If you started today...

Icecube

Icecube

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Mar 14, 2007
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I just logged into my adsense account and saw the link 'Take a tour of Adsense'

this made me think to what I'd do if I was starting now

I've set many targets and constantly abandoned them to pursue some 'better' idea, I've developed websites with custom made content management systems when I could have saved tons of time picking an open source cms with 1000 more features ready to use.

I've wasted countless hours on, literally, tens of projects and websites without sticking to one, and this has been for sure my biggest mistake.

what about you?
 


Flash4Ever said:
You haven't wasted time, your skills have grown and the mistake has shown the right way to do the things.
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True that.

We all would love to tell ourselves to do X instead of Y, don't waste time with Z. But in all honesty, it's us doing the retarded things that made us so much more efficient today.

But I think OP's trying to get us to share so maybe others can get a good idea.

I'll bite: outsource as soon as you can afford it.

Edit: Maybe try changing the title of this thread to "Your ONE tip"?
 
juntao65 said:
True that.

We all would love to tell ourselves to do X instead of Y, don't waste time with Z. But in all honesty, it's us doing the retarded things that made us so much more efficient today.

But I think OP's trying to get us to share so maybe others can get a good idea.

I'll bite: outsource as soon as you can afford it.

Edit: Maybe try changing the title of this thread to "Your ONE tip"?
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In my short time doing this, I can already see the value of your advice Junta. I'm a perfectionist, and hate giving power to someone I don't know. But you really can't be involved in every aspect of the game - there aren't enough years in one's life.
 
Icecube said:
I just logged into my adsense account and saw the link 'Take a tour of Adsense'

this made me think to what I'd do if I was starting now

I've set many targets and constantly abandoned them to pursue some 'better' idea, I've developed websites with custom made content management systems when I could have saved tons of time picking an open source cms with 1000 more features ready to use.

I've wasted countless hours on, literally, tens of projects and websites without sticking to one, and this has been for sure my biggest mistake.

what about you?
Click to expand...

Jumping around from one program to another only makes you wiser on what doesn't work. Quit it.
 
I guess you need to have a plan. What I do is I have a plan for the year, for the month, for the week and for the day (the day plan is just a to do list basically). And yes these plans all change with new things coming up, but try maintain the route.

I guess you learn by doing, so mistake or not, once you have done it, you know better. The more you do, the more you know.
 
hmm If I had it to do all over again? I would have set up my LLC/Brand sooner. Working as the head of an in-house team turned SEO agency I think I left a lot of income on the table by focusing all my efforts promoting that brand instead of my own. Now as I position myself to transition into my own thing full time I really wish I had prepped for this over the last year rather than doing it all today.

Also 100% agree with the above post about outsourcing as soon as you possibly can afford it.

Another thing I would toss into the hat would be to spend some time developing process documents. When you know all the stuff because you do it all day its easy to look at a new site or client and know what needs to be done. But the moment you hire your first employee who is starting from scratch, you will smack yourself in the head for not making process documents that allow a total n00b data entry person to just follow the step by step chart and get the work done without having to spend weeks explaining to them the how and why's of it all.
 
I've been at it since I graduated HS (and was learning design/dev years prior), and I'm 26, yet this year may only be my first 6 figure year. I'm not an AM'er though.

Out of my experience, which is longer than most here, I can tell you my number one problem has been procrastinating and not pushing forward and doing the things I know I need to do in order to make more.. Don't be a pussy like I've been, like for instance, right now I'm running an adwords campaign (something I've avoided often) that has generated 600 uv's and not 1 order to my design course site - In the past I would just say fuck it and give up, but I know I need to split test ad copy and LP's (which I'm not atm) - and even if it may fail still, I still need to push forward and experiment further instead of just being content with making a relatively small $3k a month with this site.

I'm also regretful that with a few of my sites, I neglected building traffic via SEO for years. If I had focused on building 1 piece of quality content per month, and pushing it to build bl's, I'd probably be making at least 5x what I do now..

I guess I could sum everything up by saying don't be content with making X.. Force yourself to be in the mindset that your back is up against the wall and forward is the only way out. :)
 
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dreamache said:
I've been at it since I graduated HS (and was learning design/dev years prior), and I'm 26, yet this year may only be my first 6 figure year. I'm not an AM'er though.

Out of my experience, which is longer than most here, I can tell you my number one problem has been procrastinating and not pushing forward and doing the things I know I need to do in order to make more.. Don't be a pussy like I've been, like for instance, right now I'm running an adwords campaign (something I've avoided often) that has generated 600 uv's and not 1 order to my design course site - In the past I would just say fuck it and give up, but I know I need to split test ad copy and LP's (which I'm not atm) - and even if it may fail still, I still need to push forward and experiment further instead of just being content with making a relatively small $3k a month with this site.

I'm also regretful that with a few of my sites, I neglected building traffic via SEO for years. If I had focused on building 1 piece of quality content per month, and pushing it to build bl's, I'd probably be making at least 5x what I do now..

I guess I could sum everything up by saying don't be content with making X.. Force yourself to be in the mindset that your back is up against the wall and forward is the only way out. :)
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^ this. +rep
 
If I haven't had mistakes in the past years I wouldn't be successful as I am now.
There were months in which I have done almost nothing testing worthless projects, during these days I thought to lose my time and resources but now I know that was the leverage that carried me on the right way.
Now I know perfectly what to do what not to do only because I have done mistakes.
 
If I started again I'd search for that deep motivation, the REAL reason why am I doing this.

Because without knowing why specifically you're doing this you get sidetracked and don't get nearly as much work done as you'd do if you knew.

So as it was already said, I'd definitely work more.

But all of that aside I'm very happy how things are turning around. The way I see it, what really matters is that I know now what to do.

I remember reading everything I could get my hands on when I was starting. And honestly, I read the very same advice I'd give to myself right now. I knew that working more would produce real results and yet I didn't follow it. What I'm trying to say is that even though we'd give ourselves all this "wisdom" we have now, we just couldn't follow it since we wouldn't be ready for it.
 
Mine would be to outsource asap. The first $300 I made that I could invest back into my business was to hire a Filipino Web developer. I continued to plow most of my money into hiring staff and getting them profitable. I hate working. I just like thinking, dreaming, researching and designing businesses, so this plan has worked out really well.
 
Always look for new motivation. Once my sites got to where I could pay the bills and sustain my lifestyle, I got lazy as fuck. Everything sort of plateaued at that point. But this year I'm making a conscious effort to scale and not settle for what's good enough.

And I also agree that all the failures are important. Not only does it condition and teach you, but it makes you respect and appreciate the successes that you do enjoy.

My personal problem is spending way too much time on design issues that most likely no one is going to notice or care about but me. It's like 1/3 being a perfectionist and 2/3 being sort of shitty at design in general.
 
I would be willing to invest more money right from the start. I wasted a lot of time doing manual work that can be done with automated tools. I also made a bunch of money sites on free hosting, which I regret because I don't have full control over them. I would pay for hosting right from the start.

I would also avoid reading any IM ebooks and instead read the blogs of IMers with good reputations.
 
I said it before and Im going to say it again. Adsense can suck on my left testicle. I have always set my goals away from Google's Marketing plans. Its difficult, But more realistic. The only thing I depend on from Google is their search engine. No doubt, manual work can be a PITA and a lot of investment. I was recommended to go to semiauto way and it has been all uphill from there. If you are looking for ad links to make you money, your best bet would be to opt for other ad campaigns or start building your PR and sell sitelinks. The moolah there is better than what the fucks at Google can think of paying back.
 
Three things.

1. If I knew then what I know now about economics, I would have done everything differently. I think it is crucial for every business person to understand basic concepts like opportunity costs, marginal utility and time preference.

2. Goals. I didn't have mid and long term goals. It is important to start thinking now and realistically about what sort of lifestyle you want, what it will cost and how attainable it is. Where do you want to be in 10 years? What responsibilities will you have in 20 years (spouse, children, care for parents)? Now that I have goals, everything seems so much clearer.

3. K.I.S.S. We all get caught up and excited by complex ideas that have too many points of failure and too many prerequisites to execute effectively. Complicated plans and processes are inefficient and encourage procrastination. Dreaming big is no substitute for acting now.
 
This. Also, what apex SEOrm said earlier about proper documentation. I'm terribly unorganized.

guerilla said:
Three things.

1. If I knew then what I know now about economics, I would have done everything differently. I think it is crucial for every business person to understand basic concepts like opportunity costs, marginal utility and time preference.

2. Goals. I didn't have mid and long term goals. It is important to start thinking now and realistically about what sort of lifestyle you want, what it will cost and how attainable it is. Where do you want to be in 10 years? What responsibilities will you have in 20 years (spouse, children, care for parents)? Now that I have goals, everything seems so much clearer.

3. K.I.S.S. We all get caught up and excited by complex ideas that have too many points of failure and too many prerequisites to execute effectively. Complicated plans and processes are inefficient and encourage procrastination. Dreaming big is no substitute for acting now.
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