We all talk about passion, but blind passion can lead you straight down blind alleys. Cultivate being dispassionate some of the time, long enough that you can fully test your ideas – all of them – and go in the direction that the research tells you. It’s often not the one you think… – Suzanne Vennard
Welcome to A Christmas Carol – Sitesell-style! Each day we’re going to re-introduce one of our successful SBIers and their amazing stories. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, we’ll revisit these tales of old and see what lessons we can glean.
For this twelfth and final day of Christmas, we’re visiting with (now retired) dance teacher, Suzanne Vennard, who noticed something peculiar while working in London.
At the time, she was in her early twenties, and still enjoying her dancing, an activity she’d practiced since she was a little girl. So much that she would often bring her ballet bag to work with her so that she could rush off to class that evening.
Which brought quite a few looks and comments. Where are you going? What’s in the bag? To which she always responded, “I’ve got my ballet class tonight.”
And that’s when a peculiar thing happened.
You see, the first response that Suzanne always received was, “Ballet? Oh I’d love to be able to dance.”
But whenever Suzanne explained that there were plenty of adult beginner classes available, the second response she always received was, “Oooh, no, umm, I don’t think so, umm, no, ahh…”
She was puzzled to discover that people were actually afraid of dance lessons. Suzanne found that dance teachers wanted to teach, and that people wanted to learn, but they were stopped due to an incorrect image in their mind of what an adult dance class actually looked like.
It’s not “rows of identical girls in matching leotards pulling impossible positions with their ridiculously bendy bodies. Or, a whirling, swirling mass of partners tango-ing in perfect unison, elaborate costumes and haughty expressions.” It just isn’t.
So Suzanne decided to educate adults on what dance classes were available to them, and what those classes were really like.
She started her first website in 2000, a custom designed, beautiful Flash site that looked great, and did nothing. She had three great video products she’d put together that, when purchased, customers raved about. But she couldn’t get any amount of sustained traffic to make it work.
After talking to professional web designers who promised that they understood her problem and could help, she had a new site built, with yet again, the same poor result.
Truly frustrated, yet determined to make this idea of hers work, she started to research on her own what it took to build a highly trafficked website and online business, and that’s when she found SBI!.
She printed off the entire Action Guide (that’s the complete set of business-building processes included with SBI!) and rushed home every night after work to study it. Now, ten years later, she’s still with SBI! and has a thriving web business to show for it.
“That’s how I learned what I needed to know and finally took control of a website that was truly my own. I’m pretty sure I learnt more about traffic in those few months of evenings on the sofa than two entire company’s-worth of so-called web designers had known in total.” – Suzanne Vennard
Suzanne Vennard found a way to share her passion for dance with other people by helping them to get over their own fears, and has turned it into a successful online business thanks to SBI!, and you can too!
As we’re whisked away by the Ghost of Christmas Past, back to present-day, overlooking the streets crowded with busy people hustling through the Christmas Season, we’re reminded of how important things like Family really are.
Just like Ebenezer Scrooge, even we sometimes need to be confronted by such stories in order to truly recognize what’s important to us, and what we need to do to change.
Do not let another Christmas pass by while your dreams of owning a business fester in your belly like a bit of undigested cheese. Throw open the curtains and renew your lease on life! It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, now is the time to get started.
A SiteSell Christmas Carol
- How Two Grad Students Turned Their Hobby Into A Business
- Her Passion For San Francisco Led To Over $5k A Month
- He Turned His Knowledge Into Ongoing Retirement Income
- Start a Business and Spend MORE Time at Home? Here’s How They Did It.
- The Great Recession Couldn’t Stop This Resourceful Solopreneur
- Her Battle With Health Issues Led To A Vibrantly Successful Business
- This Solopreneur Spun Her Legal Questions Into Legal Tender
- She Found A Way To Share Her Knowledge For Free And Still Make Money
- She Was Determined To Overcome Her Disabilities And Build A Business
- She Washed Away the 9-5 Brainwashing To Build The Life She Wanted
- Her Desire To Help Others Resulted In Online Success
- This British Ballerina Helped Others Overcome Their Fears
Latest posts by Mike Allton (see all)
- How to Avoid Failure in an Entrepreneurial Business - September 23, 2019
- How to Use Buffer for Social Media Management: The Solopreneur’s Guide - September 15, 2019
- Wix Review: An In-Depth Comparison of 10,000 Websites - September 1, 2019
Try it. Simply follow the Video Action Guide. 
No strings. Better, actually...