized over how to get people really involved and active for quite a while. I think he was hoping this would/could be different but Scott, you’re right about the ‘where’s Sean’ thing. EVERYTHING in life boils down to leadership and when people don’t see those they are trying to follow they tend to drift off the trail. I believe and hope that Sean’s latest, Membership Tutorials, will breath some life into the group but I’m going to be honest here… I’ve been working my back side off the last few weeks trying to get something I’m happy with ready to run with and having a place to showcase something I’m not done with isn’t what will make it done. Nothing except just plain ole hard work and stick-to-it-ness will. I’ve got that but posting pages of rants here isn’t helping me finish either.
Ya, ya, ya, I know it doesn’t have to be perfect.:) But it DOES have to make sense and without certain parts of it completed it isn’t any better than 95% of the junk peddled in this industry for a quick buck. What I’m working on is exactly what you’re looking for, Les, because every one of my subscribers are asking for the same thing. “How do I just make a little extra…consistently?” I thing I’ll have the answer in a format anyone can understand within the next couple weeks and I’ll post it in Sean’s new Membership Tutorial area and see how it goes.
Until then… I’ll keep popping my head in to see how everyone’s doing but won’t spend as much time here are Scott and Bruce seem to (Both write long post quite consistently and unless they’re super fast with a keyboard that takes TIME).
Talk soon.
Steve

1 user thanked author for this post.

Scott Hogue

Great thread!

Leslie,

Of all you wrote, this sentence resonated with me the most: “Sitting in front of, and hiding behind, a computer screen for the last 12 years has depleted both my quality of vocal communication and my confidence in general. Not to mention my empty wallet.”

Many people scoff at the idea of attending local networking events and Meetups. Are there any events in your local area? I’ll share with you why I’m such a huge proponent of attending networking events…and of course, you need to be selective. That takes time. Another thing is that you do not have to join for a fee to experience success. Please allow me to share my story. I’ll be as brief as I can.

In 2009 I joined Business Network International as a paid member. Very expensive with lots of rules. I got nothing from it. Same year I joined the Chamber of Commerce and got very little from it. One thing those memberships did was to make me realize that small businesses needed and wanted to be online to get their message out to a larger audience but did not know what to do.

I then took a number of online classes in Local Business Consulting, became a Social Media Manager/Small Business Consultant, etc. Honestly I spent a lot of money that I did not need to as many of the things I’d learned through my Online Marketing courses, but I did not know that.

Where could I meet these people? I searched Meetup for business groups in my area, and there were tons of them. I started attending, sharing little tips in my 60-second introduction and gaining people’s trust. I then found someone in one of the groups who was an expert on SEO, Reputation Management (things I’d learned in my expensive courses), and we partnered together. He focused on those. I focused on Customer Service/Relationship Marketing and LinkedIn training ONLY. Together we did free workshops. Because the Know, Like and Trust factor was built up, when I offered paid workshops (offline), they were filled. I started my own Meetup and when I launched my first 4-week LinkedIn training online, 95% of the people who attended were from my Meetup Group and people I met in networking offline.

Attending a networking group led me to the Health Care Agency that paid me the largest amount for my Social Media Marketing services and was my longest paying client. Lots of word of mouth referrals came my way as well.

Leslie, I feel your pain because I moved back to live in Jamaica for two years and my husband and I returned here (in the US) for various reasons. I’ve not resumed active networking and see a difference. It is possible to make connections and get clients online, but I personally found it much each to connect with people face to face. Could it be the same for you?

You mentioned you need a certain amount of money to proceed with a particular venture.
1) What skills do you already have that you can offer to someone that they would pay you for?
2) What life experience do you have that would put you one step on the ladder above someone
else so you can pull them up beside you by paying you to teach them?
3) If you have specific skills, have you ever visited Upwork.com to see if people are offering
that service or require that service?
4) Are there networking groups in your area you could visit and start making connections. Go
with a focus on helping others knowing that the Law of Reciprocity often comes into play? I know,
you mentioned some discouraging experiences in the forum. I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately,
that happens all over.
5) Take the time to recapture your ‘voice’ and rebuild your confidence. Start slowly, but start.

I may be totally off-base, but was impelled to share my story in the hope that it will inspire
you to get away from your computer.

If you’d like to, please brainstorm with us. Sometimes what we take for granted is truly
valuable to someone else.

Warm wishes,
Yvonne

3 users thanked author for this post.

Mark Rhodes, Bruce Hoag, Steve Allen

Great advice, Yvonne, and a great story I’m glad you shared to remind us all to get out from behind our screens. It is way too easy to even allow our mindset to keep us isolated which is obviously not good. Thanks again.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Yvonne A Jones