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...