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Are you being pulled in ten different directions at once?

by Mantasmo
14 replies
Today I spoke to two very good friends of mine (both do IM full time). Two very similar conversations.

They told me that they fear they might be losing it. Profits are down. They feel like they've been working hard for months and months, but aren't getting the results they desire. They both work on multiple projects (too many) at the same time.

I know them quite well. Both guys work loads - 14 hour days, six days per week. They're both relatively successful (make more than a very good 9-5 job pays). I honestly think that at least one of them will soon quit IM and go back to a "day job", just to ease the stress and anxiety that IM is causing. It makes me feel sad, so I try to provide advice and support, but there's only so much I can do really... maybe it's for the best?

Okay so my point is (and this is what I told them):

1. Focus on one or two things and do them well.
2. Find and do something that makes you money every single day, pays your bills and other expenses. This is important. Stability is good. Do not stop doing it (whatever it may be that pays your bills) until you're rich.

Having a regular income source is very important. It relieves stress and lets you focus better on bigger projects. It is also something that many semi-successful IMers overlook.

Working on too many projects will bring slow/poor results. This will cause confusion and over-thinking. Then you'll start getting stressed and feeling uncertain about the future. Procrastination kicks in. Aaaaaand your IM career is over.

I've seen this happen to many good people over the last couple years, and it's a real shame.
#anxiety #directions #job #marketing #money #pulled #stress #ten
  • Profile picture of the author Jwil1025
    Also consider doing some one on one training.. Sure it can cost a bit but the time that can be saved getting you to your goals can be reduced dramatically..

    Up to the individual, but i recommend it..

    Jeremy
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  • Profile picture of the author Daret
    Focus is the key area here

    If they focus on a few things, they would be able to excel on those much faster

    Also, in Internet Marketing, it is important to keep updating oneself about the latest developments so spending 1 hour daily on this would also be important

    one more thing - If they write down their goals, it helps in bringing more clarity to where they are going with respect to the goals they would have set..
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    • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
      Originally Posted by Jwil1025 View Post

      Also consider doing some one on one training.. Sure it can cost a bit but the time that can be saved getting you to your goals can be reduced dramatically..

      Up to the individual, but i recommend it..
      That's a very interesting point, and something I haven't thought about before. I guess that's exactly what "life coaches" do. Good idea, though it might not be for them (I'll suggest it anyway).

      Originally Posted by Daret View Post

      Focus is the key area here

      If they focus on a few things, they would be able to excel on those much faster
      Definitely, but as we both know that it's easier said than done.

      I was in a similar situation myself (some time ago now), but I managed to focus my attention to one thing and really work it. Now things are good. Thing is, I have no idea how I did it.

      Also, in Internet Marketing, it is important to keep updating oneself about the latest developments so spending 1 hour daily on this would also be important
      At one point I completely stopped following what my competitors were doing and just focused on growing the biz. It worked. Depending on what area of IM you're in, it might not be necessary to try and keep up with the latest developments.

      one more thing - If they write down their goals, it helps in bringing more clarity to where they are going with respect to the goals they would have set..
      Yep. I have one of those sticky whiteboard things on a wall with the whole year planned out. It's just there to remind me where I'm going. I just couldn't focus until I got this done.
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  • Profile picture of the author hotwebwords
    Originally Posted by bnetwork View Post


    1. Focus on one or two things and do them well.
    2. Find and do something that makes you money every single day, pays your bills and other expenses. This is important. Stability is good. Do not stop doing it (whatever it may be that pays your bills) until you're rich.

    Having a regular income source is very important. It relieves stress and lets you focus better on bigger projects. It is also something that many semi-successful IMers overlook.

    Working on too many projects will bring slow/poor results. This will cause confusion and over-thinking. Then you'll start getting stressed and feeling uncertain about the future. Procrastination kicks in. Aaaaaand your IM career is over.
    The Warrior Forum is ridiculously packed with life saving advice. I have seen plenty of Warriors say to FOCUS (follow one course until successful) but I guess this was the time I heard it and it really stuck. I am downright terrible at doing too much...

    And that becomes doing too little...

    So thanks for the kick in the pants that gets me to really follow a successful course before burnout. I have been in business for over half a decade and doing too much, then too little from the overwhelm has led me to reboot my whole business to start over (in a sense) for the better.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    The Rule of Three:

    Two the same, one different.

    IMO, you should be working on three projects at once. Two of them should be roughly the same, so if one of them fails the other might succeed. The third should be different, so if the entire IDEA of the other two is flawed, it still might succeed.

    Currently, I am working on two traditional infoproducts: one on writing books, and one on creating products. But I am also working on a Facebook game, just in case both infoproducts fall flat. If I get burned out on a project, I can easily turn to another one.

    But while working on one project, I only work on that project, and do not try to multitask it with other projects. I focus solely on the one project I'm working on.

    Just my two cents.
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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    • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
      Originally Posted by hotwebwords View Post

      The Warrior Forum is ridiculously packed with life saving advice.
      It sure is. Many people view this forums as a "cesspool" of IM... But I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of useful advice/information I've learned here over the last couple months.

      It's a shame that so many good threads get buried within minutes (literally) in the main IM forum (section?). You have to dig deep to find the good stuff.

      Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

      The Rule of Three:

      Two the same, one different.

      IMO, you should be working on three projects at once. Two of them should be roughly the same, so if one of them fails the other might succeed. The third should be different, so if the entire IDEA of the other two is flawed, it still might succeed.

      Currently, I am working on two traditional infoproducts: one on writing books, and one on creating products. But I am also working on a Facebook game, just in case both infoproducts fall flat. If I get burned out on a project, I can easily turn to another one.

      But while working on one project, I only work on that project, and do not try to multitask it with other projects. I focus solely on the one project I'm working on.

      Just my two cents.
      I suppose this is similar to what I do. I have created (in my head, lol) this idea of 1. short term 2. medium term and 3. long term projects:

      1. Something "active" that is simple to do/process and pays all daily expenses. This helps take some of the stress out of IM.
      2. Medium-term projects. To me this involves building mini authority websites that earn Adsense money. I flip these after 3-6 months (depends obviously).
      3. A long-term project. Building a large authority resource in a pretty competitive niche. This one is not being monetized yet (probably for another year or two).

      #1 I do roughly 4 days/week.
      #2 I have someone else build sites, but I do spend around a day/week checking stuff, fixing things, tweaking placements, etc.
      #3 Spend 1 day/week working on this myself and have someone do daily updates for me as well.

      The plan is to stop doing #1 in about six months and focus mostly on #2 and #3. Maybe start another long-term project (in a different field, maybe software or something similar).

      Not sure if this makes sense heh. But this is what works for me (personally). Everyone's different though.

      One thing that really helped me when I was in a **** situation was to focus on the short-term income (#1) until I made it work.
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by bnetwork View Post

        Many people view this forums as a "cesspool" of IM...
        That's because people are looking for shiny objects, under the assumption that while 90% of everything is crap, you still can't polish a turd.

        But you can roll it in glitter.
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        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author situ08
    That is a good point. Its better to be sucessfull in 1 thing than failue in 100 things
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  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    Working on too many projects will bring slow/poor results. This will cause confusion and over-thinking. Then you'll start getting stressed and feeling uncertain about the future. Procrastination kicks in. Aaaaaand your IM career is over.
    Personally I like working on 3 to 4 projects at a time. Working on one all the time can really start to grate after a while so it's nice to move to another one then come back with a fresh head.

    I don't really recommend this but it works for me.

    James Scholes
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    • Profile picture of the author sloanjim
      Yep i was at my happiest when I fouced on one core business. I then "diversified" (everyone said you had to..) and frankly it's lead to nothing but pain. Instead of having 10 "businesses" making $1k month focus on ONE that can make you $10k+

      Focus on one thing and become a leader in it. With your spare time...get off the Net (do not go chasing other niches I.M.H.O.) go gym, walking, etc...Live the lifestyle you crave.

      Too many people wuit 9-5 jobs to work 18 hours day 7 days week on the Net..
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  • Profile picture of the author simpleleveraging
    I think a great many folks suffer from Information Overload and you are right to priorities things down. Just not too far.
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  • Profile picture of the author sloanjim
    Iamgine seeknig the leadng pioneer in Heart Surgery...you love him. Then he says in his spare time he is also a leader in Fire safety and at weekends he is a "lobster fisherman" to help pay the bills. What would you think?

    Yet so many in I.M. do this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kung Fu Backlinks
    "You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter."

    Love it. That needs to go on a T-Shirt.

    I, too, made the mistake of diversifying too soon. I was building a very solid Offline SEO business, then I caught the mobile bug. Mobile was being talked about everywhere, and I was convinced that it would be an easier paycheck. I was working very hard at keeping my SEO clients happy, so I was definitely looking for something a little more relaxed. Anyway... that little shift in focus nearly put me under. I let the momentum go and it has been a very tough recovery.

    My advice to anyone would be, if you find something that's working, keep doing it until you have 100% of it outsourced. Only then would I consider shifting focus again.
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    • Profile picture of the author MarcWalton
      I coach others and really should know better (in my defence its easy to see where others are going wrong :p ) but by the end of December I had managed to log up something like 350 hours, including working all over the holidays, on my own projects. I was worn out and finally had the ah ha moment. When you find yourself overwhelmed and running around like a headless chicken, stop and do the 80/20 test (explained well in Tim Ferris's great book "4 hour working week)"

      Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto is credited with the discovery that 20% of your efforts produces 80% of your rewards. In January I made more money and worked 40 hours on my own projects. How? I got rid of the unproductive 80%. Some I stopped doing and most I outsourced. I can earn more in a day than they cost me for a month. Learn to be hard with yourself. Get rid of the distractions, unproductive or low value work and concentrate on the money.

      To be successful you need a clear goal, vision of what you are trying to achieve and how you will get there, focus and discipline. Many years ago my accountant told me that even though I worked for myself I should always imagine that my "boss" is in the next office and at the end of the week I should justify to him what I had achieved that week. Best of luck, Marc
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