Stepping into unknown territory is scary. Much like building an online business, it takes a lot of courage to step out there and craft another path to success.

For many of us, our corporate jobs have given us that financial comfort zone, and venturing into a never-before-tried avenue would mean thinking about it real hard. 

There are reasons to be scared -- a family to feed included; what happens when things don't turn out the way we want them? What about others' expectations of us? The last thing we want is to fail when that is the only thing we pinned our hope on.

These thoughts are valid and worth looking into. If you are one of those contemplating exploring freelancing and making a hit in your chosen niche, join in and listen to this episode. 

Mark Bartel works with real estate agents, coaches, advisors, and other small businesses. He helps them cut the sales cycle in half by building customized AI tools for their social media accounts. This creates a unique user experience, reduces redundant human interaction, and increases the sales pipeline by eliminating inquiry backlog on social media at scale.

He attended Duke University on scholarship for a Masters in Engineering. He then spent years working at a world-leading technology advisory firm, giving product and strategy recommendations to Fortune 20 companies.

As the pandemic arrived, lingered, and wore on, he watched many of his mentors and friends with small businesses suffer, and he decided he wanted to do what he could to help them. 

On the side, he has a scuba license and work experience as an Advanced-level EMT in emergency medicine. 

In this episode, Mark shares what you've got to have to be in a long game of freelancing and online business. He reminds everyone how important it is to develop that muscle of discipline, the only thing that will keep you moving at times when you don't feel motivated and inspired. And also the need to connect and network with like-minded people who understand what struggles you go through and are willing to help you succeed as much as they do. 

"Motivation and inspiration will only get you so far. But the long journey requires discipline because there will be days when you do not want to get out of bed, and there will be days when you want to give up. And if you are only running on inspiration and motivation, you're going to fall flat." - Mark Bartel

What you will learn from this episode:

• Learn how to acquire the right mindset to set you up for a long-term frame of mind.
• Discover ways on how you can work smart rather than work hard.
• Find out the two influential elements when building a business between first and third-world countries to help you gain insights on how you can push through with your dreams. 

Topics Covered:

16:29 - Taking us back down Mark's memory lane: his life from childhood and before chatbots

21:29 - How Blue Ocean Automators came about

24:26 - Setting the right mindset

37:22 - Managing and overcoming your fears and limiting beliefs

43:17 - Facing and getting past the challenges while building his business

46:00 - What he says about employing remote workers outside of his country

48:37 - Important elements that determine how an individual pursues building a business on his own between first and third countries 

53:32 - Seeking mentors and finding the right people to seek advice from

57:53 - Three ways to keep you afloat during hard times

01:00:50 - Bad decisions Mark made and things he regretted doing and the lessons learned from them

01:05:43 - His thoughts on attending conferences and networking

01:10:05 - His advice for those in corporate wanting to transition to building an online business

01:14:47 - How does awareness play a crucial role in building a strategy for your business?

01:18:31 - What he does and what sets him apart from other chatbot specialists

01:20:11 - What for Mark is success

01:23:24 - A superhero he adores

01:26:32 - Wise words from Mark

Key Takeaways:

"Be very aware of who you take advice from and who you surround yourself with, for both short and long terms."  - Mark Bartel

"Surround yourself with friends and people that not only see what you're doing but are supportive and believe that you can do it. And ideally, they're doing that thing as well." - Mark Bartel

"I can say that fear is never going to go away. Like becoming an entrepreneur and being a successful entrepreneur, that fear is learning how to manage it and how to look past it." - Mark Bartel

"For myself, my experience, it's been nothing but pleasant. Obviously, working with Filipinos, working with Indians, and working with anyone else; it's been pretty straightforward, and I definitely recommend it." - Mark Bartel

"One of the benefits of living in an individualistic culture is a much greater push to craft your destiny to build your business. If you can learn to filter through that and recognize where you need family community and where you should be pushing yourself as a person, you can strike that balance. That's the best of both worlds." - Mark Bartel

On mentorship:

"Being open, humble, hungry, and throwing yourself out there, people will notice that. People will respond to that, with what I've seen." - Mark Bartel

"Understand what you're willing to tolerate, and then decide accordingly." - Mark Bartel

"I would say success is having the ability to make an impact where you see fit when you see fit."- Mark Bartel

Connect with Mark Bartel:

• Website: blueoceanautomators.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueoceanautomators/
• Email: mark.bartel@blueoceanautomators.com