So Are You Really Moving Your Internet Business Forward?
by Gary Vurnum
There you go. I’m as bad as the next man. I’ve just spent the best part of a whole day looking at my web site stats…waiting for someone to buy my ebook. It was a long wait.
The thoughts start to go through your head:
Does the page load properly?
Have I changed too much?
Is there an error on the page that I don’t know about?
I was running the list through my mind. Over and over. My clicks to sales ratio had never been this bad before. What had I done?
Well, the answer is…I’ll never know. But what I do know is that staring at a screen waiting for something to happen certainly isn’t going to help my business!
Or is it?
I think it will. Why, you may ask. Well, it’s made me realise how futile it is to try and play the numbers game on the Internet. We all have bad days – so why can’t your site have bad days where nobody seems to want to buy? It also made me realise how I negative I had got myself waiting, hoping that someone would buy my ebook.
Have I moved my business forward today? Err..no .
Did I move my business forward yesterday? Not much.
I have become the victim of my own early success. Once you have had the excellent days, the good ones don’t seem so good anymore, and the average ones are just depressing.
So I’ve taken my own advice and DECIDED.
I’ve decided that I will stop taking this business so seriously. My conversations with my wife are littered with web-speak – clicks to sales ratios, autoresponders, pay per click, web page optimisation, JVs, affiliate programs. I’m turning into Gary the Geek! I’ve just put in two 14-hour days over the weekend because I changed my list server (see I’m at it again) and my ezine was sent out 5 times to some people! My eyes hurt, my muscles ache, my backside is numb, and I’m not sure if my wife remembers me!
So I’ve decided to work, rather than observe. It’s all very well knowing how many people are on your site this minute, or how many people are on your list…but what good will it do you if you haven’t got anything to offer them in the future? Luckily for me, I had a window of opportunity when I wasn’t really working on the web side of my business, so my second ebook is practically written already. Well, almost. All I’ve got to do is finish it now.
You see I’ve become a Webmaster/Admin/Entrepreneur guy – in that order. It should be the other way around. I should be writing an article a day – yet I’m learning new Internet and email tricks every day instead. So I have acted on my own advice (about time according to my ‘darling’ wife) and from tomorrow I’m going to focus on what matters most.
Me. My output. My objectives. My goals. My abilities. My strengths. My self-development.
I’m going to write an article a day. I’m going to stop at EVERY night without fail. I’m going to set aside one hour a day for reading or listening to personal development stuff. I’m going to watch rubbish TV with my wife (now hold on!), and I’m going to spend some time with my daughter when she comes in from school…and I’m going to help my disabled son develop a little more than yesterday.
I’m going to do this because I said so. That’s it. No ifs. No buts. End of story.
But what if I don’t have the time to do all this? Well, I guess I’ll just have to get up an hour earlier to fit it all in.
That’ll teach me.
Well, I can do that…but I can also do some other things to help manage my time better. I’ll get my wife to do some of the admin stuff that I get bogged down in. Maybe I’ll even use my mail program better and start automating some responses to the ‘I’ve lost the download page’ queries.
There are lots of things I can do…if I really want to.
But that’s the trouble. It’s easier to carry on. It’s easier to spend all day on admin stuff instead of development…moving forward.
In six months’ time I’ll be spending 23 hours a day answering emails, and my second ebook will still be unfinished…waiting for my daughter to accidentally delete.
I will delegate. I will have a life. I will focus on what matters.
So…this is what I am going to do from tomorrow.
1) Get up one hour earlier every OTHER day.
2) Leave reading my emails until after I’ve written my article.
3) Write down my ‘theme’ for the day. – ebook writing, ezine promotion, ‘webmastering’, networking
4) Write down the one thing within this theme that I must complete by the end of the day.
5) Allot some time every day to either delegate or improve the admin side of my business.
6) Ensure that I finish when I say I will…and no going back into my office after everyone has gone to bed to check my emails!
If I stick to this plan, then I know that each day…and each week…I will be moving my business forward.
All I’ve got to do now is to make sure that I stick to it. If I want to succeed, then that’s what I am going to do.
Are you going to join me?
To our Success !
Gary Vurnum has quit his full-time job to devote himself to his family and his self-development. His life turned around after the birth of his severely disabled son, and he now wants to share with others the tools he used to remain positive during the worst time of his life.
Are you slowing down the success of your internet business by having no business plan and a sad lifestyle? Read more success strategies: Science of Success
