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How to be an overnight success

Updated September 2021

By Jim Connolly | October 22, 2016

marketing blogs, marketing help

Here are some proven examples, of how to be an overnight success.

  • Angry Birds creator Rovio became an overnight success, after 51 less successful games, 8 years of hard work and almost going bankrupt.
  • Harry Potter author JK Rowling, became an overnight success in 1997… though she started writing fantasy stories as a child, more than 20 years earlier.
  • The Beatles become an overnight success, after playing more than 1000 small gigs. They were paid just £5 for their first gig.
  • The fastest book ever to reach its Kickstarter target, was written by Seth Godin. Most people say it took around 3 hours to break the record. It didn’t. Godin said it took around 8 years. That’s how long it took him, writing blog posts almost every day, to build a big enough community to reach his Kickstarter target in 3 hours.

The overnight success formula

So, here’s how to be an overnight success in 2 steps:

  1. Choose the date you want your overnight success to happen.
  2. Work hard for years, leading up to that date.

Shortcuts to success are seldom shortcuts and they never lead to meaningful success. Be extremely cautious of anyone suggesting otherwise.

IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!

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Jim Connolly

Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I use creative marketing to help small business owners increase sales, boost profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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