The Blog of Lisa Morosky

Because of what I do, I spend a lot of time talking with people who are new to blogging (like “Can you tell me what blogging is?” type new). Let’s be straight here: it’s hella confusing to navigate this whole blogging thing successfully if you’re completely new to the concept. All you know is that you want to make money online and (apparently) you need to have a blog to do that. And you better “do it right” before you completely mess up your chances of having an online business.

Right? Wait – that’s not right? Huh. Could have fooled me, because it seems like that’s what people are telling you (when you boil it down).

The first thing most people do when they come to me and say they want to start a blog or add a blog to their site or whatever is send me a list of links.

“I found this online. We should do this.”
“This person says I need to be active on all these sites.”
“According to so-and-so, you have to write this many times a week and posts should only be this long.”
And the link list and commentary goes on.

I spend the first portion of my email exchanges telling people that everyone is different, and everyone’s market is different, and everyone’s blog is different. So thanks for the links, but who the hell cares? We’re still going to have to start from the ground up and see what’s going to work for you. You can’t just copy and paste someone else’s business plan.

The problem is that everywhere you look in this market there’s a list of do’s and don’ts. Labels and rules galore. I say – buck the labels and rules. They’re more like opinions anyways.

Labels and rules put a stop on creative thinking. That’s pretty much a historic fact. Some of the greatest minds in business are those who disregarded the standards and the rules. You can’t hand me a list of duplicated do’s and don’ts, then tell me you want to be unique and stand out. It just doesn’t work that way.

Labels and rules help you play it safe. It’s easy to look at someone successful and copy the way they did it and what they’re doing. That’s safe. That’s not trying something different to see if it’ll succeed and taking the chance of failure. When people fail doing this they often realize they failed because you can’t really copy the biggest contributor to someone’s success – who they are. It’s not the business portion of an online business that fails. It’s the “you” portion. You weren’t dedicated enough, or didn’t want to work hard, or didn’t put in the time and effort.

Labels and rules help to trap you in a box and create internal conflict. The rule says that you should only have one topic per blog so you don’t alienate your audience. But what if your experience and logic and wishful-thinking tell you that phasing in a new topic into your blog would be a success? Hello, internal conflict. I’ve felt this a lot throughout the past couple years, in various ways. Every time I’ve decided to go with what I think is best. And every time it’s been a good decision. Literally, every time.

See labels and rules as examples of one successful method. There are always 100 ways to go about any 1 thing. It’s about finding the way that works for you.

What are some of the labels and rules you hate the most?

I’ll go first. I hate that people feel like they need to choose between the “blogger” label and the “Internet marketer” label. I’ve gone with “blogger”. Simply because I think it sounds better. I know what I do.

And I hate when people try to outline rules for social media engagement. I don’t need guidelines on how to communicate with others, thank you very much. I’m a woman. I’ve got the communication thing down.

Your turn.

Over the weekend, I got a Google Alert that my name had been mentioned on a blog. Like I typically do, I followed the link over to the blog and read the post where I was mentioned (not really expecting much).

What I read just hit me in the heart. This person (who goes by Hope, which is not her real name, but it’s the name she uses for anonymity’s sake) is literally me in 2008. She’s working a job she hates, with people she doesn’t like, and she’s wanting more out of life and out of her situation. She’s on a journey to self-employment, and she took her lunch break one day to read more about blogging (aka. to read the free report I offer on this blog).

I read her blog post out loud to my husband as we were driving to church on Saturday night. After I read her blog post, I told my husband that I was feeling a lot of things.

First of all, I was feeling extremely grateful and excited that something I wrote mattered to someone else. I don’t care how long you’ve been blogging – it’s always nice to hear how you’ve affected someone else positively.

Secondly, I immediately had flashbacks to 2008 and the vastly different situation I was in then. I thought about what I would have wanted someone to say to me when I was in Hope’s situation.

So, this one is for Hope. And all those like Hope who are pulling double-duty by working a job and trying to build a business. Those who are feeling desperate for a way out of their current situation. Those who want more and want to be more. This is for you.

Turn all of your bad days, your discouragement, your anger, and your sadness into motivation to create better circumstances.

Two years ago, I would never have told you I’d be working for myself, with a schedule I define, and setting up the life I want to have for my future. I never would have told you I’d have the courage to leave a job. I would have never told you that I’ll be able to stay home with my future kids someday because my work allows for it. I would have never told you I’d be living life on my own terms. I just didn’t think it was in the cards for me.

But once I started channeling all of that negative energy into one end goal, life started changing, baby. And the negative people I was around at my old job just fueled my motivational fire.

Let the deep discontent be your motivation.

Don’t listen to those who say you can’t do it. Listen to those who are cheering you on.

Much like Hope, I had people telling me I was literally crazy. That there’s no way I could make a living doing anything related to blogging.

It’s hard not to focus on those types of comments. It really is. But try to focus on those around you who are building you up. My husband built me up. My parents built me up. The connections I had made online built me up. And in some ways, I owe my success to them. They kept me going when I needed a push, and they told me I was wrong when I said I couldn’t do it and I might just give up.

It’s going to be a long road. But the good news is that you’re totally capable.

Don’t sell yourself short. You are capable of amazing things when you’re pushed to the limit. When you need to survive by doing this crazy thing called blogging, you’ll survive. Because at that point, failure just isn’t an option.

Don’t give up.

Just don’t. You’ll always wonder “what if” if you do.

This is your life. You make the rules. You make it what it is.

We so often forget that and give our power away to others. You are in control of your own life. You want a change? The only person standing in your way is you.

Try not to get too cynical about nay-sayers.

This is something I’ve had to work through. It’s hard not to want to smack the people who seem like they were just put on this planet to put you down. But the truth is – you should feel kind of bad for them. They’ve bought into this lie that good is good enough when it comes to your life. They’ve lost their inner dreamer.

Educate people where you can. Separate yourself from the others.

When it seems like everyone is against you, or the world is against you, remember this: you are the exception to the rule, so of course it’s going to be harder for you.

It might be easier to live a mediocre life. But it’s much more rewarding to push the boundaries and meet your potential.