When NOTHING Is Working
We’ve all been there.
You hear big-time marketers say “you need to do X” and so you go out and do X.
And it doesn’t work. So you blame
yourself and keep going.
After all, you NEED this online business thing work and work big time!
So you listen some more, buy some more, and try some more.
And it still doesn’t work.
I can tell you, based on 20 years of doing this and knowing many
of the “gurus” personally … we have ALL been there.
Happily, there is a
way out.
The way out may differ
for you than for me but what I’ll do today is share what works for me in hopes
that it works for you too.
When I get stuck, when
nothing is working, I use these three principles.
Go
Back To The Basics
The basics of online
business are actually pretty simple.
At its core, you need
these things to succeed online …
Something to sell.
To know who will want or
need that product.
A way to reach them.
To make your case for
them buying from you.
So here’s an important
question for you …
Which ONE of these is your biggest challenge
right now?
The faster you identify your biggest challenge, the faster you
can attack it. And attack it you will need to
do.
You need to be like the Allies on D-Day, relentless in your desire for victory, ready to make any sacrifice necessary, and
completely sure that your cause is just.
Declutter
No, I’m not talking
about Marie Kondoing your business, although it’s not a bad idea.
I’m talking about not trying to do so many things at one time.
I found a list of my
own from years ago that read like this …
·
Build sales funnel for
______ product.
·
Write follow up system
for ______ product.
·
Post to the blog.
·
Do a Facebook live.
·
Check progress on
project X.
·
Get new merchant
account.
·
Update affiliate
center.
And yes, that is ONE day. No wonder the day was a flop. The list makes me tired just
looking at it.
David Allen says that our minds are not made for storing ideas but rather for having ideas.
Cute phrase, and true, but just keeping lists won’t get the job done.
At some point you have to eliminate the
unnecessary so you can have the mental bandwidth to do the necessary things.
But what ARE the
necessary things?
·
Building your list.
·
Getting traffic to
your offers.
·
Knowing your numbers.
I said this to a client once and he went ballistic. “Know my numbers? I don’t HAVE any numbers
to know!”
And yet, he did. His number just happened to be zero. Zero sales. Zero traffic. (I suspect this
was the cause of his anger)
So how do you “know
your numbers?” I’m glad you asked!
Know
Your Numbers
There are about a billion things you could keep track of if you wanted to spend your time that way.
The good news is this, there are only a few numbers you NEED to know to succeed online.
Here are mine …
·
How many people joined my list today?
·
How many emails did
I send today?
·
How many opens and clicks did those emails
generate?
·
How much traffic did our sites get today?
·
How many sales did I make today?
·
How much did I spend on ads or marketing today?
If you know that you are promoting a good product and know that your audience needs what you are selling, these are key numbers for you too.
Knowing more than this
is optional in my view.
Conclusion
Here’s the thing – succeeding online is hard enough without
having to fight the exhaustion that comes from
confusion. So simplify where
you can and get back in control of your time and your life.
If you do, you will be
able to focus on those core tasks we must all do.
And focus is a beautiful thing indeed!
