(This article is a guest post by my brother Gene. Gene has been working with me behind the scenes and on his own internet business for over a year now)
That is a word that most people dread. Everyone wants to be a success. We want to be liked and admired.
But that dreaded “F” word always pops up. Failure. This experience is strong enough to make you want to quit and start a new life.
Having an internet business is no different.
I’ve always believed that building an Internet business is like sipping from a fire hose. It’s almost impossible to learn just a little. Because of information overload it’s really hard to know *who* is right about the secrets to online success.
One thing that pisses me off is the idea of the Underachiever Internet Marketer. He’s that guy (or gal) who makes lot of money from dozens of niches. What annoys me is many folks believe you can find success by juggling different markets and projects.
I know some people make money doing this. But also some people make a living as a quarterback of a NFL team. It takes a very special skill set to manage lots of websites. Frankly, I think this is a bad strategy for anyone who is getting started online.
I believe in a simple philosophy. Focus on one niche at a time. When I say focus, I mean be prepared to spend 2 to 3 YEARS in this market. Only then, will you be able to build a solid, profitable Internet business.
There’s another reason why I recommend focusing on a single niche. It’s the best way to provide real value to an audience. Juggling multiple markets turns you into the proverbial jack-of-all-trades. You’ll know a little bit about a lot of things.
As an Internet entrepreneur, people come to you seeking top-notch information. It’s up to YOU to be that person who provides it.
To illustrate this point, take a look at this diagram:
The fun has to end sometime. I had a great two weeks traveling through Belize. But now it’s time to buckle down and get some work done.
What’s interesting about this experience is it was the first time I’ve traveled without my laptop. Plus I made the conscious choice to NOT use the Internet for anything besides booking hotels/activities.
It’s been quite the interesting week. First my website gets hacked and infected with a nasty bit of malware. Then my computer becomes a victim of said virus. Finally Google did another of its infamous dances which has many people screaming bloody murder.
Yup. Another fun-filled week as an Internet marketer.
…For one day
I hope you’ll excuse my little trickery with the headline. I wrote it to get your attention and talk about an important change on this site.
Today marks one whole year of a blogging streak. February 15th, 2010 was the last time I missed a day of posting. I don’t know how I managed to maintain this streak. Especially since I lived out of a backpack for seven months.
Tomorrow marks another special occasion. I’ll wake up, log into my computer, and for the first time in a year, I won’t read the responses to my latest post.
That’s because there won’t BE a post!
Yup, I’ve decided to take a day off.
I’m writing this after a 10+ hour hike through the Jungfrau mountain region in Switzerland. This was a pretty grueling experience that stretched the limits of my endurance. But it also helped me realize that there were many principles you can apply to an online business… some of them good, some of them bad. So with that in mind, I’d like to discuss eleven lessons I learned today:
This is being written on my last day in London, England. Early tomorrow morning I’ll hop a flight to Geneva, Switzerland. But I don’t want to talk about today. Instead, I’d like to give a review of what I did yesterday:
As you guessed from the title, today is my birthday.
And for some reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about the last 10 years.
Specifically how much I’ve changed in the last ten years.
{To learn how to make a change to YOUR life, read this post about starting a new life}
A decade ago, I was serving time in the military, engaged to my future ex-wife, attending graduate school on nights/weekends, and looking for a job when I entered the real world.
If you say the words “Forrest Gump” to anyone you know, there’s a good chance they’ll respond with, “Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates … you never know what you’re gonna get.”
I’m assuming that you’ve seen the 1990s Tom Hanks blockbuster, but if you haven’t, Forrest Gump’s momma was a kind-hearted woman that mastered the perfect method of teaching her simple-minded son the basics of life in a gentle way that he could understand.
I’m a member of an elite club because I’m one of few people who can honestly say, “I love my job.”
I can make my own schedule. I can work from home, I can work from a hotel, and I can even work from random train stations/airports throughout Spain and Portugal.
If you’ve gotten a chance to read a few of the posts on my blog you’ve probably realized that the main things I discuss here are lifestyle design and personal improvement.
Today, I’ve reached a mini-milestone. This is the 100th post of the Steve Scott Site. So to recognize the occasion, I want to go over a few things I’ve learned since I started this blog in January.
First, let’s cover…