All My Glasses Are Half Full… And I’m Drowning

Strange title, but I can explain.

See, I’m an eternally optimistic sort.  I almost always see the glass as half-full.  The only time I’m not optimistic is when I’m looking at myself in a full-length mirror in a department store dressing room, but let’s not go there now. 

I’m also a dreamer and an ideas person.  I can come up with several business ideas every single day – good, mediocre and second-thoughts (second-thoughts are when you think about the idea the next day and say “On second thought… that sucks”).  But many of my ideas are good, and I can grow them in my mind from baby seed to full grown mature tree complete with treehouse.

So those are some of my character strengths and I’m pretty proud of them.
But how is that working out for me with Internet Marketing?  Being optimistic?

So-so.

Everywhere I go in this Internet Marketing world, I see fantastic business opportunities.  It’s like this Walmart of business models. 

“Ooooh, that’s not going to cost me much and I think I’d wear it well, I’ll take that!” 

“That’s my favorite color, even though it doesn’t really fit me, I KNOW I can make it work!”

And I find myself in this IM Walmart constantly, even though I don’t need anything else.  I have what I need – a good idea, a perfect color, the right size.  All I need to do is work it, 200%.

This brings me to the bigger problem… TIME.

Oh sure, I have the same 24 hours everyone else has and I work my rearend off but I’m not putting all my efforts into one big project; I’m adding content for a site, videos for another, emailing my list for a 3rd, SEOing another, creating a new one, and all are unrelated. 

It’s crazy!

I’m afraid I don’t have enough fingers to count all the Internet Marketing projects I’ve got going.  It’s not like I’m trying to have multiple income streams, it’s because I’m curious and want to give new things a try. 

Also in my defense – dabbling has allowed me to figure out what I DON’T want to do and has given me a well-rounded education in Internet Marketing (which also  helps me to write really authentic Internet Marketing PLR).

But this has also made me a jack of all trades, master of none. 

But I now have clarity, blinding clarity.

 I can have a big project with my strategies mapped out beforehand (not just winging it) and really work it til it’s working for me, OR I can continue on with lots of suboptimal projects that don’t “complete me”.

Which leads me to the glass half full thing…

 
All my darlings have such great potential!

“It’s a GREAT topic and a really beautiful blog theme! If only I had time to add more content, I KNOW I’d make more sales.”

“I like article marketing, I bet I could really drive traffic to my other site if I had time to set up an article marketing campaign and submit a lot of articles to Ezine Articles…”

“Someday this site is going to be big!  Well no, it hasn’t made me gobs of money yet, but it’s got lots of potential!”

Until now, I haven’t been able to let go of these subprime projects.  It’s like having a closet stuffed full of clothes two sizes too small and not being able to get rid of them because they’re really cute and might fit me again once I finally lose those 10 pounds I’ve been meaning to lose.

But I’ve seen the light.  The hardest part has been to decide which projects to keep.  I can’t base it totally on how much money each one is currently making me.  I also have to consider my strengths, my passions and desires, and where the project can go.  And by where it can go I mean the backend.  It seems funny to think about where something is headed by what’s at the back, but you know what I mean.
 

So anyone care to join me in cleaning up their Internet Marketing business by starting a big bonfire with all the little pieces of projects they have lying around that don’t fit the bigger picture? 

 

I’m throwing in several blogs at various stages, quite a few services I offer, some partner projects that were started and shelved til later, a bunch of domain names I have plans for, some ebooks I’ve written but not marketed, and anything else I can find that muddies my vision and steals my time without giving back.

Whew, I feel better already.  I will now have only 2 sites I’m working on.  Both are sites I had already spent more of my time on because I enjoy them, I’m knowledgeable and talented regarding the subject, and the backend is wiiiide open!  That means when I want to be creative with a new optimistic idea, it needs to be related and work as an upsell.  :)

Internet Marketing Expert at Something?

I am sooo thankful I can work at home and set my own hours.  I’ve been busy – both online and off, and it’s nice to be able to work around my kids’ schedules.  Okay, they are older and it’s not like I play Legos with them or take them to the zoo, but I do like to go to their sporting events and try to stay in their lives without being a really annoying or pushy parent.  I’m still working on the not being annoying part.

    

We’re having a big family reunion/graduation party in a few weeks.  Nothing like an “event” to make you notice all the projects that need doing around the house.   So I haven’t been spending as much time with my Internet marketing as usual, and you know what?  The world is not crashing down around me.

My niche sites are still making money and my products are still selling, even when I’m outside tearing out the old deck and using muscles I didn’t know I had.  I’ve worked hard to lay a foundation for my business and it’s paying off. 

I hope you’re doing that too!  Become an expert at something, become known for that something and brand yourself!  Have your own products regarding the something and put the time in promoting those products.  Resign yourself to the fact that the Easy Button doesn’t work and you’ll have to use the Work Hard But Smart and Success Will Be Your Huge Reward Eventually Button.

So my expertise is PLR – writing and selling PLR, and telling people how to use PLR.  What’s yours?  Feel free to leave a comment here.

And if you need help coming up with your own products, remember that PLR can be a good jumping off point.  If you’re wanting to be a WordPress blogging expert, consider my latest PLR package: Power Blogs and Beyond With WordPress.  I’ll showcase it in another post, but I just wanted to get you thinking about creating products to help with your IM success.  

Awaiting your comments… 

Skiing or Internet Marketing-Are you Afraid to Take Risks?

Yesterday I severed my connection with my computer and headed up skiing.  It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day and it had snowed a bunch recently.  “Perfect!” I says, so off I went.

I ended up at the resort I always ski at, and had a couple of good runs.  But… I was feeling a little, well… bored.  I mean, the runs were fairly easy and I could ski them very comfortably, but I was getting tired of doing the same old thing and getting the same old results.  I mean, I’ve been skiing at this place off and on for 5 years, the same old runs, and maybe if I tried something new I might get some incredibly exciting results.

So even though it was completely scary for me… I decided it was time to go where I’d never gone before; try some new slopes, try riding up the poma thingie which was necessary if I was going to get to the back bowls.

So I rode the poma thingie up without incident.  Whew!

I looked around.  It was breathtaking – I was on top of the world!  Seriously!

 

 

 

 

But now what?  I didn’t have a map!  Crap, what was I thinking?  The back bowls were on the other side of the mountain, and I’d never even seen this area before let alone tried to ski it.

So now what? Which way do I go?  Do I follow everyone else and do what they do?  Sounds good, but maybe I shouldn’t.  Not all the runs are going to end up where I want to end up.  Some of them might require me to hike or hitchhike back to the lodge.

 

Here were my choices -

#1  Ski (or fall most of the way down) a double black diamond to immediately get back to where I was.  Was = comfortable, yet not having the experience I wanted.

#2  Follow everyone else, do what everyone else is doing, not knowing if it’s going to be a good or bad experience.  The big question is – am I at the same place in my skiing abilities as they are?

#3  Not make any decision at all; keep taking pictures, eat my squished sandwich from my pocket, hang out enjoying the sun, and finally be forced into less-than-optimal emergency action because the lift shuts down at 3:00.

#4  ASK someone to explain my options and map out a plan of action for me, so I can have a kick-a$$ experience and try some new, yet challenging runs.

I won’t lie to you… I seriously considered each one and started in on #3, but after a stern internal lecture I opted for #4.

But I found me a mentor, asked a bunch of questions and formulated a new plan.  I now knew which way was the right way for me (given my abilities, desires, and envisioned outcome) to go.  And I had the BEST time!  Now it was no longer scary, unfamiliar, too steep, too high up, or only for those with more knowledge.  It was a good experience because it allowed me to try something new, challenge myself with some steeper slopes, and I felt good because I did it and it didn’t kill me.

 

All this time… I could have been having fun on the back slopes. 

For 5 years I let myself be comfortable and even a little bored because I was afraid to see what was on the other side of that mountain, what else there was out there.

 

There are similarities between my skiing story from yesterday and being an internet marketer.

Do you finally get up the nerve to try something new only to get freaked out and hurl yourself back to your comfort zone as soon as possible?

Do you follow what everyone else does, despite your level of knowledge and experience, and desired outcome?

Or do you not make any decisions at all and spend your precious internet marketing time surfing the web, playing video games, and watching funny videos until your rent is due and you have to quickly scramble to try to earn some money?

#4, asking for help from a reliable source, someone who knows what they’re talking about can make all the difference.  Do you have a coach or a mentor, someone you can trust to show you the rope-tows, er ropes?

 

Alan Petersen and I are putting the finishing touches on a product which I’ll tell you more about soon, but one thing we are going to offer beyond the product is private coaching.  I just wanted to get you thinking about it now before it’s offered because we’re going to limit it to only a handful of people to keep it real.

My Internet Marketing 2010

You might have had your fill of blog posts about 2009 and goal setting for 2010, but I’m going to do it anyway. It’s therapeutic and gives me lots of optimism about the upcoming year.  Hopefully you’ll get something out of it as well.

So bear with me and feel free to add comments as you feel the urge. I haven’t really hashed out what I’m going to say here, so I’ll probably wander around a little bit. I do apologize.

I’m trying to remember everything I did in 2009, and this is what I’ve recalled at this moment:

• Started 3 membership sites.
• Wrote at least 313 PLR articles for said membership sites and for other PLR sales.
• Got on Twitter.
• Wrote 3 ebooks (maybe more?)
• Wrote quite a few reports/PDFs.
• Networked with other marketers and built relationships with many people on my lists.
• Guest blogged x 2.
• Started podcasting.
• Did some audio interviews.
• Signed up for a seminar in January 2010.
• Started work on a big JV project.
• Helped people who asked questions.
• Learned a lot, by researching and taking hands-on help-me-if-I-screw-up action.
• Outsourced items I’ve not outsourced in the past.
• Got set up with my own JAM (JV manager) affiliate program.
• Did my first big PLR package with graphics and sales page.
• Planned 2 other JV projects for 2010.
• Blogged 30 times on this blog.
• Blogged numerous times on my other blogs (but I”m too lazy to count them.)
• Grown my lists.
• Other stuff which I’ve forgotten about.

Have I failed because I didn’t make 6 figures in 2009? Well, yes, because technically I didn’t make 6 figures in 2009. Did I fail because I didn’t do enough or spent too much time learning how to do something? No.

The way I look at failure is… everything I’ve learned this past year will help me next year. Everything. Each year builds on the next. There is no failure.

So what’s up for next year?

I haven’t planned everything out yet, but I will. So these are fuzzy ideas that have yet to take concrete shape.

• Blog a lot more on this here blog.
• Outsource more of the little but time-consuming stuff.
• Do more guest-blogging.
• Finish up the big JV project I’m working on.
• Get the next 2 projects up and running.
• Write and sell more of the complete PLR packages.
• Continue to grow my lists (and convert them to buyers.)
• Attend the January Internet Superstars Conference and take action on what I learn with who I meet.

To me, things can only get better and better, and I’m excited for the new year. Bring it on!

I would love to hear what you have planned for 2010.

~~~
P.S. There are 2 affiliate links in this post and I intend to profit if you buy from those links.
~~~

Internet Marketing Seminars… Finally

I couldn’t let 2009 slip away without doing one last “first.”  So I did it. I signed up for my first Internet Marketing Conference.  I picked InternetSuperstarsConference which is January 15-17 in Orlando and it’s put on by Mark Hendricks. 

 

 

 

It costs money.  I’ve got enough money.
My kids need me.  They’re 17 and 15, who am I kidding?
I can’t be away for 4 days.  Yes I can.  I’ve been away several times this year and my business didn’t fall to the ground while I was gone.
I don’t want to spend money on me.  Okay, this is tough since I’m such a cheap a$$ and we have a kid starting college in the fall.  But I know the money I can make as the result of the information I learn and people I meet will be more than the money I spend on the conference.
I don’t have anything to wear.  This is true. Maybe Santa will bring me some new threads for Christmas.

 

 

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