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What Was Your Biggest Lesson From Last Year & How Are You Using It To Make This Year Better?

by Rod Cortez
24 replies
Warriors,

As we're already past the first quarter of 2011, I was thinking last night on some of last year's lessons (there were many) and how I'm using what I learned to help grow and maintain my businesses this year.

Last year I was dealing with some serious health issues and it forced me to outsource a few more things. Secondly, it forced me to take a closer look at how I set up my businesses. So far this year, I'm setting up all my businesses to be able to run without me, in case anything should happen to me.

I've also visited with a competent financial planner who had over 20 years experience to modify my life insurance needs as well as an estate-planning attorney to help me fully fund my revocable living trust (which is far superior to a will or living will). I'm almost there. I'm just planning for the worse case scenarios since I don't want to burden my family.

What was one of the biggest lessons for you, as a business owner, last year and how are you using that lesson to make this a better year for you?

RoD
#biggest #lesson #make #year
  • Profile picture of the author SimonJBell
    Not having enough options. More options = more opportunities if things don't go to plan
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    • Profile picture of the author JamesGw
      Originally Posted by spruzz View Post

      Not having enough options. More options = more opportunities if things don't go to plan
      This. It's never a good idea to put all of your skills and resources into one thing. If it does fail, then you're screwed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Promet Analyst
    bye bye Procrastinating/Procrastination.. when you feel like the timing is right and you've got the resources you need, nothing should stop you. this is my new mantra!
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    • Profile picture of the author dgoodhart
      make sure to have a contract and try to work with people who are close to you geographically
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    Networking. This business is all about networking with the right partners.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Brauer
    Know what you want... AND THEN....

    STOP caring whether you get it or not...(don't force anything, just let it happen naturally)

    In other words, let go of your desires to get that thing.

    Sounds odd, but since I've "let go" of my desires to make more money I've quadrupled my monthly income.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
    Trimming the fat.

    My nature is to want to try out new ideas. Unfortunately this can quickly fill my time.

    Sometime last year I realized that 20% of my activities accounted for 80% of my income (classic Pareto). So I've begun forcing myself to spend 80% of my time on the income producers and the 20% "play time" is my reward.

    An example: I'm learning the Amazon API to figure out how to do a specific task. Why? Because I'm a tinkerer. It's an afternoon, post-income thing now.

    I also unsubscribed from almost everyone and even the WF gets post-income-producing attention.

    This "do what matters most" mindset, along with specific written goals, is making a HUGE difference in my income this year.
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert Brauer
      Originally Posted by Kelly Verge View Post

      Trimming the fat.

      My nature is to want to try out new ideas. Unfortunately this can quickly fill my time.

      Sometime last year I realized that 20% of my activities accounted for 80% of my income (classic Pareto). So I've begun forcing myself to spend 80% of my time on the income producers and the 20% "play time" is my reward.

      An example: I'm learning the Amazon API to figure out how to do a specific task. Why? Because I'm a tinkerer. It's an afternoon, post-income thing now.

      I also unsubscribed from almost everyone and even the WF gets post-income-producing attention.

      This "do what matters most" mindset, along with specific written goals, is making a HUGE difference in my income this year.
      Completely AWESOME advice Kelly...

      Seriously, if you identify the 2 things that make you the most money and give the most value to others....really sit down and do this for how ever long it takes you...you will easily triple your income if you FOCUS on doing those 20% things...

      For more on this get Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Work Week (I'm sure most of you have already read it though!)..
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      • Profile picture of the author ShaneBoyd
        The biggest mistake I made last year was trying to do too many things at one time. I kept bouncing around from article marketing, to list building, to blogging...but I never really settled down and worked on one thing long enough to see it thru.

        This year, I've found a couple products I like a lot so I've built blogs around those two things alone.

        Also, I made a mindset shift. Instead of trying to make money online, I'm trying to help others succeed online...thus taking the focus off myself and on the prospect.

        Happy marketing,

        Shane
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        • Profile picture of the author Matt Morgan
          Don't just learn things without applying the lessons learnt, you have to apply them too.

          I think I learnt many of my lessons years ago, and I keep improving every year.

          Making contacts and using their skills 'or' assets to your advantage is somthing you should learn and apply.
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        • Profile picture of the author srumsley
          Originally Posted by ShaneBoyd View Post

          The biggest mistake I made last year was trying to do too many things at one time. I kept bouncing around from article marketing, to list building, to blogging...but I never really settled down and worked on one thing long enough to see it thru.

          This year, I've found a couple products I like a lot so I've built blogs around those two things alone.

          Also, I made a mindset shift. Instead of trying to make money online, I'm trying to help others succeed online...thus taking the focus off myself and on the prospect.

          Happy marketing,

          Shane
          I too suffered last year from being a pinball and bouncing around too much. Yes, sticking with one thing and seeing it through is wise advice, but many times it was not the ideal method for my own situation. Now I am very selective what I put my time into!
          Sue
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  • Profile picture of the author kharyreynolds
    My biggest lesson was to make the most of everyday and not waste time because the year goes by extremely fast!! :-)

    There is so much stuff to do and so many things that I want to accomplish, I really have dedicated 2011 to being "dialed in" to my goals and tracking all of my time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bradley J Anderson
    Trying to handle too many projects at once. Gotta learn to outsource more.
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    • Profile picture of the author BoDarville
      This is SUCH a great question.

      I learned a valuable lesson last year - one that has literally cost me, or rather, lost me, hundreds of thousands of dollars. I've learned to not do business with "that guy".

      "That guy" will lie, cheat, steal, and sell his momma to make a buck. "That guy" has the most gifted silver tongue of any creature to ever walk the planet. "That guy" will look you right in the eye and tell you a bald faced lie and before it's all done you will believe you were the first one to tell him. "That guy" will always be the victim - only the victim, never the reason - never the cause. People suing him? "That guy" moans about how much he tried to help them. The IRS says he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars because his off-shore tax haven investment is illegal? "That guy" will only say it was looked into by 3 other attorney's and 2 accountants and it seemed perfectly okay. Have a stellar reputation that you're protective of? "That guy" does give a rats back end.

      There's more to "That guy" ... but you probably know, or maybe have had a "That guy" in your past ... I certainly hope not.

      So that's my biggest lesson learned from last year. Never, ever, do business with "That guy" ... and though it's hard to see the signs, they are there... 20/20 hindsight opened my eyes - but my eyes should have been open all along.
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  • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
    Learning and implementing the idea of creating leverage-able assets. Being a product creator allows you to be 10X the affiliate than what you can do without your own products.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

      Being a product creator allows you to be 10X the affiliate than what you can do without your own products.

      Please explain this part,

      do you mean that 'other' affiliates can blast your products out?

      or if not, how does it make you be an affiliate 10x as big? compared to if you Dont have your own product?
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      • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
        Originally Posted by entry View Post


        Please explain this part,

        do you mean that 'other' affiliates can blast your products out?

        or if not, how does it make you be an affiliate 10x as big? compared to if you Dont have your own product?
        Right, leveraging other affiliates, as well as the fact that with low-ticket products, you can build a buyers list instead of just a 'lookers' list.
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        • Profile picture of the author entry
          Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

          Right, leveraging other affiliates, as well as the fact that with low-ticket products, you can build a buyers list instead of just a 'lookers' list.
          Low end ticket products?

          What price range do you price these low ticket products at?

          what do you find works best?


          {as I was planning to do this model soon}
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          I Have to say a Massive...THANK YOU to every Warrior who has helped me, and thanks to every warrior who helps me in the future...
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          • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
            Originally Posted by entry View Post

            Low end ticket products?

            What price range do you price these low ticket products at?

            what do you find works best?


            {as I was planning to do this model soon}
            $7, $12, $17.

            Then cheap membership sites are money as well. $9/month, $19/month. Stuff like that.
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            • Profile picture of the author entry
              Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

              $7, $12, $17.

              Then cheap membership sites are money as well. $9/month, $19/month. Stuff like that.
              What have you found gets you more sales, a $7 product VS it being priced for $17 ?

              $7 or $17 for the same product?
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              I Have to say a Massive...THANK YOU to every Warrior who has helped me, and thanks to every warrior who helps me in the future...
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  • Profile picture of the author misterkailo
    spent the whole year working on AdSense sites, and this year they were all banned.

    This year, I do not put all my eggs in one basket
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    Limited Spots Left... How to Generate 150+ Leads Daily And Earn $3000-6000 Per Sale Without Talking To Anyone
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  • Profile picture of the author NateC
    Letting go of the things that aren't helping me reach my goals. Prioritizing my time to make make the most of it and then just going for it. Dropping the "dead weight" is such a relief and I get a lot more done.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreelanceScribe
    This is my wake up call:
    Setting up a SYSTEM that focuses on what I want to achieve, including a daily "to-do" list that I will stick to, then track my progress.

    Whats out: Stop being the ball in a pin ball machine, bouncing around in every possible direction. The main part of this is to stop downloading yet more "learning" or "interesting" info and to stop buying or acquiring yet more "possibilities" that I don't have the time to either evaluate or implement. Stop reading emails that send me off on yet another tangent. It got to the stage where I kept forgetting what I had acquired. My real wake-up call came when I ended up buying the same product twice because I had forgotten that I already had it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Thank you everyone for your answers because I was genuinely interested. I see some common themes in the thread so far:

    * Focusing on one thing at a time and not taking on too many projects at once.
    * Quite buying the newest, latest infoproduct and start taking more action.
    * Not putting all your eggs in one basket.
    * "Timming the fat" (Good one Kelly).
    * Setting up a system for success.

    I'm really enjoying the discussion. Keep 'em coming.

    RoD
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