Does anyone around here actually want to build a BUSINESS???

Good points here. It's better to build a sustainable business where you provide quality to your customers over the latest hyped push button scam method. In the end you will most likely end up right where you were even if you do end up making some money.

When you have nothing much in hand, you build your bank account first. To a certain extend when you have something in hand, you start to build your business.

I think you're talking about two different groups of people, for the most part. Those with a viable business aren't doing a lot of jumping from shiny object to shiny object. Those without a viable business are trying to figure out how to build one.

I remember a manager back in my corporate days who was incredibly skilled at jumping from one new thing to the next, without ever actually finishing anything. And he was smart enough to get away with it for about 18 months before he was terminated.

He'd put together a proposal for either increasing revenue or substantially reducing costs, give a terrific presentation, get the funds allocated and then...nothing. Oh sure, he'd get the ball rolling, but before you knew it, he was on to something else.

He actually got a hell of a promotion for his efforts, although he'd literally produced nothing at all. What he really excelled at was marketing himself...and short-term that work well for him, but long-term...he marketed himself right out of a cherry senior management position.

For me, this jumping around bit equates to someone trying to monetize every breath they take and ending up on oxygen at the end of the day.

When is the last time you saw a successful offline business reinventing itself every couple of weeks or months? Doesn't happen in the real world and it's a formula for failure online.

I've tried to impress upon members here over the years to make whatever they're doing today, count for something down the road. To make a plan and stick to it without focusing so much on short term gains that there's nothing left 5 or ten years from now.

I tend to take a look at some of the next big things out there, solely for the purpose of determining if it's a good fit for my business model, what the ROI will be and factor in any hits we'll take getting it implemented. 99% of the time...we take a pass on it.

We pass on it because it doesn't fit our plans, our budget, or it's going to distract us needlessly. Since our model is working so well for us, we're not going to arbitrarily break it just because some new is on the horizon.

The biggest problem is that these folks don't know how to start a business, because they've never had one, have no business management experience and they're relying on the next big thing to take care of that for them. Invariably, that fails to happen so they're off to the next one.

Building a sustainable business takes years, a willingness to sacrifice, work diligently at it and most of all patience while you're learning how to do it. Unfortunately, too many marketers want instant satisfaction, so they're probably better off just playing lotto.

I think the hardest part is changing your habits.

One can slowly build a business even if they spend a couple of hours everyday.

The trouble with "quick" methods is that they still take time and skill to implement. It only looks easy from the outside.

I guess it's a matter of understanding how things works as well as having a certain mindset.

For instance, lots of opportunities are sold with something like "you won't have to answer emails or talk to anyone".

Well, in reality the fastest way you can grow your business is by talking to a lot of people.

Personally, I'm definitely looking at the long term. Even though sometimes it means doing things I really don't want to do.

My purpose in life is too powerful - I just have to grow my empire, with the Lord's blessing of course.

yes. absolutely! I think many of us already have that one thing ..that is our business, but...I, for one explore multiple streams of incomes. Many of whom will not, or do not, need my full attention. Set it up and let it run. So are we all out for for the next big thing? Why not?

When I first started I did jump around a lot as I was learning new things and experimenting, trying to find something that worked. Once I finally started making enough money to pay the bills I began to focus more on what worked for me and now focus mainly on replicating past success.

Moving forward I will stick with what is working for me but at the same time keep an ear to the ground. I am open to new ideas and new methods of making money online. If I see a business model that looks good to me and I believe I can make it work, I have no problem spending some of my time trying that out. For me, that is a way not to put all of my eggs in one basket. I have done that before and been burned. I personally prefer to have multiple income streams in case some unforeseen change, such as the panda update, potentially undoing all of my past efforts.

Also, in the business that we are in, things are constantly changing. So I think it is important to grow and adapt. The most important thing though is to do something and see it through. Trying to cash in on the "next big thing" every other week isn't going to work imho. But critically evaluating your own knowledge and skills and looking for new places where you can apply them makes a lot of sense to me.

There also may be a difference of overall thinking.

One person may have a tendency to start what they finish (ie they eat one thing on their dinner plate at a time).

The other person flitters back and forth, always coming up with a different venture. They tend to not finish what they start, but dabble (ie they eat a little at a time from each thing on the plate).

I agree 100%

Thats anthoer reason why alot of people are not
making the type money they were hoping to.

Lack Of Focus is big time reason why most marketers
don't hit there goals

Hey Jeremy,

I think there are several aspects to this.

People go through stages and depending on where they start from and how clear they are about their goals they take different jouneys along the way.

As an example:

When I started out in IM (late 90's) I was still in the military and looking to create an income that I could manage from home. My main goal was to be able to pay the bills working from home. This is just another form of job and I was happy with that at the time because I just wanted to be able to work from home and because I was married was also thinking that if necessary I could look after the children when we had some (I was thinking long term ).

So - when I started there wasn't really that much information about successful online marketing and things like Adsense hadn't even been created so I just wanted to make enough money to not need a 'normal' job.

Well, as things often do, things changed. I left the military, got divorced and ended up with $100k of debt and not able to see a way out of it.

At that point - everything changed. I went into desperation mode and jumped from one thing to the next just looking for something I could get good at and be able to pay my debts with.

Needless to say this emotional phase suffers from lack of logic and sense and meant that while I did make some money alright I wasn't doing things that I was passionate about, so as soon as I was making enough money for the stress of the debts to ease off I started looking for 'better' ways to make money that I also enjoyed rather than it just being about making money.

So, with that little bit of slack to think and plan I effectively started from scratch again and focused on using relationships/JVs and membership sites to build a steady residual income. Fortunately by this point I'd tested just about every IM strategy around and was thinking about who I was helping and how much I wanted to make rather than whether I could make anything or not.

With a little help from Adsense and some focused projects I paid off the $100k.

With the debt gone - again everything changed and I stood back and thought that now I wanted to revise my plan and not be so focused on money but more on how to help people. This is when I seriously started doing offline marketing. I'd always helped people but I considered it a side effect of being technical and web savvy rather than a business, so as soon as I took it seriously I almost instantly got a nice boost to my income which is still going to this day.

Along the way I've also started a software company which is soon to be bought out and been working with my best friend and brother on things we enjoy that also have money making potential.

So, while I still come here and I still do IM, I'm not trying to use IM to secure my future and I do it mainly because I enjoy it and I like helping others. So I've stopped doing many things which were making money and still do for others just because it's not how I want to spend my time.

Maybe I'm not normal, but it's taken me over 10 years in IM to get to the point where I don't care so much about the details as I do about the WHY when doing IM projects.

I'm not trying to 'build a business' and I'm not jumping from one thing to the next either - I just do what I want when I want if I believe it will help others.

So - may that makes me in a 3rd category

Andy

Jeremy S,

One of the things you mentioned was "Focus". And you hit the nail on the head IMO. Without it this 68 year old "Old Geezer" would be trying to live off of my wife's and my social security. Oh wait I lied, I won't be 68 until tomorrow.

I'm not saying focus to the point where you lose sight of the important things of life, but to where you get to the point of making something work for you.

Like Andy Henry I found myself focusing on a relationship that I could really learn from and also be able to help the one I developed the relationship with. Without doing it that way I would still be making an occasional dollar here and there; instead of running a really strong business.

Most brick and mortar business have all their eggs in one basket and would very likely fail if they didn't. However, the internet gives us the ability to have more than one basket and more than 1 egg. But by focusing on each of those eggs and the 1 basket at a time, it enables me to build a very solid business foundation.

Everyone has their own method and style, but "Focus" will enhance any method and style they are using.

Ken Leatherman


The Old Geezer

The great thing about learning though is that when you start to learn multiple methods fast by reading and skimming over as many reports as you can, you become able to find new sources of traffic that are for the most part untapped.

One original idea could mean millions!!!!

Far too many people think that they can get rich with absolutely no work or effort at all. They don't care about longevity and they won't make it far.

Trouble is there are so many different methods and people preach to say they have the best method that it's understandable that people jump between them.

Good advice none the less

I’m building a business from the beginning. However, in the beginning of my online adventures I was ignorant, I made many mistakes, I had to face many problems, etc.

Anyhow, now I learned my lessons, I improved my methods, and everything is working fine.

However, I don’t have enough traffic, and I face a fierce competition from too many very strong competitors. And, my main field is not internet marketing, but mental health.

If I had enough traffic, and if I could easily beat all the competition, everything would be wonderful.

But…

You need to know yourself and do what you love, otherwise it's just another job.

To me, if what I'm doing is not sincerely helping another person, it's not worth my
time or effort.

Angela

Focusing on the long-term goal of building a business is important. Trying to find the next big thing should still be done. It just shouldn't overshadow the main idea that no matter what you're actually doing, you still should be working towards building a biz.

I prefer to be more solo when it comes to business.

With the way the economy is today some of us are looking to quickly get some cash in the bank. And it can take time to build a business online. It requires money to really have your business grow.

Personally I am working on growing a local SEO business. I make money on affiliate programs, CPA and Adsense, but it's a lot of work. SEO is work, but I can outsource just about all of it.

I think if you are always using every dime you earn online you are going to always be working really hard to make that money. If possible, it's better to save as much as you can to buy software programs, (those that do not require a monthly fee) and outsourcing your work.

I'm at the point where I can enjoy outsourcing my work, but I still do have to work online. I just don't have to break a sweat doing it.


Chrisi

So much good advice in this thread. Building a business requires a focused plan, dedicated action toward the plan, continued tweaking. Nothing wrong with evaluating new products to compliment your efforts, but if you spread yourself to thin, it quickly all becomes a waste of time.

WOW!

Just checked this back and didnt expect so much interest!

I like what you'll are saying, but I'd also like YOU to tell me what type of person you are.

So maybe something like:

Type: Business or Different Methods

Why?

Success Rate?

Future plans?

Just because I focus on my business doesn't mean "that's the only way."

I want some guys to come in here and prove me wrong! Show me that YOU bounce around from method to method and BANK $$$$$$!!!

Lets hear it!!

Its crazy cause I just had a post like this earlier today! I have been focusing more on my bank account then actually building a sustainable business until now. Instead of focusing on fad products that are temporarily popular I'm leveraging short term trends in my niche for long term benefits. This means building a LIST! a fad may come and go but you will always have customers if you concentrate on strategy and diving into your niche from the right angle

more about focusing on building a list. Once I did that It changed my whole world and I was able to quit my job.

I actually posted a thread on this very topic a few days ago.

==> http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-big-list.html

Great post Jeremy. I always think of the analogy of making fire (equivalent to making money online) by focusing the sun rays on a paper using a magnifying glass. For you to light the paper, all you need to do is to focus on one point in the paper, but instead many get bored and start fiddling with different spots undoing all the hard work/momentum they had built to that point.

Similarly to be successful- focus and patience are two essential attributes.

I am interested in innovation... so I keep an ear to the ground for new things.

Those that "hop" from thing to thing, without making significant money, have not yet learned to control their emotional response to manipulative copy and outrageous claims... its a hard habit to kick.

It really comes down to three schools...

1. Those who buy on impulse and emotion and never really do anything of substance.

2. Affiliate marketers.

3. Product and service providers.

The emotional slaves not even have a business to work on... sure they might have registered a business name or entity... but they have not yet matured to the point that they are building anything of value.

Affiliate marketers who are truly building a business are the ones buying up and developing virtual real estate. These are innovators... many times they are testing and coming up with new strategies because the field is always changing.

Affiliate marketers depend on product and service creators or they would not have a business. Product and service creators run various levels of business but only a few are building substantial assets that have exponential market potential. Those that provide services with finite resources such as graphic designers and writers are dependent on finite resources... the time they or their employees can put in producing. Their only hope for retirement is smart saving and investing.

Physical product creators can expand into manufacturing and service providers can hire on and expand. Additionally if they expand into education and info publishing they have the potential for building virtual real estate and branding with significant value and exponential growth potential.

What is amazing about info publishing, digital software, and software as a service... fixed or relatively fixed costs, exponential growth potential, and the ability to create extremely valuable virtual real estate.

We share our offices with another tech company... a couple years ago the company went into default and was taken over by its investors (talking about an 8 figure investment). The company's initial business model was a failure partly due to mismanagement and it had no value. One man, a developer was recruited to help save the company, he branched into a new market, created a new software as a service based product, and used his connections in the health industry to get the ears of some of the biggest companies in the US. He found out what the health industries problems were, what the current shortcommings of the competition was, and identified unmet needs. He then began pitching solutions that could meet those needs and landed contracts with exponential growth potential.

Last year that company had a valuation of 0 meaning their stock was worthless after professional valuations required by the FTC.

Currently the company is nearing another valuation... the market cap could reach as high as 1 billion.

Why? Because 1 man had a vision and had a couple outsourced developers help him develop it and he was able to pitch the right people in a market where the companies are under the constraints of being required by the US government to make massive changes (due to health care legislations) and they needed vendors with vision and software products to fill their needs.

I participate in the software, info publishing, software as a service, and occasionally affiliate marketing worlds...

By far the most valuable pieces of real estate are my software as a service businesses.

If you want to build a company with 8 and 9 figure potential or more... think software as a service.

The company that I was just talking about that has 10 figure valuation potential... that is at less than $1 per user per month. Their market reach right now with their current pending contracts is in the tens of millions.

I also would describe companies like Facebook and Youtube as software as a service providers...

There are so many potential income streams when you build virtual real estate with real value.

Now back to your initial post... you are brand spanking new here... and yes there is a lot of chatter amoung people who are checking out this and that and all these new strategies...

That is because in the warrior forum most members are still relatively new to this business and are still looking for that inspiration or testing and trying things trying to find direction.

Additionally by nature the businesses we discuss here are in constant flux due to changes in technology, regulation, algorythms etc... thus we are always paying attention to new innovation and looking for new opportunities.

That is different though then those who I first mentioned who do not really have a real business, have no product or serivce, have no end in mind, have no goals... for them the warrior forum is like an all you can eat buffet and they have not eaten for a week.

All the smells and colors have them distracted and they've piled their plates too high.

First I want to find something that works and that I am interested in. Then I will turn it into a business. Even then it's still good to check out new things and ideas

I agree 100%. But some people only want to make a quick buck and aren't interested in the long haul.

ME!

A business is long-term but it builds up slower than the quick methods do. Both have their merits, but I prefer the long term benefits that a business can grant.

I plan to build a business. I will be forming an LLC in the next few weeks. I just decided on a name, bought the domain, and created a logo. I'm in this for the long term, will be launching my first product shortly. Then it's: tweak, adjust, rinse, repeat. I'm trying to build a brand now, instead of just making a quick buck. I'll always have side projects, but I'm after that brand.

Makes sense to take the long term approach.