Stalled projects are part of the entrepreneurial experience, especially when you are building a business on the side. In this video blog recorded from his car in Dallas during a rainstorm, Mark shares practical advice on how to get your internet marketing project moving again after it has gone off the rails.

Why Projects Stall

Most part-time entrepreneurs start the year strong with ambitious goals. Progress is consistent for a while, then life intervenes. Busy seasons at work, family vacations, unexpected obligations, and simple burnout can derail even the most disciplined routine. Sometimes it happens multiple times a year. Sometimes weeks or months pass with little meaningful progress.

Mark admits this is a pattern he knows well from personal experience. It is not always that zero progress is happening. Sometimes it is just that the regular, disciplined effort has broken down. Other times, progress genuinely stops entirely.

The Simple Fix: Just Do Something

When you recognize that your project has stalled, the overwhelming feeling of being behind can be paralyzing. You do not know where to start, you cannot face how far behind you are, and the gap between where you are and where you planned to be feels insurmountable.

The answer is simpler than it feels: do something. Anything. Pick one small action and execute it.

• If it is a video project, record a few minutes of footage or edit a short segment.
• If it is a writing project, write 500 words or commit to writing three days in a row.
• If it is a website project, update one page or write one product review.

Small actions build momentum. Momentum builds consistency. Consistency, maintained over months and years, produces results that compound in ways you cannot see day-to-day.

The Marathon Perspective

Internet marketing as a side business is not a sprint. It is a marathon. You need to maintain a sustainable pace and keep pushing forward day after day. A little bit every day, even on the hard days, adds up to something significant over the long run.

The key insight: you do not need to solve everything today. You just need to take the next step. Then take the next one after that.

What's Changed Since This Post

Mark published this in June 2014. The advice is timeless, though the tools and context have evolved.

Habit-building science has advanced. Books like Atomic Habits by James Clear (2018) formalized many of the principles Mark describes here. The concept of starting small, building systems rather than relying on motivation, and focusing on identity-based habits now has a robust framework that entrepreneurs can follow.

Productivity tools have proliferated. Apps for habit tracking, project management, and accountability are widely available. However, the fundamental advice remains unchanged: when you are stuck, the first step is simply to start working again, no matter how small the effort.

Mental health awareness in entrepreneurship has grown. The feelings Mark describes, being overwhelmed, avoiding the project, struggling to re-engage, are now recognized as common patterns that benefit from self-awareness and sometimes professional support. The advice to do something small is consistent with evidence-based approaches to overcoming procrastination and creative blocks.

Listen and Subscribe

Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/.