As I review 2010 and make plans for 2011, I can’t help but get frustrated at myself for making some of the same exact mistakes I made in 2009. Do I really learn from my mistakes? If I did, why did I do things in a similar fashion and expect different results?
One of the main things I really wanted to conquer in 2010 was to *focus* on one project at a time and to get over feeling like I had to do so many things at once in order to reach my goals. But unfortunately, I didn’t learn and I had just as many plates (actually more) in the air in 2010 than I did in 2009!
I CAN’T expect to obtain a good living online if I’m spreading myself so thin! At one point I had maybe five to eight different things I was working on. This is just not going to work for me. The bottom line is that I must give up the things that are holding me back, taking up too much time, and ultimately not rewarding or simply things I really don’t want to do. Even though I will be giving up income it’s necessary in order for me to move forward.
For me 2011 is about less is more and quality is better than quantity (especially when it comes to niche blogs). It’s about being decisive and committed.
Yolanda over at Paid in Passive wrote a great post with 27 questions to ask yourself. The following questions really made me think.
- Do I actively work on my websites and/or online business ventures?
- Do I have my eggs in too many baskets?
- Am I all over the map?
- Do I backlink enough?
- Do I spend too much time on things that won’t make me money?
- Do I jump from one website to the next without building the first one up to its fullest potential?
- Do I have a solid game plan (or business plan) that I’ve actually followed through with?
Yes, I actively work, but do I actively work on the right things? Yes, I have my eggs in way too many baskets! Yes, I’m all over the map! NO, I don’t backlink enough (duh, and I expect what???)! Yes, I jump from one blog to the next without taking each page to it’s fullest potential. But it ends here, right now!
One of the main reasons I’m not making the type of passive income that I want is because I’m unfocused. Sometimes I feel like if I only focus on one way of making money that I’m missing out elsewhere. But that is actually my worse enemy. Imagine focusing all of your attention on one thing (like backlinking your money pages) hhmmm I wonder where I’d be 3 months from now? It’s OK to do one thing at a time until it reaches it’s fullest potential and then move on to the next thing. But first get that one thing profitable before moving on. That is what 2011 is going to be all about for me.
Going forward I am cutting out all other work that I do and I will only focus on my Amazon product review pages and my PLR shop. It’s time to create the type of money and lifestyle that I truly want from my Internet business.
I have to remember that the reason I started looking to make money online was because I didn’t want to be a slave to my work (something I actually became over the past year). I want to be able to take a few days (weeks or months) off and still make money. I know this is possible. So now my job is to increase the earnings that I already have coming in.
One of the reasons I created this blog is to help myself with accountability and to be able to look back on progress. Plus, I love meeting others that are in the same boat!
Here’s to an awesomely productive and focused year! I do not want next year to come and I’m writing the same story! Change happens now!
Stay tuned for my Amazon Challenge post #1.
That was a great post by Yolanda, and for me the things that really resonated in Yolanda’s post had to do with treating your business as a business – but I found most of the questions very tough to answer (and I’m not too happy with many of my answers!).
I’m really looking forward to following you – and your upcoming Amazon challenge! – in 2011. I think you’ve chosen two, potentially very profitable areas to focus on (PLR and Amazon), and if you can maintain that focus, I’m sure you will see great things in the year to come. I know for certain that you aren’t the only one who has their eggs in too many baskets – I think that is something very common in this business, where you are being sold and told so many things about how to be successful in internet marketing! But it sounds like you now know what you need to do – and how to do it (I’m sure your recent win of the Amazonian Profit Plan is going to help with that, too!) 🙂
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for stopping by! Now you have the focus and organized backlink plan that I NEED! I look forward to your posts on backlinking and how you stay focused and organized! I’m excited about my new plans because they are very simple. I think I’ve done enough in this business over the last to years to really know what I want. And I think I had enough time to get all of the experimental stuff out of my system. 🙂 Oh yeah and I’m really excited about the Amazonian Profit Plan as it fits perfectly into what I’m doing!
Hi Lisa!
This is a great start to 2011 for lots of us IMers. Like you I spread myself wa-a-y too thin in 2010. Now I am focused on only two of my sites, and only one of them will really take the bulk of my IM efforts (it’s new too, like yours). I’m letting EVERYTHING ELSE go that distracted and diluted my energies.
Your post and this new blog speak the voice for lots of us and I appreciate it. Keep up your spirits and the good work.
Hi Mike!
Yeah, with all of the distraction going on in the IM world it REALLY makes sense to focus on one or two things and that’s it…until it becomes profitable of course. Speaking of letting things go – I started by cutting off a branch of my business that was time consuming even if it made money and I also deleted about 4 small lists in my aweber account. I’m not saving anything for “just in case”. I’m FOCUSING and it feels great already! Good luck with your plans and stay focused to profit!
Hi Lisa,
Congrats on your new blog. I will subscribe and drop in often.
I have to agree with most of what you wrote. Using your time effectively has not been one of my strong points but it is going to be in 2011.
Quality content and backlinks is the focus from now on. I have made the tough decisions and abandoned most of my sites. No point flogging a dead horse. I will concentrate on my 5 biggest earners and aim to make them massive authority sites.
Cheers,
Craig
I just started a new blog as well to track my goals/progress for 2011. Like you, I will be building up my PLR store, and I will also be creating websites that will be monetized with Adsense. Good luck with your plans, and hopefully 2011 is a great year for your business!!
Hi Craig!
Ya know, I was of the mindset to build 100-200-300 niche blogs at one time. But then I realized that it was not the way I wanted to go. Google ranks pages/posts not websites and I make money from promoting products not niches. So I have moved away from thinking niches and starting thinking products. I know of people who make a full time living on just ONE site. It’s all about quality. Plus, the more quality I provide the more rewarding it is. So now I’m totally focusing on quality content and backlinking like you mentioned. Thanks for stopping by and all the best to your plans in 2011! Cheers to authority sites lol!
Hi Kecia,
Awesome goals you have on your blog! PLR is a great way to add a passive income stream. I really want to grow my PLR shop that’s for sure. So far it’s been great. Just stayed focused along with me and we’ll reach our goals – no doubt about it! 😉
I can completely relate to the “spreading yourself too thin with too many things at once.” I think you have a pretty solid plan of concentrating on your PLR store and Amazon sites only. I am taking basically the same approach and will be concentrating on one or two sites at a time and get them ranking for keywords and then move on to another site. I plan on going even smaller and only focusing on 1 or 2 keywords at a time and not stopping until I rank within the top 3 on Google.
I love reading other people’s blogs like this as it’s interresting to see what it working for others… as long as I don’t waste too much time doing it 🙂
Good luck in 2011!
Thanks Lisa,
I needed to read this. My attempts at internet marketing has taken an embarrassing age to learn. It has taken such a long time, just to promote 3 articles which are amazon products based. Currently I am just submitting to directories, as everything else seemed a maze to me, so I have just done what I could understand. Currently the 3 articles are are now on pages 1 and 2 of Google. My aim is to do one thing to promote them as thoroughly as I can, before I move on and learn another method of promotion – and then hopefully promote more products once I have got as far as I know how, and hopefully the first 3 articles starting to bring in an income.
Sometimes I think I am getting too stuck on one thing, but now I can see how the articles have moved up on Google with just doing this directory submitting, I find it more encouraging. I have thought about learning other methods of internet marketing, along with what I’m doing, but after reading your post above, I think that I am probably better off continuing doing what I am doing. It’s very slow, but I can see progress, and for me that is better than floundering around trying to learn a number of different and confusing methods together.
Thanks for taking the trouble to post what you have done.
Hi Tiffany,
Sounds like you have a really good plan for 2011 as well. Focusing on one or two keywords and not stopping until they are in the top positions make so much sense to me! What’s the point of putting up pages if you don’t get them ranking high anyway? I love reading others progress to…it’s very motivating. I’m doing this to keep myself accountable as well. Best wishes to you in 2011!
Hi Joyce,
I think you have a great plan to focus on those articles until you get them ranking.There are so many ways to make money online and we all have to find what we like the best individually. Sometimes though all the different ways can set us up for failure. It’s best to stick with one method and learn that inside and out before trying something new.
As long as you see progress then you are well on your way! Keep plugging away and all the best to you in 2011!
I spread myself way too thin in 2010. It’s so easy to do when new things seem so fun and exciting. But the truth is nothing is ever going work unless you put real time into it. So focusing and simplifying are my goals for 2011 too 🙂 Just about to go and read your first Amazon post!
Lisa –
Great idea: focus. I find it hard to do since I have random thoughts and I love writing them down…I used to do this while driving (writing down ideas) and more than once almost wound up as a bulldozer. :/
I think I’d like to get focus in a pill form if I can find it…hm…Xanax, maybe? I dunno!
What you’re saying totally resonates with me. For that reason, I found Dave’s post on an internet marketing success plan too good to ignore – and bought the four-hr workweek…hopefully I learn a thing or two about time management.
You can do it, so long as you stick to one page, one product, one ranking at a time – then let the money roll in. You got this.
Thanks for stopping by! You seem to be doing very well with all of the responsibilities and (I’m sure) lack of time you have! The main thing for me is that I start to doubt the path that I have taken and lose focus. ERRR! But I hope to counter that with keep track of my progress here. I’m going back to reread Dave’s Internet Marketing Success Guide…
Hi Lisa,
Just found your blog thru a comment you had on another blog. Your article is talking about my life. Too many irons in the fire and never enough time to do everything well. I know it’s time for a change this year to get my life back and in order. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone out there and to really get me thinking about making those changes!
Happy 2011!