Am I Built for This?

The longer I'm in this business, the more desperate I become to make it work. I know that a lot of people will say that desperation is good...

That desperation will make you go further...

Push harder...

I know longer think that's the case. The more I look at my behavior over the past 6 years, the more I realize that desperation has made me soft. I say I put in hard work, but am I really doing that? I say that I'm doing all that I can, but is that really the truth?

I think not.

Analyzing my behavior, I can clearly see that since 2008 - when I REALLY decided that I wanted to go full time with this business - I've been looking for easier and easier methods to make it happen. I continue to make deadline after deadline for achieving my exit income. I make plan after plan while my attention span for each continues to get shorter and shorter.

I've gone from being dedicated and realistic about achieving success to making ridiculous timelines for "making it work"; then I become disappointed when it doesn't happen.

I don't stick with anything long enough to see it to fruition and my income shows the ugly result of my lack of focus.

I can't do this anymore...

At least not the way that I have been.

I had my taxes done last night. While I was sitting in the office and talking with my tax friend, Jan (she does my taxes every year), the numbers made everything crystal clear.

I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on advertising, on testing new markets as an affiliate, and on "guidance and education". But at the end of the day, the ONLY sources of real profit were my main product site and some old Adsense sites I built in the very beginning of this journey!

Throw away all of the testing new markets with PPC and CPV, and it was blindingly obvious what was my only real, consistent, proven, and reliable source of income - my own products and Adsense. Not CPA offers, not affiliate promotions outside of the market of my main site, not offering services to other marketers. None of that!

Jan said it so plainly that it literally hurt to hear it....

"Why don't you just stick to that (creating products)?"

Why?

Because it's not as exciting...

Because it's not as "fast"...

Because it's "way too slow" for my ridiculous timelines, goals, and deadlines...

And yet, if I had just turned off all of the noise. If I had only said to myself in 2006, "I'm just going to make products", I wouldn't be writing this post.

The "fast" methods have ALL let me down.

The sad irony is that the "Not fast enough" way was and is the ONLY way to make it.

I'm fan of always telling people that all of the things you hear about for making money work.

Article marketing works...

PPC works...

PPV works...

SEO works...

But when it comes to ME, the truth is that there is one thing that works. Making products, getting rankings in Google, building my list, and selling products through the list.

That's it! That's been the more reliable, most stable, most profitable method for me out of EVERYTHING.

It's not quick. It's not exciting. But it works.

The 80/20 Rule has been ignored for too long and at my own expense.


So, where do I go from here?

Well, I have 5 products currently - 3 in my main niche and 2 in other niches. That's where I start. I have a coach now who I KNOW gets results. Hopefully, I let him keep me honest about how much effort I'm actually putting in.

I throw out the deadlines.
I unsubscribe from everyone's list with the exception of 2 people.
I dedicate time each day to REAL SEO work.
I stop chasing the dragon.


This is going to be interesting.