A Note On Opportunity Cost

57
10.5K followers

Hey everyone.

I wanted to talk to you all today about opportunity cost, which in other words means, when you do one thing, you lose the time to do another.

We've only got so many hours in the day, and when you're new and most likely doing everything yourself, that means there are only so many things you can do.

Now the danger here is that beginners often try to do too many different things at once.

I'm not talking about the essential things, like keyword research, writing articles, learning wordpress, and the other things that will contribute to your success.

You need to do those things!

What I'm talking about is when you get distracted by a new tactic or gizmo or idea, and you spend a few days going off researching it, trying to do it, and ultimately going back to what you were doing in the first place.

The opportunity cost of chasing after different things means that you can't do something else more important.

I still make this mistake as well. I might decide I want to learn about using something for my site or trying a new ranking technique, when really, I should be focusing on doubling down on what is already working.

As a beginner, you have SO MUCH to learn, so you definitely DO need to go out and try lots of new things, but unless it is one of the following things, my recommendation is to file it away in your "I'll do that later" box:

Just Focus On These 5 Things

1.) Learning about and practicing keyword research

2.) Learning about and practising writing articles and doing on page SEO

3.) Learning about and practising using Wordpress and formatting articles

4.) Learning about improving your content to get more conversions

5.) Learning about and tracking metrics to do with traffic, conversions, what is working.

Aside from those 5 things, you don't really need to focus on anything else at this stage.

One thing I started doing after several months of burning myself out trying too many different things at once, was having a parking lot.

It's nothing fancy, it's just a page in my notepad where I park ideas for later. Right now I have things like PPC, ontraport, a new sales cart, and other items in my parking lot. When I get a bit of free time or complete another project, I will visit the lot and take something for a drive.

The danger is that if you are always going after something new or not mastering the above 5 points, you will be getting progress slower. Did you notice how I wrote to practice all of those things as well?

You might "understand" keyword research, but until you've done it for months, you won't really be good at it. You'll learn new things all the time, and will get better and better.

If you are thinking "Ok but I know all these 5 things and am still not getting success, which is why I am keeping myself busy learning new things" then my answer to you is quite simple:

You don't know all those 5 things.

Keep getting better, keep learning, but whenever you want to learn or pursue something new, ask yourself "What is it going to cost me in time? What could I do being instead?"

By the way, once you start getting traction, you lose interest in chasing other things.

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training

Recent Comments

29

Dom, you're absolutely.... ooohhh, look a butterfly.... ;)

I know haha...oh what color is it?

It's hard to let join to be distracted from the five points when there are so many buttons and lights flashing. I'll try to get better at it in the next year

Distraction happens all the time and is part of working online. What we need to do is learn to acknowledge when we are wasting our time.

It takes a little practice but definitely an important skill thanks

They are the foundational skills.

Yep and as you learn them more and more they become the only skills you really need.

Thanks for reminder, all the best:)

Sound advice Dom

Great tips. I even wrote down your 5 tips. I'm planning to put that in to action. Thanks for the share.

Great! Hope they help

Excellent advice. Thanks for sharing

You're welcome

Great advice thanks

Anytime

Thanks, I needed that! Hard to stay focused at times.

Yep, I'm speaking from personal experience here too ha

Great advice. Great post.

Thanks

See more comments

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training