I have written about how you have to think clearly about what kind of business you want – popularity or substance – when it comes to revenue. If you are not clear on what you are after, then you get a random hodge podge of results in building your business.
I also realize that most people are:
… not patient
… not strategic
… thinking small
… wanting something for nothing
And this is not reality. I always say,
“If there was a magic door to make money, someone would have found it. Then everyone would go through it.”
It’s wishful thinking based on the avoidance of dealing with the pain and rigor of building a business right-side up. The reality is that there is a lot of hard work trying to figure out the nuances and micro-steps that get people interested and wanting to pay you money.
So, if you find yourself chasing down every new marketing or sales gimmick, then you’re just playing the lottery hoping to get lucky.
And think about the waste. You would have posted content on someone else’s platform over hundreds of hours. It’s not your content. It’s theirs – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. They own it and you created value for those platforms.
But you get to play in their sandbox and connect. That’s the trade-off.
So, you may have realized that the marketing game is overwhelming, saturated and confusing. I have helped many people get deals and make money and there are varying strategies based on your audience, products and market. But here are some things you have to have in place that matter. If you did nothing else but commit and be consistent with these things, then you will make money because you will make deals.
- A ZeroInbox. Read my book, ZeroInbox. Who cares if you spread your message wide if you’re not even organized to be responsive or ready for anything. If you have a cluttered inbox, you have a cluttered head. And you need your head to make deals to make money.
- Your own site. There needs to be a place to put your content, have it indexed by Google and repurpose it for ongoing usage. It should be a platform that is optimized, easy to get in and out of and valuable to people.
- An email list. Your list is your life. Monitor it, care for it and feed it with valuable information. You have to get organized, grow it and be consistent with email newsletters that matter. That’s the closest relationship you can have in this busy world.
- Organized contacts. There’s a trade-off between being organized and being open. Being organized allows you to execute but it narrows your focus. However, being open allows you to see opportunity. You have to strike that right balance by managing an accessible and easy contacts list that you can act on in the busyness of a workweek without missing a beat.
These are assets that allow you to make money in today’s economy. And anything else you add to the mix – Pinterest, Instagram, podcasts, etc. – have to be managed. Being half in on any of those platforms makes you irrelevant. You don’t get noticed because it’s so crowded. So pick platforms where your audience naturally lives and forget the rest. Commitment in a deep and engaging way goes a lot further for your hours than spreading yourself thin on everything.
Where are the gaps for you?
