6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Online Business

May 12

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

Why effective marketing is actually simple, and the one core skill that, once you build it, will pay off in your business forever
The truth about the online space "being too crowded" and the data that proves there is still massive opportunity for you right now
Why pivoting your niche, your offers, or your messaging is not starting over and how to make changes in your business without the pressure of making it a big deal
The money mindset shift that will save you from a lot of unnecessary heartbreak in the early stages of building
Why passion will always outperform credentials, and how to use your genuine excitement as your most powerful marketing tool

1. Getting clients is not as hard as you think and marketing is simpler than you've been led to believe

I spent so much energy early on searching for the secret sales strategy. The thing someone else had figured out that was going to magically solve all my client problems. Sound familiar?

Here's what five years of relying entirely on my own business for income has taught me: there is no secret. Effective marketing comes down to three things — understanding exactly who you're speaking to, knowing what they need to hear from you, and learning how to say that same thing in a hundred different ways. That's it.

It sounds almost too simple, and I think that's exactly why we avoid it. Simple doesn't feel like enough. So we keep searching for a magic solution instead of just sitting down and getting really, really good at this one foundational skill.

And here's my honest plea: please stop letting AI write all your content before you've built this muscle yourself. AI is a brilliant tool, but it can't replace the skill of knowing why something lands with your specific audience. If you don't know what good marketing looks like for your business, you won't be able to tell if what the AI gives you is working or not. Learn the skill first. Then use the tools to amplify it.

2. The online space is not overcrowded and competition is a mindset you choose

When I started during the virtual assistant boom, there were hundreds of people launching the same kind of business at the same time. I genuinely wondered if there was room for me. There was.

The digital economy is not slowing down — it's accelerating. A 2025 report found that internet-related jobs are growing 12 times faster than the broader labor market, and since 2020, the digital economy has expanded at 19% annually while the total US economy grew just 7%. More people building businesses online means more demand for online service providers of every kind. There has never been a better time to learn how to market yourself in the digital space.

But beyond the economics, competition is really just a mindset you choose. When I was on discovery calls and a potential client would tell me they were also talking to three other VAs, I was happy about it. If we were the right fit, we'd find each other no matter what. Nobody has your exact combination of personality, perspective, experience, and the specific audience you serve. When you know your power, you stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.

3. You will change direction, and that's okay

Taking action creates clarity you couldn't have gotten any other way. Which means the pivots aren't failures — they're the process working exactly as it should.

A few weeks after I launched, I decided to try pivoting my entire niche to the fashion industry. I switched everything over… and a week later switched it right back. Trying it gave me the clarity that staying put never could have. I needed to feel the misalignment to recognize what actually felt right.

So this is your permission slip: play with your business. Try things. Update your website copy without sending a big announcement. Change your niche without a full rebrand rollout. Nobody is watching as closely as you think — and even if they were, changing your mind is not a character flaw. It's being a responsive founder. Make the decision, then make it good. Keep moving.

4. Release the timeline

Let's talk money, because I was delusional when I started — and I mean that with the most love.

I genuinely believed I'd be hitting $10K months within a few months of launching. Not because I had some grounded belief in myself, but because that was all I saw online. I thought that was just how it worked. Start a business, make $10,000 a month. Naturally.

And then time passed… and it wasn't happening.

When you release the insistence that your business be something other than what it is right now, you find the freedom to enjoy the journey for what it actually is. Your business isn't a servant that exists to solve all your financial problems immediately. It's more like a baby — an extension of you that is growing and doing its best to support you. Approach it with patience and gratitude, and everything starts to feel different.

Have the big goals. Please keep those. But release the rigid timeline. Let the milestone find you when the conditions are right.

5. Passion beats skill every single time

I was a barista before I started my business. No marketing background, no entrepreneurship experience, no obvious credentials. That can feel incredibly intimidating when you're looking around at people who seem like actual experts.

But here's the thing about passion: people can feel it. When you are genuinely excited about what you do, it's magnetic. People notice and want to know more. You can't fake it — which is also exactly what makes it so powerful when it's real.

This is why it's worth being intentional from the start about what you're building. Keep asking yourself: does this actually excite me? Do I want to do this? Because if the answer is no, marketing is going to feel like pulling teeth. But if the answer is yes, selling becomes almost effortless. It stops feeling like selling at all.

And if you're just getting started — let your freak flag fly. Stop trying to fit into some imaginary mold of what an online service provider "should" look like. Your enthusiasm, your personality, your specific way of showing up? That's your differentiator.

6. Consistency is the only strategy that never fails

This one is the least glamorous lesson on the list, but it might be the most important.

The people who win in the online space are not always the most talented or the best marketers. They're the ones who just keep showing up — even when engagement dips, even when it feels like nothing is working, even when the algorithm seems to be punishing you for trying harder.

I do visibility sprint months where I intentionally ramp up my content output to a level I know I can't sustain long-term. And every single time, without fail, my engagement dips after the first week. Every platform does this — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts — they all recalibrate when your output changes. If you didn't know that, you'd think your increased effort was actively hurting you and pull back. The answer is to stay with it. The results always follow.

When I feel foggy or lost in my business, I always come back to the same two questions: where am I trying to go, and what are the needle-moving actions that will get me there? Then I just do those things, consistently.

✢ ✢ ✢

If we haven’t met yet, hi! My name is Shannon and I have been a heart-led entrepreneur in the online space for over 5 years, teaching ambitious young women how to say yes to the desires of their hearts and start the business that will change their lives.

I created The Shannon Blanchard Podcast to support you in building a life that feels lucky through entrepreneurship, intentional reality creation, and deep inner work.

If you're a big dreamer and ready to embody your fullest potential in a way that lights you up, this show is for you!