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When does hard work and determination turn into delusion?

by moneyblogger1
13 replies
Hey warriors,

We all create and pursue projects that turn out to be duds. It's part of learning curve and developing as a business person....you have all head it "You need to fail forward."

My question to all of you is at what point do you know that you have a dud and it is time to move on? Certain number of hours put in? Money?

My personal situation is that I have worked on a project for close to 15 months, built a list, blog and a product. Invested a lot of my personal money and I have made very little sales. I am in a hyper-competitive market and I am concerned that it is going to take a lot more money to challenge my competitors.

I have had the sales letter re-written by a copywriter and the offer tweaked. I am now becoming hesitant about throwing more money and time at the project because I am seeing close to no results.

My personal struggle is that I do not want to quit on a project just because it has become difficult. However, I also owe it to my team, myself and to the business as a whole to identify "duds" and make the appropriate changes. I have the feeling that I may have screwed myself before I even started (A little lite on the market/niche research)

At the end of the day I just want to win. If I have to start from scratch in a new market I am fine with that. After 15 months of work I just want to start to make some kind of progress.

What are your thoughts? Any personal stories would be awesome.

Thanks

Brandon
#delusion #determination #hard #turn #work
  • Profile picture of the author jborjaperez
    Well I definitely respect you for working hard for 15 months. It seems you put in a lot of work. Does your product solve a problem? What do you offer that is better or unique compared to your competitors?

    Start working to add value to your customers, which come from your list I'm guessing. Obviously we all need to get paid.. But once we start making products for our customers and not for the money I think we create products that are worth more.

    Not to say that you provide crap! Just my take and of course my opinion.

    And sometimes, it's the SMALLEST adjustments to our mindset, to our business model, or product that makes or breaks success.

    "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein
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  • Profile picture of the author Sara Young
    I don't know about your current project, but for the future:

    1. Do better market research - that is very important.

    2. You might want to try this: Rather than spending lots of time and money on a project, do a little testing first. So if you are working on your own product, you might want to release something small first and see how it is accepted, and grow it slowly based on your results.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ashley Gable
      Like the others said, its good that you have stuck with it, but it may be time to move on. But that can only be decided by you...

      I think if you look at your business, your site, you will be able to see why it is that you are not making enough money. It may be all, or it may just be a few of the necessary components.

      For instance lets say that you know that your product is just as good as the others. Okay done, then that isnt your problem.

      Lets say again that you are getting plenty of traffic, then that isnt a problem.

      You need to go through each aspect like that. The internet marketing game is very simple, yet very hard, it is simple because there are only a few areas:

      That is something to offer (product), a way to offer it (sales letter) and the people to show it to (potential customer, traffic, market).

      If you can find out what your lacking, you will know what to work on. Lets say you cant find anything, than maybe it is just the market.

      So are you getting plenty of people looking at your sales page?
      Do you have a product that does what it says on the tin?
      Does your sales page successfully tell them what they want to hear?

      If so and you still arent getting any sales, then to me that is a dud. I am like you, I never give up with a product until it is almost 100% certain that it is a dud.

      Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author moneyblogger1
    Well here's another funny thing that I had overlooked....I am in the "get out of debt" niche. The funny thing about this niche is the more that they need my product the more likely the don't have the cash for it lol. How's that for market research lol
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    • Profile picture of the author Adam Nolan
      The moment hard work and determination turn into delusion is the moment you think hard work and determination will get you rich.

      Think smart, not hard. Figure out how to get paid first, then pay others to do the work for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author David McKee
      Originally Posted by moneyblogger1 View Post

      Well here's another funny thing that I had overlooked....I am in the "get out of debt" niche. The funny thing about this niche is the more that they need my product the more likely the don't have the cash for it lol. How's that for market research lol
      As others here have said - you may need to change just your approach, not all of the work you have already created.

      How could you position your products and services to people who are not necessarily "out of money" but are worried about it and want to take action now? That is what life-insurance and retirement investors do.

      How could you position your product like some of those "Survival" products out there that are now making a killing in this era of uncertainty?

      There are lots of things you can do to salvage some of the work you have done, but as many have said - you may need to do a paradigm shift.

      -David T. McKee
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      • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
        Try and get two minutes live and in person with some one who has actually sold millions of dollars worth of product. You can't afford to hire them for an hour but sometimes a 30 second conversation is all you need. I was fumbling around fixing a webpage when some one who really knew told me that was a waste of time as I had the wrong domain name!
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  • Profile picture of the author Zentech
    Like Kenny Rogers said, "you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

    Sounds like it might be time to fold this one and apply everything you've learned in the process to the next venture. Just like you said, "fail forward." It's painful, but don't waste time and money on cognitive dissonance:

    Cognitive dissonance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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    • Profile picture of the author Geoff A
      Originally Posted by Zentech View Post

      It's painful, but don't waste time and money on cognitive dissonance:

      Cognitive dissonance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      awesome! Good advice Zentech and thanks for the link. Interesting reading.

      The following is my opinion. Brandon there is a quote that goes something like "never change a winning strategy, but always change a losing one."

      I often find it helpful to acknowledge when something isn't working. Then I can change approach. This doesn't mean you have to change your goal necessarily.

      Although I new to IM, I have a lot of experience in the offline world. I think the same principles apply.
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      • Profile picture of the author DeadGuy
        A part of your initial work should be to test the market for feasibility before you jump in with both feet. A bit of prudent testing up front can save you gobs of time and money. It is quite easy to fall in love with a niche blindly, but this will usually lead to a situation like you have just described. Yep... take what you have learned from this one, divorce yourself from it and move on.
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        You are making this work at home stuff way harder than it is. Ready for some sanity? Clear your head and start over.

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        • Profile picture of the author xiaophil
          It sounds like you've already developed a great deal of value.

          If you feel at an impasse, instead of throwing it all away maybe consider refactoring.

          Break it down, identify the good bits and reassemble. Get something simple working and build from there.

          Be sure to have a good handle on your analytics - know where visitors are coming from, the keywords they use etc and then track the actions they take.

          Test, tweak, measure, adapt.

          I think success in this game is in a large part due to persistence and adaptation.

          Cheers,
          Phil
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        • Profile picture of the author moneyblogger1
          I think this is where I went wrong....I should have tested the market with smaller products, surveys and other forms of testing.

          I have learned my lesson I am still not sure exactly what I am going to do but I am close to figuring it out.

          Thanks for all the advice!

          Brandon

          Originally Posted by DeadGuy View Post

          A part of your initial work should be to test the market for feasibility before you jump in with both feet. A bit of prudent testing up front can save you gobs of time and money. It is quite easy to fall in love with a niche blindly, but this will usually lead to a situation like you have just described. Yep... take what you have learned from this one, divorce yourself from it and move on.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    If you still believe that the product has a chance of success with the right marketing and the right price, flip it on Flippa and let someone else take it to another level. You recoup at least some of your money (I don't know how much it is worth or how much you've invested in it).
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