It’s getting noisy out there, huh? Hard to stand out and make an impression if you are starting your own online business or creating your own brand. As Classy Career Girl just celebrated our six year anniversary, I can’t help but be a little jealous of how things used to be a few years ago. Less hype. Less drama. More giving. It’s a different world online these days.

I try to stay out of the noise. I try NOT to consume everyone else’s stuff. I unfollow people like crazy every single day and I absolutely can’t stand when people invite me to their Facebook groups repeatedly. I have my few mentors that I don’t miss, but that’s it. I am creating my own stuff and trying to not be overtaken by the noise. I try to stay positive and do it how I want to do it, not like everyone else.

But, it really got to me this week. The online business world and what is happening got me down after a few experiences with new entrepreneurs in this online business space. I got bummed and pushed around. (Then, I did some yoga and was all ok, don’t you worry!:)

It made me want to share this with you.  Do with it what you will, but I can’t stay silent about these things that are driving me crazy! (There are many exceptions of people who are not doing the below items which I am very grateful for. Those are the partners which I choose to work with.)

9 Things Wrong With Online Business Right Now

1. Not thinking for yourself and copying someone else’s template.

In the past three months, I have been contacted to be interviewed in someone else’s tele-summit by three different people. Great, right? Well…here’s the thing, all three of them are doing the EXACT same thing. Same topic. Same procedures. Same contract. Right down to a T. Apparently there are even rules they have to follow….

Here’s what drives me crazy. They are taking another coach’s system and copying it exactly without actually putting any of themselves into it. They are focused only on growing their list and are not sharing with their community who they are and how they can help them. That isn’t going to grow your list or your business.

2. Brands forcing people to promote their stuff (for pennies or for free).

If I did all the promotion, shopping, giveaways, writing and course work that people ask me to do for free, there would be no business. It’s insane that people think I have the time to do free stuff all day every day. This blog is not a hobby. It supports my family and is changing the world.

I have worked very hard to grow my tribe and I absolutely will not just send random emails or social media posts just because other people tell me I need to. My business. My way.

3. Flaunting how much money you make.

One of my clients emailed me this the other day.

“I’ve been noticing how so many coaches are posting their revenues on various FB groups. I’m sure you make many more sales than them but haven’t advertised it. I think that is very classy of you. :)”

Is it really necessary to share with the world how much you made during your launch or during your past year.

In my 2015 year in review post, you’ll find no income reports. We focus our goals instead on important things like celebrating 1,000 life-changing FREE articles on this site, 1.5 million women reached, launches of THREE incredible courses, building communities of 1,000+ members and helping 200 women launch their dream career and business through our programs in 2015. Now that, to me, is way more exciting and authentic than me telling you a dollar amount I made.

I’m modeling what I do. I am teaching the way. I am leading. I am not throwing out dollar amounts.

That’s called noise!!

Instead, we are keeping it classy.

4. Flaunting how much money you paid for coaching.

First of all, I am a big fan of investing in yourself. I invested in a business coach myself and it changed my life and business.  I did my homework. I found the classiest woman I knew who was authentic, honest and just what I needed. I also have invested heavily in online training programs and work through every single module like my life depends on it. I have invested a lot over the years, but it wasn’t $15,000-$100,000 for a program. If you spent that, I hope you looked at all the free and more affordable courses first and decided it was truly worth it.

I think there was a time (five years ago maybe) when one mentor truly had the answer and you needed to invest to get it. But, now that’s simply not the case.

There are affordable courses out there. (Including our programs–hint, hint….)

I didn’t spend $15,000 to start a business and you don’t have to either!

5. Creating drama for your launch.

I’m a no drama kind of girl. I don’t do hype which is probably why you haven’t noticed me that much and especially now as I have purposely chosen to remove myself more from my brand.  I am not going to publicly post something about some politician or some news items just to get ratings or traffic.

6. Your website is all about you.

Five years of blogging and I finally figured this one out. I never started blogging to become famous (I started anonymously!). I started blogging to help and share information that I know and that has helped me. A year ago you saw a lot more pictures of me on our homepage.  When I removed those pictures and got more focused on YOU and how I can help, I felt way more authentic and in love with what I do.

This online business is not about me, it’s about you. I’m not trying to be a celebrity. I am a real life person just like you.

If you want to create a brand that is going to last for a lifetime and even after you and I are both gone, don’t just make it about you.  This might be fine for a year, but in two years, you will be a different person. Instead, create a brand that can withstand anything and everything.

I am not giving this advice to people who want to be famous.  If that’s you, you probably hate this post. This message is for people who want to make an impact and change the world like I do.

7. You go big but are way underprepared.

I am a huge fan of launching your online business before you are ready. This is how all of my courses got off the ground and really how I started building my business. But, here’s what I have noticed firsthand: If you are launching before you are ready, don’t invite the whole world to join you on your launch and squander that opportunity to make a great impression.

In January, I agreed to be on a tele-summit. The woman seemed prepared. I mean, she even had a contract and required that I had a certain list size. Wow, I thought. Fast forward a few months and the tele-summit was delayed because she wasn’t ready. The quality of the video interviews at the summit was embarrassing to watch and most importantly, there was no relationship built between her and her tribe. I read every email to see if she would connect to her audience and the people who had signed up. Crickets….

Come to find out a few months later as I continued to get the same requests to be on these exact same tele-summits with the same messaging, rules and requests, a coach is providing the template for growing a business by doing a tele-summit and inviting 23 guests with much bigger businesses to help them start their business and build their list FOR them.

Sounds great right? Don’t do the hard work of really figuring out your message and just letting the guests do that for you.

I interviewed over 50 women in my Get Ahead Club when I had it in 2012. I interviewed authors and experts I admired like Kate White, Dr. Lois Frankel, Gail Evans and Barbara Stanny.  And I will tell you that I made a great impression because I knew that relationship would be for years to come.

If you are going to ask other people to grow your list for you, impress. Do your best. Add value to their audience too. Most importantly, be 100% prepared when you are putting your brand and your image on the line and asking someone else to promote for you.

Also, think for yourself, too. You don’t have to obey all the rules your “coach’ tells you to do. Although I also don’t think a coach should tell you to all do it exactly the same but that is another issue I have….

8. Name dropping.

I don’t have to explain this one.  It’s just annoying. I don’t care if you are bringing in someone from Mars to speak at your conference. I don’t make decisions because other people are doing it. I don’t join groups or courses because other people are joining. I am not going to think you are better because you are friends with so and so.

9. There’s always a catch.

There’s always some catch these days that you have to dig deeper to find out…something that I also need to promote or sign too.  The fine print that takes 30 minutes to find out over the phone…Again, I interviewed 50 women back in 2012 and there was never a catch. I was just happy to share their message and they were happy to help. I repeat…happy to help. What happened to just sharing great information and adding value without expecting anything in return?

I know this is all a lot to tackle and I know you are seeing this too in the online business world. It can bum you out OR you can take the high road and stand out.

How can you rise above the noise and make your own desires happen when constantly bombarded by everyone else’s stuff?

I’ll be sharing that in Part 2: How to Rise Above.  Apparently, I am pretty passionate about this online business topic and I have a lot more to share.  See you tomorrow!

P.S. Comments? I would love to hear them!