note: i wrote the below as a journal entry to http://750words.com and after reading it thought others could find it valuable, and or commiserate with the thought process and tactics
i’m paralyzed. what to do with the business [IT Arsenal] next is not clear. this is starting to disrupt me.
i don’t know whether to update the website, promote a service i just launched, write a blog post, make a how-to video, e-mail previous users to see if their interested in anything new i have out.
- should i do client work, there’s a few non-urgent open items.
- or should i work on one of the 2-3 lingering half done projects i have going on, more than i should
- or should i dig into a few communities and learn more about my target users, to provide value and create interest in a forum, or in the comments on a blog.
- or should i go on a marketing tilt and come up with incentives, partnerships, and ways to promote current offerings?
- or should i kill off something that i’m doing to make room for something more productive?
- or should i go watch a video or read something that can make me better?
- or should i try to do it all?
what’s going to propel me forward the most, bring me from $2100 a month and 500 email subscribers to $5000 a month and 1000 email subscribers?
the most effective path is unclear to me…and while my collection of possible ideas to launch, services to build out, blog posts to right, communities to get involved with grows, i don’t know which to really act on. they are all part of the strategy.
so i half halfheartedly pick something, or wait until something seems urgent enough to do.
clearly not the best strategy, and all too familiar
maybe it’s my weaknesses holding my back…what are those?
my weaknesses
[things i’m averse to that could propel me forward]
- hype aka marketing that seems like it’s dead as quickly as it starts.
- “launches” working on only one product or service, because i receive small amounts of positive feedback on many different projects.
- blogging or producing consumable valuable free content consistently paid advertising
things i’m doing that are wrong
[not surprisingly similar to things i’m averse to after comparing]
- thinking about too many things i can make/offer at once.
- organizing too much data – stop saving everything to evernote perpetuating services [time for money actions] vs products
- not being involved where my target users are
focus is my problem. as i continue to “write it all out” … it’s starting to look clear that focus is the issue today. there’s no shortage of paths to growth, something, anything, even if it fails is valuable. you miss the shots you don’t take.
okay, let’s get clear and move past this, non of these problems can’t be solved, or outsourced, or broken down.
can i mentally climb out of being paralyzed? why not. i’ll try it.
skip over the things you think you have to do before you can simply focus on one thing.
stop making a list of “core” pieces to complete before i can “start focusing on one thing” ….just finish one thing before starting another, whether it’s a major offering, or a blog post, or getting feedback.
start small. enforce this, love this, get into this.
a major obstacle holding me back is my attention being divided between emails, 60+ evernote ideas, half finished projects, social media accounts, website updates, community groups, peers, and organizing all of it in an attempt to make it all cohesive in various places like on my computer, or on a web page or a mindmap — the myriad, the “normal”, the inevitable that entrepreneurs will face, life, in short.
stop pretending to focus and focus.
stop pretending to believe and believe.
stop trying to hit me and hit me [movie quote]
what to focus on?
it’s all important, some more than others, but what’s more important is completing what you start, and giving it all your attention. doing this will allow priorities to naturally present their hierarchy for things that aren’t stupid obvious. move an inch in 10 directions, or move a mile in one?
what is that mean for me, right now? real terms
- it’s destroying the damage already done by thinking in multi-task vision
- it’s thinking singular as my day goes by
- it’s responding to e-mail and only responding to e-mail today
- it’s client work and only client work for an hour
- it’s launching my new e-mail service, and only launching it for 2 days straight [then letting it go]
- it’s opening one evernote idea, printing it, and closing the program until it’s done
- it’s respecting my calendar
- it’s using that timer i have
IT’S WORKING ON ONE THING THAT CAN BRING IN MONEY, AND CONTENT THAT WILL GROW MY EXPOSURE AT A TIME.
what will have the most impact right now
- promote new udemy course, tell people, users, clients,
- launch professional e-mail set up service
- write useful blog posts
- post and respond as a community member in DNA academy
everything will always need updating, nothing will ever be finished, get over it. work on one thing at a time. get your processes in order, when the paralysis creeps up, take a step back, look at the high level, take a breath and fight your way to completing something, anything. press on.
what do you need to move a mile on? share, and act.