seriously…what’s the point of business?
i’ve been asking for a lot of feedback, and i’ve been asking myself something constantly…what’s the point? as my business arm of this project has been relaunched, refocused, and brainstormed about for the umpteenth time, can you relate with the thought?
can you answer this questions about your idea? business? website?
what’s the point of it all? what’s the point of the next 2 months? what’s the point of this product? what’s the point of this post? or are you just doing it because you see others doing it, or it’s what you think you should be doing? or you just need another “thing” to fill the space.
i want to operate in a more business like manor, meaning provide insane value but on more of a per transaction basis than ever before. the path to doing this has showed me how little i execute and how much i plan.
if you know the point, it’s easier to execute, to get feedback, to move forward. to fail or succeed, both of which are better than sitting stale.
i’m reminded of a bible verse which escapes me now that went something like it’s better to be hot or cold than lukewarm.
without clearly defining victory, how you can you have it? or not have it? how can you have accomplishment?
you can’t, and it will be more of the grind you see in front of you if you don’t get that straight.
the sheets are off on what i’ve been working on and it’s exciting to have specific month goals, to be able to answer, “what’s the point?” … stress melts away, passion flares up. i’m alive again to help people with business ideas launch websites.
answer that question about what you’re working on today…and answer it as specific as possible…what’s the point? get definitive.
if you need some help, check out www.appsumo.com for a free $39 test from usertesting.com where a live person will record what goes through their head when they land on your website. it might just open up your eyes to what other people see as the point. UPDATE: THEY SOLD OUT! SHUCKS! still appsumo is awesome.
so what’s the point of my online business IT Arsenal from April to May? here are some.
-gain 20 rss subscribers
-sell 5 trainers and 5 do it for me’s on website setup
-answer 100 tech questions on any medium for free
-make $5000 of total online activity (craigslist, justanswer, referrals, affiliates, anything)
and if you’re interested these are the raw actions i’ve taken to relaunch my online business, which in the end we’re more simple than i thought they would be.
- surveyed everyone i could in online business about their tech pain points. i’m groping for what to do at the point. i’m sick of seeking out people
- came up with services and training i could sell. 6 at first.
- tried to create mindmaps for each one of them.
- built resources, templates, salespages, action steps on how i would perform these services and products.
- set up products in an online store service, gave them prices.
- attempted to build auto-responders and e-mail lists for them.
- got incredibly bogged down and slowed by the enormity of doing so many things. easy when a client asks a specific thing, hard when trying to sell it.
- realized i was spending all my time building.
- gathered feedback about my actions from bloggers, literally e-mailing, asking, reaching out. i asked 3 people to be on a virtual board of directors to help direct me.
- talked with noah kagan (and plenty others) and was inspired to simplify, and actually offer one thing.
- changed models, understood the importance of feedback, testing, and singularity.
- chose just one service i wanted to launch
- went to Facebook and messaged people in groups, reached out to peers i’ve met along the journey, went to forums i searched on topic with http://boardreader.com/ i made a simple offer, review my simplified homepage, review my offer…give me feedback and i’ll do the service for free.
- i did this for 1 week
- got feedback, found real clients, connected with real people.
- made updates, experienced that what i was offering was a real product, to be bought, sold, given out at a promotion or charity.
- with this new view, beginning feedback i now have direction, a fledgling newsletter, a clearer sales path and avenue to make a difference.
- now with this clear path, i can write content, reach out to other peers with something in hand, use research tools and so on with purpose. i can now execute more easily because the basement has been revealed. i can unbox what i’m selling next to my user with clarity. i do X, for X.
- i can continue to test, build the business, and validate with specific goals. ways to sell “X” have opened up, that although i would comment on them before, i wouldn’t actually implement them. feedback, execute, feedback execute. it sound mechanical, but i already know i love helping people with technology, it’s business time. you can thank me for that video some other time.
i can answer, what’s the point beyond a weak, “to help people, and make an impact” … i can avoid being lukewarm.
i can get beyond the nice guy who knows technology and expands on everything too much. he can silently come along into the business world, where fast feedback, and specificity lead to execution and traction. i can now use the plethora of “toys” out there that are meant to drive business, why? because it’s all for validation and feedback, for users and sales, for making a difference and providing value, all in very specific ways.
core technologies used to get here. google them or ask in the comments.
- billing boss
- make your words sell
- wordpress
- godaddy
- ejunkie
- paypal
- google checkout
- mailchimp
- book graphic generator
- fireworks
- mentors and more mentors
- Facebook pages
- hootsuite
- google apps for separate e-mail addresses
- gmail filters
- dreamweaver
- outsourced designers
- mint.com
- omnigraffle
- keynote
- evernote
- heavy calendaring
- blogcastfm
- m6 method
- wufoo forms
- google forms
- google docs
- transmit ftp program
- firefox web developer toolbar to diagnose
- usertesting.com
as i’ve said before, and will say again my friends. onward!