fun fact, the life design project was almost called “no shift key” because i didn’t like using capitals

whether you’re thinking of selling a product or service, or have an idea for a business, i have a trick for testing if it’s profitable that i’ve been using in my business.

the idea can be anything at first to open your mind to this, it could be selling baked goods, doing technical support, telling people how to rack up frequent flyer miles, it’s not important to start.

the biggest hurdle when in this space is usually a mental one…

you’re head messes with you when you have ideas…

• might be scared and so you think “i could never make money from this”
• might be practical and worry about graphics, and the website, and marketing, and how you’re going to charge people equaling overload
• could be adding features by the minute to your great idea, increasing development time, and people involved
• get lost on where to start
• complain you’re already too busy but have big dreams

most businesses don’t fail for lack of trying, they fail because the idea wasn’t very good to start with and no one bothered to figure that out.

so how can you figure all this out quickly and get the real question answered…is this idea going to work?

your first move is to ask that question, which not everyone does before they throw all their money into a pizza place or quit their job

…then boil everything down to basics and set one really specific goal…that will get you started, everything after that I’m still learning.

start small, test, and tweak

IT Arsenal didn’t grow until I got really specific about what was offered and measurable goals like, 10 sales this month.

i tricked myself into action by telling myself i would offer one of my product ideas for a couple months and then change to another one of my ideas instead of trying to get my head around how to offer everything and get everything done.

this “cycle idea” tricked me into getting really really specific instead of trying to pitch “how awesome everything I do is” (pour on the sarcasm)….or think of all the problems or reasons i can’t do it. i was able to just start, really start.

after you make the mental shift, it’s much easier to make progress. it’s something bite sized you can take on.

i ended up not actually moving to another idea in a few months, sometimes it was longer, sometimes shorter, but it forced me to get obsessed about a specific product idea in cycles and find what worked, in other words, iterate more and quicker. i’m still doing this now.

examples of getting really specific for my ideas looked like this…Monthly WordPress Backup and Customized Advice, Website Setup for Online Entrepreneurs, Website Setup Training with Video’s for the Non-Technical.

instead of worrying about delivery, i asked people if they wanted this, got feedback and if yes, just sent them a PayPal link and the more feedback I got validated putting more effort into setting up a system for people to buy it, or a better graphic, or a graphic at all.

bad execution is also why business ideas fail, but without a profitable idea, execution doesn’t matter.

you could post your idea on craigslist first to boil things down to their basics. look to only make 3 sales or some very specific measure.

i was surprised…just getting a little specific in the offer and the goals made all the difference and had immediate results (IE questions, interest, and sales). i now have several products selling, with several landing pages, while i slowly keep testing.

the fact that I’m too busy with users to make changes means I’m making money, which was the point. my original ideas have changed, but what’s important is i know what is wanted, what people will pay for, and can act on it.

when you have something to grow, instead of looking quizically at an empty pot you can test just how profitable your idea can be or change it and keep testing.

how to start

• boil your idea down to a specific small offering
• ask people if they would buy it, ask them to do so. use friends or craigslist to find people. use launch rock to gather e-mails (http://launchrock.com/)
• do it for them, gather feedback
• test and tweak

…after you do this, you have something, which was the point. this is encouragement to take a step on a project you’ve been thinking about.

…this is an introspective look on being my own worst enemy and tactics on how to over come it. something i feel many online business builders, and project creators could easily relate to. it’s probably the most re-occuring “issue” i continue to have as i develop.

*this is all based on not having urgent tasks, bodily needs or requirements present while “at work”.

- – - -

push through, flesh it out, get it out there. just do it. procrastination. it’ll be there tomorrow. i’m hungry.

those are the things i’m thinking right now as i sit here stuck staring, literally staring from screen to screen for something mildly entertaining enough to pull my attention.

what i’d like, what i WANT is to update and build out my business services page. i want to unravel more services that i can provide and create the on-boarding forms and announce them to the world. i want to grow. i want to get inspired and create new products…but instead i stare at my print out of the page i want to rework with some scribbled notes, and i look back at my monitors for distraction. it’s not so poignant as to force me to realize i’m avoiding action, it’s just a numbing vague sense that i don’t have to do what really should get done if i scan around long enough.

it’s infuriating when the realization does sets in.

why is it so hard sometimes to do that which we should be doing?

there’s little else in my way at the moment, which is better than most days. i’m mildly enticed by doing some other less important reading, or writing, checking out what other people are into and posting about. what are my peers, friends, and the world “up to” right now. is it something i can use?

i recognize those things aren’t important though so i don’t do them either, i just sit here, in an in-between state, hoping something lights me up and pushes me forward.

i see the mounds of piled information i have organized to be used or re-purposed for my next awesome idea, still more enticement to write something, or save information for some specific purpose instead of holding tanks for a unknown “could be useful” purpose.

i’m doing a lot of waiting for things to happen instead of making things happen. i’m my own worst enemy, and the worst part is the indifference i have about it. the non-action because, no one else will notice, or care, or depends on this.

what an interesting trap.

is this the loneliness of an solo entrepreneur or someone with too many ideas and self created projects?

i’ve even invented a process to unhook myself and get focused. i look at the powerful steps i’ve scanned in from written note cards, and think, those are great ideas. the words hit a lead wall, and slump away without any impact on actions.

it’s a cascade, if you want the business adventure and success you’re looking for, you need to finish these pages of text, and groupings of images, and forms, and payment processes, so you can then announce it, promote it, tell your list about it, or finally have a reason to make a list of people to tell about it.

if you don’t get these things presentable, you’re not doing the stuff that really matters, you’re just maintaining status quo.

the status quo isn’t so bad, when it’s not so infuriating i guess.

i love my current projects and clients, but i’m up to date on them at the moment. inbox zero and all that. then why the frustration? maybe because there are ideas left undone, projects half built? that’s part of it. no growth.

there’s a mental barricade that it’s in my way, and i put it there. i can also remove it.

how to stop being my worst enemy?

i can choose to take a break, not physically, (as i’m obviously not making progress right now) but mentally i can stop thinking about these things, take a real break. come back later. immerse myself in something so clarity of mind comes.

i can stop pretending there’s something stopping me and actually start doing that which should be done. this would be letting those words that hit the led wall take effect.

i can simply start anywhere, because it’s leads elsewhere. it’s apparent you (self) don’t want to be “here” thinking about frustration and being your own worst enemy. so choosing anything in the most remote direction of what you want to accomplish, will lead you elsewhere, which has the potential to be forward, or better.

ask for help, start a conversation. start by vulnerably saying i’ve been trying to get this thing done, and i’m failing at it right now, and it’s totally messing me up. see what the conversation does for you.

you can freeze your physical and mental state in your minds eye. now come “out of” youself and look down from above and slightly to the left. identify what things are impacting you. your environment, are you hungry? are you angry at people? are you scared of something? what systems are working against you and can you identify one by one and fix? how can you break apart your problem into tiny pieces and deal with them one at a time? address them, make requests, make promises.

sometimes defeating ourselves, overcoming ourselves as our enemy, leads us to success. it may be a daily battle, a quarterly one, or just a slump.

keep on keeping on.

Readings, quotes, and images I’ve captured to boost your business mind and general operation below…

i believe this

innovative artists adapt

training = trust = ease of action = mastery

see done is better than perfect. good reminder for procrastination creep

I just finished reading Work the System for the second time, it’s in it’s 3rd edition printing and I can’t recommend it enough for grasping a concrete sense of how to elevate yourself out of the chaos in business and life, pinpoint the systems that make things work, and set them up to do your bidding.

The book is freeing, but also down to earth with real applicable methodologies. It’s awesome and has been a powerful book for me the last couple years, both in automating life, and my online business income, and just identifying how things work and then working them to my advantage.

It gives you a confidence in almost predicting how things will happen, a la Robert Downy Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes…seeing what’s there, taking it in from an objective angle, and then executing to push things in your favor.

It’s a good read and gives access to an enlightened viewpoint, and although it isn’t topic focused as in telling you the mechanics of something specific, it does an excellent job of putting actionable methodologies for anything life and business throws at you.

Check it out if you get a chance, and pull some wisdom from my captures of the book below.

Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less [WORK THE SYSTEM 3/E] [Hardcover]

I don’t have tons of free time for my online business.

I don’t go to many online webinars from the “Pros” … I don’t host them either. I rarely send out e-mails to my list (once a month), barely do interviews or guest posting. I don’t have the time to dedicate those methods to my online business growth right now, and I think most would say those a pretty important ones.

It’s not that I don’t like those methods, or they don’t work, they can and do, but not for me while I’m being cut throat with my time, and holding to building IT Arsenal in only a few hours a day or less.

I focus mainly on those people who buy what I have on the shelf, or might, or have already. When I do promote something or get approached, I make sure I’m the winner for that person and they have the best experience possible. Service is my strength.

I’m just making something more obvious for myself that wasn’t previously. I don’t do a lot of popular business builders right now, or if I do, I ease very slowly into them, and it’s okay, there’s no right way and as shown below I can still earn an income without them.

That is something that is consistently mind blowing about business, it’s a human interaction when generally referenced. That’s it. You provide something, and someone pays you for it. There is no specific set of right ways or wrong ways. It’s also what makes it so difficult to grasp and pin down.

These revelations are landing for me as I’ve been in this (business) space for almost a year and a half down and continue to make sense of online business and what’s working for me right now. A beautiful meeting in Laguna Beach, CA helped grant perspective on doing more of what works helped too.

WHAT’S WORKING

Partnerships – rebranding a sales page, but putting a partners information in a few paragraphs or customizing the pitch to a partners users is special. Do this for someone  you’re hopeful to partner with, research their audience a little, and offer a cut. They will love to promote what you’re offering, as long as it looks good. Do as much as you can to help people partner with you, when they grow, you grow. I’ve seen this specifically with 3 partners now! Ashley, Laurie, Cath, and soon Stella. I’m going to try and co-brand a product with Ashley from The Middle Finger Project this year. Sweeeet.

Links links links. Sales links, information links, YouTube links, all that I have produced all with the focus to inform or sell. I put together a quick spreadsheet that has links to all my relevant accounts, and buyable services which is now up to 2 services and 2 products, and it’s absolutely great when someone e-mails with their problem and I have to do nothing then a few words and a link.

Having things on the shelf. It doesn’t really need saying, but it still weighs on me. I see so many people out there interested in online business but they aren’t providing anything. They have NOTHING on the shelf. Things exist because you put them into existence. Patton said a good plan ruthlessly executed right now is better than a perfect plan next week. Actions = results. Put your idea on a page, even if you have nothing to back it up, and put that page out there, deal with the rest when someone tells you they want what you have.

Trading services – I trade tech support for graphic design, coaching, and well…food.

Batching my industry reading and sharing all of my responses via bufferapp.com at one time. I’m my own worst enemy, and sometimes not reading, keeping up with my RSS, or magazines, or friends in the “fields” blogs…it bugs me. I use to try and keep up, which was a losing game. I now schedule time, batch all the “catch up” …and then use bufferapp or buffer which schedules out a stack of responses over the course of a few days as to not overwhelm. In general this has caused much more feedback and interaction.

YouTube – There’s no surprise this is a massive traffic potential. Their new interface, and my revelation that screen casts are big hits with users have my engagement and user interaction way up and actually producing clients and buyers. Is it time for you to look at YouTube as a tool?

Re-occurring payment services. I love this model and I’ve found it works exceptionally well with technical support which can be nebulous in naming convention or issue. Instead covering a broad topic, with specific deliverables for a monthly fee. It creates freedom in my schedule, and re-occurring income.

Tools

• Hellobar.com
• WordPress Plugins/Themes – Contact Form 7, Slidedeck, Platform Pro
• ScheduleOnce.com
• PayPal Re-occurring products – Mentioned above
• FollowUpThen – I’ve mentioned this before, and now use it to make sales. After I’ve worked with someone I schedule a follow up e-mail for a week or two later with a custom note to check in and a link to a service I think they could use.
• Affiliate Systems – I’m starting to sign up and become an affiliate for each system/service I use. I copy/paste my affiliate links into a spreadsheet and have them on call, I find I can easily patch them in on e-mails in social media when and ONLY when they come up organically as a need for someone.

There’s nothing revolutionary, but the difference is being on the court, not in the stands with what I’m building. Critical mass continues to build, and I’m excited for my next stand alone product and more slow growth. It seems to be my mode of operation and with how many hours I have (or don’t have) to put forward, I’m fine with that. I’m having more fun than I recently have.

INCOME/BUSINESS REPORT

• 2011 Income – $19,170
• 2011 Business Expenses $1913 (I have to verify this, there might have been other purchases that I use for business and personal use)
• Jan 2012 – $2140 (Great start, I want to double this monthly as my overall online business goal, but still, great start)
• Jan Website Traffic 1427/1258 Unique
• Jan Product Sales – 3
• Jan Service Sales – 4
• Jan Service Sales Re-occuring – 5
• Jan Affiliate Sales – 8

This year’s goal is 32k from IT Arsenal and I’m very hopeful

I love what I’m doing and I actually feel like I’m making a real difference for people, how touchy feely and awesome.

2012 Dreamlines (still developing)

I’ve simplified this to a spreadsheet with being, having, doing, with status, comment, monthly cost. I review it weekly, those who want to accomplish big things, review their goals often. I’m not so concerned about my other living costs currently as I want to pay for and sustain my dreams and goals with my business and the income is on top of a full time job income. When that changes, I’ll incorporate living needs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avg9sbYSEUyFdFZOOXZ3d0c5bmVjWGRudUE1Mi1yOEE

need some motivation? use fear.

what would it look like if you dropped everything to pursue a passion or goal you’ve really wanted to accomplish and it failed miserably? what would happen to you emotionally, what would happen to your bank account, your relationships, your day to day activities?

fear typically isn’t seen as is a good motivator, but it can be. why? because after you’ve looked your fears in the face, they aren’t so scary.

see my example below as i go through asking myself what if tried something big and it all went south.

i’ve done this before, but i could use a good reset, and want to challenge myself.

so…what if i was bold enough to quit everything not in line with my business vision and idea of an online business that makes 5k+ per month with flexible and minimal management. what if i stopped wanting it all, and stopped fighting this tough upstream battle i am sometimes waging to work a job, get in better shape, keep my life organized, read business books, play ps3 games, be an awesome husband and build a business all at once.
(i almost wrote this article about dropping everything to run an ironman, i really want to do that too, training for those things are like another job)

what would that look like?

• i would quit my 9-5, stop working out on a strict schedule (or getting mad when i don’t), ease up on keeping everything ruthlessly organized in my life as is my way.
• i would need to sell my car after a year (to avoid payments) or so, which is probably inconsequential.
• i would need to get really passionate about something specific. so much so people would see me as “off”.
• i would have to get really committed to being a salesman for myself everyday.
• i would need to come up with some pretty convincing arguments and commitments to my wife for quitting a good job that i get “enough” satisfaction and security from. this would be the biggest mental and day to day challenge, because my life impacts my wife’s and i want to make her happy.

what if it all failed

• what if after 6 months i wasn’t making any money and it wasn’t going well? i’d have to get another job, one i might hate, to pay bills, and feel like an income producer.
• i might feel less fulfilled than i do now if i had to get a crummy job. i might feel temporarily like a loser, and let down or be looked down on to some friends and family. i might not find a job.
• i’d have less stuff, maybe no car.
• i run the off-chance risk of getting injured and not having health insurance.
• i’d miss a lot of movies, tv shows, and social relate-ability.
• there might be a few heated conversations with my wife about “being a slacker” or something similar
• i might spin my wheels and work more hours, but make less, and produce less.

…honestly though, i’d probably just make a little less, and have to find a new job if things didn’t work out eventually. my identity isn’t my job, i believe i have a higher calling than that, one that’s more about character.

that’s all i can think of in terms of what i’d have to give up or could potentially lose. is that really it? no one died, the sky didn’t fall down? a little less money, comfort and some personal ego and confidence injury. certainly not good stuff, but not the end of the world, and probably easily repaired in another 6 months.

now for the “what if’s” and things went well

• what if my products, services, and online authority generated $75,000 a year with potential for more the next.
• what if i woke up everyday more energized because i was doing something i love, and it was paying the bills (and then some) on my own schedule.
• what if because my work was paying me over and over, and my business notability (saturation) was growing, i had more time in my day to day to read, run, travel, pray, give and play.
• what if i could pay for better vacations, and have more flexibility to spend time with maria.
• what if i was able to train for long distance triathlons while running a business that generates $75k a year. cool.
• what if my personal endeavors helped 200 people or businesses a year and i got to see it right in front of my face. what about 2000.

wow those potential rewards sound pretty awesome, they’d probably sound unfair to people or like some sort of scam if i was just listing them off to someone as an all day reality, mostly the more time and more money part, yet so many people live like this. (want proof? i can offer you some, and so can sean ogle)

this imagery is pretty powerful. it’s high risk when you consider going for your goals bar-none, it’s also high reward.

(reality check – even if i had all the time in the world, i’d still have the same will power challenges to motivate myself to action and maintain the business)

sometimes i have tastes of these rewards because of my business, and lifestyle changes. when you mix mastery over something you enjoy that brings financial freedom, and time to pursue new things and your passions…..it’s like life’s “good stuff fusion experience”.

we all have tastes of this if we’ve ever taken some extended time off (minus the income).

this imagery can help remind your dream is possible if you make the right big moves, and that even if you fail horribly, the world won’t end, and likely the damage won’t even be that bad. new experiences and doing things out of your comfort zone are good tough things. try it in your next journal entry, blog post, status whatever.

reflection

i often land on the side of wanting it all and trying to do it all, but that’s not necessarily better or possible.

in truth, i’m scared, and i think i can hit my goals while taking on everything else. it won’t be as easy but i think it’s possible. maybe i just want to be safe though, maybe it’s easier to make excuses this way, or i get to appear more normal. it can be frustrating. hello mental struggle….i digress.

after playing this little mind game i’m much more likely to take a few big risks in the near future, and realize it wouldn’t be so bad if things went wrong.

life’s here to live. you should write out a list of what would happen if you dropped everything to pursue a big goal or calling.

there’s so much potential greatness to be had. what am i putzing around for? what are you putzing around for?

Photo: Das Experiment

i’ve gone on at length on this blog about automation, and workflow. (See Life’s Easy Mode in 3 Steps | Automate Your System). today i’m going to expand on techniques i use in my technology support business for chopping out time otherwise wasted. you can use these techniques in your business and life.

i’ve continued to put effort into NOT wasting my time by utilizing services that have dual outcomes to a business goal, tools for automation, filters, workflow and the practice of selective ignorance. the more traffic i get, want for freedom, questions about something i’ve produced and so on push the importance of these techniques, although saving time is generally accepted as a good thing.

some tactics are fundamental for me now, certain actions have to be automatic, they need to be completely out of my way so i can continue to struggle with real metrics, new sales, new creation, marketing, understanding my clients, and where else i’m screwing up and not taking action.

the more time you spend in “administration” the more you’ll be infuriated by your business efforts, try these on to get more done. *note, more of the right stuff, not wrong stuff. you never want to efficiently waste time

below are some ideas on expanded techniques for business automation. each of them is going to have a slightly different application depending on your circumstance, i’ll list them below and then elaborate on how i specifically use them.

• learn your freakin shortcuts
• use gmail filters
• use canned responses
• repetitive calendar events
• ifttt
• use alarms (train your pavlovian response)
• follow up then
• use templates for agreements, and newsletters

shortcuts

in google mail, in your calendar program, in your web browser, on your computer. the ones i’ve found lately most helpful are marking something as read in google mail, which is “shift + i” and “c” for composing a new e-mail. i’ve also loved the combination “command+shift+4″ on my mac operating system for taking a screenshots. find what programs you use most, and learn 2 shortcuts for improved usability. (gmail keyboard shortcuts, go ahead and take a peek. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6594)

e-mail filters

if you’re not using these, i ask why not? i filter everything from mint.com, facebook, twitter, most of my banks, credit cards, my amazon account. sometimes i filter them into one folder such as “web 2.0″ sometimes into many folders. i’ve automated most of my bill paying, so i have the filter also mark messages as read. i scan my folders once a week and although probably receive 100-200 e-mails a day, only actually have to deal with 10-15. you’re mail program likely supports filters, otherwise called “rules”. learn how to use them.

canned responses

another e-mail behavior here, because e-mail is a life sucking endeavor. create templated e-mails for people. the trick is you usually can’t come up with a template e-mail off the top of your head. so, here’s the action. come up with 5 scenarios and write for those.

i have a scenario where someone is asking me a question about something computer related, my canned response has an opening line, a space for resource links and a closing thank you. often times i just have to unload my brain into the middle and copy paste some links and appear saintly to those in need. if you are running a website, or selling something, you get questions…create these, keep them as word documents if you don’t use google, or drafts to open and copy paste in your e-mail program

tip: i don’t like google’s canned responses, it’s cumbersome, i use the program “Evernote” to keep all my support related canned responses, and they save tons of time, and do a service to others.

repeating calendar events

one way i save time is forcing everything to exist in time. what i mean by that is i don’t have a never ending to do list, i load up the calendar, things that have no time, go somewhere, and are addressed then and moved. follow up actions like “did this happen” also go into the calendar. the boost here is a majority of our days are pretty similar, and so repeating events to train yourself into productivity absolutely unquestionably works.

i have repeating events for workouts, for business networking for client work, paying out affiliates, and so on. befriend your calendar program, which will support alerts. today, those alerts can come to you as a text message or a pop up, or friendly phone alarm. this methodology promotes working in batches, and blocks which elite performers are known to work in. (If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers)

ifttt.com

it stands for if this then that and boy do i love this new web service i just found. it’s “stupid” powerful but does take an initial investment to figure out. basically is takes all todays best websites and tools, and allows them to interact with each other. when something happens, (ie, someone follows you on twitter) take an action (send them this message) or another example, when you bookmark a website in google, it tweets it out.

the possibilities are endless. these are most handy in specific workflow situations…check out some of the “recipes” … meaning schemas of how users are implementing this tool. i have saved tons of hours from this tool in the realm of saving data and automatic responses. http://ifttt.com/recipes?sort=popular

use alarms (cell phone or computer)

in the same vein of calendar events there’s alarms. i have several alarms that aren’t on my calendar that have since trained me to take certain actions. these again, like most things are hardest at first, and now are automatic. train your pavlovian response to get up out of bed in the morning because of a specific alarm. only listen to this alarm, make it special in someway and practice (yes practice) literally jumping out of bed when you hear it.

other suggestions are clearing out your e-mail when you hear a specific alarm, or eating on a schedule (for losing weight). our minds are trainable,  you are already trained to do a million things by society, (anyone clean out their Word with Friends que from one little sound?) take back some control and create your own positive responses with your cell phone alarm.

the key? practice. do it purposefully for a week, it’ll stick after that. i’m currently doing this to wake up and it’s amazing how well it’s worked. about 5 times a day i consciously lay down for 2 minutes, set an alarm, bounce out of bed and walk to living room (where i work out in the AM) … the next morning when i hear that alarm…i’m compelled to do the same despite my sleepiness.

followupthen.com

this website has helped me batch my e-mails. when there’s an e-mail i need to deal with but it just needs to get out of my inbox, i can’t forget about it and file it away but i really can’t stand it being in my inbox, as that builds a slippery slope, i hit reply to that e-mail, change the TO box from whoever to 2days@followupthen.com or whateveramountoftime@followupthen.com … and let it fly. you don’t even need an account to use it…just try it. helpful for e-mail junkies and batching e-mail into two times a day or so.

templates

templates are like workflows, they suck to set up, you don’t do it, but once you have them, you clamor for them everytime a specific situation arises. schedule sometime in your calendar to make 1-2 templates for specific situations in your business. such as, a new client welcome e-mail, how about a newsletter? use this slammin template i just made after listening to AppSumo’s copywriting class, which was one of their amazingly time sensitive promotions, (they are like Groupon for entrepreneurs).

<—
*put in a 540 pixel wide table so it’s easy to scan – use arial 12 – try georgia 12

possible subject 1
subject 2
subject 3
subject 4

Attention
headlines – how to make good ones?
trick 1 list things that if you overheard it would turn your heard and go WHAT?
trick 2 go to digg.com type in your topic, thing your selling or promoting. order by most dugg and use those headlines and swap in your topic or change things

Interest
educate, give something critical or valuable
if it’s valuable you can write a lot
interesting facts
story about the product or offer
setup information stuff like that

Desire
“benefits” of what you are promoting
more sales
more reliable website
bigger muscles, more hits

Action
we’re running a promo, or get your’s now for, check it out now here at this link, or see the deal here.
make this bigger font, bold, different color

PS. make a claim here, like. after i used this, or guarantee, don’t like it?…read this review, or %100 money back guarantee. or, one of my users, jane, has this, and here’s her site…
—>

all of these techniques need some amount of set up. take 15 minutes a few times this week and apply a few of them for compounded time savings over the next few months and into 2012. once you have them down, they become automatic, you reap the benefits and can focus on hopefully more important items, or at least continue on in your journey with less hassle.

keep on keepin on!

I’m a tool hoarder. I’m an app junkie….I can’t help myself when a new website, app, or service springs up promising me untold productivity, informational, or business riches. I sign up, I bookmark, and I try to make the best use of them as I can. I’ve found some great ones lately, but haven’t shared them with you, until now.

Some tools you just can’t live without, it’s not necessarily because they are the all around best, (sometimes it is) but often times it’s because they fit your workflow, your clients needs, or your specific needs.

I’m laying out some recent and awesome finds below, along with a one or two-liner on what I use or have used them for.

They fall into the categories of productivity, time management, life automation, information mining and expanding your capabilities. Most are online service applications, some are desktop download and install applications.

I truly hope you find some gems below, special thanks to Noah Kagan’s @appsumo for shedding so much light in this area, your service (and newsletter) is a gold mine.

• InboundWriter – live updating SEO analyzing of your writing. i think this will get huge, especially if you do a lot optimizing for keywords
• Gist – link up your networks, it pulls your contacts then scours the web for info on them. great datamining tool, and contact sync tool.
• 750 Words – a no rules, empty your mind by writing website. i’m finding it really really helpful. i’ve never been able to “journal” but this just go and type website has something to it that has me sticking to it.
• Evernote – ok so i’ve shared this before, it’s so great though, how are you not using it?
• Sparrow – switched from Apple Mail to Sparrow since my e-mail is Google Apps/iCloud based, i haven’t looked back. it’s faster, a smoother, and searches better.
• Focusbar – tiny Mac application that pleasantly annoys you with something you’ve told it you want to focus on. it’s actually bringing me back to my goals until i accomplish them when i sit down to do something that needs a chunk of time.
• Google Docs Spreadsheet Forms – use this for information capture everywhere.
• Buffer – find yourself spamming your twitter account then not using it for a while? use buffer to pace out your tweets really easily, more easily that Hootsuite
• ifttt – this is a powerful automation tool. it’s like if you had access to every website services API (the stuff they use to talk to other things) and can do basic functions with them. the website name stands for if this then that and it’s all about tasks and triggers. it’s saving me time.
• Hello Bar – easy call to action implementation, just reminded me i need to put this back on itarsenal.com
• Ge.tt – super low friction, no account needed, unlimited space boo they  moved to a pay model with only 2GB free file sharing. Use dropbox instead.
• ManageWP – i don’t want to tell anyone about this so i’ll be cryptic. if you manage more than one WP install, you don’t want to click this.
• ScheduleOnce – easy google calendar integration appointment scheduling. see in action here – http://itarsenal.com/scheduler/
• Join.Me – web-based, free, screen sharing. alternative – teamviewer.com
• LinkedIn Answers – a new forum for showcasing your expertise, and getting referrals, or new users from it.
• Facebook Groups – i created a group for feedback and invited a bunch of people, the involvement was rapid and bigger than i expected. try it for data mining.
• App Sumo – treasure trove of time sensitive deep discount deals for business oriented training and software
• Newsmap – i don’t keep up with news very well, this literally makes a size map of all the news going on. things with more articles on the entire web show as bigger, meaning it’s easy to see what’s happening very very quickly. tip: you can easily narrow it down to juse US, or just Tech, etc.

Cheers!

so i’ve had mild success online maybe you’re in the same boat. let’s grow them to something more than “mild”.

i’ve taken this blog, grown it, started a business, grown it, explored information products, automation and efficiency tactics, service creation, selling and marketing. i have the basics down, i understand the playing field, i have some really successful contacts and networking friends.

does this sound sound familiar to you?

i’m psyched and overwhelmed at times. i want some big wins and upward growth. how do i do that?

here’s some snappy answers, purposely short so i will, i mean you will take one to heart and go with it.

1. focus on a measurable simple goal, like 10 sales, 100 subscribers, $10,000. write it on a card everyday, put the card in your pocket. carrying it around has an impact you don’t realize until you do it
2. stop pretending that more time will solve everything. if it’s important you make time
3. implement faster. get to a point where you can measurably test as fast as possible, then ask yourself if your new idea/product/service is worth pursuing
4. work on internal projects, not just client needs.
5. downplay referrals and repeat business, they are nice, but aren’t secure and they aren’t investing in the future, they are relying on the past.
6. get feedback on what you are working on, now.
7. write about them. try 750words.com (thanks @bybloggers) it’s amazing what blathering on about your endeavor will do for it, and do for you mentally.
8. be ready to equip people to sell for you. have information, or a program.
9. do something for someone else everyday. it will come back to you in a business way, i promise

more importantly, how much time do you spend (or have to spend) with those people to pay you?

there are obviously a lot of ways to skin the cat of online business

most of the people online making money in less time are closer to having 10,000 people pay them .50, because they’ve set up a system where they need to invest very little in their direct relationship with you for your money.

their relationship may appear direct, and can be very sincere, but must reach their masses on a general level. this allows the “relationship” to be more calculated, more automatic, and more systems oriented. note: it had to be grown from small to large somehow and takes more effort early on.

it allows them to spend less consistent time working everyday yet make more or the same money and scale upward without doing everything over again. IE. they get freedom & money. no wonder copyblogger loves to talk about systems and the topic of automation is so hawt right now

people who’ve reached this stage can still connect and interact personally with some users, say in the comments section of a blog, but what we don’t realize is that this a small fraction of those buying their products, spreading their message, and paying their bills. they aren’t doing anything wrong, most of the people buy a product and never try to interact with the creator anyway. i know, i’ve experienced this on a small scale. it’s weird, but cool. it’s happening to me now, and caused this reflection.

the percentage of people you’ll get to interact with personally needs to go dramatically down if you want your sales to go way up without having to charge way more, or spend more time.

it’s ironic, but making a more automatic income online is directly at odds with having direct relationships with the people making you that income. that concept is holding some people, myself included back.

it’s funny because these things seem to drive each other apart. you build relationships, they get you lots of traffic, you make products to utilize traffic (smart), now you interact less with relationships because you have lots of traffic to utilize, now you have to care more about numbers as the best “evaluation” of your relationships because you can’t write 2 page e-mails and have phone conversations with everyone who thinks your stuff is cool and pays you for it.

note: you could always charge a lot more as a way to keep focus on relationships, but that still doesn’t scale, and puts a lot of your eggs into a few high priced baskets, not really my goal here, but i thought i’d give it lip service.

soooo…i have yet to take stock in my numbers, check them regularly or focus on driving them up, but that’s changing because i’m making more sales, and gaining more traffic and doing more reflecting like this. people buying aren’t always writing me notes, now i want to know why they are buying, or not buying.

several sales have happened where i haven’t and probably never will interact with the buyer.

woah, i’m nabbing some of that freedom and money. this is one of the goals of my online business. i go play basketball, and yet i make $100 while doing it, and make someone somewhere happy or more capable, or something good because of something i did earlier.

i keep thinking my site, or my product, or my thing isn’t ready enough to actually track numbers for, but i think it has more to do with the fact that i didn’t need to look at numbers, i knew who all my users were (more or less). i also haven’t been regularly posting new content or refreshing my pages, so i didn’t care what was getting hit. that is changing.

i like people but relationships don’t scale. it’s sad but true. this is probably why my numbers historically have been low, yet, i’m still earning decent business, have a high referral rate, and continue to close service gigs. i have less people, taking lots of time, and paying me lots.

as saturation, popularity and numbers increase, i’m spending less time with people, and so my numbers are becoming more important. the numbers become a more time-valued way to check how good my stuff is and how happy my users are. now it makes a little more sense to me why successful people obsess over their numbers so much, and shift focus to contained product type offerings.

it doesn’t mean you don’t care!

i don’t think a lot of sales and traffic means you have to care less about individual users, it’s just a fact that you can’t interact with all of them, but still need feedback. you also like having more money and more freedom. it’s cool to see this front loaded “passive” income concept come to life in various ways.

you also can’t overlook that your relationships are where the concepts and creation of products and services come from. without the relationship, you’d have no business, so while they seem to be opposites, they are both very much important, you better care very much.

i’m guessing you can take on a good number of users and still interact with most of them in some small way. i recently sent out a tweet about how the CEO should interact with his first 1,000 users with a custom e-mail. i liked it, and thought it could be mostly automated.

here’s to tipping the scales in that continued direction.

if you made this far, thanks, that post was probably hard to get through, hope you found something in the mental struggle.