the bossbabe podcast - 455: The 5 Biggest Lies You’ve Been Told About Making Money Online (And What Actually Works)

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

There’s a lot of misleading advice about making money online, and much of it sounds great in theory but falls apart in practice.  In this episode, Natalie is breaking down the five biggest lies that might be keeping entrepreneurs stuck — like the idea that passive income means never working again, or that having more offers automatically leads to more revenue. She’ll tell you exactly why passive income isn’t truly passive, the hidden costs of organic marketing, and why a small but targeted audience can be more profitable than millions of followers. Plus, we’re revealing the four key steps to building a scalable, Freedom-Based Business. If you’ve been feeling stuck despite doing everything “right,” this episode will show you what actually works.  TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – The biggest reason most entrepreneurs struggle to make money online + it’s not because they aren’t working hard enough. 00:22 – The tempting marketing messages that keep people stuck + why they’re so easy to believe. 00:51 – The five biggest myths about making money online -- and why they aren’t true. 01:16 – Passive income doesn’t mean making money while you sleep. The reality of leveraged income and the systems required to sustain it. 03:13 – More offers don’t mean more money. Why spreading yourself too thin is hurting your revenue and what to do instead. 05:37 – Organic marketing isn’t actually free. The hidden time + resource costs no one talks about. 07:16 – You don’t need millions of followers to make serious money. What actually matters for generating revenue. 09:07 – Making money online isn’t fast or easy. The truth behind overnight success stories. 10:20 – What actually works: the four-part framework for building a scalable, profitable business. 10:38 – Creating a high-converting, irresistible offer that people actually want to buy. 12:08 – Building a simple, high-converting funnel that moves people from “who are you?” to “I’m ready to buy.” 13:59 – Mastering customer acquisition: how to attract consistent leads with organic and paid strategies. 15:17 – Scaling with systems + automation to create and leverage long-term freedom in your business. RESOURCES + LINKS 🚀Doors Are Now Open to Join Freedom Fast Track. Get The Funnel Roadmap Mentioned In The Episode Here. Train AI To Be Your Marketing Team: Free Guide Here. Join The Société: Our Exclusive Membership To Help You Build A Freedom-Based BusinessTM. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More.  Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997).

Let's talk about one of the biggest reasons so many entrepreneurs struggle to make real money online. It is not because they aren't working hard enough. I know that. It's not even because they don't have something valuable to offer. It's most often because they're following advice that sounds really good in theory, but completely falls apart in practice. Maybe you've heard things like passive income means you will literally

earn money while you sleep, or the more offers you have, the more money that you're going to make. It's the ticket to scaling your business or grow a huge audience first. That's the ticket to making money. It is really, really easy to believe these things because they're often marketed as the shortcuts. They're very appealing and they tap into that desire for ease, quick results, relatability, you know, the big shiny things that a lot of us are drawn to. But the truth is, these myths are often keeping you stuck. And so today, I'm going to expose the five biggest lies that you've probably been told about making money online. And more importantly, I'm going to be sharing with you what actually

works. My hope is by the end of this episode, you will know exactly why you might not be hitting your income goals and how to shift your strategy so you can finally start seeing the results that I already know you're working so hard for. Let's dive in. If you've spent any time in the online business world, you've probably heard the promise, create passive income and never work another day in your life. Sounds amazing, right? Build a funnel, launch a product and just watch the money roll in when you're on vacation.

But here's the reality. Passive income doesn't mean no work. It means leveraged work. Yes, you can absolutely make money while you sleep. I do, but that money doesn't just show up out of the blue. It comes from systems that you have built and optimized, systems that took time, effort and strategy to put in place, and systems that still take time to maintain and optimize.

Think about it. If you are selling a course, for example, right, just a few of the things that you've got to do is build the actual offer, write the sales page, create the content, set up the funnel from end to end, and then drive traffic into that funnel consistently. Then be paying attention to test and tweak for conversions. And then even after all of that, you'll still need to update the content to keep things fresh. You'll need to manage customer support and keep everything running smoothly.

Listen, even investors who are often held up as the ultimate example of passive income, spend years learning how to invest wisely, taking risks and managing their portfolios. Instead of chasing the fantasy of passive income, spend years learning how to invest wisely, taking risks and managing their portfolios. Instead of chasing the fantasy of passive income, focus on creating leveraged income streams. It's a very, very different thing. So what does that look like?

It might mean it is a digital course that does sell on autopilot, but it has an automated nurture sequence behind it. It could be a group coaching program that serves many clients at once, instead of draining you with endless one-to-one sessions. It could be an evergreen webinar funnel that will actually run without you being live, but still needs periodic updates and traffic. The bottom line is that real wealth comes from working smarter. It comes from building systems that will multiply your effort,

not from avoiding work altogether. Passive income is a myth. I have talked about this many, many times, but I think what you're looking for is leveraged work. The second lie is that more offers means more money. This one trips up so many entrepreneurs, especially in those early stages. The thinking goes, if I have five different offers

at different price points, I will appeal to way more people and I'll make more sales. And it sounds really logical, I get it. But in practice, it usually leads to overwhelm, scattered marketing and lower revenue. So let's talk about why. I mean, just logistically, right? Think about every single offer. It requires its own sales page, its own marketing strategy, different audience targeting, a built out fulfillment process. And then the thing is, if you are juggling multiple offers, you're literally splitting your time, your energy and your budget across so many different projects. It is not the best way to spend your time, I promise you. None of them really will get

the attention that they deserve and they need to actually scale and go anywhere. This is a really, really important one to pay attention to. The most successful entrepreneurs do not make their money by launching dozens and dozens of products. I mean, sure, they might be testing in the beginning to see what really works, but they are gaining success by scaling one core offer. They find the offer that sells consistently, the one that their audience truly wants, and they'll optimize it. They will not get bored, they will not chase the shiny object,

they'll spend time refining the messaging, they will improve the funnel, they'll probably, bonus points, build a backend that will increase customer lifetime value. They will be focusing on so many things to make that core offer actually scale. And only once that core offer is running like a well-oiled machine, would they consider adding something new. I'm not saying you can't ever add anything new, but really knowing when the right time to do so will change everything for you. If you have five offers making, let's say, a thousand dollars each, you are so stretched in. I know that. But if you have one offer making $10,000, everything becomes simpler and everything

becomes way more potent. Your marketing, your sales process, your delivery, your customer service, every single detail. So if you want to grow faster, if you want to bring in more revenue, if you want your business to be bigger, don't ask what else can I sell, ask how can I scale and how can I double down on what is already working for me? Listen, if running your business feels like a never-ending to-do list with no end in sight, you are not alone. I used to think that just working harder was the answer, but the truth is freedom in business

comes from systems, not hustle. And that is exactly what we will teach you how to do inside of Freedom Fast Track. So over eight weeks, I will personally walk you through how to simplify your offers, how to build a sales engine that actually sells for you, how to finally attract the right leads with a proven traffic strategy. So instead of constantly feeling chained to your business, you'll finally have the time, income and clarity that you were looking for when you started this business in the first place. Let's actually work together and build the business that I know you wanted when you started.

So if you're interested, go to bossbabe.com slash freedom. It is finally time to make your business work for you and not the other way around. That's bossbabe.com slash freedom. Can I tell you the one thing that separates businesses that thrive from the ones that constantly struggle? It is not the perfect Instagram strategy, it's not the way they're running ads, and it is definitely not working way more hours. It is having a system that turns strangers into buyers and keeps sales flowing on repeat. That's exactly what I'm breaking down for you

in my completely free training, how to build a profitable, predictable, and a repeatable business. So inside the training, what I'm gonna teach you is how to build an offer so irresistible, buyers literally cannot say no. We are gonna go into how to actually grow an audience of buyers, not just followers.

And we're going to talk about the exact sales engine I personally used to create consistent revenue for the last decade without launching 24 seven. I'm also going to be diving into how to leverage AI to really automate the busy work and focus only on what moves the needle. If you are finally ready to break free from the chaos and build a business that really works for you, not the other way around, go to bossbabe.com slash live to register for the free training now and I'll see you there. The next lie is that

organic marketing is free. This one gets thrown around all the time. Just grow your business organically, it's free. And yes, organic marketing can work. It's actually my preferred way of marketing. But calling it free completely ignores the reality of what it actually takes. Organic marketing might not cost money, but it does cost time. If you're not investing dollars into ads, you're investing hours into research and studying, content creation, audience building, community engagement, learning platforms and algorithms, SEO, email marketing, conversion tactics, you name it. And your time or the time of your team is really valuable, especially when you're running a business. The other thing that no one talks about is organic

growth is often a lot slower. It can take months or even years of showing up really consistently before you see significant returns. That's why the fastest growing businesses don't rely solely on organic. They combine organic with paid strategies, and I really think this is where the magic is. Organic builds trust. Organic's very long-term too.

Paid accelerates reach. Organic nurtures. Paid converts. If you're relying on organic alone, then you're really working hard for people to find you. But if you can add paid traffic into your marketing mix, even on a really small budget, you can start to take control of how many people actually see your offers. So my opinion is it's not about choosing between ads or organic, it's about leveraging both to grow faster and most importantly, more predictably.

The next lie is that you need millions of followers to make a lot of money. This is one of the biggest myths keeping entrepreneurs stuck and an excuse that I see people get stuck in a lot. The idea that you can't start making real money until you have a massive audience is just not true. Here's the truth. You do not need millions of followers, but you do need the right followers. I've seen people with fewer than 5,000 followers build really

successful six-figure businesses. And I've seen influencers with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers, really struggle to make consistent income. And I know that might really surprise you. Why? Because likes and followers unfortunately do not equal sales. The real key is having a targeted audience.

So people who actually need and are interested in what you're offering, a highly converting offer, something that solves a real problem and feels like a no-brainer investment, a clear sales system, please. A funnel that moves people from interest to purchase. You need it. You've got to get this set up. If you're spending all your time trying to go viral, but do not have a system in place

to convert that attention into revenue, you're spinning your wheels and you're going to find yourself on the roller coaster of inconsistency. So instead of chasing that follower account, focus on creating content that will attract buyers as well as getting engagement. I want you to also think about building an email list, taking your social media followers off of social media and getting them on your list because email subscribers convert at much higher rates than social media, developing a simple high converting sales funnel. Listen, this is essential. I need you to have a funnel in your business.

You do not need to be famous. You just need to be really focused and strategic with the audience that you already have. There is so much gold in there already if you can just learn how to leverage it appropriately. The next lie is that making money online is fast and easy. This one frustrates me so much, you guys. I have been in this space for over a decade and it still gets me because you've probably seen the ads. Start an online business today and hit six figures in 90 days. Could it happen? Technically yes, but for most people probably not. Building a profitable sustainable business takes time. It is going to take a lot of trial and error,

it's gonna take a lot of learning and error. It's going to take a lot of learning new skills. It's going to take optimizing your strategies, staying consistent long enough to see results. And the truth is most of these overnight success stories are years and years in the making. And it's right before they wanted to give up that the overnight success actually happens. So if you're expecting all of these quick wins without putting in the actual work,

you're probably setting yourself for disappointment. But here's the flip side. If you can actually commit to long-term execution, and what I mean by that is really focusing on the right things instead of chasing shortcuts and being willing to compound your learnings, you will see results. It is not about working harder. It is about working smarter.

It is about working smarter. It is about staying consistent and it's also about trusting the process and not giving up when it gets really challenging because like I said, if you just stay the course, your success is so much closer than you could even imagine. So if all of these myths aren't true, what actually works? Because I don't want to be a full Debbie Down and we'll just talk about what's not working. And so what I want to do is break it down into four simple steps for you. You might want to grab a notepad because we're going to just get into a lot of detail here.

So step one is to create a high converting offer the right way. If your offer is not irresistible, no amount of good marketing is going to fix it. Good marketing is simply putting a bandaid on an offer that isn't right. Here's how to actually build an offer that people want to buy. The first thing that I want you to do is start with the end transformation. People don't just buy products, right? They are buying results.

So instead of saying, I help with social media strategy, you could say, I help business owners 3X their leads in 90 days without running ads. I want you to be thinking about solving an urgent, painful problem. Because if your offer is a nice to have instead of a must have, I just don't think it's going to sell as well. So ask yourself, would my ideal client pay a thousand dollars for a solution? If the answer is no, the problem might not be urgent enough. I also want you to think about pricing based on value, not time. Don't think

about pricing based on how long it takes you to deliver it. Price based on the transformation. So if your offer saves someone six months of struggle or helps them make an extra 50k, then charging two to five thousand dollars is probably a no-brainer. I also want you to think about making something scalable because if you're personally delivering every single result, you've built yourself a job, not necessarily a business. So your offer could be a digital product like a course or a membership. It could be a group coaching program,

which might have a higher impact for you and it might have more leverage, or it could be a done-for-you service with an actual team supporting behind it. There's so many different ways that you could be thinking about leveraging your time a little bit more. Step two is to build a simple high converting funnel.

Most people really overcomplicate this. At its core, a funnel is simply a system that moves someone from who are you to I am ready to buy. Here's just an example of what it looks like. It could be an ideal client qualifier or a free webinar. You want something really irresistible that gives people a quick win. Could be a PDF, a mini workshop, a scorecard, spreadsheet.

I love a spreadsheet that helps your ideal clients solve a small but painful problem. And then you will nurture them with emailing content. So once someone opts in, don't pitch them immediately. Send really value-driven content that is going to build trust. Think case studies, stories, testimonials, educational content, things that might even answer objections before they arise. Then I want you to present your offer with a strong sales mechanism. Your funnel does need a proven sales process, not just a random sales

page that you hack together. So depending on your offer, you might use something like a live or an evergreen webinar, which is great for like $500 to $2,000 to $3,000 offers. You could have a simple sales page, which would be best for like a lower ticket kind of offer. You might even have an application funnel or a sales call, which would work for things that are more higher ticket. And then you want to think about following up and retargeting, because most sales don't actually happen on the first touch point. So you need to think about incorporating into your strategy retargeting ads that would remind people of your offer.

Follow up emails that address objections and really reinforce value. Urgency driven strategies like limited time bonuses. Things that are really going to convince your customer to come back. Like I said, it might not happen the first time around. It's not about giving up. It's about sticking with it and making it work for you. Step three is to master customer acquisition, which is traffic and leads. And people hate this topic, but if you want consistent revenue, you need a predictable way to get leads. Here is how to make that happen. If you want to create organic content that attracts buyers, you need to understand that to get leads. Here is how to make that happen. If you want to create organic content that attracts buyers,

you need to understand that not all content will drive sales. You want to focus on content that is designed for buyers. It might be authority building posts that really showcase your expertise. It might be pain-driven posts that speak directly to your audience's very niche specific struggles, behind the scenes and storytelling posts that will help build that connection and bridge from people that might not know you to your audience's very niche specific struggles, behind the scenes and storytelling posts

that will help build that connection and bridge from people that might not know you like you trust you yet. And then you can also think about paid traffic that will scale your growth. Organic growth is great, but it is slow. So if you want faster results, then you likely do need to bring some kind of paid ad component into your strategy.

And you can start small here. Like you could be spending $20 to $50 a day and scale once you have a proven funnel. Like if you put the work in, eventually you could get that funnel scaling and really profitable, putting a dollar in and getting $2 out. And then I also want you to be thinking about email marketing that does close sales. Because like I said, most people don't actually buy immediately. You do need to nurture them with follow-up emails that educate, that build trust, that drive action.

Storytelling emails are incredible for that. And then jumping into step four, scaling with systems and automation. This is absolutely essential if you do want to create leverage and you do want to create more freedom in your business. So once you've got a proven offer, a funnel that is converting and a reliable lead generation system, it's time to scale because those three things mean you have a successful sales engine. So if you want to scale without burning out, here are a few of my tips. I want you to think about automating lead generation. Ideas for doing that is setting up ads that are running 24-7 or using something like a mini chat and automated DMs to qualify those leads.

We live for mini chat at BossBabe. I mean, it is responsible for what like 80% of our revenue. It is amazing. You can also think about increasing your pricing and adding upsells. So as demand starts to increase, you can raise your prices, you could add order bumps, upsells, cross-sells, back-end offers, to really think about increasing revenue per customer. Because the person that can spend the most to acquire a customer will always win. I think it was Russell Brunson that said that. It's always, always stuck with me. And then you can think about building a team that actually runs your systems. So maybe in the beginning that looks like hiring a virtual assistant to take admin tasks off your plate. It could be training a sales team or coaches to scale delivery without adding more work for you. There's so many different ways

that you can be automating so much of the back end of your business and we haven't even dug into AI. You know there are so many things that you can be doing with AI to really optimize and to be scaling. So kind of recapping everything, here's what actually works. And I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I really, really want you to hear this. Create one irresistible, highly converting offer. Build a simple funnel behind it that turns leads into buyers. Use both organic and paid strategies, and then scale with systems and automation. These are the steps that it's gonna take

to actually take you from where you are now to having the freedom-based business that I know you got into business for, the whole reason that you started this. So if this was helpful, there's a couple of things I'm gonna invite you to do next. In the show notes, I've put a few links. The first is for a roadmap that is actually going to show you what a really

successful sales system looks like in a seven figure business. I recommend every single person download this. The second is an AI guide, which is going to teach you how you could actually build AI into your marketing team, which is going to take a lot of what we talked about off of your plate and help you to really build a system in place that AI is really behind and is the engine for. And then the third thing is we are opening doors

to Freedom Fast Track really soon and I'd love to invite you in. If you wanna check it out, the link is below. You can hop onto the page, have a read through and then get on the wait list. When we open, we'll be open for a very, very short period, the one and only time this year. So I really recommend getting on the wait list

that you don't miss it. I would love to see you in there. Okay, I hope this was helpful and I will see you in the next episode. Wait, wait, wait, before you go, I would love to send you my seven figure CEO operating system completely free as a gift. All you've got to do is leave us a review on this podcast because it really supports

the growth of this show. This is my digital masterclass where I'll show you what my freedom based daily, weekly and monthly schedule looks like as an eight figure CEO, mama and high performer. And I'll walk you through step by step how to create this for yourself. It includes a full video training from me and a plug and play spreadsheet to literally create your own operating system.

It's one of our best trainings and it's worth $1,997. But I will unlock access for you for free when you leave us a review. I know, wild, right? All you have to do is leave your review on the podcast, take a screenshot of it, and then head over to bossbabe.com slash review to upload it.

And then you'll get instant access to the seven figure CEO operating system. Again, head over to bossbabe.com slash review to upload your screenshot and get access. We are so, so grateful for all of your support and can't wait to hear how the podcast has supported you.