Goal/Task Question

[encsteph]

Hello all,

I have a goal to earn $10,000 per month from my online business by 12/31/2011.

I currently have a blog that is earning me a little bit of money (under $100 per month) in the "camping" niche.

Obviously I have a lot of work to do to get from where I am now to where I plan on being.

I think I even have some idea of some of the steps in the process of getting from where I am to where I want to be.

I am a very detail oriented person (a PC way of saying "anal-retentive") and am wondering how to break my goal down into annual then semi-annual then monthly, weekly and daily tasks that will get me to my goal.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be kindly appreciated.

Eric

[encsteph]

Also,

What/who do I need to read (besides this forum & Lynn's Blog) to learn what I need to learn to be successful in this business?

Would being an Elite member be the right place for me?

Problogger's 31 days Workbook? Rosalind Gardner on Affiliate marketing?


As most of us I am sure...I don't have a whole lot of money to throw around but I do understand the need to invest in my education...I just want to make as sure as possible that it's money will invested and not wasted.

Thanks again.

[angienewton]

Eric,
I definitely think the elite group would be a great start because we work really closely with Lynn and everyone brainstorms more in depth that we do here on the main forums. And we have weekly elite webinars where we share our accomplishments for the week, what our goals for the next are and things like that. Lynn looks at our sites and gives us feedback as do the other elite members. I would highly recommend that and I know Lynn would recommend Rosalind's book for affiliate marketing. You can find the review on Rosalind's book here (http://www.clicknewz.com/2074/super-affiliate-handbook-review/).

Looking forward to watching your business grow over the next year!

[encsteph]

Angie,

Thanks for the response. I have read the review on Rosalind and am really leaning towards picking it up and reading it.

Thanks also for the info on the Elite group...I have really been thinking about it seriously.

[angienewton]

I think Rosalind's book would be a good investment.

As far as the elite group, don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have about. Feel free to send me a PM with any questions.

[angienewton]

hey will it really work?

Will what really work? If you're asking about the elite group, yes it works as a great brainstorming business mastermind group IF you work at your business, that is;)

I see this is your first post here so feel free to introduce yourself.

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Eric,

One of the things you want to do is get a vision of your WHY. Figure out the reasons you want to reach that goal, and what your life will look like when you do. You need to create a "burning desire".

If you have not yet read Think and Grow Rich (http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/tagr.htm) by Napoleon Hill, click that link for a free PDF version. Read it twice if you have to, but it holds the key to putting yourself in the position to create and achieve very specific goals.

Once you have that clear vision of exactly where you are going, and have a strong reason (a WHY) to do it, everything else seems to fall into place. You can then ask yourself "does this take me closer to my goal, or distract me from it?" and easily work your way through every decision along the way.

There's nothing like working towards an exciting goal! :)

[encsteph]

Lynn,

I have actually read that book and I have figured out my WHY I just neglected to add it to my thread. My WHY is actually comprised of things I want and things I don't want:

What I Want
- To teach my sons that you can still work hard and smart and be a success in this country
- To live my life according to MY schedule not somebody elses
- To pay for my childrens college
- To spend more time with my wife
- To have enough money that no recession or depression no matter how bad can affect me

What I don't Want
- To work into my eighties like my grandparents are doing
- To have to do thing that I don't agree with becuase "the boss said so"
- To not be able to pay my bills
- To have to pay more for something than it is worth by borrowing money and paying back with interest

[WAHumor]

I could use a breakdown like that myself. I can never get that right...

Being an Elite member (http://www.wahumor.com/sswtelite.php) is always the right place if you want to make progress and are willing to listen and do.

You DON'T have a lot of money to invest? Great!! :confused:

Then you'll be choosy. :cool:

If affiliate marketing is your approach, Ros' book is the way to go. ProBlogger's book would be worthwhile, but first search for "BABB" on Lynn's blog for another really good month-long series - and for nothing!!



Dan

[Lynn Terry]

Lynn,

I have actually read that book and I have figured out my WHY I just neglected to add it to my thread. My WHY is actually comprised of things I want and things I don't want:

What I Want
- To teach my sons that you can still work hard and smart and be a success in this country
- To live my life according to MY schedule not somebody elses
- To pay for my childrens college
- To spend more time with my wife
- To have enough money that no recession or depression no matter how bad can affect me

What I don't Want
- To work into my eighties like my grandparents are doing
- To have to do thing that I don't agree with becuase "the boss said so"
- To not be able to pay my bills
- To have to pay more for something than it is worth by borrowing money and paying back with interest

All of these things are great, Eric - but you might want to get even more specific. For example, I really want to lose 10 pounds. If I don't, I'll get by then the same as I do now. It's not going to kill me, and while I like the vision of myself 10 lbs lighter... I don't have a good enough reason to create that burning desire within me to actually get off my ### and do something about it.

Complacency is an evil thing. And I'm speaking from personal experience here, not "at" you - but from me. It's really hard to make change unless life comes around and throws you a curve ball that *forces* you to take action. Creating new habits is just has hard (if not harder) than breaking bad habits.

You have to get a more specific vision in your mind - not just concepts or basic lifestyle changes - but something super specific that totally takes over and consumes your waking and sleeping thoughts.

For years, mine was feeding my children and making sure they were taken care of. We were flat broke, and going nowhere. At one point I lose 23 lbs in 7 weeks because there wasn't enough food to go around for the 3 of us. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve when you're put to the test.

Later, my motivation came from desperately wanting my own home. I had moved around all my life, never lived anywhere more than 2 years, and as a single mother to two children... I wanted to settle down and give them a real home. I wanted "home" myself - craved it. And so I spent every waking hour working towards making that happen. And I did.

Get something tangible in mind. Something you want so bad you can taste it. Do the preliminary work to get the ball rolling towards that one thing. Start the process and add the pressure, forcing yourself to focus and take only specific action that takes you towards that specific goal...

[WAHumor]

All of these things are great, Eric - but you might want to get even more specific. For example, I really want to lose 10 pounds. If I don't, I'll get by then the same as I do now. It's not going to kill me, and while I like the vision of myself 10 lbs lighter... I don't have a good enough reason to create that burning desire within me to actually get off my ### and do something about it.

Complacency is an evil thing. And I'm speaking from personal experience here, not "at" you - but from me. It's really hard to make change unless life comes around and throws you a curve ball that *forces* you to take action. Creating new habits is just has hard (if not harder) than breaking bad habits.

You have to get a more specific vision in your mind - not just concepts or basic lifestyle changes - but something super specific that totally takes over and consumes your waking and sleeping thoughts.

Get something tangible in mind. Something you want so bad you can taste it. Do the preliminary work to get the ball rolling towards that one thing. Start the process and add the pressure, forcing yourself to focus and take only specific action that takes you towards that specific goal...


That says it all, Lynn.

This has always been a real problem for me.

Hey Eric, crazy thought...maybe WE should be accountability partners!



Dan

[Lynn Terry]

I'm having a real issue with this lately, with both of my children. They both work for me, and I have a really hard time keeping them motivated and on task to actually get their hours in.

My problem is I've made their life too easy. They don't have anything they desire enough to motivate them to do the work to make the money. Mind you it's great pay and easy work, and you'd think money alone would motivate. But it doesn't. You have to have a WHY - something you want to spend that money on.

As adults we can plan ahead and know it takes time to reach our goals. Try that with a 13yo who really wants her motorcycle license at 14 - knowing she'll need the motorcycle, insurance, and license. Not to mention running money. It's too far out to be tangible at her age.

My son is older, 18, but same issue. I feel like I've done them a huge disservice by busting my ### to give them a great life and a nice lifestyle. I grew up a little harder, and with a lot more drive to succeed - just to make something of my life. And in some cases, survive.

Adults are not that much different. And when when we get hit by the proverbial tornado that life throws our way, we'll kick ourselves for not acting on our shoulda, woulda, coulda's.

But it takes forethought. Not hindsight. And it takes A LOT of self-discipline. Not something that came easy for me either, as most people imagine. I ended a lot of days by curling up and crying it out until I finally got where I wanted to be.

If you really want something, you have to MAKE it happen.

[Mike Murphy]

This is a great post filled with some real gold nuggets!

I'm in a "back against the wall" sort of position and can totally relate to the OP (original poster) in that I'm overly analytical and I also have very similar goals as far as $ amount per month and some of the same "why" factors.

Not trying to thread hi-jack....this is very relevant. After being laid off for 10 months, I took a job that I had absolutely no interest in what so ever that paid half of what my former job paid. Long story short, boss found out I was still looking for a better job and while he didn't fire me, he asked that I stay home a couple weeks while I decide which I want.

That right there truly defines my why...I want NEITHER of the jobs as I've tasted the freedom of being able to care for my kids and answer to nobody but me...and my wife.

Here's the dig...being overly analytical and not taking CONSISTENT DIRECTED ACTION will continue to prevent myself, the OP and anyone else in our shoes form ever making a full time income online.

Lynns mention of self discipline is HUGE. I'm ashamed to say that I took a shotgun approach to these last 10-11 months online and as a result, I only made a few hundred bucks....

BUT...I DID make those few hundred bucks so I know it can be done.

We analytical types want things to be very structured and in a process and I'm not convinced that it can't be done that way, but we need to be picking away at it constantly weather it's the "right" next move or not.

One last point, Tony Robbins said something like "until you're completely disgusted with your current situation, you won't do what you need to do to change it."

So let's get disgusted enough!

Oh and Lynn, I'll do the work that your kids aren't :-)

[Lynn Terry]

I have told them that already - that I have people lined up to steal their awesome jobs ;) LOL. I think I'm going to have to starve them out for them to really get the point (ha). I'm actually calling a family meeting tonight to get some things out on the table... (wish me luck!)

I was thinking maybe I'll just lay around and watch reality tv shows, go hang out with my friends, read some books - take off from work and housework for awhile and let them see what that looks like. "20 bucks? Sorry, don't got it - oh, and the car is on empty too." :p

[Lynn Terry]

So let's talk about this "analytical approach". I've also heard a lot of people ask for an exact blueprint - as in, tell me exactly what to do so I can do it and make money.

I think we all realize that's an employee mindset, and if that's what you really want... then what you really want is a JOB.

Being an entrepreneur is full of doubt and risk. It requires self-motivation and self-discipline to become self-employed. It requires trying and failing until you find what works, and then duplicating whatever it was that worked.

It's about letting go of everything you were taught in school and in life about what you're supposed to do with your life - go to school, go to college, get a job, get married, buy a house, have a family, and watch Survivor at 7pm.

[LaShae]

I'm also very analytical but I'm making that work for instead of against me.

Instead of coming up with step-by-step blueprint to make money, I create action step-by-steps from an owners point of view.

Like Lynn says,
It requires trying and failing until you find what works, and then duplicating whatever it was that worked.

As the owner, I take some risk out because I know the tools have worked for others. I know I'm not the first to do whatever it is I'm working on. I don't know yet if what I do is going to meet the (almost wildly high) expectations I have for it. And as the boss/owner I do care about that. But even more as the boss/owner I need it created so I find out what it actually does.

I spend my weekends creating the action step-by-steps. I don't do much else on the weekends besides read, make notes and make the plan or learn what's involved in creating what I want to create.

Then on Monday morning I pretend I'm an employee. As an employee I do what the weekend boss told me to do. I don't question or change (although I might make a note) and I don't know or need to care if what I was told to do works, since I'm the employee at that point. My job is to get it done.

Since I started doing this process - Actually not Aug 8 but June 25 - Sept 22, 2009 - 90 days, I earned an avg of $1.90 every day. In 54 days up until yesterday, the avg was $9.70.

Yeah it looks like peanuts, even all totaled up. But one peanut pod usually has 3/4 nuts in it. No, it's not enough for me to live off of, but it's definitely enough to make me want to keep using my analytical method so I can reinvest and keep growing it to my goal.

I now understand the importance of using whatever talents you have, especially the ones that look like weaknesses when viewed from your current perspective.

Oh and just so you know, I spent all of 2008 and a lot of 2009 looking for an exact blueprint, that absolutely had to work.

Minna

[Mike Murphy]

:-) Yeah, tough love! There lots of employees that have lost their jobs basically because employers are trimming the fat. I'm not calling your kids "the fat", but it took me getting laid off and not being able to feed my kids to REALLY see how much value I could add.

If the kiddies play their cards right, they could wind up never having to work for someone else which would have it's pluses and minuses of course.

I really do wish you luck with the family meeting and hope that they get it, rather than their work or jobs, I'd way rather read a post from you a few weeks from now saying how proud you are that they've come into their own and are off and running with it.

Being analytical and needing a blueprint....uggghh....I know how very lame that is and I hope it hasn't become my crutch cause I do try to avoid it. I've just spun wheels for a long time trying too many things.

I sincerely hope that's not what happens to the OP and that a year from now he's able to look back with pride and know that he reached $10k per month by not jumping from thing to thing and stuck it out until it worked.

My goal from day 1 was to learn this stuff well enough to teach others how to do it. That goal hasn't changed but I'll certainly not become one of the snakes that teaches things they've never actually done!

I think rather than an exact blueprint, it would be cool to have an open relationship where we could share thoughts and ideas of exactly what we're doing so that an expert like you could see the red flags pop up when something is being done wrong.

I've done tons of projects with great gusto and pride and worked on them for months only to have one of my high level marketing friends look at it and say "oh man, why did you do THAT??? No way was that going to work out!"

That makes me pretty sad.

I've been in forums similar to that but people were scared to share their ideas out of fear their niche would be "stolen". Could happen, but I can't be bothered to worry about that. If 10 people see your niche, 8 won't do anything about it and you can out backlink the other guy by working harder.

Now, I did do that one one project and I flipped the website yesterday for $250! I had put $9 into it for a domain name and then over the course of the year I wrote 25 articles and it was getting about a sale per month. Not bad.

It made $250 this year, sold it for $250...the buyer hasn't paid and today it made another $30.40 sale so now I don't care if it sells because I know it has some sort of value either way.

I don't think a "blueprint" is what any of us need nor is it available. Something better and more accurate could be a "process"

1) Find a niche that has a need and paying customers
2) Find or create a product that solves that need or at least eases the pain it is causing
3) Research and find the keywords that you can rank for to get traffic for that niche
4) Build or have built a site with all of the SEO taken care of
5) Get traffic (free or paid)
6) Hammer the niche for 90 days minimum to see if it converts

My list may be a thin, but isn't that the basic process?

Sure there are 1000 more things to learn about each step but it's a start. We we newbs fail is the meat in those 6 steps above.....

How do I find that niche?
How do I create a product?
Which keywords do I stand a chance for ranking?
How do I build a site?
How do I get traffic?

Those questions stop MANY people. Oddly enough, I'm fine with all of it except the first and the traffic and I've got a good idea of some traffic strategies.

I would LOVE to share anything I know and I'm excited to see how the OP gets on this coming year cause we're on the same path.

I'm going to have a browse around the forum and see what's already been shared. I know Lynns blog is a flippin goldmine of info and if I have to compile it into a process like above and then give it back to the forum....I'll do that.

I cannot afford to fail so I'll spend every second I can on preventing that from happening to others.

Talk soon
Mike

[dougguitar]

Wow, I certainly see a lot of myself in the original poster's description. My goals are even similar, though actually somewhat more aggressive (bigger monthly income goal, shorter timeframe). I've been learning a lot, and exploring different online business models, but I'm coming to realize a few things.

Action seems to be more important than which business model. Not only action, but following through all the way to profit, as Lynn has said. I have been guilty of starting down one path, and then getting distracted by the next shiny object before really squeezing all I can out of the original project.

Lynn's comments about motivation really struck me. I have what most people would consider a pretty high-paying job. Unfortunately, I really don't like it for many reasons. I feel those reasons everyday as I commute to my job, and while I'm in the office doing it. I could rant about what all those negative feelings are, but I'm sure most people reading this have also felt all or some of the same ones.

The funny thing is, once I get home, I've noticed those negative feelings aren't as strong. I'm home; I'm with my wife and kids. I'm experiencing many of the things that having a work from home business would give me, even if only for a few hours. I don't have the fear of not being able to feed my kids to motivate me.

I'm motivated by the detailed (and written) vision I have of the life I want to create. I don't know if that lights as big a fire as would the fear of starvation, but it's enough to make me put in an hour or two a night. My struggle is more with distractions and lack of follow-through. If that hour or two were spent really making progress, and not reading blog posts or the latest IM guru's e-mail about their latest course, then I'd probably be much closer to my goal.

Doug

[Lynn Terry]

Oh, I'll get 'em in shape ;) No worries!


I think rather than an exact blueprint, it would be cool to have an open relationship where we could share thoughts and ideas of exactly what we're doing so that an expert like you could see the red flags pop up when something is being done wrong.

That's exactly what we do - in the private brainstorming forum for Elite Members :)

[Lynn Terry]

Doug,

If you only had 60 minutes every night, and you only had 60 days to achieve your goal (let's say you were facing a layoff) - how would you spend those 60 minutes every night?

And yeah, I get your meaning. I complain about these 10 lbs every day, but you don't see me on the treadmill... It's basic human nature. We have to push ourselves, or be pushed. No easy way about it.

[tschmigiel]

Hi my name is Tess. I am a newbie to all this cyber space.....:D
I want the same goal as Eric!! that sounds wonderful!!
I am feeling lost and confused right at the moment!! I need to follow Lynn's quote: "does this take me closer to my goal, or distract me from it?"
I am oh so distracted, I feel like I am treading water and standing still!!
I spend hours on my site to make it perfect, read something else and change it. I haven't advertised it or anything because I am also "anal retentive" and don't want anyone to see it until it's perfect! uuuggghhh!!
I just purchased Lynn's Easy 7-Step Fast Cash Strategy hoping it will help me. I need some kind of plan! :confused::confused::confused:
Lynn, I love your site!! I can spend hours here! this is my first on or in the forums, I have decided I need some guidance!
Thanks for the Think and Grow Rich, I will be reading that tonight along with the 7-step....anyone recommend anything else?
thank you for all you do!
Tess
www.weddingthemesbytess.com

[angienewton]

Welcome to the SSWT forum, Tess! I am confident that you will find your way around here and it won't be long until you are no longer lost and confused. We are here to help so let us know what we can do for you.

Tell us what you feel most lost about and we'll go from there.

[Lynn Terry]

Welcome Tess :)


....anyone recommend anything else?

I recommend you start there so you don't get overwhelmed, and then come back to the forum and ask any questions that come up along the way ;)

[AlexNewell]

Eric - to get back to your original question.

You have a great site already and you wish to earn more.

2 obvious thoughts for me.

(1) you have a site that is working and you now focus on tweaking and tracking (very anal - you'll be great, :-) ) and getting the max out of it.

The help of a Super affiliate ( Lynn) in the Elite Forum would help with this consideration. Lynn sells lots of real world goods -not just info products that many focus on.

The accountability threads that are posted every week in the Elite forum would allow us to track what you are doing and help you get stuff done.

(2) once you have ramped the income from this site up to a max you then brainstorm your next site.

Very few people get a full time income from one site!

All for now, it's late here!

:-)

Alex

[Lynn Terry]

David... thank you. And it's really great to see you here :)

The tough love is something that is hard for me, but I think I've done a fairly good job of it over the years (so far at least). Difficult because I'm a single mother and there are no fathers involved (mine included) so I naturally want to play the role of nurturer (mother) but also have to fill the shoes of disciplinarian and 'head of household'. Not by choice, which is where it's been a challenge for me.

At any rate, I really appreciate your story and it makes me feel better about making those tough decisions. I do realize that my dream is not necessarily their dream. Most of all I just want to provide options and opportunities, and look forward to seeing what they choose for themselves...

[tek95969]

Eric,
Sounds like you have excellent goals already established:i.e. wife, kids,family,college. Money is not always the measurement of success in life and you seem to know that. I don't have any fabulous suggestions but wanted to commend you on your goals and keeping it real!
Congrats on what you're making now. May not sound like much but it's 100 times more than what I have done so far, so whatever you're doing must be working.
I agree with everyone on Rosalind Gardner's book. Don't have it yet but it's at the top of my list.

Good luck!
Phil

[Lynn Terry]

I am a huge fan of Rosalind's model, as most of you already know. I have a detailed overview of SAH here (http://www.clicknewz.com/2074/super-affiliate-handbook-review/) for anyone that's on the fence about it. Awesome guide, and updated frequently. I first read it almost 6 years ago, am still using the model & also reading the current updates.

[Angela Wills]

Wow this is a fantastic post!

After all these years I still haven't read Think and Grow Rich. Next payment I get into my paypal I'm going to order the audio version from your site Lynn. I love listening to audio much better than reading and I think TAGR would be an excellent first audio book to list to.

I've been online for a long time and it seems I haven't had that fire under my butt like people keep talking about in this post. Time to really get clear on that why, that vision and make it a burning desire that I will stop at nothing to achieve!

[encsteph]

I did purchase Rosalind's book and have read through it once already and am "abuzz" with ideas and thoughts based on what I learned already.

Over the next week or so I'm going to sit down with it again and dissect it down into a list of tasks that are pertinent to my site...well worth the money!

[tek95969]

Good for you - I'm jealous!

[Lynn Terry]

I agree Eric - it really gets me fired up every time I read it! ;)

Angela, you'll love the TAGR (http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/tagr.htm) audio on my site. Very smooth. I have it and love it. It's Earl Nightingale, and I think I have a preview you can hear right there on the page. I have the PDF version too, printed out in a binder with sticky notes all in it!

[Lynn Terry]

Welcome Howard :)

I have a blog that is just for fun, that I don't monetize - so that's okay! Whatever your objective is, that's what you should focus on.

[jwginn]

Great topic. I joined this forum months ago, and am just now starting to browse and follow the threads.

I have been following the subject of Internet Marketing and specifically niche/affiliate marketing for a year or so now...but have mainly dabbled here and there. I have not had the burning passion, clear goals up to this point.

That is starting to change!!!

I think they WHY question Lynn posed is critical. Be honest with yourself. Are you simply interested in becoming filthy rich??? What are your motivations. You ought to be able to clearly envision and even articulate what it looks like for you when you succeed.

Besides that there are two things that kept coming to mind as I read the question and the responses....

1) the importance of end visioning. Start at the end goal and work backwards. Ask what will I need to accomplish to make $10 G's a month? See the end, and work back....create a map...and from the map, build a plan...treat it like a trip.

2) Knowing the best way to eat the elephant. We all have heard that you take it one bite at a time...(not sure I'd even WANT to eat elephant, but you get the drift). As a part of end visioning, set some critical milestones that you need to reach. ie: Before you get to 10,000...set a goal of 5,000; and a goal of 1,000; and a goal of 500; even a goal of 50 if you haven't made anything online yet.

I have gone about it this way - I have a flow chart filled with sticky notes that include even the most mundane items including register domain, install wordpress blog, create content, etc... Some of those I break down further. With the create content portion, I set a short-term goal of writing two pieces of blog content per night starting out for later distribution. In a couple of months as I gain experience, I am bumping it up to three blog posts per night....

just some humble thoughts to help in the journey.

Jeremy

[AlexNewell]

Hey Jeremy you sound like you are fizzing with enthusiasm!!

2 pieces of blog content each night is admirable!

All The Best

Alex