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Follow Up: How Do You Know When It’s Time to Move On (From the Readers)

Pat — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:54:52 +0000

On Wednesday, I asked the SPI community to share their answers to a very important question, a question that most entrepreneurs come across at least once during their journey:

How do you know when it’s time to move on?

Nearly 100 comments came in and I must say, I’m very impressed with the knowledge and experience that my readers are willing to share.

After reading through all of the responses, I noticed a few common themes throughout:

Knowing when to move on is never an easy thing to do, and it’s something that a lot of us struggle with at some point.
The “when” is different for everyone. There’s no definitive answer, no universal “golden rule” and most people have their own personal set of criteria for when it’s time to move on.
Moving on does not necessarily mean failure. Several people see it as an opportunity and a learning experience instead, and I completely agree.
Before moving on it’s smart to re-examine what your goals are and ask others who may be able to help or at least give you some advice or an outside perspective first.

Here are a few comments (or parts of comments) that really stood out to me:

David from The Diving Blog said:

“First, I never flat-out kill a project. I prefer to “table” it. Maybe the timing isn’t right, or I’m missing some key insight that will pull everything together. Put it aside and maybe look at it once a year to see if you have a new perspective on it…”

Mike from How to Be Amazing says:

“…I think it’s good to review these questions from time to time about whatever it is we do…

Am I doing any good?
What’s it costing me, and can I continue to afford that?
Am I personally getting a benefit?
What would be the cost of stopping?
What’s the emotional context of wanting to give up?
Am I seeing any success at all?
If I keep going at this level, is that OK, or do I have to make it big?”

Andrew from Andrew’s View of the Week explains:

“It is really all about risk management. All enterprises have a risk of failing and you need to take that into account when starting out. Before launching into something I always think about what will I consider a success.

Success can be hard to measure. It could be a certain income over a period of time. It could be something else, like a certain number of page hits or something. The trick is to find something measurable. There has to be an objective measure and you must take your emotions out of the decision point.

Next I decide what I am willing to invest to hit that success goal – thinking in terms of time, money, emotional investment, and think about what I am not going to do to get this project done. When I’ve hit the investment limit it’s decision time.

If I’ve hit it right I’ll achieve success before I hit my investment limit. Then it is time for a celebration and think about the next goal.”

Sarah from Common Sense Marketing said:

“…A lot of the time, though, it’s about a gut feel. I think all of us know deep down inside whether we’re on the right path, or whether we’re investing time and effort into something that’s a bad fit for any one of a number of reasons (poor timing, wrong skill set, bad expectations, etc)…

…I think it takes time to learn what that gut feeling means (and even longer to learn to respect it), but for me, it’s one of the best indicators of whether or not a project will be successful – even if it hasn’t yet started to pay off.”

Jackie from Money Crush says:

“In general, I think that if you’ve either reached your self-imposed limits, or have exhausted all the avenues you and others that you’ve brainstormed with can think to try, it’s time to move on. In the case of something that you don’t have much passion for, I’d argue that you shouldn’t be wasting your energy on it in the first place. But if you are passionate but just discouraged or distracted, regroup and press on.”

Jayson Foxx from JaysonFoxx.com says:

“I know that this is something most of us struggle with on a recurring basis. For me it’s simple. It comes down to these key points:

Don’t make a personal judgement
Don’t become married to an idea
Don’t take it personal
Let the market do the talking
Let the numbers make the decision for you (if the CTR is 1 in 200 or 0.5% minimum, it’s a good indication to give it a go)
Choosing ‘NO’ for an idea is not necessarily bad. It was however, just an idea (and saying ‘NO’ could save you more in the long run. Don’t be afraid to say no if the numbers don’t support your idea)
The reality is that most ‘ideas’ don’t work…and that’s ok.
If you end up making a ‘NO’ decision that’s ok. You could always end up selling what you have on Flippa or Sedo and recoupe your costs, and quite possibly more.

Finally I leave you with this quote:

“Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe.” Sumner Redstone

Don’t be afraid to say NO!”

There are a ton of other fantastic comments, but I can only share so many highlights here in one individual blog post. I recommend reading over the comments in my last post to get even more thoughts about this.

The Take Away

My biggest take away from my own experience and from reading about the experience of others is this:

Only you will know when it’s time to move on. Whether it’s gut feeling, the numbers don’t add up, or you’re just tired and lack the passion you once had – whatever – it will be a personal decision that you (or you and your business partners, if applicable) will have to ultimately make on your own.

I wouldn’t throw something away or put it aside without first evaluating goals and remembering why I got into whatever I was working on in the first place. You do have goals set in place, right?

Also, I definitely recommend seeking someone else’s trusted opinion first because we all know how “tunnel visioned” we can be when working on our own projects, and there may be something obvious that only someone on the outside could shed light on, but again it all comes down to you.

To finish up, just remember this – those who have something to potentially move on from at least gave themselves a chance to succeed. They tried something – and that’s huge, and because of their experience they will be that much more ahead of those who don’t take any action at all.

Thanks to everyone who participated and shared their thoughts and personal experiences.

Cheers, and have a fantastic weekend!

P.S. – I will be in Los Angeles for Blog World Expo next week, and if you’re around town I’d love to meet up with you. I’m planning an SPI community meetup on Friday, November 4th at 7:00pm. Click here to get the details and RSVP via Facebook, and no – you don’t have to be attending Blog World Expo to hang out!

P.P.S. – If you are attending Blog World Expo next week (or are planning to! Use this link and discount code BWESPI20 to get 20% off your ticket!), my presentation is at 1:45pm on November 4th in ‘Room 411 Theater’. (Theater!? Nice!). I hope to see you there! And for those of you interested, here’s a quick video explaining exactly what my talk will be about. Any comments? Enjoy!

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Follow Up: How Do You Know When It’s Time to Move On (From the Readers)
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Ask the Reader: How Do You Know When It’s Time To Move On?

Pat — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:19:28 +0000

When I wrote about my failures last week, my intention was to show you that failing is perfectly normal and if you dig deep enough into any success story, it will be a journey full of failures and mistakes.

One thing I didn’t touch on much, however, was the idea of knowing when to move on – when to scrap an idea, consider it a learning experience and move to the next.

How do we know?

It can be extremely difficult to let go of an idea that we once had a ton of excitement for, especially if we’ve already devoted so much time and effort (and possibly money) into it.

Also, how do we know if all our idea really needs is just a little bit more time?

Today, I’d like to hand the baton to you and see what you think.

In the comment section, please share your thoughts and on Friday I’ll highlight some of the responses in a round-up post. If you have a website, please be sure to add it to the “website” field (not in your actual comment) so that I can link to it if your comment is featured.

This is a very important subject that I know is on a lot of people’s minds, so please share what you think because we’re all here to help each other!

Thanks, and I look forward to reading your responses!

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Ask the Reader: How Do You Know When It’s Time To Move On?
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Reader Challenge Roundup: Mini-Product Creation and The Next Challenge

Pat — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:49:56 +0000

“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” – Bernice Johnson Reagon

Every few months, I challenge you, the readers of SPI, to do something specific that will take your blog, business or brand to the next level.

In November of 2010, I asked you to write a Pillar Article, which yielded 51 posts, over 200 hours of writing, tens of thousands of additional visitors to your blogs and one person even landing a book deal.

In January of 2011, I then asked you to write a List Post, which resulted in 1,003 “things” in a total of 63 posts that were shared (and are still being shared) all around the web.

In March of 2011, I then asked you to step out of your comfort zone and publish a YouTube Video. There were 44 participants, most who have never before recorded or published a video in their life. The most viewed video now has over 15,000 views since then and is ranking #1 in YouTube for its particular keyword. I love it!

In May, I asked you to do something a little different that would take a lot more time to produce, which is why I waited so long to publish this roundup post.

I asked you to create a report, document, white paper, manifesto or mini-eBook about anything related to your industry, niche, website or business, and it should be given away for free.

My goal was to get you to do a few things:

Show you that you can (and should) do a lot more than just write blog posts.
Help you get into a product creation mindset.
Help you gain more authority in the niche you’re in.
Help you get more subscribers if you are building a list.
Give you the push you need to do it.

To those who participated, I’m very proud of you and your accomplishments.

It takes a lot more than just content to produce something like this. There’s also all of the graphical elements, the delivery mechanisms, and of course, putting it all together.

We had about 20 submissions that I’m happy to feature below:

Healthy Ways for Stronger Days: 5 Quick and Nutritious Recipes by Nathan from Non-Stop Awesomeness

The Affiliate Research Formula by Steve from Noble Affiliate Lifestyle

What’s Stopping You? from Cara of 17,000 Days

The Daily Focus Pad from Ken at Destroy Distraction

Business That Can Change the World – The What and Why of Social Entrepreneurship by Justin from Impact Your Business

How to Be Happy by Mike of How To Be Amazing

Time Blocking 101 by Kevin at You’re Making Me

For Oily Skin by Ramy of For Oily Skin

Website Creation for Absolute Beginners by Robert of Website Tool Tester

Understanding the Risks of Spread Betting UK Shares by David of Trading Simply

Wedding Slideshow Planner by Harlan of Wedding Slideshow Ideas

Niche Sites for Beginners by Mike of Penny On the Floor

5 Easy Money Experiments by Jimmy & Pete of Niche Experiments

The Newlywed’s Guide to Budgeting by Tim of Faith and Finance

Get a Life That Doesn’t Suck by Benny from the Get Busy Living Blog

Don’t Envy the Successful Entrepreneur – Become One! by Sam at Grad Money Matters

101 Tips for Becoming a Productivity Superstar by Timo at Timokiander.com

How to Network and Sell More Effectively by Sandra at Into3d.co.uk

Get Out the Vote to Win by Ben at Get Out the Vote to Win

Earn Your First 1000 Dollars With Affiliate Marketing by Momekh at LifeETC

I didn’t have time to read through all of them – there’s a TON of content here – but I did read the descriptions of each and was very pleased with what I saw. I encourage you to download anything that might be of interest to you.

Investing time to write eBooks the Smart Way has definitely paid off for me, and I know it will do the same for the action-takers and go-getters that were featured here today.

As promised, I’m awarding two prizes to the pool of participants – one $50 Amazon.com gift card to a random entry, and then one $100 Amazon.com gift card to someone that I choose.

Congratulations to Kevin from YoureMakingMe.com who was randomly selected to win the $50 gift card, and congrats to Tim from FaithandFinance.org for being selected to win the $100 gift card.

The Next Reader Challenge: A Story

I want you to write a post that incorporates a story – any type of true story that teaches something to your audience.

Stories are one of the most powerful marketing tools because when we read or listen to one we can actually relate to the situation and feel exactly what the storyteller is feeling. Even my favorite teachers were the ones who told the most stories.

Stories are powerful, engaging and memorable, and when combined with online business the results can be out of this world.

Check out the story I share on How to REALLY Profit From Your Blog and you’ll see exactly how a story can enhance the information you want to share with your audience.

So that’s it – write a new blog post (on or after September 16th) that incorporates a true story that teaches something valuable to your readers. Send me an email through my Contact Page and make sure you write READER CHALLENGE at the top so I can catch it.

You have until the end of October to send me a link to your published post, and since I expect a lot more entries this time around I’ll be giving away three (3) $50 Amazon.com gift cards to 3 random participants.

Write a story, write an even better headline, teach a lesson to your audience and send me the link by the end of October. I’ll feature it here on SPI in the next reader challenge roundup post.

Cheers, and have a great weekend!

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Reader Challenge Roundup: Mini-Product Creation and The Next Challenge
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Reader’s Choice: Who Would You Nominate?

Pat — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:55:02 +0000

I thought I would do something a little different today as I work on a pretty beefy monthly income report for Monday’s post.

I want to give you, the SPI reader, an opportunity to share the bloggers and online entrepreneurs who you feel are doing extraordinary things and deserve some recognition.

Although I won’t be doing a tally and give out awards or anything like that, I thought it would be a great opportunity for all of us to see who is making an impact in the blogosphere, and why.

To keep this open ended and interesting, I’ll provide you with a sentence and you can fill in the blanks with any category and the person who you’re giving recognition to.

Use the category to tell us why we should pay attention to the person you are “nominating”.

Please keep it clean and positive, and any defamatory or discrediting remarks will immediately be deleted.

You can recognize as many people as you wish (put them all in the same comment field), and please do not nominate me or yourself for anything.

Spread the love yo!

Here’s the sentence:

For the category of (name of category), I nominate (name of person and/or website).

I’ll start…

For the category of best and most engaging community on the web, I nominate the SPI community.

How about you?

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Reader’s Choice: Who Would You Nominate?
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What’s Better: Having 1 Site or 10 Sites?

Pat — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:02:26 +0000

A simple question to tickle your brain this weekend:

Would you rather have 1 site earning $1000.00 per month or 10 sites each earning $100.00 per month, and why?

The question is left without details to spur more discussion.

I had asked this question to my Facebook community the other day, and within 30 minutes I had a ton of answers that really started to make people think about their approach to online business and making money online, which is the purpose of sharing this exercise with you today.

Please leave a comment, and just for fun, I will give one random person a very rare, Smart Passive Income T-Shirt, as shown below.

All sizes are available, and you must answer the question in order to be qualified to win. One entry per person, and the winner will be randomly selected and announced one week from today (Friday, June 17th).

I look forward to reading your answers. Have a safe weekend!

“Likes” (below) are very much appreciated!

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What’s Better: Having 1 Site or 10 Sites?
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Ask the Reader: What Makes You Leave a Website?

Pat — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:27:33 +0000

What I truly love about my blog here at SPI is the unbelievable and amazing community of people that have congregated here, not only to support the blog and what I do, but also to support each other.

Some of the best and most valuable content on this site has been posted by you, the SPI reader, in the comment sections of my posts. And although I always aim to provide the best content that I can myself, I know you’ll always come back with more, and that impresses the heck out of me.

Today, I have a quick but very important question for you, which I know will help everyone who sees this in the future who is looking to improve their online properties.

I’ve asked similar questions to my Facebook Page in the past, and I always get a few responses like:

“This stuff is Gold. Big companies would pay big money for information like this!”

So, let’s all help each other out, and try to make the web a better place by answering the following question:

What makes you leave a website?

In other words…at what point do you say “I’m done with this” and click on the back button? Is there something on a site in particular that triggers the idea of moving on? How much time do you give a site before you take off?

Think of this as leaving when you know the website you’re viewing isn’t ready for you to leave (like after you’ve made a purchase, or you’ve found the information you were looking for).

I look forward to reading and learning from your comments.

Cheers, and for those of you in the US – have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

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Ask the Reader: What Makes You Leave a Website?
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A Mastermind Group Exercise You Can Try Right Now

Pat — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:30:28 +0000

I attribute a lot of my success as an online entrepreneur to my participation in mastermind groups. I can honestly say that without mastermind groups, I would not be where I’m at today.

A mastermind group is a small number of like-minded people who get together regularly to discuss business ideas, share business goals, offer advice and hold each other accountable. I am involved in two at the moment, one of which meets via conference call for an hour Monday morning, and another that meets webinar style later that afternoon.

It totally sets the right mood for the rest of the week, especially when it comes to goal-setting and taking massive action. Simply coming up with a plan and announcing it to the group motivates me to actually get things done and make progress in my business.

A Mastermind Group Exercise For You

I’ve written about how to find mastermind groups before, but actually finding one is not that easy. That is why today, I’d like for you to think about this post as an easy opportunity to participate in a “super mastermind group”.

All you need to do is share in the comment section: a particular goal that you would like to achieve within the next week.

We all have larger goals that we’re working towards, but breaking it up into smaller week by week goals, like we do in our mastermind groups, really helps us take action and see actual progress.

So please share something you’d like to you’re going accomplish within the next week.

That’s it.

This post and it’s comments will be read by tens of thousands of people, so here is your opportunity to use the power of a group of like-minded people to hold you accountable.

Share, and then take action.

Don’t let us down.

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A Mastermind Group Exercise You Can Try Right Now
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Passive Income Polls – Revisited

Pat — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:34:00 +0000

I’m off to a mini-vacation this weekend to a little Danish settlement in mid-California called Solvang, but for fun I thought it would be interesting to ask a few poll questions about online business and lifestyle while I’m away.

What’s unique is that I’ve asked these exact same questions before back when SPI was less than a year old and only a couple of hundred subscribers strong, so it’ll be interesting to see how the results compare.

I would love you to participate so we can get a large pool of answers, and it should only take you a minute to click your answers for the following 6 questions.

Please answer and VOTE one question at a time.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I’ll share the results and comparisons with you soon.

Cheers, and have an awesome and safe weekend!

Image by Vmiramontes

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Passive Income Polls – Revisited
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I Challenge You To Fill In These Blanks

Pat — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:29:31 +0000

One of my favorite things to do here on the blog is to challenge you.

I’ve found that challenging you will often provide you with much more insight and education for your blog or online business than any type of pillar post, tutorial or video that I could create.

And the coolest part is that by participating, whether you share results publicly or keep them private, you’re teaching yourself and learning on your own. I’m just here as your guide.

I’ve challenged my readers several times before that have really made people think in a different way or step out of their comfort zone and try something new – which is amazing. That’s exactly what it takes to get results and see major changes.

You’re welcome to go back to these old challenges, read through them and participate publicly or privately if you wish:

Today, I’d like you to think about what you do online and fill in the blanks to the sentence shown in the image below. It looks simple, but I must warn you – for some of you this won’t be as easy as it sounds and it might cause you to rethink how you’re approaching whatever it is you do online.

But that’s the point.

In your head, fill in the blanks below:

After you come up with your answer, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is this unique?

Think about all of the other sites with the same exact target audience. Stepping back and really assessing your second answer, is this something that makes you stand out from the crowd and magnetically attracts new visitors, readers, followers and fans?

2. Do my answers reflect reality?

I ask this question because a lot of people will fill in the blanks with answers they want to hear – not answers that reflect reality.

There is no right or wrong answer here, this exercise is simply here to make you think.

Maybe you realize that your target audience is not your actual audience at all. Maybe you realize that the reason and methods people actually come to your site is different than what you originally thought. Maybe your business or blog is growing in a way that doesn’t match your overall goals, in which case a proper course of action can be taken.

If you have two answers that you are confident with, feel free to share your answers with the community here in the comment section below.

Stay tuned for another podcast session on Wednesday. Cheers!

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I Challenge You To Fill In These Blanks
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Is Giving Away Free Information Bad?

Pat — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:05:59 +0000

On this blog, I give away a lot of free information. But is it too much?

Of course, those of you on the receiving end of that information would say, “No way! Keep it coming!”, but put yourself in the shoes of a blogger with a large following, raving fans and a decent sized email list and ask yourself, “Should I really be revealing all of this information…for free?”

Am I losing money, or am I gaining trust which will help me make money later?

Am I attracting buyers, or just people who want free information?

I think this is a very important subject to talk about because it could determine exactly how we should run our businesses. I definitely have some thoughts about it, but I’d like to hear what you think first. I’d like to feature some of your thoughts on an upcoming podcast episode about the subject.

One random commenter will receive a $25.00 gift card to Amazon.com. I will announce the winner next Wednesday, but in order to qualify, you must leave a valid response in the comment section of this post which has your answer to the question:

“Is giving away free information bad?”

I’m looking forward to your responses, and please – don’t be shy. I’m not looking for a right answer…just your opinion.

Cheers!

Update: Congratulations to Jeff Flannery who was randomly selected to win the $25.00 Amazon.com Gift Card.

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Is Giving Away Free Information Bad?
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