What are the reasons you first failed? or still are failing? Is it money? Spouse? Girlfriend? not being ready? not being prepared, please do tell,
:bowdown:
:bowdown:
Reasons for your first failures?
- Thread starter Veritas
- Start date
I've probably had projects fail for every possible reason you could think of.
Here's a few really stupid ones:
- Let a date with my ex-gf be a priority over a deal. I went on a date and when I came back the deal was off the table.
- Went to the army for 4 months voluntarily even though my business was taking off and had several of my campaigns die because I couldn't work on them. I wonder from time to time what would happen if I could properly scale those campaigns back then.
- Been working with a dev team for close to a year to create a desktop product and when it came out my main traffic source was gone. Taught me to execute faster.
I'm gonna see Dark knight rises now, I'll try to think of more when I get back.
Here's a few really stupid ones:
- Let a date with my ex-gf be a priority over a deal. I went on a date and when I came back the deal was off the table.
- Went to the army for 4 months voluntarily even though my business was taking off and had several of my campaigns die because I couldn't work on them. I wonder from time to time what would happen if I could properly scale those campaigns back then.
- Been working with a dev team for close to a year to create a desktop product and when it came out my main traffic source was gone. Taught me to execute faster.
I'm gonna see Dark knight rises now, I'll try to think of more when I get back.
- I had a network of about 25 sites, all on the same server. I linked them all to each other, and hired a black hat SEO company (not knowing they were doing black hat SEO at the time..). Was earning $100k/year from these sites, google sandboxed every single one of them, and then I was making about 5k/year after that from direct type in traffic. 90% of the traffic for each of the sites was from Google.
I did everything wrong there, but I learned my lesson.
I did everything wrong there, but I learned my lesson.
We're all failing constantly. If you're not failing, you're not trying to do new things. No one has the knowledge to come out and hit a perfect home run every single time. Sometimes, even making contact with the ball can seem more like luck than great design.
My mistakes have almost always come when I didn't do enough research into the people I was working with or the market I was getting in to. I get headstrong and overconfident, and I rush into things without doing the diligence I need to do in order to be successful.
I have gotten better at this, but it's been a source of much misery for me.
Also, not being tight enough with keeping excellent books. I cannot stress enough that if you don't have your books straight, you have no fucking idea what is really going on in your business, and if you think you do, you're a delusional idiot. Outsource it if you don't like doing the books, but don't avoid it altogether. That's dumb and going to bite you in the ass eventually.
Another thing I have done poorly is be passive-aggressive when dealing with uncomfortable business/work relationship issues. If I was as direct with the people I deal with as I am on Wickedfire, those relationships would have been a lot stronger. This is another area I am a lot better at, but not without doing it very poorly for a long time.
I suppose the last thing I failed that which really stands out, is that I spent too many years doing things I was totally unhappy with because I didn't have the courage to take a leap or in my ability to hustle some success. I refuse to do things I don't believe in, work with people I don't trust, or invest in something I don't care about.
My mistakes have almost always come when I didn't do enough research into the people I was working with or the market I was getting in to. I get headstrong and overconfident, and I rush into things without doing the diligence I need to do in order to be successful.
I have gotten better at this, but it's been a source of much misery for me.
Also, not being tight enough with keeping excellent books. I cannot stress enough that if you don't have your books straight, you have no fucking idea what is really going on in your business, and if you think you do, you're a delusional idiot. Outsource it if you don't like doing the books, but don't avoid it altogether. That's dumb and going to bite you in the ass eventually.
Another thing I have done poorly is be passive-aggressive when dealing with uncomfortable business/work relationship issues. If I was as direct with the people I deal with as I am on Wickedfire, those relationships would have been a lot stronger. This is another area I am a lot better at, but not without doing it very poorly for a long time.
I suppose the last thing I failed that which really stands out, is that I spent too many years doing things I was totally unhappy with because I didn't have the courage to take a leap or in my ability to hustle some success. I refuse to do things I don't believe in, work with people I don't trust, or invest in something I don't care about.
Thought I knew what I was doing, and now looking back I hadn't the slightest clue. Although at the time I thought it was all an epic failure, those lessons not only shaped my business mindset, but also changed my general outlook on life.
When I'm stuck in a small rut I always like re-watching this video.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT4Fu-XDygw"]Famous Failures - YouTube[/ame]
When I'm stuck in a small rut I always like re-watching this video.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT4Fu-XDygw"]Famous Failures - YouTube[/ame]
My biggest screw up was not getting a mentor when I was younger. When I first started making really good coin, I should have immediately been sourcing a mentor or mentors. Considering everything, loads would have been happy to bring me under their wing, even if it cost me 70% of my business.
Should have surrounded myself with some grey hairs, and kept my ears open, instead of just pushing through work as if I knew what I was doing.
Should have surrounded myself with some grey hairs, and kept my ears open, instead of just pushing through work as if I knew what I was doing.
Read too many forums / blogs back in 07' and wasted money on ebooks. Guess I was trying to take the shortcut and find the secret sauce somewhere. I was drowning in information. Do I do SEO? Article marketing? Start a blog? Adwords? etc.
Things didn't click until I just made a simple plan. Launch as many campaigns as it takes until you're profitable with Facebook ads. Trying something and failing is a lot more progress compared to doing nothing.
Things didn't click until I just made a simple plan. Launch as many campaigns as it takes until you're profitable with Facebook ads. Trying something and failing is a lot more progress compared to doing nothing.
My biggest failures were because I spread myself too thin. I justified it as diversification, but the reality is that I was just too scared/inexperienced to focus on a few projects for the long term.
I've cut my projects down to three sites that I can see myself working on for the next few years, and I'm already benefiting from it.
I've cut my projects down to three sites that I can see myself working on for the next few years, and I'm already benefiting from it.
- Not using incoming money to make more money, only spending/living it up.
- Not using the complete freedom in time I had to improve myself / knowledge - knowitall syndrome
- Not managing my money at all, not even a simple spreadsheet. I installed Quicken once and when I saw my tallied total for fast food / pizza was $1700 for one year I was sick to my fucking stomach.
- I read one book in four years - The E-myth - said this doesn't apply to me I'm a genius
- Lack of discipline, focus, and drive - Stay up 30 hours straight gaming then sleep for 14 and wake up in physical agony from oversleeping, then start gaming again.
Complete lack of long term planning:
- No savings
- No rainy day fund
- Falling into depression because I thought the world owed me something cause everyone told me I was smart. While my friends made millions I made mashed potatoes for dinner as my only meal.
- While everyone else talked to their affiliate manager I talked shit to 13 year olds in Call of Duty. While you were checking stats I was checking for socks I hadn't jizzed into.
- The world blossomed and I begged. Friends helped and I took advantage. Continued asking for handouts but only got my ass handed to me. I wasn't prepared for anything so I blamed everyone else. If only this person encouraged me more if only that person taught me this when I was this age.
Came to a point of attempted suicide and realized the problem was me. Everything that went wrong was because of me. You can hear it from other people, read it in a book, see an article about it but it doesn't quite set in until you come to the conclusion yourself. Three options, continue blaming the world and getting the same life result, pull the trigger [literally], put forth actual effort and see where life goes. You know exactly where it's going if you end it, you know exactly where it's going if you keep doing the same things, but you don't know where it's going if you try, and that's worth a shot.
It is very easy to make judgements "that's a cowardly thing to even consider" but if you've never been anywhere close to that place you just have no clue.
Still a failure, still a loser, but I can't give up on myself. That's too easy and I've taken the easy route my entire life. It's not easy knowing you've lied, cheated, and stolen. Forgiveness seems the hardest when it's for yourself. There is no one to come save you, no hero, no God(s), no guru, no magic book. Just you.
To be able to get up the next day with your body functioning and able to try again is what made me effortlessly change everything. No more sugar, no more terrible food, spending a 10th of the time I used to online now. Making actual income now as opposed to $0 and managing everything. Committing to basic exercise w/ limited equipment 3 times a week. Plenty of rest, reading books helpful to my goals, discarding all unnecessary goals/todo/projects that ultimately would add nothing to my life. Skimmed my life down to laser focus on the things I could control.
I don't know shit and I can't help anyone but:
Simplify your life
Please use actual effort to manage your money even if it's just with a spreadsheet or Google doc
Don't build up an extensive Bookmark or Evernote library of shit you'll never get back to.
Put your health and well being as a top/high priority. Get your physical, get your teeth cleaned, go see about that lump in your armpit.
Spend less time online. You aren't missing shit by not browsing Reddit, you don't need to watch yet another video on Youtube, that Ted Talk adds honestly nothing to your life. Stop bookmarking shit read it now or fuck off.
Eliminate shitty people and time wasting blood suckers from your life.
Get off social networks unless you need it for business.
Most importantly don't talk about what you are going to do, if you aren't already doing it no one cares and it doesn't matter. Those big plans you brag about always blowing up in your face? Don't talk about it unless you have done it or are already doing it.
tl;dr man up or kill yourself
- Not using the complete freedom in time I had to improve myself / knowledge - knowitall syndrome
- Not managing my money at all, not even a simple spreadsheet. I installed Quicken once and when I saw my tallied total for fast food / pizza was $1700 for one year I was sick to my fucking stomach.
- I read one book in four years - The E-myth - said this doesn't apply to me I'm a genius
- Lack of discipline, focus, and drive - Stay up 30 hours straight gaming then sleep for 14 and wake up in physical agony from oversleeping, then start gaming again.
Complete lack of long term planning:
- No savings
- No rainy day fund
- Falling into depression because I thought the world owed me something cause everyone told me I was smart. While my friends made millions I made mashed potatoes for dinner as my only meal.
- While everyone else talked to their affiliate manager I talked shit to 13 year olds in Call of Duty. While you were checking stats I was checking for socks I hadn't jizzed into.
- The world blossomed and I begged. Friends helped and I took advantage. Continued asking for handouts but only got my ass handed to me. I wasn't prepared for anything so I blamed everyone else. If only this person encouraged me more if only that person taught me this when I was this age.
Came to a point of attempted suicide and realized the problem was me. Everything that went wrong was because of me. You can hear it from other people, read it in a book, see an article about it but it doesn't quite set in until you come to the conclusion yourself. Three options, continue blaming the world and getting the same life result, pull the trigger [literally], put forth actual effort and see where life goes. You know exactly where it's going if you end it, you know exactly where it's going if you keep doing the same things, but you don't know where it's going if you try, and that's worth a shot.
It is very easy to make judgements "that's a cowardly thing to even consider" but if you've never been anywhere close to that place you just have no clue.
Still a failure, still a loser, but I can't give up on myself. That's too easy and I've taken the easy route my entire life. It's not easy knowing you've lied, cheated, and stolen. Forgiveness seems the hardest when it's for yourself. There is no one to come save you, no hero, no God(s), no guru, no magic book. Just you.
To be able to get up the next day with your body functioning and able to try again is what made me effortlessly change everything. No more sugar, no more terrible food, spending a 10th of the time I used to online now. Making actual income now as opposed to $0 and managing everything. Committing to basic exercise w/ limited equipment 3 times a week. Plenty of rest, reading books helpful to my goals, discarding all unnecessary goals/todo/projects that ultimately would add nothing to my life. Skimmed my life down to laser focus on the things I could control.
I don't know shit and I can't help anyone but:
Simplify your life
Please use actual effort to manage your money even if it's just with a spreadsheet or Google doc
Don't build up an extensive Bookmark or Evernote library of shit you'll never get back to.
Put your health and well being as a top/high priority. Get your physical, get your teeth cleaned, go see about that lump in your armpit.
Spend less time online. You aren't missing shit by not browsing Reddit, you don't need to watch yet another video on Youtube, that Ted Talk adds honestly nothing to your life. Stop bookmarking shit read it now or fuck off.
Eliminate shitty people and time wasting blood suckers from your life.
Get off social networks unless you need it for business.
Most importantly don't talk about what you are going to do, if you aren't already doing it no one cares and it doesn't matter. Those big plans you brag about always blowing up in your face? Don't talk about it unless you have done it or are already doing it.
tl;dr man up or kill yourself
1. I surrounded myself with idiots, liars and cheats, and wondered why I was the one getting the raw end of the stick.
2. I said yes too many times to accommodate people.
3. I met and did business with people I would not invite into my home.
4. I listen to people.
5. I didn't use the income I made to make more money, instead spent it living the life cause I didn't want to be a part of the hype - damn A. Samuels.
6. I no longer represented big brands that I used at some point.
7. Biggest mistake... Spreading myself too thin. If you can't be successful in one thing, then it's impossible to be at 12 things at the same time. If anyone takes anything from this, that's the one thing that caused the most problem.
Good luck bros.
2. I said yes too many times to accommodate people.
3. I met and did business with people I would not invite into my home.
4. I listen to people.
5. I didn't use the income I made to make more money, instead spent it living the life cause I didn't want to be a part of the hype - damn A. Samuels.
6. I no longer represented big brands that I used at some point.
7. Biggest mistake... Spreading myself too thin. If you can't be successful in one thing, then it's impossible to be at 12 things at the same time. If anyone takes anything from this, that's the one thing that caused the most problem.
Good luck bros.
I can rehash what several people have said already pretty much:
1. Partnering with the wrong people, who consistently left me holding the bag and cleaning up the mess multiple times on big projects, deals, or other big things that ended up wasting MY time and money.
2. Not reinvesting my money back into my business. I used my revenue from my business as a lifestyle business.. spending too much time on "lifestyle" and not enough back on the business.
3. Spreading myself thin/not taking enough action. I still suffer from shiny object syndrome and being frozen from over analyzing.
4. I never learned to just say no.
5. Let other people talk me out of shit.
6. Thinking I had enough time to relax/that competition wasn't creeping up on me to take over what I already had.
1. Partnering with the wrong people, who consistently left me holding the bag and cleaning up the mess multiple times on big projects, deals, or other big things that ended up wasting MY time and money.
2. Not reinvesting my money back into my business. I used my revenue from my business as a lifestyle business.. spending too much time on "lifestyle" and not enough back on the business.
3. Spreading myself thin/not taking enough action. I still suffer from shiny object syndrome and being frozen from over analyzing.
4. I never learned to just say no.
5. Let other people talk me out of shit.
6. Thinking I had enough time to relax/that competition wasn't creeping up on me to take over what I already had.
(O_o)
H̨̼̩͐̑͆̀̚&
Going into business with my girlfriend. Started an adult site, built it from ground up, ranked it for some decent solo and webcam keywords, setup CC processing w ccbill. BLAM, we broke up and about 3 months later she kept the site, income, and everything. was too much stress to try fuck with it.
never again
never again
Some of the mistakes I've made:
1. Buying into other peoples ideas and not focusing on my own
2. Not having the confidence to work on my own, because I was scared of failure
3. Not signing contracts with long term "partners / friends" where my work was discounted due to some type of ownership agreement (verbal)
4. Not getting paid upfront
5. Trying to be too ambitious in my personal projects, making them either impossible to finish or providing to much complexity that people just don't get it.
1. Buying into other peoples ideas and not focusing on my own
2. Not having the confidence to work on my own, because I was scared of failure
3. Not signing contracts with long term "partners / friends" where my work was discounted due to some type of ownership agreement (verbal)
4. Not getting paid upfront
5. Trying to be too ambitious in my personal projects, making them either impossible to finish or providing to much complexity that people just don't get it.
I'm not sure what is the criteria here to be successful here but I would categories myself as an average or lower average achiever.
Reasons for it:-
1. Not having trust on anything getting sold on Internet. I basically never bought things online and didn't spend a dime on IM products, never grown balls to buy sites, never bought traffic etc.
2. Could not really focus on one thing. I made money on things but then got distracted with easy money. Could not managed myself to get in to next big things which are still pending. I have everything in mind but just can't take actions.
3. Got distracted for investing my hard earned money in to properties. Always believed this online business is not long term thing and I need something solid so I can live my remaining life without much hassle. I would have done better if I would have invested in online world(but no balls to do it).
4. Not getting a proper environment. Never attend any affiliate parties like Affiliate Summit, adtech and so on. All the fuckers around me have no clue about what I do. Or if there are some pplz who knows it never talk about.
5. Last but least not taking care of my health and body.
Reasons for it:-
1. Not having trust on anything getting sold on Internet. I basically never bought things online and didn't spend a dime on IM products, never grown balls to buy sites, never bought traffic etc.
2. Could not really focus on one thing. I made money on things but then got distracted with easy money. Could not managed myself to get in to next big things which are still pending. I have everything in mind but just can't take actions.
3. Got distracted for investing my hard earned money in to properties. Always believed this online business is not long term thing and I need something solid so I can live my remaining life without much hassle. I would have done better if I would have invested in online world(but no balls to do it).
4. Not getting a proper environment. Never attend any affiliate parties like Affiliate Summit, adtech and so on. All the fuckers around me have no clue about what I do. Or if there are some pplz who knows it never talk about.
5. Last but least not taking care of my health and body.
1.
Developed a great product but under-estimated the marketing budget. Am in the process of selling the product to another market player right now lol.
2.
Did not anticipate the switch to web apps soon enough a few years back.
3.
Did not scale-up quickly enough when I first opened shop in Romania.
But as the G said above mistakes are a sign of trying.
Developed a great product but under-estimated the marketing budget. Am in the process of selling the product to another market player right now lol.
2.
Did not anticipate the switch to web apps soon enough a few years back.
3.
Did not scale-up quickly enough when I first opened shop in Romania.
But as the G said above mistakes are a sign of trying.
1. Jumping into new niches thinking everything works there exactly how it works with niche I had some success in.
2. Not scaling up things fast enough when it was excellent time to do it.
3. Being the most unorganized person in the world. If you want to be serious with your outsourcing, books, whatever better organize your shit.
4. Procrastination was number #1 reason for a long time. In some way still is, but the progress I made in fighting it benefits me with all activities I take in live.
5. "This is not for me" way of thinking. Being not brave enough set my goals really low.
6. Spending money on services I've never really needed.
7. Jumping into trends in SEO - basically it finished off my sites when Penguin stroke. Funny enough I knew the consequences every time I was booking some services, yet was too affected with things other people where doing to stay away from those services.
8. Giving up on projects too quickly.
9. No proper planning.
10. STS, STS & STS...
2. Not scaling up things fast enough when it was excellent time to do it.
3. Being the most unorganized person in the world. If you want to be serious with your outsourcing, books, whatever better organize your shit.
4. Procrastination was number #1 reason for a long time. In some way still is, but the progress I made in fighting it benefits me with all activities I take in live.
5. "This is not for me" way of thinking. Being not brave enough set my goals really low.
6. Spending money on services I've never really needed.
7. Jumping into trends in SEO - basically it finished off my sites when Penguin stroke. Funny enough I knew the consequences every time I was booking some services, yet was too affected with things other people where doing to stay away from those services.
8. Giving up on projects too quickly.
9. No proper planning.
10. STS, STS & STS...
- First business, I signed a piece of paper with a competitor that prevented me from developing a certain feature for my website. It was a complicated issue - I was going to use the competitor's service to compliment my own, rather than doing the development myself. Turned out they misled me about their API. The business model I was stuck with was insufficient to continue with that project.
- Sold some software, turned out the software wasn't compatible with W7 machines. Shut it down because my partner, the original developer, lacked the know-how or ability to develop an updated version. Also, he lacked the know-how to even form a business plan. It's a bad sign when someone runs a business for 15 years and hardly makes any money from it. I was too inexperienced at the time to handle that kind of responsibility.
- Started a consulting business that failed because my partner was dragging his heels, had insufficient experience, and lacked motivation. I was the only one bringing clients in. I quickly got sick of doing it alone.
Lots of other mistakes scattered about in my past business ventures.
- Sold some software, turned out the software wasn't compatible with W7 machines. Shut it down because my partner, the original developer, lacked the know-how or ability to develop an updated version. Also, he lacked the know-how to even form a business plan. It's a bad sign when someone runs a business for 15 years and hardly makes any money from it. I was too inexperienced at the time to handle that kind of responsibility.
- Started a consulting business that failed because my partner was dragging his heels, had insufficient experience, and lacked motivation. I was the only one bringing clients in. I quickly got sick of doing it alone.
Lots of other mistakes scattered about in my past business ventures.