Bar Rescue and the Internet Lifestyle

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Bar Rescue and the Internet Lifestyle (a.k.a. My opinion on why most people don’t make money online)

Have you ever seen the show Bar Rescue? I’m somewhat addicted to it. If you don’t know the premise, here’s how it works:

A professional bar consultant is contacted by a failing bar. He goes in and looks at the books and tears through the numbers. Then he evaluates the layout of the bar. He analyzes the psychological factors. How’s the lighting? Is there a good flow to the space? Then he breaks down the staff and finds there strengths and weaknesses. After a quick remodel and some intense training the bar’s ready to reopen and start making some real money. And all this is done in about a week. Impressive

At this point you’re scratching your head going “Ok, what’s this got to do with internet marketing or the internet lifestyle?”

Well, there’s a common denominator with each of these failing bars. Generally they’re dirty. Their employees are trained improperly. There marketing is terrible. They don’t stand out. You see where I’m going with this?

All these factors are a result of what? Nine times out of 10 it’s bad management. Bad management is a result of a bad business owner.

If you’ve seen this show a number of times like I have you’ll start to see the patterns. When the patterns developed the wheels started turning. I started thinking about this question.

What do all these business owners have in common that makes them bad business owners? Once the answer hit me it become painfully obvious.

You see, these individuals don’t want to run a business. They don’t want to run a bar. What they want is the Perceived Lifestyle of someone who owns a bar.

Running a bar is difficult. I have friends who own and operate bars. It’s said the best way to make a small fortune in the bar business is to start by investing a large fortune. To be successful with it you have to want to run it. The common denominator of the bar owners on the show is that they don’t want to run their bars. It’s generally the same story each time. They bought the bar because they thought it would be a fun place to have a few drinks, kick back and hang out with friends and feel like the boss. They don’t want to spend there nights pouring over the books when they could be pouring drinks… usually for themselves. They’d rather drink away their profits then learn how to make a profitable business.

What this has to do with the Internet Lifestyle

Are you seeing the correlation yet?

Think of it this way. What’s the number one selling point of any internet marking program online? The “Internet Lifestyle”. All the money you could make, all the things you could do once you have that money. It’s enticing. It’s a great way to sell a program and I’m certainly not condemning anyone who uses that type of sales pitch in their marketing. Their are certainly a lot of legitimate claims out there of people who really do make a lot of money online and because of that they get to experience that internet lifestyle.

The problem is, however, that many people are blinded by that. They can’t look past the lifestyle. Because of that they might miss the part of the pitch where the marketing expert talks about how they were completely broke when they started. How they had to work long hard hours for many months, sometimes years, before they made a living online. And, just like those bar owners, they create a business based on a perception. They don’t want to be internet marketers. They just want to live like internet marketers.

My History with the Internet Lifestyle Story

At one time, not long ago, I was in that category. I bought into programs because I thought they were the answer to all my financial woes. I bought into a program and became an SEO rep for local business. The problem with that is that you have to be able to sell that service to said local businesses. I’m not a salesman. I don’t want to be a salesman. Plus I don’t really like the idea of studying the ins-and-outs of SEO only to find out that two months later everything’s changed after a new “animal algorithm” is rolled out. PLUS, once you sell that service you have clients. I don’t want clients. I dealt with clients as a graphic artist. I don’t want that anymore. Needless to say, I never made a cent in that program. It’s not the fault of the program though. There were, and are, many successful people who make very good money in that program. Deep down it was just not what I wanted for a business.

I’ve also had folks try to recruit me into a certain network marketing program promoting  protein shakes. I had one of the top 5 earners in the entire company talking to me directly, telling me there’s money to be made in the program and he was going to show me how to do it. But here’s the problem. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to host tasting parties and pitch the product to everyone I met. I knew from past experience that although there was money to be made, I wouldn’t make any of it. It wasn’t the kind of business I wanted.

So why am I saying all this? Is it to discourage would-be internet entrepreneurs from getting started? Absolutely not. Quite the contrary in fact.

You see, I want you to get started. I want you to succeed. And you know what? You’ve got what it takes.

But in order for you to succeed you have to look beyond the lifestyle. You have to look  inside yourself and see if you want to run this type of business. Because if you don’t, there’s a good chance you’ll be one of the many who don’t make money online.

The fact is that, just like the common denominator of those failing bar owners, the most successful internet marketers have a common denominator too. They work… A LOT. According to Dave Wood, maybe not as hard as you think, but a lot (read this to know what I’m talking about). They eat, sleep, and breath what they do. And they love it. And that’s how they’ve changed their lives and that’s why they get to live the internet lifestyle.

So if you’ve read this far I know you’re committed and prepared to go a little further.

If you’re ready to work for your dreams and not just expect them to be handed to you than watch this video and we’ll see you on the inside!