Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun… or working? Well, it seems in my case it certainly does and I apologise to anyone that has checked this blog in the last year or so, because quite frankly it’s been a lonely place for those people to frequent. Actually that’s an understatement, it’s been more like a saloon bar out in the Wild West that ran out of drinks a long time ago 😉
All That Is Going to Change in 2013!
Before I come to that, though, let’s take a quick look at what has been happening out there in the world of Internet Marketing and ‘Making Money Online’ over the past year.
Google Rocked The World of SEO
Perhaps many of you already knew it was coming, but the algorithm changes that Google rolled out, left some webmasters flat out broke and people that thought they knew SEO, tearing their hair out in frustration. A lot of people reliant in a big way on Google for their traffic, threw in the towel and most likely went back to some kind of day job.
I speak to people regularly out there in the “real world” (yes I talk in queues and everything) and one woman who was doing well making lovely handmade gifts, got wiped out by the big “G” and as her rankings plummeted so did her earnings. So much so, in fact, that she went for a promotion in her job instead.
So What’s The Lesson Here?
Don’t rely heavily on any of the major search engines for your traffic and income needs. If you do that, you are building your business on shaky territory. To put it both more bluntly and accurately, you don’t have a business AT ALL, you just have a cashflow that could get wiped out at any minute. You can’t plan a life, pay a mortgage or do anything long-term with the ‘Search Engine Traffic’ hit-and-hope method. Even if what you are doing works well today, it may not tomorrow.
And Google engineers are changing the algorithm all the time, so you don’t know when the next update is going to foil all your hard work and effort.
The Answer?
Is to build a business and then shout it from the rooftops! On the subject of traffic, be sure to drive it to your web properties through other means. Don’t just sit there waiting for search engine traffic to find your website/s, be proactive and connect with real people interested in your niche. Google isn’t the be-all and end-all in the world as some people out there in the ‘land of forums’ would have you believe. There was life before it and there will be life after it too. Google doesn’t owe it to you to feed your family or ensure you get rich, they are a money-making enterprise that will do whatever they feel is best for the direction of the company, the shareholders they are accountable to and they will marry that with the needs of the customers they serve.
What Should You Be Doing in 2013?
* Drive More Traffic to Your Websites Through Other Means Not Reliant on the Search Engines.
* Build a List if the niche/s you are in lend themselves readily to this.
* Think Long-Term and Become a Business Owner, Not a Servant of any 3rd Party Service
* Reading My Blog 😉
* Don’t Spread Your Efforts Too Thinly. Take Consistent Action Daily and Remain Focused.
* Set goals and put dates on everything you want to achieve otherwise they will fall by the wayside!
Work On Your Mindset
It is an undeniable truth that the only thing YOU have complete control over is your own mind and the thoughts you allow yourself to focus on or discard. Too many people live their entire lives at the mercy of their own emotions and this can stop you from achieving your goals. You can CHOOSE to approach life with a positive mental attitude, it’s your call (and it’s your life).
A lot of people think the answer to success and making money online is by discovering the ‘secret’, but the simple truth is that the right mindset combined with action, goal setting and a will to succeed will see you achieve more than you probably even think possible right now.
Discover Your Major Purpose In Life
Now I realize a lot of people reading this will not yet know what their major purpose is, or indeed if they have one at all. What you will know is if you are currently fulfilling your purpose in life. I assure you of this, all of us has one, but not everybody in life actually fulfills theirs. It’s up to you to discover what yours is and follow your burning passion. Here’s an excerpt from Ray Bradbury, who discovered that writing was his…
Throughout his life, Bradbury liked to recount the story of meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. At the end of his performance Electrico reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched the boy with his sword, and commanded, Live forever! Bradbury later said, I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.
That gives you an idea of what I am talking about!
Buy Products and Courses But LEARN From Them
If what I am about to say, sounds like you, then please STOP RIGHT NOW. You find a product or course online that looks interesting and you’re thinking about buying it. You are excited about learning all this new stuff so you make the investment, buy it and you’ve got yourself so worked up about it, you’re actually relieved to a certain extent that you’ve ‘secured your purchase’. You are investing in your online business and it’s a good feeling. At that moment in time you visualize yourself making wheelbarrows full of money thanks to all the ‘gold nuggets’ in this course that are about to be revealed to you.
Next you download the course or login to the members area, as applicable and start to check it out. You may even start taking notes or get so far into the materials in the course/product before signing off for the day. You have every intention to continue studying this product/course but what happens? You DON’T. Why not? Perhaps you get distracted by another course or product that you think is even better than the one you have just purchased. Maybe things in your life start to eat up your time and you forget all about it. “I’ll do that later”, you think to yourself. Fine in theory, but in practice deep down you know it’s never going to happen. Before you know where you are 6, 12, 18 months or more have gone by and you’ve either given up on your dream of running your own online business or you’re no further along than what you were then.
So do yourself a huge favor. Next time you buy a product or a course, go through EVERYTHING and apply that to your online business. That means learning and then earning. You got that? Good!
Are the Glory Days Over?
The other day I was reading a post on a forum in which the OP asked if the “glory days are over?” or not. People that ask this question are often interested in making a ‘quick buck’ or ‘pressing a magic button’ to make cash flow into their bank account. The truth of the matter is that fads and ‘loopholes’ will always only last for a period of time, whereas business fundamentals remain as relevant now as they ever were.
So what you really need to ask yourself is if you are willing to do what it takes to build a real business or are you just a ‘fly-by-night’ person that wants to make some cash while the ‘sun shines’. If it’s the latter, what you will find is that things will work for a while and then when that strategy or loophole is no longer relevant, your income becomes a big fat ZERO overnight. My view on this is that it’s fine to exploit a loophole as long as you don’t try and build a business around it. Then invest that cash into a solid business that will pay you and your loved ones for years to come. Now that’s smart isn’t it. BE SMART and consider how you can add value to the world in 2013 and beyond!
Moreover, no matter what day, month or year you get started building your business, there will ALWAYS be opportunities available to you. You can guarantee that every year someone is alive, they will hark back to a specific time period and say with the benefit of hindsight, “I wish I was around or started in ‘X’ year, I would have made a killing’. Really? If that is true, what’s to stop you spotting the next opportunity and building your business TODAY. Not yesterday, last week, last year or a decade ago. Right now! You have no excuses for not taking action and getting started today.
Even if you only have 30 minutes to an hour a day to spend on your online business ( and please don’t give me the ‘I haven’t got time’, excuse – MAKE TIME!), you will be surprised how much you can achieve and get done if you focus all of your energy doing the right things for this period of time on a consistent basis.
What You Shouldn’t Be Doing in 2013
* Don’t rely just on the search engines for your traffic and resulting income.
* Don’t get distracted by the next shiny object that comes along. Rest assured that if you do this you will gain no momentum in 2013.
* Don’t waste your life spending all of the time on Facebook and Twitter. Sure, use those social media platforms (I know how cool they are, but ask yourself, “Is time spent on Twitter/Facebook making me money or helping me advance my online business?”) but don’t become enslaved to them or your phone. I know people that practically have their heads glued to their phones. When you’re supposed to be working, make sure you actually WORK!
* Don’t talk the talk and fail to walk the walk. Words are cheap, actions COUNT.
What Am I Doing in 2013?
I’m going to be connecting with a lot more of you, updating this blog on a much more regular basis and helping people change their lives. I don’t make that statement lightly and I want you to join me on this journey both on this blog and via my list so you’re the first to know about events as they are happening.
That’s all for todays post, which leaves me to wish you Happy Holidays. Enjoy yourself, take a well deserved break, then get back to work and take massive ACTION to make your dreams become a reality. Be the best person you can be in 2013 and great things will happen for you I promise.
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