Does It EVER Get EASIER?!?

1.) Meditation. Some people might roll their eyes when reading this but it really has helped me a lot...not just to deal with stress but to quiet your mind when you need, to focus better and have a higher level of concentration (which ultimately results in getting more stuff done in less time, which again results in a reduced amount of stress etc.)

If you want to go this route, set yourself some time aside every day. For example, meditate 30 minutes every day at the same time ALWAYS! (if you do it at random times, you'll soon see like you start letting things slide and ultimately give up on it completely)

2.) Sounds weird, but it's starting to work for me: polyphasic sleeping. I always liked the idea to reduce the amount of total sleep I "needed" (8 hours) to something that's still a healthy amount but enough to make room for more "awake" time.

In case you have dealt with this stuff before, I tried Uberman for 3 weeks (2hrs sleep a day) but didn't find it sustainable in the long run, now I'm on Everyman 3 (4h 40mins total sleep per day) and so far it's working out well for me. I still have the occasional oversleep from time to time but hey, getting that extra 3h 20 mins every day is invaluable!

3.) I'm still trying to figure that out as well. Agreed, these kind of interviews do seem to be more about myself than my business so I didn't take the plunge so far.

How on earth do you meditate for 30 minutes each day, and justify doing that instead of sleep? No disrespect, everyone has their things.. that just isn't for me lol.

As for the more time for you, I meant more of a life outside of business. Not just for sleep, but for friends, family, a hobby or something.

Read the 4 hour work week and learn to cut out the fat.. The 80/20 rule, Be a Master of it and you will be like the One Eyed Man in the Land of the Blind..

The One Eyed Man is King there

You know you often say you 'do it all yourself' and you are justifiably proud of that, however if you had other people doing the time consuming parts for you, you'd instantly have more time to either do exactly the stuff you loved and likely excel at, or to have some 'me ' time.

Now that would mean you'd not be taking home the same amount of $$$ that you are at present as you'd have more outlay, but think about that for a minute, maybe that bit of math isn't quite that obvious after all, you'd be freer to do what you really love doing and that is likely to be (at least where the business is concerned) winning the business and upselling the existing client base so you may end up being better off outsourcing.

I'm sure you know your metrics, cost per client, LTV etc etc , they have to be enough to cover the extra costs of outsourcing, I am happier outsourcing, making less profits per deal but having valuable me time, I know my limits, my strengths, my weaknesses, my desires for how to spend X amount of time, and I strategise accordingly.

You can always make an extra $1000, you can never get back those 5 hours you just spent on a problematical issue that you could (should) have outsourced 2 days ago.

Re the interview, only do them if you control whats involved and where they will be 'aired and shared' , get it in legally binding agreement, it would be about 'you' as you are the business (at present) , but pre agree the questions (most of them) so it is about what you want to talk about and not full of potholes.

Hi Nathan,

You are inherently a workaholic, it takes one to know one. You have to understand that taking a mental break is extremely helpful to your business. It's when you let go and think about just enjoying life, that some of your best ideas and solutions to some of the issues you are facing, will come to you easily.

You are a control freak, again it takes one to know one. This is a good trait to have, you want what's best for your customers. Through taking time to relax with friends and family you'll, you subconsciously find it becomes easier to relinquish some control to your staff. We are in an economic downturn, so you should be able to find qualified people easily. You may want to look in to hiring someone recently retired(AARP,etc.), for an assistant. You know the type, worked as an administrative assistant for years, knows how to use the computer, and because of their age has lots of mother wit/common sense, just enough of an edge not to take any sh*t, competent with a sense of humor.

As far as interviews, give them if you have the time. Maybe they are interested in you, just remember, you are your business. Keeping your name and the name of your business out there is extremely important. You do marketing everyday, and you can't see this? How much would your clients have to pay for the kind of exposure you are being offered? Just pick and choose wisely.

A 10 or 20 minute walk or jog is also a great substitute for smokes, and great way to relieve stress, clear the mind, and prepare you for more empire building. Just get up from your desk and walk in the area for 10 minutes out and 10 minutes back. If you don't take care of you, your empire building will be for naught.

Building an empire can be fun and frustrating, that's what drives you. You are not simply building a business, you are seriously out to conquer the world. If it was smooth sailing, you'd get bored and move on to something else. Am I right?

Just be sure to keep in mind that it's fun to build it and make money, but in the end the only thing of value you can take with you, when all is said and done, is LOVE.

Digichik

P.S. Stop stressing on every little detail, the insurance, permits, remodeling, etc., all will work out. Don't you know you you have super powers? You have 'heart'(fearlessness), a golden gift of gab, and common sense, you can't fail. So relax and keep building.

You are in growth mode still. So it will not slow down for you. No matter how many experts or employees you hire to handle things, you will be buried by work.

The bright side is that now you are starting to work ON your business instead of IN it. The employees will help you with business tasks, but you still have to be the leader and handle all the "stuff." You are experiencing the fact that being an entrepreneur is the loneliest job on earth sometimes.

My biggest question is: Do you have enough CASH on hand to be expanding like this? To minimize your chances of failure it is important to have plenty of capital to carry you until you get things ironed out. I have seen growth kill a business. I'm not trying to discourage you...you can do this! Just make sure your ambition isn't your own worst enemy.

This where it important to never hire amateurs. You should only need to train them on things that are specific to your business. There is a war going on for talented employees. One of the greatest frustrations for managers right now is lack of skilled workers.

It CAN get easier. You have to make sure to create systems into your business so that things begin to happen by default. For example, when you hire your receptionist, don't just tell her what to do. Create systems of work for her to handle daily. Don't let her just figure it out because it will never be right and when she leaves...you have to go through it all again.

Every time you add an employee, your task is to download some of your work to them in a way that is scalable and repeatable. Remember those words in everything...."scalable and repeatable."

Stress will make you die much younger than you should. It is a serious problem. And smoking will not help, it will only mask it and make things worse.

Think about what a smoke break does for you though. It gives you a mini-break to clear your mind and relax. You should be taking mini-breaks and relax...just don't add the smoke. Take a quick walk or cue up some music you love each morning...then once an hour totally rock out to one of the songs. It helps!

I know a guy who owns six jets and walks are his thing. If he is having a conversation with someone he says "let's talk about it while we walk" and then you head out with him to walk around the building and alleyways for a few minutes. He does it on the phone and in person.

I got up at 4am today...like usual. So, I know what you mean. I've learned this, every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after. Go to bed early. I used to say "I'm not a morning person" but have now learned that my body works much better. When you stay up late working, it just makes you exhausted in the morning. If you go to bed early...no matter what...then you can get up early and actually have energy to tackle the day. Then you can take a power-nap in the afternoon and you are ready to go again. Trust me...re-align your schedule and you will be happier.

This is something that successful people in corporate life have had to learn. I am assuming you haven't had to live that life so you never had that habit forced on you. Now you are getting there in your own business and if you adjust, you will feel much better.

In any given day...there are a MILLION things that you COULD do. If you use the 80/20 rule...I even use the 90/10 most of the time...you can cut all the clutter out.

Focus on the 20% of things that lead you to your goal. Many people manage time by only doing things that are the most urgent, but that just puts you into panic mode each day. Instead, do the things that are most IMPORTANT to your GOALS. This way, your business can grow, you can reach your goals, and you aren't in panic mode all the time.

This is where it is important to have enough cash on hand. You can push the schedule out a little. Turn down the intensity some. Trust me, right now you are operating at too high a level. Long-term you can't keep it up and you will crash. You should only operate at that level for very short bursts on specific tasks. You should not be building your business on that sort of foundation, or you will burn out.

You only live once and you might as well go for it. But...you only live once and each day is precious. Your relationships are precious. Remember, YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR A REASON...probably so that you can enjoy life more. So, take the time to enjoy life right now while it is passing you by.

Man, prevalent's advice is really good. Extremely good.

What I learned in a previous business I had was that 3k a week with a life is 10,000 times better than 100k a month with the hassle of employees, tremendous overhead and no life.

It is all about balance.

It all really starts with where YOU want to be both financially and in life.

Lots of times "ramping up" the business, while it may provide a tremendous increase in income, after all the numbers are crunched, doesn't provide a great deal of additional PROFIT. Certainly not enough to justify all the additional headaches and relationship sacrifices.

I would much rather be debt free and have 2-3k a week of income that I can produce from anywhere, anytime, as long as I have a laptop and an internet connection.

Don't forget why you probably decided to quit working for someone else. Freedom.

Don't become a different kind of slave.

...just some thoughts from someone who has been there.

First, one comment about workaholics. My general feeling is most people who talk about workaholics are just jealous. Workaholics generally love what they are doing unlike many other people with jobs or a business to run ... it is not a job to them.

The Four Hour Workweek as mentioned above was the first thing that came to mind. Another excellent resource is Work the System by Sam Carpenter:

Work The System Academy (no affiliate links.)

He talks about the things in his book and autoresponder sequence that a lot of us have done: 80+ hour workweeks, the stress of running a business, not making enough money, not time for friends and family, etc., etc., etc.

The general theme is people who are working too much don't have systems in place to deal with the day to day business. It is easier to talk about than do it though.

Marvin

1) I don't get stressed. How? I remember that the worst case isn't that bad.

I grew up on welfare. So I know if I lost everything I could still live and being poor isn't that bad. In many ways it is better than lower middle class.

I have sales and management skills. In a service based economy these are always needed. I know I could get a job paying $30 to $40k minimum within a month. Likely faster.

I literally know that the two worst cases are not that bad. The only thing that would really suck would be losing my vette and I can always buy another in a few years if that happens.

So to get over the stress I really suggest you take the time and think about the worst case. If everything fell apart where would you be? How fast could you recover? You'll see it isn't that bad and you would recover quickly. Once you see that there is no reason to stress anymore.

2. The most valuable thing you have is time. You can always make more money. You can always buy more "things". You can always do more work. But you can never gain back time.

So you have to decide for yourself what is important in your life and what to spend you time on. If you don't have enough "free" time you simply need to make it a priority.

You are in control. Even more so because you own your business.

Remember you build a business and not a job (with you I truly believe this where the vast majority on this forum merely build jobs). If you need to hire more people or outsource more to free up your personal time you can do that and I know that you know how to do that. I fear right now you are letting things seem bigger and harder than they really are. Go back to #1 and think about the worst case. You know it's not that bad so don't stress.

For yourself please do me a favor today. Take 1 hour and do the following.
a. Figure up what your ideal week looks like. Example: My personal ideal week would be working 10 to 4 Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri with a one to two hour lunch each day. Not working till 10 would allow me to get more sleep. Getting off at 4 would allow me to spend time with my family. Wed off would get me a day for personal business so my weekends would be free.

b. Map out your current "week" based on averages as you remember them from the last month or two. Be honest with yourself.

c. How many hours do you need to eliminate to get from where you are now to your ideal?

d. Once you have that you now simply have to figure out which tasks/time wasters you can eliminate and delegate currently. Tomorrow you will do that.

e. Now whatever you have left that you can't delegate and eliminate right away you need to make a plan of how to create a job(s) to handle that.

f. Jan 31, 2013 Goal: Have hired employee(s) needed to free your time.

g. Mach 31, 2013 Goal: Employee(s) full trained and your "current" week should be no more than 110% of what your ideal week is.

Remember when you delegate tasks keep the ones you like and are best at (hopefully they are the same) for yourself. If you are best at selling hire a manager to run the business. If you are best at doing the web design hire a sales person. Etc and Etc.

Your goal should be that if you got sick tomorrow that the business could survive without you. This is good for a number of reasons including giving you the time you want for yourself.

3. When it comes to promotion you have to step back and think not of you vs. your business but rather the benefit is worth the loss of time.

Example: A warrior wants you to do an hour long interview. This is likely not a good use of your time since you are not marketing to your fellow warriors.

Example 2: You are asked to do an interview for an online business magazine. This might be worth your time.

Example 3: Local newspaper asks to do an interview. This is clearly worth your time.

The more your target audience is likely to see it the more reason to do it.

On the specific question of promoting yourself vs your business the answer is that you need to promote yourself but make sure to bring your business into it. Watch some of Steve Jobs interviews. He always talks about "we" and "apple" vs talking about himself. You can be the face of your business.

Nameless you are one of posters on this offline forum that is universally respected. The reason for that is you have build a real business and offer real world advice. Everything I said above you know. I didn't offer anything new to you. What I hope I did above was give you a reminder. And that is something we all need from time to time.

Look up Sam Carpenter and his book Work the System. He also regularly writes on his blog.

I wish I had this problem!

iAmNameLess, what kind of business do you run?

Clearly Defined Goals; That is what reduces stress, actually meeting those goals
reduces it to the point of almost non existence.

Doubling completion times will help with project management.
If your used to saying "will be complete in 30 days." Change it to 90 days or 6 months.

That alone will help tremendously. You can now bring in 3 to 4 times the amount of new bizz
without getting bogged down.

You need an assistant. actually depending on how much you micro manage, you may need
two or three. I don't mean a VA, i mean real world.

You also need to understand what it is your looking to do.

Are you building a baby or a business?

A business or an empire?

Is this business to be handed down to your children, or are you planning
on selling it ?

These are just a few things you need to know, because how you answer, really
gives you a indication of how to build it.

Not to mention, your answers are your goal, and now you have a way to track
progress, another stress reliever. Measuring the success of your company strictly
by money is a recipe for failure.

As far as does it ever get easier, well that totally depends on your long term goals
and how you built the business in the first place.

IMHO, this is the time for you to find your self a Mentor.
I don't mean some internet guru. I mean a friend, a confidant, someone
who has built a successful business, some one you can implicitly trust.

If you have some one telling you where all the pitfalls are as you go along
it will save you YEARS of learning.

To find some one like that is tough.

-- Edit

I forgot to mention. Exit strategy.

Its all part of the goals, and having a clear cut, "what do i do if it all goes to hell" plan

Is super important, and almost never discussed.

Just MAKE time for your family or favorite hobby. Believe it or not target shooting is a stress reliever for me. I love taking my rifle out to shoot 600 yards. It takes my mind off my projects for a little while allowing me to focus on ANOTHER thing I love to do.



Find another thing you love to do (spend time with family, golf, shooting, hiking etc) and MAKE time for it. If you don't, it's easy to get overwhealmed.

People want to hear YOUR story, not your company's story.

They want to relate to you, and the story.

When they feel they know you, it's a lot easier for them to buy from you. This is why those interviews are important. Also, you can use them as leadgen tools.

I find myself working too much, day job and then at home; waking up after a couple hours of sleep and working in the middle of the night...

Delegating and throttling tasks is probably the best thing to do. Saying "2 hours on this and no more today." Having someone else do a task (yes I know, it's hard to find reliable, quality, skilled help).

For throttling, I've found that every time I've carved out "fun time" or "family time" in my schedule, somehow the thing I was pushing off the schedule got done some other time. My fear that it wouldn't get done was unjustified.

But I also think that effort is something we can't really escape; we want the results, and this is part of the price.

go to the gym to release stress.
i actually bought p90x and insanity and i do one before i start my day
and the other before sleep.
the morning workout wakes me up and gives me energy and the night one puts me right to sleep. lol. is a tough workout but makes you sweat all the stress right out

Not to derail or detract from IAN's thread, but I just wanted to thank him for starting this and everyone for replying. I don't have a successful marketing business yet, but I am a workaholic that has recently become debt free by ramping up my workaholism over the past year and a half in my own offline service to consumer business. Ramping up in such a way has resulted in a ton of regularly scheduled clients that I'm now stuck with in my regular schedule, and it is killing me to keep working at this pace, and my wife as well (we work together). I've got to scale back now, and there have been some really valuable insights in this thread. Thanks!

I feel you man. That's why I'm semi-retired at this point. It gets to be a lot. It doesn't really ever get easier. You just get better at juggling if that makes sense. Things slow down so to speak. The biggest thing that helps is hiring the right people. I was the CMO for a $20 million per year internet marketing company for a few years as well as running my own business for a time. I went through a few people before getting the right mix in there. Don't get me wrong, I was still in everything bouncing between work, teaching/training, and dealing with petty junk. But, hiring the right people to keep things on track help a ton. That way you don't do everything.

Seriously, about the stress thing. I was doing this while also having 2 small children. And at one point I remember the economy first going south. There I am speaking at a state of the company meeting with 50 people intently watching ME to see if they would lose their job. I had heard all of the rumors. And they all wanted to know how I was going to allow them to feed their families. I've never felt a heavier load than in that moment. So, some of the stuff I did for stress was I would setup my time so that I only answered emails at certain times in the day. I would do phone calls at a time I could go for a walk. I would walk at a fast pace and talk. When the calls were done I had walked about a mile or two. Lots of exercise helps. I would also take breaks all throughout the day at 2 hour intervals and just spend 15 minutes doing something completely focused on something else. Like playing solitaire or I would play angry birds, etc. Just something to completely take my mind off of work. My mind hyper focuses so I would give it something sort of mindless to focus on. Tried relaxation and stuff like that and would just end up stressing over work. The 80/20 rule was mentioned earlier on here. That's the best thing any marketer will ever know. That is what I live my life by.

The best thing I ever learned was that if I stepped away for a couple of hours of me time it would all still be there when I came back. And the only way to learn to trust the people you hire is to let them do their thing more and more. Does that make sense? When they realize they are going to have to figure it out rather than come to you for the answer they do. It's almost like raising kids. If you give them the answer they will keep coming back. If you make them figure it out they will screw up. But, they will also learn to do it themselves. (I do this in small steps so the damage is minimal)

Promote yourself. You seem pretty young. I'm not old but nearly 40. When you start getting older most people just can't keep it up. You get burned out easier and easier. By promoting you as the brand you make it easier to make bigger money. I didn't promote me in the beginning. Most of my peers that I started with when I started PPC are fully retired now. I should be too. I'm working on that now. You are the brand. If you are getting interview opportunities and all that you should take it. Even though you might not like it you are in a position to get into teaching and doing other things. You might not do it now but don't prevent it in the future. It's a great way to slow down your pace when you do get burned out later on. The knowledge you are gaining through all of this is invaluable. I remember having to deal with the FCC and Attorney General over compliance issues. Pure beating. However, the experience you gain from this stuff is something that most people will never deal with. It's an opportunity for you to teach others. You might not see it now but there will likely come a time later on that you will. Build up your brand now.

Sorry for the novel. I've been in your position and it's very stressful. You definitely have your head on straight about it from reading most of your posts on here. You'll do fine. Just don't forget that your health comes first. Mentally and physically. I've had health problems due to stress over the last couple of years directly as a result of pushing too hard. Don't learn the hard way like I did.

For stress I too would recommend meditation but 30 minutes is too much I think. I actually just started reading 8 minute meditation by Victor Davich. It seems to be working and I actually look forward to being able to meditate for 8 minutes a day. If you don't have 8 minutes in a day to yourself, you're doing something wrong lol.

Also, I would recommend L-theanine for reducing your stress. You can get it online or at any store that has a vitamin section. They come in capsule form and I take 2 100mg capsules 3 times a day. It's a natural stress reducer.

Hope that helps.

I've been down your road, about 3 years ago. We were about to move into our lease, 4th of July weekend - right on the harbor, overlooking the water. Then they had a pipe break on the 3rd level and flooded ONLY our space. Took an additional 4 months before we could move in!

We were moving offices, from $600/mo. to $3800/mo.

But to answer your questions specifically:

1) When I leave the office, I'm done. That's how I deal with stress. When I had a J.O.B. I did the same thing - people thought I was seriously 2 people. But that's how I deal with it. I'll check emails (and respond) via Iphone when I get home, but once I'm home, I try not to jump on my home computer/laptop - and really focus on doing other things. Gives my mind a break from "work", which usually ends up benefiting me, because I'll get ideas from non-work related activities.

2) Same as above. Let it go, seriously. Having said that, you HAVE TO build SYSTEMS and PROCESSES. I've had a few very wealthy mentors and how they run their businesses are all the same: they could step away and the "core" of their business would continue to run without them. You need to start thinking about how your company will function if you're not there. If it will fall apart, then you need to hire bodies to fill those gaps so you can step away.

Example:
When I moved into our larger office, I was still mainly doing the work. But it was getting to be just too much. So I hired one of the best guys doing work for a Inc. 500 SEO company. He was an account rep there for high-end clients. I didn't have to train him at all, he came in, I gave him all the clients I was managing and he was off to the races. Even when giving him all those clients to manage, he was only at 50% capacity, as he was managing a lot more clients at his last job.

That free'd up my time to work on sales and put together better systems for executing work for clients.

3) I'd figure out if they're a good fit. A great example of this is James Schramko. He runs a very profitable SEO business ($3-7mil range). He automates EVERYTHING. Has a team of over 80 people overseas.

Here are 2 great interviews he did recently that talk about scaling up:
3 Stages To Managing A Powerful, Virtual Team With James Schramko
How To Double Your Business Every Year With James Schramko

His main business website is: SuperFastBusiness with James Schramko

He's a great guy to follow. And if you check out his "Media" section, you'll see that he does lots of interviews.

Lastly to answer #3, promoting yourself and your brand is all fine-and-dandy, but make sure you have your systems for sales growth and processes for fulfillment on orders in place - and by that I mean you're completely out of the picture from the sales calls to getting order to banging the CC to production to finish product/service.

I've been having a hard time scaling up. However, I will be persistent.

I think #1 and #2 kind of go together. You have to be able to get some time away from the business. If you don't, you probably should have an assistant to dump stuff on - one that works in your office. When you are in the office, it might be good to try to keep work at the office, so when you go home you will be able to get away from it.

Voasi is right, you have to get the thing running so you can get away for even a day or two.
Hiring good people is key.
#3 - not sure, but I would promote the business, not myself.

I don't think a bigger company makes things easier or less stressful. To me, the stress becomes worse because the little easy problems get handled by staff and the big lame problems come to you.

Also, think about what your reason to grow is. I've done it and family has done it where you grow and grow and grow, but you really aren't making more profit, you are creating jobs and helping people. But if profit is what you are after, you need to make sure that the growth is creating profit and not just a bunch of extra work.

If you are selling a product like a book, it's about you. You are always more interesting than your business.
If you are being interviewed by a potential hire, or a potential client, it's always about your business.

I do a lot of interviews. The interesting parts are always personal. But if it's a business interview? The question is What do the readers or listeners want to know? Usually it's not really about me or my business. It's about giving them advice about their business.

Seriously, to me working ALL the time is a sign of delusional escape from reality, into a world you can control or influence. It's a form of mental disorder. Hey it beats gambling, drugs or alcohol addictions, and as entrepreneurs we all know 40 hours week ain't for us, but there's got to be a payout, otherwise you just become an hamster spinning a bigger wheel. What's the point in that? You think all those weeks you found ways to work just a bit more is what will matter most to you on your death bed?

Making time for friends and family is easy: put it in your schedule. Simple as that! Unless a mega huge opportunity comes, you treat these "appointments" as immovable objects in your week. You'll find you don't need to put that much in, and they really add up over time.

If you don't select the most business productive hours, and leave these "personal appointments" open ended, not only will you enjoy it all more, but it will make all your hours you put in building your empire worthwhile instead of an escape from reality. What's the point of climbing your ladder, even if you own it, if you find out years later you put it against the wrong wall?

I write all this as I'm guilty of it too. But I do plan to work like a maniac to be financially free, not as way of life. I can be unbalanced towards work for a few years if the end game is freedom. I find most workaholics I've known just escape other parts of their lives into something they can control more and miss out on life.


And I hear you about the lease, insurance, phone lines, etc. Arrrrghh. I partnered up for a few months earlier this year with two guys that had two offices one next to another. So they took care of many of these details for me, and helped lower cost and not be stuck in a long term lease. While it was a learning experience, it was a failure, no doubt. Thing is, I don't need an office, but man do employees - and potential employees- seem to need one!

Seeing my Dad's fortune get reduced 50% to 75% over the past 4 to 5 years, I would advise you to:

1) Get a pre-nup if you marry. Do not compromise here.
2) There's as many rags-to-riches stories as there is riches-to-rags stories. It's about what you keep, not what you make.

It took Dad about 15 years before he "relaxed" -- just traveling 2-3 days a week and working 60-70 hours a week. He decided to sell out instead of take the next step of getting venture capital investment to ramp up into a larger operation.

Good luck.

Ahhh... This is the reason I always question my business model or new business and think "Is this going to give me the life I want? Does it match with the lifestyle I crave?"...

I often find myself considering business ideas where I would need to hire people at some point... And maybe a lot people... And I feel unsure.

I like having my own business, but what I like more is my freedom.
I like to take it easy one day if I can... Or work one morning and then leave for an appointment or lunch with a friend...and call it a day if I can.

Yes, it might be a dream...it might appear as if I don't want to work...but I do.
I work a lot. But I also give myself time to breathe and be happy. It's called balance right?

So...even now...as I'm contemplating new adventures...I'm thinking - will this lock me in? Will this cut my wings?

So all this to say - I get what you're saying. I hope you're still having fun and you're happy through it all...cause the money won't be worth it if you don't.

I'd rather keep a 100k revenue a year and be happy....that build a million dollar business and lose my head.

All the best to you!

Hey Nameless,

Well, I'm actually new to this, but I have some ropes for you I think.

1) I do HIIT training (running). Pushups and pullups as well. It makes me feel much better. Of course, my biggest love, dry red wine for Friday or sturdy (and salted peanuts...). Ohh... and I eat low carb diet during the week. Sugar makes me stupid.

2) There is only one way to make more time... you have to buy it. For example, if your hour is worth $100, then every job which is worth less than that, you outsource to employees (these are Ben Feldman's rules...). I'm planning to get retired at 35, after 4 years to be exact, so I have told my closest fellows that I will push hard for now (my girlfriend understands that).

3) Both at the same time. I have now web marketing agency (almost like yours). Monday starting selling completely new service (new website, new product and new brand...a lot of work for this weekend!), and maybe in February I will start my marketing blog (for fun and a little of personal branding). I will stick my name mostly to personal marketing blog. The rest of my brands must be open for easy sale if that time will come.

Regarding clients. I will take anyone if they pay. Of course, they will get what they paid for. And there is always a lot of stuff on oDesk or other sites.

And... there is a manager or team leader post which may come handy Just like Dan Kennedy said, if you want to grove your business... you have to pass some control to others, even if they can't make job as good as yours.

Hope that helps

Awesome responses in hear. Love your threads also nameles.. good luck!

If you really want a high stress, highly exciting business with
growing overheads that you have to meet every month or
every week then continue in the direction you're in.

I'm not being sarcastic...many people really love this kind of life.


I have to say though that when I decided I was going to back
in business over a decade ago I looked at my past businesses
and made a conscious decision that:

# I would not have employees on a payroll.

# I would have minimal overheads...no commercial rent, no stock,
no expensive infrastructure or equipment.

# I would not be bound to someone else's time structure. In other
words I wouldn't have a business where I had to be there at 9 o'clock
in the morning and stay to run the business to 5pm or later etc etc.


You can use the resources you have now to make great money and
fit all of those criteria above.

The key is instead of doing the work yourself you simply joint venture
with someone you know who will do an excellent job.

You should be able to take 50% upfront and 10%-25% of ongoing fees.

No risk and your time will be free to do the most valuable thing...find
and build relationships with new clients.

Ideally you want to pass the day to day management of the client on
so that you're only time input is maintaining a relationship with them and
make sure things are going well.

If they're not going well it may be time to find another joint venture
partner.

There's also the possibility for you of making many different upsells
for different services from different people you joint venture with.

You can make money this way from a whole pile of services you
would never provide yourself...even with employees.

And the business owners you deal with will benefit from the huge
diversity of services you can recommend.

It's a different way of thinking about business but one that can
free you up immensely.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

prevalents advice is extremely good

What a wonderful thread!

I am also in same situation as OP described. Lot of stress, full time office and
employees on Payroll... and I have to do all the work and have made most mistakes
which have been posted above...

i.e. Have not built systems and having more employees have not freed my time but
increase overhead and stress. I have to rethink my approach.

Thank you Warriors for great advice in this thread.

Mohsin

Exercise. You may think I'm joking, but exercise has prevented me from making A LOT of rash decisions in life.

Exercise stops you from overresponding to stressful situations. You shake them off much easier. It stops you from drifting off into dark black "mental pits". You feel a lot more optimistic in general. For me it clears my head and makes me a much more effective person overall.

Exercise was something I started a loooong time ago. When I was going through the most stressful time of my life (being behind bars). I also smoked back then too. But exercise is the only habit that has lasted untill this day. Why? Because its the only habit that is truely effective. Along with eating tons of veggies everyday. Veggies are known to reduce stress by keeping blood sugar, cortisol, adrenaline and hormones balanced.

So my 3 honest recommendations:

1) Run/jog (having an ipod full of your favorite music makes it 100times easier)
2) Lift weights or start doing calisthenics.
3) Saturate your diet with 4-5 servings of fresh veggies a day. Cut out hormone saturated meats, and more than ANYTHING, CUT OUT SUGAR.

For the coffee drinkers who need lots of sugar in their coffee, KNOCK IT OFF.
I'm not joking. I was getting adrenal stress tests done for 2 years and when I took coffee out of my diet, my adrenals began to function a lot better. I also felt a lot healthier too. But it was more the sugar causing damage than the caffiene.

If you need a true, relaxed form of energy. Exercise will do it for you.
If you want to take it 1 step further, this is the concotion I take every morning:

Its a blended mix of:

celery
carrots
broccli
cucumber
orange
apple
2 bananas
berries
stevia
2000mg l-tyrosine (converts into beta endorphins, gives you energy but only when mixed with vitamin b-6)
1000mg l-taurine (this is the good stuff they put in red bull, its actually good for you but expensive)
1000mg l-theanine (this has a potent relaxing effect, forgot why but it works great and its good for you)
100mg vitamin b-6
2 teaspoons of macca root (this has an effect like caffiene but without any strungout feeling. I got interested in this when I took some and noticed the hair on my body growing much longer the next day. Then I read that macca root balances hormones. So I still take it till this day. Even if it doesn't really balance hormones, its great for energy).


That concoction is a lot healtheir for you, and will give you a relaxed, but powerful stream of energy throughout the day.

I still DO NOT recommend taking supplements without proper diet. Otherwise people get dependent on the supplements for energy and skip important meals like breakfast. Or their eating gets worse and the supplements lose effectiveness. Just realize that virtually all supplements, vitamins and drugs will lose effectiveness in the body w/out food. This is why coffee works much better when you're in the habit of actually eating breakfast. When you're in the habit of skipping breakfast, it won't do much of anything for you.

If you still get tempted to smoke, like I do, I keep commit lozenges around. I bought about 10 bottles a long time ago at a flee market. They were $1 each. I must have bought them about 6 years ago. And from time to time I'll still chew on one when I get stressed out. I still try my best however to get through the cravings, and rarely use them anymore today.

Its important to realize that there is no such thing as a "stress free" life. When I became a healthier person, I just wound up exposing myself to more stress in response. Because I could deal with it better. And although I can deal with it better now, I take on a lot more overall. So stress is neverending.

However, if I stopped exercising and stopped eating well, you'd see me become REALLY stressed out and I'd wind up regressing back into a less productive lifestyle overall.

-Red

red


great reminder.. thank you

I had been a competitive bodybuilder for most of my adult life and the training every morning 6 days a week combined with good cardio allowed me to deal with exactly what your saying with regards to stress.

you make better decisions, etc

now about 6 years ago I slipped into this state where I began to just focus on business and now without my training I gained 60 pounds and am in the worst shape of my life.

never had this problem with over eating before BUT you just reminded me that like you said we all have stress and we all need to funnel this stress somehow

some people begin to drink, smoke, drugs, whatever... BUT exercising is a positive form of funneling this and I am now back in that mind set of training 6 days a week.. in the mornings at 5:00am BEFORE the family wakes up and BEFORE I even touch the computer.

you know part of that morning success ritual besides reminding myself of all the things that I am grateful for.

I hope to get back in a decent shape to begin the px90 system.. LOL

have to do this first thing in the morning.

this sets my day in a positive frame of mind

best this year to you and your family

eddie

Hey, i think you need to have someone to guide you about how to scale things.

Some basic advise would be:
- Get yourself organised
- Make list of things that your requirement is must
- See what all can be outsourced
- Search for the best deals available for the work you are offering
- Prepare templates of how work would be offered
- Get some reputed vendors who could do your job, train as per your req.
- Outsource the work and enjoy

Your mindset as an internet marketer should be - spend as much time as possible in things which will make money.

Hope this advise helps.