Well, Happy New Year everyone! 

I guess now is as good a time as any to make some resolutions for the coming year. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you’ll notice that I’ve not been exactly prolific in my posts. Unfortunately, I seem to have fallen into a bit of a business funk over the last couple months or so. My biggest client shut down their online activities due to the recession, so I’ve been trying a few different things, but nothing has really taken off. 

This blog is supposed to be about the ups AND downs of internet marketing, so you’re getting a bit of a taste of the down part here. 

Like many people involved in internet marketing, I’ve long recognized a form of “enterprenurial ADD” in myself. I love starting projects; it is exciting getting something new off the ground, but then the daily monotony and routine of following through on that project shortly dampens the excitement and before I know it I’m on to something bigger and better. 

This leads to a bit of a portfolio of half or poorly implemented projects. 

So where am I going with this?

Well I recently came across an hour long audio (available for free at ReplaceMyself.com). It sat on my desktop through Christmas, and I finally sat down to listen to it today. As I’m sure  you’ve guessed, it is about outsourcing. 

He made some excellent points (you’ll have to listen for yourself though) which made me thing about outsourcing in a slightly different way. I’ve talked about it before, but my role as a business owner needs to be as an information systemizer. I should be able to learn something, systemize it, then turn over the daily management of that process to someone else. At least, that’s what should be happening. LOL. 

Anyways, John tells people where to get access to cheaper rates than I’d seen elsewhere ($250-400 a month for a full time worker). Because that is roughly half of what AgentsofValue is charging, it caught my attention. 

I figured if I got someone to follow through, or better yet, start and finish, projects for me, they should be able to at least pay for themselves within a month. Worst case scenario I would lose that month’s pay entirely. 

The Resolution

So here’s my New Years’ Resolution. Hire a Phillipino and at least give the full time outsource gig a decent shot. The grand total extent of what I have to lose would be less than $500 – and that would only be the case if ALL 160 hours of work were a complete, total, utter loss and write off. That’s the worst case scenario. 

Best case scenario, this turns out to be extremely liberating, making my own use of time more efficient and effective, and giving my business a new shot of adrenaline. 

With that kind of upside, a $500 absolute worst case scenario loss doesn’t seem that unpalatable. 

Stay tuned for how this works out. The only thing stopping me will be laziness itself, because I can’t think of any other rational reason to stay out. 

Happy New Year!

Jonathan

Vacations are great things. Last year when I went to Ontario I read the Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris, which proved to be the catalyst for quitting my day job and going into business on my own, a few months later. 

I just got back from a week in Puerto Vallarta (Had a great time by the way – thanks for asking!) and while I was there I had a chance to read the E-Myth by Michael Gerber, (I recommend it for anyone who owns their own business – required reading) and I’ve been realizing that I don’t really have a business strategy or goal. So far I’ve been sort of dallying in whatever strikes my fancy, so I’m currently going in about 4 different directions. A couple directions are making money, and one is seriously absorbing money (though I’ve got high hopes for it) and in general I’ve been left with the feeling (from the book) that I need to sit down and do some re-considering; find out which direction I want to go with the business and start going about it strategically. 

This week I’m going to be attending the Affiliate Incubator seminar in Dallas, TX with Stu MacLaren and Russell Brunson. I know there are a lot of great guys that will be presenting there, and I’m hoping that from some of the things I’ll learn there I’ll be able to better form a vision for my business and then supply some of the tools needed to get me on my way. 

I imagine it will be a busy few days (Thursday to Saturday) but I’m hoping to post about it while there. That good intention could of course become a victim of unforeseen circumstances, but if you’re interested, stay tuned this week and I’ll try to give you the inside scoop on what’s going on in Dallas!

Ready. Fire. Aim.

Maybe you’ve heard other variations on the theme.

I’ve heard this business rule floated a couple of times lately, from Traffic Tactics and most recently by Rich Schefren. The idea here is that business has changed from what it used to be. Companies that take a few years to analyze markets will find themselves without a market to enter once they decide to timidly get their feet wet.

The world is for the taking, but only by the brave who are willing to jump in with both feet. Thus we get this saying:

“Do It Wrong…Fast!”

He who does it wrong fast will be rewarded for doing. Someone who jumps in quickly will soon have the opportunity to refine the product, the site, the whatever as data starts flowing in. By the time the slow mover gets into the market, the action taker can have moved through several revisions of his product and already have a far superior offering. In fact, he’s probably on to the next product or the next market, leading the way somewhere else.

Now, am I saying that there’s no money to be made by the slow movers? Surely not. No, there will always be money on the fringe. However, the REAL money will go to those who are quick to take action. They get the status of a market leader, they get to set the bar for others to match up to. People will view future products in light of this first one.

Why Am I Squawking About This?

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you may have read that since launching my webstore I’ve been a popular target for various web and business service related sales calls. I’m sure many site owners are.

Yesterday I got a call from some “Business Development Center” or some such thing. I don’t know if that was the exact name of it, but essentially what they were selling was help with the business side of my business. Now, I’ve got a degree in business, so I figured I’d hear them out and see what they had to say. I’ve already incorporated, so that took the steam out of some of his pitch, so he moved on to market analysis. He was talking about getting different types of business numbers, doing sales forecasting, cashflow analysis, balance sheets and all this funky business stuff. Sure, I went to school for 4 years but I’ve learned some stuff since then.

One thing I’ve learned, as a small business owner, is that you don’t waste time on useless garbage!! In my particular situation, doing a cashflow analysis is redundant because I already know that my existing business is going to subsidize the webstore until it gathers some steam. Therefore, I know I will have a negative cashflow for a while, and I don’t really need to know how many sales I need to target. My target is much, much higher than breakeven.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have a very solid handle on my business’s finances. I watch them every day. I know what I’ve spent and roughly what I need to break even. That’s not what this guy was talking about though.

For someone opening a bricks and mortar business, all that stuff is very necessary. The reason for that is credit. Banks require that stuff before giving you a loan. However, for a web business, the startup costs are so radically different from a bricks and mortar business that you simply don’t approach it the same way.

These guys didn’t get it. They were stuck in a 1980′s business model, trying to sell to someone living in the new business world of outsourcing and minimal costs.

Unfortunately, people who buy into their sales pitch are going to be hopelessly caught up in a very stodgy business cycle.

Personally, I’d prefer to spend all my time on marketing, if I can afford that. I’d prefer to be generating cash than figuring out how much I’m going to need to break even. I’ll leave that to my competition.