This is not going to happen without healthy doses of determination and endeavour, amongst other things. The question is; how do you apply yourself effectively?
It is far too easy to work hard and fail – many have done it before me, and many will after. Ensuring that my hard work is chanelled effectively is a huge priority, especially when your available time is limited by a full time job.
So What Are You Doing?
I have just two projects that I am working on at the moment, of which only one is potentially income-generating. They are my niche site, Modeling For Kids, and this blog.
Modeling For Kids is my first real attempt, beyond eBay and the like, to generate an online income.
Meanwhile, Leaving Work Behind is my attempt to build a likeminded community so that we can galvanise each other to greater things. I have no plans to monetize it at this time, as I explained in my article, “Why I Am NOT Trying To Make Money From This Blog”.
Between the two projects, I am researching and writing six articles a week. I also spend a considerable amount of time marketing both. I am expanding my social network and trying to establish mutually beneficial relationships with peers.
In short, I am getting stuck in. And it is taking up an awful lot of my free time. About 90% of it at the moment, I would estimate.
How Are You Making Money?
Well, in short, I’m not. At the time of writing I have made a gross income of £3.66 ($5.85) from my internet endeavours. That does not concern me, as I only set up Modeling For Kids about a month ago, and it is the only project I have running that aims to generate an income.
Why Not Try Something Else Too?
At times like this, impatience is an evil mistress I have to keep in check. It is of course tempting to explore other income-generating avenues.
So why not surrender to impatience? Why not concentrate the tightly wound spring of energy that exists in me into as many projects as I can possibly manage?
Because I can’t manage. At least, not to the level of quality that I am prepared to accept.
Spread Your Butter Thickly
I believe that one of the biggest mistakes you can make in life, let alone business or even internet marketing, is to spread yourself too thin. This applies to all situations.
If you have too many friends then you will end up neglecting all of them. If you work long hours you’ll never spend quality time with your kids. If you butter your toast too thin then it’ll just taste like dry toast (with an ever so gentle hint of dairy). I could go on.
Obligatory Fishing Analogy
So what would happen if I started planning and executing more income-generating projects at this point? My efforts would be horribly diluted, and I would almost be just as well off doing nothing at all.
If you sail 50 yards from the shore and cast your net wide, who knows what kind of fish you will catch, if any. However, if you know where to fish and sail over to that spot and wait patiently, you will have a fine catch by the end of the day. Even if it turns out that you were fishing in the wrong spot, you probably learnt a lot more from your failed venture than if you’d spent all day sailing around in circles. I’m sure you can tell that I am not much of a fisherman, but the point of the analogy rings true.
Don’t Give Up Without A Fight
Analogies aside, I need to know that I have beaten a project to death before I can give in and move onto the next idea. As long as I am hitting my short term goals, everything else will fall into place. If you have your fingers in many pies, those short term goals will be awfully difficult to achieve.
If you want to work hard and fail, then try everything. If you want to work hard and succeed, pick a venture you think will be profitable, and pour your heart and soul into it.