Down Another Rabbit Hole
Reality Check
It's been a few days since I've checked in here...or maybe a few weeks...but who's counting, right? We're all living our lives the way we need to... surviving the way we can.
Like everyone here, I'm chasing the often-elusive make-money-online (MMO) train. Sometimes it feels like the train is gaining speed and I'm running down the platform next to it, waving frantically, trying to catch the attention of the conductor.
I know that consistency is the key to success in this game... the more often we publish, the more we focus on doing the right work, the better the results will be.
I've got a mild case... okay, I'm not fooling anyone but myself... a SEVERE case of SOS... Shiny Object Syndrome. It's dusted with a generous helping of FOMO... which I'm sure you're all familiar with. Fear Of Missing Out is a legitimate illness... as is SOS... and I don't think there's an entrepreneur out there who hasn't fallen victim to both SOS and FOMO at least a couple of times.
I'm working on setting up multiple income streams - that's what we're told is best, right? To do that, you need to be involved in a few different things... so I am. And I keep my eyes and ears open for other opportunities that come along.
But after a while, there comes a point when you start to lose focus... when there are simply too many irons in the fire, so to speak. That's the point when you have to start reeling things back in, or you're going to end up stretched so thin that nothing is working anymore.
I understand that... but is it wrong to check out new opportunities when they float by us? Examining the new projects, trying the new courses, seeing what feels good... isn't that part of the whole game?
It's been suggested to me a few times... by a number of different people, not just by one person repeatedly... that maybe I'm jumping into too many projects and I should be focusing on one or two and seeing them through.
But that's like playing roulette, isn't it? Trying to decide which one of the projects is going to be the one that succeeds is akin to picking black or red and then having to pick a number besides.
I realize that ANY of the projects can succeed. It's a matter of devoting the time and energy required. But what criteria do you use when deciding which of the projects to focus on? There are so many things to consider:
- interest (yours and your audience's)
- potential ROI
- time needed to reach steady-state and achieve that ROI
- raison d'être (are you doing it for the $$ or for another reason)
I think it's important to try out a few different ventures, to see what road you want to travel. But you need to have some guidelines in place to help you decide when to bail out. How long will you give a new venture, before deciding to shelve it for awhile? How are you going to divide your time between the ventures: do you do one for an hour, a day, a week... and then switch to the next?
I've been toying with this dilemma for a while now - how to decide the time chunks to devote to each venture. I've got about 6 different areas/projects on the go, and each is vying for top spot in my circle of focus. I've been trying to work on 2 or 3 of them each day. That's not working so well... maybe I need to focus on 1 project for a week or two, get it set up, then focus on another.
Or maybe, and this is the popular choice among my many "coaches" (in quotes because they're all simply offering advice; none has been hired to guide me) I should forego all but one of the projects until it is running at steady state. Then move on to the next, and so on.
Great thought...but that brings to mind the person who's planting apple trees. A great orchard will bloom at some point, but the planter will be much older by the time the fruit is ready. Having some berry bushes that can be grown alongside the planting of the orchard and that will yield fruit sooner, will ensure that there is fruit while waiting for the apple trees to bloom.
So, I continue to push out little bits of many projects... hoping that some will land and bear fruit.
Recent Comments
13
Hey, I experienced this last week but my results and decisions were different. I had to refresh to top producer, second going ok, and I give myself 1 week to add the third I been watching for a month. My goal is 7, and I give 'em a chance, try several Positions, But no satisfaction doesn't make me Satisfied, Next. I don't let my boots get stiff. I'm also about to "drop" couple of affiliates for not producing, I gave them a fighting chance, they lost. The End ....Next. Don't dwell too long, "keep on Trucking" is my game. My truck only feeds me when she's Rolling .
Roll On Sweetie
Hi Jacquie I hope that you are not stuck in that loop of buying every second thing that lands in your inbox.?
If you are stop!
Reading your post, you have kind of answered your own questions, the key is to marketer up, focus on one thing and follow through, when it's coming together the next shiney object you want to chase is scaling up your venture.
Better to focus on one make some money, reinvest grow that asset.
The opportunitys will grow along side that one.
Than spending energy on many ventures and making no money.
When it comes to FOMO, the thing we need to realize is that the Internet isn't going anywhere, and if a vender or affiliate is promoting or offering a deal, you can bet your bottom dollar something similar will be coming to the market next week, possibly tomorrow we are in the age of copy and paste.
Which will be making you money by lunch time.
I will leave you with my broken record tune, its called:
The clever fox that chases after two rabbits catches none.
Poor little fox, he crwy crwy, crwy all day long.
If you have a Pa, office manager, staff writers, freelancers on tap, Web designers your own version of Wix, disregard everything I have said.
Ha ha...no Alex, I don't buy every second thing that lands in my inbox...but I do look at a lot of them!
Thanks for the FOMO reminder - I'll admit that I often forget that the offers are undoubtedly going to come again. I really have to learn that language the sales pages use... the words that get me excited each time! And then I will have some armour against it when I read it.
I guess the key in my story is that I haven't found that "thing" yet... the one that I'm happy to focus on and promote. Until I settle on one thing, I'm forever looking at the next...
We all have to craft our own story, if we don't what we do will suck the life blood out of us.
Best wishes with your adventures.
Jacquie I have to admit that I am more in your ship than trying to sail a single boat. While it will take longer, spreading my risk across a few niches will, I feel for me be more prudent. In recognition of the strain on myself I have solicited supporters, in key areas, to assist with the work. We will compare notes in a few months and see.
Hugh
Yes - I think getting assistance would probably ease the workload and stress... but that's not a viable option at the moment for me. As I mentioned to Hugh up above... I think have to find the niche that speaks to me, before I'll be ready to settle into one.
Until then, as you say, spreading across a few niches is going to continue. We will indeed see how things are going in a few months!
See more comments
LOL, I have been focusing on my own projects a lot lately (following my own advice 😂) so I missed this blog.
It's funny, isn't it, how we often know the answers to our own problems and still aren't able to get out of the loophole. Could it also be, that you are feeling the breath of time in your neck? It's what happened to me a couple of years ago - saying to myself I have no time left. So hurry, hurry, and on to the next promising thing.
It should bother me now even more, being a couple of years older. But luckily I could pull myself out of it, as it didn't help me.
You'll get there, don't worry. You know the answers and you'll find the right one as well. :)
xxx
Hannie