Start Before You’re Ready (or You’ll Regret It Again in 10 Years)
An old friend messaged me the other day with a question I’ve heard a hundred different ways, from a hundred different people:
“I have this idea to make money teaching classes online... but I’m nervous. The internet is so crowded. Is it even worth it?”
Here’s what I told her. And what I’ll tell you, too:
Yes. Do it.
Even if you’re scared.
Even if you’re not tech-savvy.
Even if you think you missed your window, or everyone is fed up with virtual courses.
Because the truth is — the “perfect time” already passed ten years ago. And if you keep waiting until you feel ready, you’re going to be having the same conversation with yourself ten years from now.
You don’t need to be Oprah and appeal to the masses.
You don’t need to have millions of followers or a fancy camera setup or a marketing degree. You just need a few humans who resonate with your energy. That’s it. And you’ll find them — or rather, they’ll find you — if you keep showing up with authenticity and a little consistency.
Start where you are. Use what you have.
Record your first Reel. Make your first awkward post. Fumble through your first class.
You might cringe at how cringe you were the next day — but keep going anyway.
You don’t have to quit your job overnight or go off-grid with a laptop and a dream (unless you want to).
But you do have to begin.
Pick a direction. Pick a platform. Pick a person to talk to — just one — and start building for them.
Because the real difference between those of us who “escaped the matrix” and those still stuck in it?
We started.
We said yes before we had all the answers.
We posted the cringey content.
We trusted the vision even when no one else got it.
But here’s the thing most people don’t realize: the algorithms are working for you. Even if you think you might be shouting into a void:
Google is crawling your blog posts. YouTube is scanning your videos and descriptions.
And yes—even ChatGPT is indexing your content, learning from publicly available material to better answer questions people are asking.
—> Here’s How ChatGPT Found Me My Ideal Client: https://nicolepaulus.com/blog-content/2025/5/9/she-found-me-through-chatgpt-proof-that-nicheing-down-still-works
That recipe you shared?
That website tutorial video you recorded and posted on YouTube on the fly?
That mini-class you created for your students?
It’s all working in the background. Quietly. Faithfully.
So when someone finally searches for what you offer—they find you.
It’s not about going viral, it’s about making yourself findable.
And having the courage to begin.
And no, it’s not all sunshine, hammocks, and palm trees (though there’ll be a good deal of that.)
You’ll still hustle. You’ll still grind.
But you’ll be doing it for yourself.
On your time.
For your vision.
About something that lights your soul on fire.
So if you’ve been sitting on an idea for weeks, months — maybe even years — consider this your sign:
Just start.
Or you’ll be looking back a decade from now wishing you had.
Want help figuring out what your idea could look like? I help conscious creatives and curious misfits find clarity, build freedom, and start walking away from the grind. Book a session with me.
SOLVED | Google Merchant Center Error, Your Business Has No Local Stores
For WEEKS I have been trying to figure out how to solve an error within Google Merchant Center. Today, though, I received the solution.
The Problem
An e-commerce client of mine kept receiving this error in her Google Merchant Center account. Though she sells her products in some brick-and-mortar stores, she doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar of her own.
I tried contacting Shopify customer support (where her site is hosted) as well as scouring Google forums for answers. I even contacted my trusted Reddit community for clarity. I kept getting breadcrumbs, but no clear answers.
Finally, FINALLY, I was able to chat with Google support and they helped me clear this up. Here’s the form that I used to contact Google —> https://support.google.com/merchants/gethelp?sjid=10089039594190554615-NC
The Solution
I am sharing the solution below to save another helpless soul some precious time. 👇👇👇
If this helped you, let me know in the comments. If you have another issue, I can try to offer guidance but honestly, I have found that Google dashboards are not usualy intuitive and therefore extremely frustrating to troubleshoot. If nothing else, I will definitely comiserate with you :)
Here's the Easiest Way to Obtain Clients Organically
If you don’t already know, my core mission is to help Conscious Business Owners overcome their limiting beliefs and inherent imposter syndrome so that they can share their gifts with the world. In my humble opinion, there are WAY too many folks out there hawking goods and services that are impacting the environment in negative ways, taking advantage of people’s fears and insecurities, or blatantly spreading toxicity. And I am just not OK with that.
What do all these folks have in common? AUDACITY.
Personally, I think conscientious folks need to become a bit more audacious and put themselves out there. Unfortunately, the more conscious you are, the smaller you stay.
ENOUGH ALREADY!!
The world NEEDS you. Think of all the people you will never help if you stay small. Don’t put yourself out there to fan your own ego, put yourself out there to help others overcome their own struggles. Your good or service has the potential to make someone’s life a little easier as they navigate the tumultuous storm of life. How beautiful is that?!
And now for my advice….
Get yourself set up on Google Reviews and then kindly ask past clients to leave you a review. I know, it sounds scary. But it will help you tremendously when it comes to obtaining new clients organically even if you don’t have a proper website or ample social media following.
To counteract any skepticism you might have, I am now going to be frank with you. I get about one new client inquiry per week contacting me about a particular service I provide. How do they find me? via Google search. Sure my website helps boost SEO because I blog frequently which causes Google to rank my site higher, but they also find me because I am set up with Google reviews and have quite the ranking (5 stars).
If you don’t already have Google Reviews, stop what you are doing immediately and set it up. Right now. DO IT! Here’s how…https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122?hl=en