The help Carlos brainstorm to success thread...

Kinda of a cheesy subject line I know but hey...I can certainly use any and all input I can get.

Here's my essential situation...it's actually coming together pretty good but I can use more input and direction I think.

I am a web developer. That is my main money making business. Some months I feast...others I have to go on a diet. That's the nature of the business.

Last month was lousy. This month...my biggest client has more work for me and I am starting that project today or tomorrow. So it's nice that I will be getting more cash money coming in soon.

But all my needs are taken care of for at least 30 days out (i.e. food, rent, and other expenses) so I have no need for immediate income.

Don't get me wrong...I can always use more money. My problem is not the lack of money it's the lack of time along with not having enough discretionary income to get guru ebooks and such or sign up for brainstorming membership sites.

I have one deal going with a client partner that involves my creating 15 Adsense sites. He will get 7...I will get 8. He will pay for all domain registrations and hosting and will provide me with some additional benefits that have made it a pretty sweet deal for me. But not outright money to me involved.

So I got that going.

Anothoer client has a project that I begin today or tomorrow that will pay me good money. That has to be done by October 9th. Not a problem. I can work on that nights and weekends.

I have a joint venture thing I am trying to find the time to develop but I have shifted my time over to Adsense so that has been put on the back burner though it seems to have real potential. Essentially it involves creating a series of lessons (13 to be exact) on how to create web sites quickly and easily using my PHP object code classes that is far easier to work with than even WordPress (less resource intensive, easier to modify, cleaner, etc..).

The code will be encrypted so I can give it out freely. The lessons will be given out freely too. I am looking at doing a joint venture in making this e-class available for the taking to those who have subscriber lists and might want to give them away as something of value to their subscribers. The main benefit to me being the extra traffic that would come to me but...

Traffic wise I am getting a fair bit of traffic from some blogs that I have commented on, some forums (including this one), ads I placed on craigslist, and some other such places. But my focus right now is not on getting traffic since I couldn't do much with it even if I had a flood of it (timewise) so it makes no sense, I think, for me to focus on getting all kinds of traffic when I couldn't do much to capitalize on it.

My main focus right now is on the Adsense web sites. If I can create just 4 web sites turning $10 a day in Adsense revenues (or 8 turning $5 each, 16 making $2.50 each, etc.)...my needs will be completely met every single month and I can focus on expanding into other areas.

What I have been focusing on is learning to pick keyword phrase winners the last few days. Problem is...it's tough to get any input from anyone as to the keyword phrases I have picked. I don't know why. I gave two away at another forum and got very little input. So I am kinda stuck learning in the dark to discern good from bad keyword phrase picks.

But I plug along but it's a bit frustrating having to piece together bits and pieces of good insight, tips, or wisdom that I am able to cull from this or that place on the internet on how to pick winning keyword phrases. Lots of folks talk up a storm about how we need to pick great niches but there is a real scarcity of information as to what makes a good niche or not. It's like a secret that no one wants to let out. I am talking about the practical nuts and bolts.

One man, a real Adsense success on another forum, wants to talk to me about getting into yet another partnership with him to build Adsense sites for him too. We will split the income and he will teach me what he knows as I do the grunt work for him. No long term committments on either end. I help him with grunt work and he teaches me. But I am not waiting around for that to come together. We have hashed most everything out by email already...we just need to talk on the phone some. He is real busy too and it's a 3 hour time difference between us so it's tough to arrange a time to talk. But if that deal come together I will spending 10 hours a week working with him and being mentored by him in exchange for my helping him with the grunt work on additional Adsense sites.

So there you have it. Essentially.

Oh...and I have a deal with my landlord where I am helping him with a business site that has been going real well. I do web development work for him in exchange for the $600 rent here. Real sweet deal. I charge him $25 an hour for that and he is very pleased with what I have been doing.

I guess you could say I am a real wheeling and dealing sort of guy LOL. Though that is not really my personality. I prefer just working quietly in my own corner of the world but the fact that I have needed resources that I do not have has driven me to make win/win deals lately.

Adsense is really what I am shifting over to focus on. I know a lot of people have failed with it but I am not everybody else. Not to mention that I am following behind some of the most successful Adsense marketers around and learning all I can from them (mostly at another forum).

Any and all input would be most appreciated. If you think I am full of B.S., right on, or just naive or whatever...please don't hesitate to speak up and say so. I've developed a hard shell of sorts as a result of being on the internet for years and can take just about anything anybody can dish out.

What I am after is good and genuine input either pro or con so that I do things better and focus more on what will pan out financially for the best in the long run.

Thanks.

Carlos

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Originally Posted by carlos123

I am a web developer. That is my main money making business. Some months I feast...others I have to go on a diet. That's the nature of the business.

Traffic wise I am getting a fair bit of traffic from some blogs that I have commented on, some forums (including this one), ads I placed on craigslist, and some other such places. But my focus right now is not on getting traffic since I couldn't do much with it even if I had a flood of it (timewise) so it makes no sense, I think, for me to focus on getting all kinds of traffic when I couldn't do much to capitalize on it.

Carlos

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To avoid the feast or famine syndrome you may want to get a calendar of end of 2009 into 2010.

Put your monthly $$$ goals at the beginning of each month. This will give you a more long term view of what you need to focus on.

Even though you may not think it is a good idea to focus on traffic, I disagree. I would recommend you have a way to optimize the traffic you are getting in order to build your opt in subscriber list. Even if you have nothing you can currently monetize with the list you can build a foundation.

Even if it is something as simple as weekly tips that you add to your autoresponder.

By doing this you can get this part of your business model in place and begin the process of systemizing your business.

Organize your day in a way that you are as productive as possible. This is a discipline.

You have a lot of great things already going for you. Keep up the great work.

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Originally Posted by KathleenGageSpeaker

Even though you may not think it is a good idea to focus on traffic, I disagree. I would recommend you have a way to optimize the traffic you are getting in order to build your opt in subscriber list. Even if you have nothing you can currently monetize with the list you can build a foundation.

Even if it is something as simple as weekly tips that you add to your autoresponder.

By doing this you can get this part of your business model in place and begin the process of systemizing your business.

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Hmm...I think you have a point there Kathleen. I need to capture the traffic I am getting. As it is people are coming to my web site, I see it in my logs, from quite a number of places but I am doing absolutely nothing to capture their interest.

I mostly have been watching to see where they are coming from with a view to eventually taking the time to do something with the traffic. But...I can see where I am letting traffic slip through my fingers. That's not good.

And I have also been playing with various forum signatures to see which are the most effective. But again...I have done absolutely nothing to capture the interest.

Kinda like watching to see who all looks my way when I shout or something without doing anything meaningful with the attention. Pretty silly.

Like you say I can just give out autoresponder tips or something related to web site building. I mean anything.

Great idea Kathleen. I will focus on doing that tomorrow.

I hadn't even thought about that till you mentioned it. Funny how the obvious can completely escape us sometimes.

Carlos

I have only known you for a few weeks, and all I know of you is what you post here in this forum. So consider my frame of reference in context with what I share here...

You have made several comments about not having enough time, and also not having enough expendable cash to invest in things like domain names. Considering your expertise, I've been trying to figure out where the problem lies exactly.

My suggestion is to keep a time log for one week. Every hour keep track of how you spend your time, for each day of that week. Take notice of any activities that are taking your time but not directly contributing to the growth of your business.

Expand on what you have, and go with what you know, to start. I realize you are in a process of learning, but this takes away from earning money while you are learning. A good example is the suggestion Kathleen made above - you could easily be building a list of your own while you are busy reading forums & articles... just by investing an hour now to put that in place.

Stabilizing your income will allow you the free time to learn and expand. It will also afford you luxuries like $10 domain names and hosting accounts. Not to mention that it will keep you afloat. As it is, one or two bad months may very well put you back on the street looking for a job.

Your thoughts?

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Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

My suggestion is to keep a time log for one week. Every hour keep track of how you spend your time, for each day of that week. Take notice of any activities that are taking your time but not directly contributing to the growth of your business.

Your thoughts?

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Great recommendations Lynn. Most people would be shocked if they kept a time log to see where their time is actually going.

When I have a project to get done, I plan for a specific amount of time each day to work on it. For example, if I am going to develop a new report, I will put at least an hour a day aside to get it done. If I want to complete faster, I put more time into it.

Often we get so caught up in details, we lose sight of the big picture.

It is essential to avoid perfectionism too. I have see too many people who want it all to be perfect. Not that anyone should not be conscientious of quality, but you can waste an incredible amount of time trying to get it "perfect."

Believe me, I have had my share of typos. And there is never a shortage of people who spend their time editing the words of others (even if they are not an editor) so they can point out even the smallest of mistakes.

Granted, if it's a huge mistake I appreciate being told.

The point here is, "Notice how you spend your time. Notice if you are avoiding rejection by not putting products to market."

I appreciate your insight and forthright sharing Lynn.

A couple of comments follow below yours...

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Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

You have made several comments about not having enough time, and also not having enough expendable cash to invest in things like domain names. Considering your expertise, I've been trying to figure out where the problem lies exactly.

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I can understand the lack of understanding the contradiction of my expertise with my lack of money. For sure Lynn. Many who don't know me personally scratch their heads at this too. Few actually take the time to ask me about that contradiction or to give me the benefit of the doubt with respect to why I am not absolutely floating in money...given my supposed expertise.

I had money in Canada. I had my own window cleaning business and was doing very well in it during the summer months. Then during the winters I would work at something else.

But winters got to be too much for me and I decided, after prayerful consideration and research, that it was best for me to come to San Diego.

So...I sold everything I had including my truck and gave away what I couldn't sell and packed what I had left that was real important to me into one large and one medium suitcase. I came to San Diego with about $400 to my name.

How I made it in San Diego and survived and how the Lord provided for me is a most interesting tale that I won't belabor you with here.

I tried window cleaning and just coulnd't make a go of it here no matter what I did. No car and running out of money.

I am 50 years old and having been self-employed for years made it real difficult to get work. I tried and no one would hire me of those places that were close enough for me to walk to.

Then my legs gave out and failed me. Something went wrong with my legs such that I ceased to be able to walk for a while without crutches. I had no alternative but to go back to my original desire to make a living over the Internet.

So...to make a long story short...I created a web site (the one I have now) using my previous skills (which are indeed substantial) and started answering ads in the gigs section of craigslist as well as making some calls.

Oh...I forgot to mention that my laptop computer screen broke in there somewhere leaving me without a computer for a bit.

And I was on the verge of being homeless several times from running out of money. I can't count how many times I was down to less than $5 to my name. But...God always provided for me in one way or another. Even miraculously so. I kid you not Lynn but that's another story.

Anyway I am presently living in one of the nicest areas around San Diego and have my rent, food, and other needs covered by deals I have made mainly with my landlord. So I have time. Lots of time. For now.

And I am taking advantage of that time to do what I can to cement my success over the Internet and to branch out from web development to a more passive income.

But that is the background Lynn. I came to San Diego with little more than the clothes on my back and little money and am clawing my way, with God's help, to making a stable income over the internet.

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My suggestion is to keep a time log for one week. Every hour keep track of how you spend your time, for each day of that week. Take notice of any activities that are taking your time but not directly contributing to the growth of your business.

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Great suggestion Lynn. I will do that.

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Expand on what you have, and go with what you know, to start. I realize you are in a process of learning, but this takes away from earning money while you are learning. A good example is the suggestion Kathleen made above - you could easily be building a list of your own while you are busy reading forums & articles... just by investing an hour now to put that in place.

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I will definitely be doing something with that suggestion today.

My rent, food, and other expenses are covered in full for one month so this is a unique opportunity for me to devote virtually all my time to Internet success.

I am committed Lynn. Whatever it takes within the framework of what the Lord would consider right or not for me to do...I will do.

Carlos

I obviously didn't ask that question right - my apologies. Interesting story though for sure. What I meant to ask was: how can you stay so busy you don't have time for even one new client, yet not have $10 to invest in a domain name? My concern is what you are busy spending your time on here and now.

Also, given your beliefs, you might enjoy this piece I was asked to write recently: How Do You Define Success?

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Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

I obviously didn't ask that question right - my apologies. Interesting story though for sure. What I meant to ask was: how can you stay so busy you don't have time for even one new client, yet not have $10 to invest in a domain name? My concern is what you are busy spending your time on here and now.

Also, given your beliefs, you might enjoy this piece I was asked to write recently: How Do You Define Success?

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I read your PDF Lynn! Well put!! An inspirational read!

Sorry if I misunderstood the nature of your question Lynn and went off on a bunny trail of responding to something you didn't ask about. I do that a lot.

I stay busy mostly as a result of deals and committments I have made.

I spend a good 30 hours per month helping my landlord with his business web site (unrelated to anything here or Adsense). I spend another number of hours meeting the needs of existing clients but their money is not usually paid until 2-3 weeks after I do the work (last month was real slow so it got real tight financially).

I just moved into a new place and am still getting situated here.

I am presently spending every waking moment of my days and into the night teaching myself what I need to know to become successful in Adsense.

Yesterday I spent another 5-6 hours uncovering a few more niche markets...my aim is to find 15 before I start building web sites.

I spend a good hour or two watching some TV every night to unwind.

I think that realistically I am probably wasting time in there somewhere. So keeping a log of my time will be an eye opener probably. Which I will certainly do starting at noon today.

The above time description seems to leave me with tons of time still available. Not sure where all my time is going Lynn. I think I need to batten that down and figure it out.

I feel that I have no time but that may not actually be the case. Hmm...interesting.

Carlos

It was the same for me as far as not knowing for sure where my time was going, which is why I recommended the time log. It was a real eye opener, and shot me into hyper-productivity in under a week (something I'd been attempting for years!). It also made me realize that I was spending my most productive hours... doing the most unproductive tasks. Swapping that around was a real save in the long run.

Hmm...it's a bit unerving to be so open about what I am doing mainly because...well what I am doing may undermine my words and make what I say seem like only so much baloney but hey...I am in it to succeed and I am absolutely committed. Lack of money, guru or no guru, I don't care.

With God's help...I will find a way around every obstacle even if that obstacle is myself.

I do appreciate your all's input. Very much.

It's going to be interesting to see what my time analysis reveals. I start at noon.

Carlos

Knowing one's most productive time of the day is very important. For example, mid afternoon is one of my most unproductive times. I can sit at my desk thinking I am getting things done when in reality I may be "shuffling papers". Knowing this has allowed me to organize my day in a way that I do the work that requires the most concentration during my peak hours.

Another thing that can help is to set a limit on the amount of time in forums if in fact this is taking away from monetizing your business.

Carlos,

What's with the "guru or no guru" talk and the general mindset regarding "gurus". I assume you're referring to anyone who has succeeded at Internet Marketing and/or is willing to teach what they know with others?

I find it incongruent with your obvious core values & beliefs. I also think it may be a very unproductive mindset & thought process. I'd be interested to hear the source of this negative vibe.

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Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

Carlos,

What's with the "guru or no guru" talk and the general mindset regarding "gurus". I assume you're referring to anyone who has succeeded at Internet Marketing and/or is willing to teach what they know with others?

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Hmm...I guess I need to maybe develop a better mindset toward gurus. Because the guru I refer to is not just anybody who has succeeded in internet marketing and is willing to teach others.

The kind of guru I have in mind is someone who is in the business of selling hope. Trying to get others to think they have the key that will unlock the mysteries of internet marketing in a way that no one else will. Someone who doesn't much care for the real success or not of others other than themselves and who is in just for the money. Whose God is their money.

Not all gurus are like that Lynn. You obviously are not. I can think of some others who also are not.

Most gurus of the type I respect don't see themselves as neccessarily gurus but as regular persons who did extraordinary things.

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I find it incongruent with your obvious core values & beliefs. I also think it may be a very unproductive mindset & thought process. I'd be interested to hear the source of this negative vibe.

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I can see where that mindset is not a good one to have Lynn and incongruent with my core values and beliefs which dictate that I think the best of others whenever I can. I stand corrected and will try and change my attitude about gurus.

Thanks for pointing that out. If you see a bad attitude toward gurus cropping up again in what I say please feel free to call me on it.

As for where that came from...I am not entirely sure. I mean I've bought my fair share of guru material and it's all been relatively good. I guess I have been reacting more to the notion that one person can have a key that everyone else must pay for if they are going to be successful in their own right.

I think it would be helpful if I just stop referring to people as gurus. I don't think anyone is a guru. More knowledgeable perhaps. More capable perhaps. But everyone still puts their pants on like the rest of us do.

Carlos

Look up the real definition of guru - that might help.

I don't actually like the term or the reference, and don't call myself that.

We all have a choice of who we follow, what we read & listen to, and what we purchase. My advice is to avoid negativity - it's a major energy drain. And focus on yourself and your business - always moving forward.

From the other side of the fence ... a great frustration for many mentors is the fact that people will buy products, study a small portion and then move on to the next "information solution."

This is extremely common due to people looking for the magic bullet answer.

I think on both sides of the fence there are good and bad.

Okay...here's my time log for most of today.

From noon to 7:00 pm. Not looking very good I must admit.

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Meeting with landlord client to show him how to use FTP.
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Attempt to fix a computer problem using up system resources and slowing my computer down to a crawl.
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Worked with my client partner to teach him how to look for valuable keyword phrases so that he can better help me pick them.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Spent time on forums discussing various aspects of keyword phrase selection.
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Took a walk around the neighborhood with landlord to get exercise and to walk the dog.
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Answering forum posts.

The meeting between 1 and 2pm was paid time that could not be helped and not part of my Adsense deal to build 15 web sites.

Hmm...I mean all worthwhile but not entirely focused on what I want to accomplish. I think about the only place where I could have saved some time is not getting involved in various discussions on forums today. I was absolutely flooded with forum responses today. Partly because no one was responding to any yesterday so I posted all over the place on various forums and then got bombarded today.

I still have to set up some way of capturing traffic that is coming to my site. More work ahead of me tonight. And I have not even gotten to my client work that has to be done by October 9th but way before that if possible. I think I will have to postpone the capturing traffic bit and focus on my client work for a few hours instead.

Carlos

It's amazing what we learn about ourselves when we write things down. A turning point in my business was when I gave up face to face networking meetings in my local area. As I calculated the time it took to drive to a meeting, attend the meeting, network after and then drive back to my home based office, half my day was shot. And..... this is a biggie.... I wasn't getting any business in my local market.

So... I chose to let go of those things that did not serve to grow my online business.

Here's the thing for me. I am the primary bread winner in my family, I have lots of pets to feed, I enjoy a comfortable life, and that means there are some things I have to be willing to do and those that I have to be willing to give up.

It's really quite simple and yet, we can really complicate things.

Here is something I would highly recommend. Write down two things you can do tomorrow that are "must do's" to get closer to monetizing your business.

First thing in the morning DO NOT check email, check messages in forums, or do anything that will distract you from getting those two things done.

It is a discipline. We can find all the reasons why things are not working. Bottom line is no one is responsible for our success but us. However, others do contribute to our success.

It is essential to know who are positive influences and who are not.

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Originally Posted by KathleenGageSpeaker

First thing in the morning DO NOT check email, check messages in forums, or do anything that will distract you from getting those two things done.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I think the biggest benefit to this thread is that it holds me accountable before others for what I am doing. That's a good thing!

Tomorrow is another day. I will try again tomorrow to see if I can be more productive. Less forum involvement is definitely good. There is no need to do much more training of my client partner.

Training was not part of the Adsense deal I made with him and is not required of me. I just thought he could do some of the grunt work to helping me find 15 niche areas to target but it turned out that it was a bit more difficult for him to use the Adwords Keyword Tool and work effectively with it than I had thought so I think I will go back to doing it entirely on my own.

Carlos