how i’ve built what i’ve built so far in online business with IT Arsenal, in shorthand, the bullet point, non-link-bate list form for review and recap.
i find it valuable to look back on the past, to improve and reflect and see where i got stuck.
START
- life design goodness, removing distractions, physical and mental waste, practicing efficiency and automation tactics.
- creation of business idea. use what i know, sell it in service and product.
- thought i would blog more. website goes to a blog homepage at this point.
- reading 2-8 business books
- networking a lot, not sure about what though
- tried to get specific, but didn’t really
- unfocused website, but launched first product with dedicated sales page on backup (backup informer)
- some success, sales, guest posts and realization of internet business realities
- lots of great, but aimless networking
- lots of great but aimless blog posts, not even on my business blog
- hired business coach (corbett barr)
- hired tagline name coach (catherine caine)
- joined in an online business competition or two
- blurry focus
- blurry focus
- blurry focus
- struggling what my business really was, how to grow business services, and stand alone online products in the IT field
- blurry focus
- attended some physical events and online webinars.
- changed website homepage to a focused message as a test, got stupid and specific on one thing (got great results doing this)
- finally declared a specific business goal, not some, i want to…bla bla crap. the goal. make money. make 5k+ a month in sales and services and enjoy it.
- became obvious i needed to sell more, and have more to sell
- developed a more or less made up board of directors with real people
- clearer focus
- developed another info product
- developed a service with a sales page, and forms for a majority of user interaction
- started a newsletter signup
- started an affiliate program for my info product, i don’t push it in people’s faces
- clearer focus
- clearer focus
- website still tries to say too much but it’s better (says noah kagan)
- deliberately partnered with some of those who i’ve networked with over time to sell
- sales come in steadily
- services offered are scheduled 2 months out
- got married
- i’m making an easy 2-3k per month, starting to tip from one-on-one to product and streamlined service sales
- traffic increases, regular ejunkie purchases are normal weekly occurrence
- need more production, more automated (front loaded) type sales, bigger numbers
- mild success
- clearer focus
- producing more content
- mild success
- moving toward a breakthrough
there’s obviously a lot of little things not represented here, but i wanted to look back quickly at how i got here, and move forward.
the more i read articles about “how to start a virtual busines” or online business, or whatever else you want to call it, i’m realizing there is no “how to” for this…no matter how much you try to put a formula on it, the way you grow a business is going to be unique to you, the important part is to continually step forward toward a constant goal.
current worries
i’m worried about my website, it needs updating, the homepage says june. i need to take what i’ve learned and get another product out there, re-invent the next version of what i’m doing. i’m back from my wedding hiatus and need to push forward now.
i’ve never realized how much businesses are constantly re-inventing, or re-working things.
i need actually send to my list, not just have one, need to charge more, have more sales pages, fail forward more, raise the stakes, seek out customers, spend more time and more money on creation and testing creation.
i need to stop wasting time in my inbox
i need to stop living off repeat buyers and referrals (even if they are great!)
i need to stop planning
i need to stop avoiding the hard work, like what exactly is this next product i keep talking about
i need to do less one-on-one business and more product and streamlined service business
i’m wrestling with mild success
the lean start up movement applied to solo entrepreneurs…implementing fast, getting feedback immediately and cheaply, trying out your ideas on your friends, building a newsletter and being real. i’ve read all these things, i get it.
yet…i’m slow to make the time needed to get it together, to test, fail, flourish, go.
why is it the space between having the first revision up, and executing something with real vision is such a huge gap to jump?
it takes several rounds of realizations, work, talks, and actions just to see the gap, bridging it, along with everything else that’s going on somehow always consistently get’s to the bottom of the barrel.
i’m still growing up, always will be. that’s the bullet point story so far.
onward