The Quest For Success Continues…

During our Cross Blog Conversation, Nicole Dean asked:
"What do you have planned for 2008? And, how will your business change/evolve from this year?"

2008 will mark the beginning of my 12th year in business. As I look over the last 11 years, the one common thread over time has been change. My business has evolved year after year, both with technology and market trends - and with me personally. As I've grown and changed, so has my business model.

I'm happy to report that all of those changes have been good ones, and 2007 has been my best year yet. I anticipate 2008 will follow that trend, and show continued growth and positive change. In fact, I dont just anticipate it - I intend to make it so! My plans actually include 4 individual action points...

• Organize
• Prioritize
• Automate
• Outsource

This is actually written across the top of my whiteboard in that order:

Organize -> Prioritize -> Automate -> Outsource

At first glance, that may seem oversimplified. But for someone who has flown by the seat of her pants for the last decade (me! 😀 )... that's the beauty of it. Its a simple method of approaching any project - large or small - that I have adopted this year, and am continuing to perfect.

Organize stands for getting the entire project in mind, start to finish. I have a file for each project which begins with a rough draft of the project outline. Getting the idea out of my head and on to paper (or the screen) in front of me allows me to get a broader view of it and start to flesh out the details.

Prioritize is to take all of those ideas and that basic outline, and to create an action plan from it. This action plan is then prioritized into correct order of how the project needs to play out - start to finish.

Automation is my next step. I look at every way I can possibly streamline the processes for hands-off operation. This is a crucial step as it cuts down on work hours and outsourcing costs.

Once I have the entire project in front of me and know exactly what needs to be done, and what can be handled with automation, I start outsourcing the individual elements of the project.

The overall goal is to work less and make more. To increase revenue while decreasing work hours and stress levels. I have been working on this strategically for the last 4 years with great success, and so this is a continued and ongoing effort.

It's actually quite addictive. Once you set a goal to double your income, and achieve that goal - there's nothing stopping you from doing it again... and again. I'm on a roll and having too much fun. No reason to stop now 😉

I'm a big believer in "catching the wave". Its takes more energy to get the ball rolling, than it does to keep the ball rolling. Once you have momentum, it pays to stay on top of the game and ride that wave to the next one.

The nature of an online business makes it easy to work in spurts. Or to make enough money to get lazy comfortable and then slack off until you need to make money again. While this will get you by, it wont get you where you want to be.

Dont get me wrong. I take breaks all the time - sometimes paring down my work hours to just 5-10 a week for a few months. But the key is to have automation and outsourcing working for you... when you're not.

Going back to the original question, I see 2008 as a year filled with growth and opportunity. I have plans in place for my current sites that I am very excited about, and will share along the way. I'm working on something I call the 10x Goal and that will be the main focus behind everything that I do. I'll put together a small mastermind group with others who are interested in working towards the same, probably starting in January.

Networking & Travel are in the plans for the coming year as well. In fact, I'm booking tickets this week to be in Vegas in February for Affiliate Summit. I havent left the house in a couple of years now (lol)... so I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!

As I said, the Quest for Success continues... While I am very happy with my current "status quo", I by no means intend to let this wave pass me by 😉

- - - - -

Nicole's question about my plans & goals for 2008 is part of our ongoing Cross Blog Conversation, so now it's my turn to ask her a question...

Nicole - If you decided to double your online income within 6 months, where would you start in order to accomplish that goal?

Best,

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