Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today!

mikemcmillan · 10-17-2009, 10:13 AM

So what's your biggest obstacle to making money online? No traffic? Poor conversions? No list? No product of your own? No education?

The Correct Answer: None of these!

Suppose we had the power wave a magic wand and somehow take away the business of the top 25 Internet marketers. All of a sudden they had no business and they were forced to go into another line of work. Here is my theory...

Within 6 months they would all be running some other kind of successful business in the off-line world. And they would be successful not because they are that much smarter than you or me. No, not at all. They would be successful in another line of work for one basic reason. They have learned how to manage their time effectively.

When they say that they have put in an 8-hour day, they mean that they have worked (time on task) and actually been highly productive for eight hours a day. How about you?

If you had a way to chart the actual time out of an eight hour work day, how many minutes out of that eight hours were actually devoted, in total, to tasks DIRECTLY related to making money online?

Take out the time you spent emailing friends, posting nonsense on Twitter or Facebook, playing online games, watching the latest YouTube vids, reading forum posts for hours on end, and checking your stats every 5 minutes on Clickbank hoping for a sale.

What I'm talking about is actual time devoted directly to earning money. I'm putting myself in this boat with you, and my guess is that you would be just as surprised as I am at how small that actual number of minutes is.

Confession: The inefficient use of time is my own worst enemy when it comes to making money online. But I understand this foible of mine and I work hard to overcome it. Here is one technique I have found very useful. Check it out if you wish and maybe it will give you some ideas.

Essentially, what I did was to create a template, sort of a planning page that I use to focus my energies and funnel them into only productive work patterns. I'm not saying that this is perfect--I still waste time, but a lot less than I used to.

Anyway, below is a link to a PDF file showing the template I developed as well as a few pages showing how I use it. You could print it out and use it if you wish, but more likely you might look at it and develop some kind of take off on it that is more suited to your own needs.

The key point is to focus your energies only into those activities that are actually related to generating money online. This template helps me and it is my hope that it might at least give you some ideas.

P.S. There is no opt-in. There is no info on any products or promotional stuff inside. No affiliate links or any B.S.--it's just a file with my own time management template for you to check out. Hope maybe it is useful and can be of some help to you. The domain the file is loaded on is not being used to sell anything--it's sitting empty. It's free--don't look for any ulterior motives--there are none.

http://www.extremeselfpublishing.com...r-planning.pdf

My Best, Mike

Jill Carpenter · 10-17-2009, 11:51 AM

OMG! You have no idea how timely this is.

I just shot a bunch of videos yesterday, to realize I just need to calendar chart out my current missions and was working on this today (just hadn't started it yet, lol, because I have no schedule of things to do today designed)

This will be a great start. Going to print up some and add some of my own.

Thanks for starting the fire under my arse today!

Jill

TLTheLiberator · 10-17-2009, 11:56 AM

You're right inefficient management of time is a killer for most people who are not making any money - or enough money.

Part timers & full timers can use this pdf to help them move forward.

TL

MichaelAppleton · 10-17-2009, 12:30 PM

Great post, thank you very much Mike.

Mark Bradley · 10-17-2009, 12:40 PM

Thanks very much Mike,much appreciated.Regards,Mark.

Jill Carpenter · 11-29-2009, 07:22 AM

I know this thread has been here a while, but I needed to download this again today and I think this may help some other people here who are not aware it exists.

Thanks again to Mike.

Don Schenk · 11-29-2009, 09:08 AM

Oh drat! Here I am reading the WF again instead of working. :-)

Mike, that is well done and well written. I guess I will have to add "reading the WF" as a daily activity.

:-Don

scrofford · 11-29-2009, 09:46 AM

Thanks Mike! I will use this! My time management hasn't been the best.

Andyhenry · 11-29-2009, 09:55 AM

Wise words.

I don't use anything such as your template - but I do coach myself everyday to look at my activities and see whether they are in line with what I'm expecting to get from them and whether I've missed something important in my plans.

Thanks for sharing.

Jacer · 11-29-2009, 11:39 AM

Great advise. My first 6 months in marketing online was a complete failure. Looking back, my lack of success was directly related to lack of actual effort. Many people think they can just create a landing page, drive ppc, and make money. I spend 10% of my time working on the actual business, and the other 90% like you said, chatting online, playing games, surfing forums, and looking for other ways to make money. If I would have made a plan, and spent more of my time working the plan, instead of giving up and moving on to the next "idea", I would have found success much sooner.

Joe Walter · 11-29-2009, 05:46 PM

Thank you

Aaron H · 11-29-2009, 06:40 PM

Couldn’t agree more, also think a big part of the time management problem is losing momentum, in my day job I manage the company websites but because I’m the only person in the workshop office I get all the site to site phone calls from sales checking up on delivery schedules etc which totally breaks my chain of thought and focus.

But at home if I say I’m going to work for 3 hours I work for 3 hours solid, no distractions, nothing, sometimes getting so engrossed in what I’m doing I work for longer than planned.

Also think Mike is totally right in that there is no ‘best’ time management solution for the majority of people, I’d also add situations.

At work I have to use a flexible solution because of the amount of different day to day jobs, or interruptions like losing 4 hours for a meeting which has been sprung on me same day. At home I use something very visual and target based because I have one clear goal made up of set procedures so it’s a case of how fast can I reach that end goal. Yet on the other hand my boss thinks Gantt charts should be used for everything from large scale company projects to scratching your backside, they might work for him but I can’t work with them.

One thing I think that is missing is to factor in free time. I usually say to myself if I’ve worked hard during the week I can spend the weekend doing what I want. For too long I’d spend my nights reading the odd WSO, visiting Facebook and then feel guilty about going out training on my bike or going down the pub with my mates at the weekend because I’d not accomplished anything during the week. At least now I get to the weekend and I think to myself I actually deserve the time off, then it comes round to Monday and I’m hungry to start work again. Rather than feeling burnt out and disappointed after an endless succession of poor to mediocre efforts.

10-17-2009, 10:13 AM	#1
mikemcmillan Mike McMillan War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: MI Posts: 1,302 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 861 Thanked 1,019 Times in 389 Posts Social Networking	Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! So what's your biggest obstacle to making money online? No traffic? Poor conversions? No list? No product of your own? No education? The Correct Answer: None of these! Suppose we had the power wave a magic wand and somehow take away the business of the top 25 Internet marketers. All of a sudden they had no business and they were forced to go into another line of work. Here is my theory... Within 6 months they would all be running some other kind of successful business in the off-line world. And they would be successful not because they are that much smarter than you or me. No, not at all. They would be successful in another line of work for one basic reason. They have learned how to manage their time effectively. When they say that they have put in an 8-hour day, they mean that they have worked (time on task) and actually been highly productive for eight hours a day. How about you? If you had a way to chart the actual time out of an eight hour work day, how many minutes out of that eight hours were actually devoted, in total, to tasks DIRECTLY related to making money online? Take out the time you spent emailing friends, posting nonsense on Twitter or Facebook, playing online games, watching the latest YouTube vids, reading forum posts for hours on end, and checking your stats every 5 minutes on Clickbank hoping for a sale. What I'm talking about is actual time devoted directly to earning money. I'm putting myself in this boat with you, and my guess is that you would be just as surprised as I am at how small that actual number of minutes is. Confession: The inefficient use of time is my own worst enemy when it comes to making money online. But I understand this foible of mine and I work hard to overcome it. Here is one technique I have found very useful. Check it out if you wish and maybe it will give you some ideas. Essentially, what I did was to create a template, sort of a planning page that I use to focus my energies and funnel them into only productive work patterns. I'm not saying that this is perfect--I still waste time, but a lot less than I used to. Anyway, below is a link to a PDF file showing the template I developed as well as a few pages showing how I use it. You could print it out and use it if you wish, but more likely you might look at it and develop some kind of take off on it that is more suited to your own needs. The key point is to focus your energies only into those activities that are actually related to generating money online. This template helps me and it is my hope that it might at least give you some ideas. P.S. There is no opt-in. There is no info on any products or promotional stuff inside. No affiliate links or any B.S.--it's just a file with my own time management template for you to check out. Hope maybe it is useful and can be of some help to you. The domain the file is loaded on is not being used to sell anything--it's sitting empty. It's free--don't look for any ulterior motives--there are none. http://www.extremeselfpublishing.com...r-planning.pdf My Best, Mike

10-17-2009, 11:51 AM	#2
Jill Carpenter aka Avenuegirl War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Right where I want to be... Posts: 5,424 Blog Entries: 23 Thanks: 1,337 Thanked 1,872 Times in 1,079 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! OMG! You have no idea how timely this is. I just shot a bunch of videos yesterday, to realize I just need to calendar chart out my current missions and was working on this today (just hadn't started it yet, lol, because I have no schedule of things to do today designed) This will be a great start. Going to print up some and add some of my own. Thanks for starting the fire under my arse today! Jill
	IS YOUR WORDPRESS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE INVISIBLE? And more about Jill Carpenter and life on Nantucket [Designer Wanted] Click Here For Details

10-17-2009, 11:56 AM	#3
TLTheLiberator Please get a net biz plan War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: , , USA. Posts: 1,428 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 1,109 Thanked 559 Times in 427 Posts	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! You're right inefficient management of time is a killer for most people who are not making any money - or enough money. Part timers & full timers can use this pdf to help them move forward. TL

10-17-2009, 12:30 PM	#4
MichaelAppleton Forever a newbie :) War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Dorset, UK Posts: 246 Thanks: 7 Thanked 48 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Great post, thank you very much Mike.

10-17-2009, 12:40 PM	#5
Mark Bradley HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Braveheart Country Posts: 171 Thanks: 24 Thanked 31 Times in 28 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Thanks very much Mike,much appreciated.Regards,Mark.

11-29-2009, 07:22 AM	#6
Jill Carpenter aka Avenuegirl War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Right where I want to be... Posts: 5,424 Blog Entries: 23 Thanks: 1,337 Thanked 1,872 Times in 1,079 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! I know this thread has been here a while, but I needed to download this again today and I think this may help some other people here who are not aware it exists. Thanks again to Mike.
	IS YOUR WORDPRESS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE INVISIBLE? And more about Jill Carpenter and life on Nantucket [Designer Wanted] Click Here For Details Last edited by Jill Carpenter; 11-29-2009 at 07:25 AM. Reason: Especially with the holiday season upon us.*

11-29-2009, 09:08 AM	#7
Don Schenk Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cincinnati, OH and beautiful Park City, UT Posts: 1,649 Thanks: 775 Thanked 495 Times in 335 Posts	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Oh drat! Here I am reading the WF again instead of working. :-) Mike, that is well done and well written. I guess I will have to add "reading the WF" as a daily activity. :-Don
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11-29-2009, 09:46 AM	#8
scrofford Steve Crofford War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Marysville, Wa Posts: 1,778 Thanks: 557 Thanked 275 Times in 207 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Thanks Mike! I will use this! My time management hasn't been the best.
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11-29-2009, 09:55 AM	#9
Andyhenry Beware - Straight Talker War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 9,263 Blog Entries: 25 Thanks: 1,180 Thanked 4,492 Times in 1,497 Posts Social Networking	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Wise words. I don't use anything such as your template - but I do coach myself everyday to look at my activities and see whether they are in line with what I'm expecting to get from them and whether I've missed something important in my plans. Thanks for sharing.
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11-29-2009, 11:39 AM	#10
Jacer Offline Marketer War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 501 Thanks: 59 Thanked 123 Times in 78 Posts Contact Info	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Great advise. My first 6 months in marketing online was a complete failure. Looking back, my lack of success was directly related to lack of actual effort. Many people think they can just create a landing page, drive ppc, and make money. I spend 10% of my time working on the actual business, and the other 90% like you said, chatting online, playing games, surfing forums, and looking for other ways to make money. If I would have made a plan, and spent more of my time working the plan, instead of giving up and moving on to the next "idea", I would have found success much sooner.

11-29-2009, 05:46 PM	#11
Joe Walter Super Duper Affiliate War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 396 Thanks: 121 Thanked 59 Times in 25 Posts Social Networking	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Thank you

11-29-2009, 06:40 PM	#12
Aaron H HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: UK Posts: 107 Thanks: 21 Thanked 61 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Solve your biggest obstacle in Internet marketing today! Couldn’t agree more, also think a big part of the time management problem is losing momentum, in my day job I manage the company websites but because I’m the only person in the workshop office I get all the site to site phone calls from sales checking up on delivery schedules etc which totally breaks my chain of thought and focus. But at home if I say I’m going to work for 3 hours I work for 3 hours solid, no distractions, nothing, sometimes getting so engrossed in what I’m doing I work for longer than planned. Also think Mike is totally right in that there is no ‘best’ time management solution for the majority of people, I’d also add situations. At work I have to use a flexible solution because of the amount of different day to day jobs, or interruptions like losing 4 hours for a meeting which has been sprung on me same day. At home I use something very visual and target based because I have one clear goal made up of set procedures so it’s a case of how fast can I reach that end goal. Yet on the other hand my boss thinks Gantt charts should be used for everything from large scale company projects to scratching your backside, they might work for him but I can’t work with them. One thing I think that is missing is to factor in free time. I usually say to myself if I’ve worked hard during the week I can spend the weekend doing what I want. For too long I’d spend my nights reading the odd WSO, visiting Facebook and then feel guilty about going out training on my bike or going down the pub with my mates at the weekend because I’d not accomplished anything during the week. At least now I get to the weekend and I think to myself I actually deserve the time off, then it comes round to Monday and I’m hungry to start work again. Rather than feeling burnt out and disappointed after an endless succession of poor to mediocre efforts.