We have been running for over a year now and visitor numbers are well up to expectations, the sample and product download bandwidth are running at close to the capacity of our current ISP package but we are still some way from financial viability so this article seemed particularly relevant to our situation:
Nine Proven Techniques To Stay Motivated Whilst Building Your Internet Business
It's a fact of life - sooner or later your motivation to
continue building your Internet business may start to drop.
Yet if you want to build the best possible business you
can't afford to let this self- destructive tendency get in
your way.
Here then is my own hotlist of methods that keep me
constantly moving in the right direction...
1) Monthly Subscriptions
There are a number of high quality membership websites
available which have the real strength of updating you
every month with new information. If you're like me it will
set your imagination going and give you a kick up the pants
to get going again!
A few good examples I personally use include:
http://www.onlinemarketingletter.com
http://www.netbreakthroughs.com
http://www.thecopydoctor.com
2) Mentoring
There are mentoring programs available with successful
business people though many cost thousands each year to
participate in. However a cheaper option is to simply
meeting like-minded individuals to share ideas, successes
and problems with.
For best results meet up in person. Knowing you'll be
seeing them soon will help spur you onto achieve more so
you have something concrete to show for the period since
your last meeting.
3) Success Stories
For me at least, possibly the greatest motivation of all is
to read about other people who have been there and achieved
great success.
Because when you see what others have done, it's so much
easier to believe you can do the same.
A great resource is:
http://www.secretstotheirsuccess.com
4) Time-Sensitive Targets
Set yourself regular targets of what you're going to
achieve - and when.
I plan months in advance, breaking down large projects into
bitesize pieces then assigning each one a day.
Doing this keeps me focused as I have clear targets to meet
and know that if I don't complete my tasks then my workload
just starts to build up until it's unmanageable.
I aim to always do *something* to push my business forward
before I go to bed every night - even if it's something
simple like sending a few emails or reading a new marketing
book. And yes, even if I'm ill or going out that day. This
is non-negotiable.
Infact, I'm going on vacation tomorrow but promised myself
I'd finish this article before I go - even though it's now
11.30pm!
5) Count Your Blessings
Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks
of your business that you lose sight of your eventual goal.
Maybe it's working full time from home. Maybe it's taking
life a bit easier. Maybe it's buying a new yacht.
Whatever it is take time to sit back and appreciate how
much you're achieving.
6) Celebrate Small Successes
Sure, you may not have a million dollars in your bank
account yet, but you *do* have numerous small successes
every week, if not every day. Finished writing that
article? Great! Managed to fix that script that didn't
work? Fantastic! Managed to get a top ten position in
Yahoo? Way to go!
Make sure you take time to celebrate these small successes
- it'll help you realise you *are* making progress. It's
all just a matter of time...
7) Reward Yourself
Your reward may be a fancy coffee with friends or a private
island but whatever you choose (and can afford) try to
reward yourself regularly. It helps make your success more
tangible to you - and to reinforce *why* you're working all
those late nights and weekends. It might also help you do
the same to your cynical partner!
My vacation will just be a weekend away, but my business
income is paying for it 100%. And while I'm away, my
business will still be generating profits for me. What a
nice feeling.
8) Self Belief
Sometimes it's a lack of belief in your own abilities that
causes us to lose heart. Will my project really be a
success or am I wasting my time? Will anybody really want
to buy my new product? Will I ever be able to enter such a
competetive market?
The fact is, if you don't get going, you'll never know. And
whilst nobody is successful 100% of the time, you'll learn
something every time. As the saying goes - it's not whether
you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.
9) Continued Learning
Aim to learn something new every week. Once every month or
two I splash out on a large collection of books or CDs from
Amazon or buy an expensive home study course.
By consistently learning more and more about business,
management, search engine optimization, copywriting and so
on I continue to find new ways of looking at old problems,
new solutions and possibilities and improve my results.
And when you're rewarding yourself for small successes,
this can become a positive feedback loop very soon indeed.
About the Author:
Richard Adams is the founder of Merchant Account Forum, one
of the net's most popular merchant account advice sites.
Click here now => http://www.merchantaccountforum.com
I like the philosophy and hopefully some of it comes out in this diary. For example we have tracked down and fixed the bug which stopped the measurement of pages we updated recently and our default page now seems to be performing well - our iPod and iTunes pages on the other hand are not generating sample hearings so we're contemplating automating that to see what if anything that does.
Nine Proven Techniques To Stay Motivated Whilst Building Your Internet Business
It's a fact of life - sooner or later your motivation to
continue building your Internet business may start to drop.
Yet if you want to build the best possible business you
can't afford to let this self- destructive tendency get in
your way.
Here then is my own hotlist of methods that keep me
constantly moving in the right direction...
1) Monthly Subscriptions
There are a number of high quality membership websites
available which have the real strength of updating you
every month with new information. If you're like me it will
set your imagination going and give you a kick up the pants
to get going again!
A few good examples I personally use include:
http://www.onlinemarketingletter.com
http://www.netbreakthroughs.com
http://www.thecopydoctor.com
2) Mentoring
There are mentoring programs available with successful
business people though many cost thousands each year to
participate in. However a cheaper option is to simply
meeting like-minded individuals to share ideas, successes
and problems with.
For best results meet up in person. Knowing you'll be
seeing them soon will help spur you onto achieve more so
you have something concrete to show for the period since
your last meeting.
3) Success Stories
For me at least, possibly the greatest motivation of all is
to read about other people who have been there and achieved
great success.
Because when you see what others have done, it's so much
easier to believe you can do the same.
A great resource is:
http://www.secretstotheirsuccess.com
4) Time-Sensitive Targets
Set yourself regular targets of what you're going to
achieve - and when.
I plan months in advance, breaking down large projects into
bitesize pieces then assigning each one a day.
Doing this keeps me focused as I have clear targets to meet
and know that if I don't complete my tasks then my workload
just starts to build up until it's unmanageable.
I aim to always do *something* to push my business forward
before I go to bed every night - even if it's something
simple like sending a few emails or reading a new marketing
book. And yes, even if I'm ill or going out that day. This
is non-negotiable.
Infact, I'm going on vacation tomorrow but promised myself
I'd finish this article before I go - even though it's now
11.30pm!
5) Count Your Blessings
Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks
of your business that you lose sight of your eventual goal.
Maybe it's working full time from home. Maybe it's taking
life a bit easier. Maybe it's buying a new yacht.
Whatever it is take time to sit back and appreciate how
much you're achieving.
6) Celebrate Small Successes
Sure, you may not have a million dollars in your bank
account yet, but you *do* have numerous small successes
every week, if not every day. Finished writing that
article? Great! Managed to fix that script that didn't
work? Fantastic! Managed to get a top ten position in
Yahoo? Way to go!
Make sure you take time to celebrate these small successes
- it'll help you realise you *are* making progress. It's
all just a matter of time...
7) Reward Yourself
Your reward may be a fancy coffee with friends or a private
island but whatever you choose (and can afford) try to
reward yourself regularly. It helps make your success more
tangible to you - and to reinforce *why* you're working all
those late nights and weekends. It might also help you do
the same to your cynical partner!
My vacation will just be a weekend away, but my business
income is paying for it 100%. And while I'm away, my
business will still be generating profits for me. What a
nice feeling.
8) Self Belief
Sometimes it's a lack of belief in your own abilities that
causes us to lose heart. Will my project really be a
success or am I wasting my time? Will anybody really want
to buy my new product? Will I ever be able to enter such a
competetive market?
The fact is, if you don't get going, you'll never know. And
whilst nobody is successful 100% of the time, you'll learn
something every time. As the saying goes - it's not whether
you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.
9) Continued Learning
Aim to learn something new every week. Once every month or
two I splash out on a large collection of books or CDs from
Amazon or buy an expensive home study course.
By consistently learning more and more about business,
management, search engine optimization, copywriting and so
on I continue to find new ways of looking at old problems,
new solutions and possibilities and improve my results.
And when you're rewarding yourself for small successes,
this can become a positive feedback loop very soon indeed.
About the Author:
Richard Adams is the founder of Merchant Account Forum, one
of the net's most popular merchant account advice sites.
Click here now => http://www.merchantaccountforum.com
I like the philosophy and hopefully some of it comes out in this diary. For example we have tracked down and fixed the bug which stopped the measurement of pages we updated recently and our default page now seems to be performing well - our iPod and iTunes pages on the other hand are not generating sample hearings so we're contemplating automating that to see what if anything that does.