1. Get serious about making money. A lot of people have the thought that “things will fall into place” and “then I’ll be earning a lot of money.” Sorry. Things do not fall into place on their own. You’ve got to have a plan for earning money, and then you’ve got to get very busy working that plan. The only exception is winning the lottery, and you have far better odds of dying broke than you do of winning even a six figure prize in the lottery. Focusing on the money you want to earn and then working your plan for earning it is the surest way to make the money you want.
2. Have annual and daily money goals. You want to earn $100,000 in the next 12 months? Then you need to earn $2,000 this week, and if you work 5 days a week, you need to earn $400 today. And if you miss the mark today, you need to make up for it tomorrow. Too high of a goal? Then adjust it down and work your way up. Perhaps you begin with a goal of $50 a day for the next month, and $100 a day for the month after that. Your goals need to be both achievable and a stretch for you. By stretching and meeting those goals, you’ll quickly discover how easy it is to earn as much as you set your mind and your efforts to.
3. Value your time. If you’re earning $100,000 a year and you’re working 40 hours per week, then your time is worth a minimum of $50 per hour. So are you performing $50 an hour work? Or are you mowing the lawn or playing with Facebook when you should be working? Just as you will never get this moment to live again, you will also never get a second chance to use all of your moments wisely. Before you switch on Netflix the next time, or play an online game, ask yourself, “Is this the highest use of my time? Does this justify $50 an hour?” If the answer is no, then you should be doing something else.
4. Get more done in less time. Find your most productive times and refuse to do anything during those times other than work. For example, if your best work time is 6 am until noon, then lock your door, shut off the phone, block your email and do nothing but work.
Develop habits that get more done in less time. For example, lumping similar activities together can be a tremendous time saver.
And eliminate any time wasters that are robbing you of your work time. For example, don’t meet a client in person if a phone call will work as well.
5. Outsource. Anything that can be outsourced should be outsourced, whether it’s building websites, posting in forums, writing copy, sending tweets, whatever. The more you can work ON your business instead of IN your business, the more you will be able to earn. “It’s better to harness 1% of 100 people’s talents and energies than 100% of your own.” But when you outsource, you can harness both and much more.
6. Avoid the paralysis of analysis. Two of the things that stop online marketers is being pulled in too many directions at once, or no direction at all. If you’ve got 15 different ideas on what to do next, odds are you’ll do nothing at all. And if you’re afraid to take the next step – whatever it might be – you’ll suffer the same fate. That’s why you need a plan – ONE plan – and then you need to work that plan. Forge ahead, step by step, and don’t worry about getting everything right because frankly, you won’t. And it doesn’t even matter that you won’t get everything just right. The best batters in baseball only get hits a third of the time. Odds are your averages will be better than that, but it just doesn’t matter so long as you know where the ball is and you keep swinging at it with all of your determination and might.
7. Charge more. A $7 info product can often just as easily sell for $17 or $27 – it’s just that the info product seller is afraid to charge more. Add in some videos and you can charge $47. Make it a complete course and you can get $97. Remember, you don’t need as many sales when you charge more to make more. Experiment with your pricing and you might be surprised.
8. Repurpose your content. If you’ve got a bunch of great blog posts, consider bundling them into an ebook. If you’ve got some awesome interviews with experts, get them transcribed and use segments as articles, or bundle them into a course. The more use you get out of the content you already have, the more you can earn.
9. Specialize. Dan Kennedy teaches that the more specialized you are, the more you will earn. A marketer teaching brick and mortar businesses how to market online will not earn as much as another marketer teaching dentists or chiropractors how to get new clients from online marketing, and so forth. If you doubt this, think of doctors. General practitioners don’t earn as much as specialists, and the higher the specialty, the more they earn.
10. Love your customers silly. Repeat business is the easiest business of all to get – you just have to treat your customers like royalty and cater to their needs. Provide excellent customer service and by all means ask them to upgrade or purchase your next product.
No comments yet.