Do You Have A Plan
It is only Tuesday, but I am already having a record week in sales, so I thought I would write a post (well, do a video!) and talk a little about having a plan. Not just any plan, but a business plan for your online business. What is it you are trying to accomplish with your online business?
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With every site I have ever built, bought or sold, I had a plan for it from the start. My first site was on wordpress.com, and my plan was to test the capabilities of writing a blog about my line of work. Within a month I new I wanted to get serious about it. I hired a designer, got my own hosting, and started a website at the same time I was starting my business offline. My plan was to use the website to build a presence that allowed me to advertise my business without spending any money other than the website. It didn’t quite work out that way, but after my initial costs, it mostly did.
I have a plan with this website and here are some of my goals:
- Finish My Ebook: I am currently writing an Ebook called “Hot Blog Tips 101″ where I basically list 101 blog tips (I hope to reach 101 tips anyway!) and write about each tip. As I said, I have gotten extremely busy with my site that actually provides my income, so the stuff I am doing for free, or no direct income, gets put on the back burner. But I hope to have it finished in the next week or two. I will offer it to all my email subscribers (current subscribers will automatically get it and new subscribers will get it when they sign up).
- Complete the re-design of this site. It is mostly complete, but I have some minor tweaks yet to work on. Elegant Themes has been great to work on, and I plan to actually use their themes on 2 other sites I have.
- Write a bi-weekly or monthly newsletter with content that only email subscribers will receive.
- Finish my email marketing setup, meaning I still need to customize my opt-in and email templates on Aweber. I am really loving Aweber by the way, and if you haven’t signed up yet it is well worth it!
- Do live webcasts on a weekly basis via Livestream
- And the most important goal is to complete my products that I will be offering here, and no those products won’t be free
Ok, so there is only part of my plan, I actually have it written out and detailed on about 3 pages, but I can’t give away all my secrets! How about you? What are you short term goals?
PS: Sorry about the video being small, I am getting my new HD cam by the weekend, so I probably won’t do anymore videos until then since I can’t seem to get them set the same every time with this one!
Related posts:
- Blog Tip: Free E-Book Released
- Blog Tip | Work Environment
- Blogging Is Easy?
- Can You Do It All Yourself?
- Thanks To My Readers
I can’t wait for the EBook to come out – the best of luck with your plan, I hope it goes smoothly.
.-= Shannon O | Confessions of a Loving Wife´s last blog ..Privacy in Marriage, How Much is Too Much Information? =-.
I am hoping to have it out by the end of next week, all email subscribers will automatically get a copy
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Update on Do-Follow vs. No-Follow Debate =-.
Great advice. This is something I have not did yet. I know what I’d like, and I believe I’m heading in the right direction, but putting it all down on paper will help me focus on the most important aspects that I’d like to accomplish.
Congrats on the big sales, huge pops are always awesome. They are a great way to energize yourself and gain momentum. Many more to come!
Personally I like to set my plan on paper (written or printed) for each project, mainly because I have 5-6 projects going at once. Helps me to keep focused and set a time frame for each project, as well as set an order of importance.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Make It Easier in 31 Days =-.
What other types of sites do you run then? I too have found this niche is very difficult to earn good money in which is why I quit the blog about 2 years ago and started covering other niches instead.
It wasn’t until I branched out that I started earning several thousand dollars a month. It’s good to hear you have your priorities in check (focus on the stuff that makes money first)
.-= Chris Guthrie´s last blog ..Proliferation of Misinformation =-.
I think everyone will like the live weekly videos you’re doing to connect more with your readers and such. I always like it when I can connect on deeper terms with a blogger who I like visiting.
Good luck with that Ebook. I can’t wait to see what comes about from it… 101 tips is nuts and I want to know what tips you have.
.-= Eric´s last blog ..The Power Of A Lie, Is It True? =-.
Keith,
This is one of the things that most bloggers neglect to do/think about. If you don’t have a plan it’s very hard to figure out what’s working and what’s not. I wrote one a year ago when I set up my LLC and I need to write another soon. I say that because the company has grown so much this year that it’s really necessary.
Great advice as usual.
.-= Todd´s last blog ..Rockwell LithiumTech Cordless Combo Kit Review =-.
I have a confession to make. I hardly ever watch video posts. I’m working with the kids around me, they’re playing their noisy games etc, and I just can’t add the soundtrack of the video, let alone follow what’s said in it. I hope you cover most of it in the text of the posts.
.-= Anne Moss´s last blog ..Don’t Pee from the Diving Board =-.
Oh great, ANOTHER post I have to draft up! LOL
101 blog tips huh. You’ll be watched on this one sport. I’ve deleted thousands of blog tip ebooks off my HD over the years.
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Will DEDC Comments Remain Do-Follow? It’s Up To YOU! =-.
As long as you get on my list so I can spam the crap out of you then I don’t care if you delete it!
There will be a lot in this ebook that has already been said, but some of it is not as popular to talk about. I think it will be worthy once I complete it though…
And, it will be free so don’t expect premium content for free.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Do You Have A Plan =-.
Btw, are you a part of my Aweber fun?…
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Aweber Autoresponder: Do You Use it for Your Listbuilding? Would You Like a LIFETIME Affiliate? PART 1 =-.
Not yet, I need to be though….
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Site Changes =-.
You should charge for it.
At the right price, just one tip pays for the entire purchase.
Frankly, I’m tired of working for free. I’ll continue to post more or less daily until June or so, then probably cut back on quantity, raise quality, and raise prices.
Just raised prices again in fact. My 3 page “ebook” on Thesis Custom Pages is now $57 (includes code, 30 minutes of my time). The right customer will understand the value instantly. Everyone else, well, they can spend a nice Saturday afternoon figuring out for themselves. More power to ‘em.
Free is for the birds, man.
.-= Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..How To Publish The **** Out Of Your Blog Post =-.
That is obviously premium content Dave, I know because I used to have Thesis here, and I spent COUNTLESS hours customizing it, had I known you had that product I would have bought it instead because $57 to save one or two (maybe more) days of my time is like trading and hour of pay for 3 days.
I am with you on the free, my time is worth money and I plan to monetize, but it is a process and I have other projects that are already monetized that have more of my attention right now….
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..I Did It The Hard Way: =-.
I’m going to send you a copy, bro.
Just posted something you might be interested in, actually, you might have some really good insight with respect to what I’m trying to help people with.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Basic Blogging Business: Do you know what you don’t know? =-.
I like the new design of your site,
it’s pretty fresh and stylish.
Nice short term goals.
I always think long term, and I suck at
short term goals, but I’ll start that now
as it proves to be useful.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..If there’s one thing you have to be, it’s this… =-.
In Day 1 of my 7 day blogging challenge which is currently running, the first day discusses setting goals, how to set goals and the importance of setting goals.
Since you discuss your goals in and planning in this post, I think learning how to set them against the SMART criteria is highly beneficial. If interested, you can see the post at http://www.createasuccessfulblog.com/topics/7daychallenge/set-your-blog-a-goal-day-1-of-7-day-challenge
.-= Jack Cola´s last blog ..Find A Blogging Friends and Form a Relationship – Day 4 of 7 Day Challenge =-.
Brother loving the direction, seems like we are in the same place at the moment, although you have the business knowledge of earning online already and I’m just starting that.
You are going to make serious money here man, I understand the new ebook going to be free, but as Dave says your time and knowledge is worth a stack brother.
top work here man I understand the free bride to build the list man, just make sure it’s followed up quickly by awesome bill payers!
You are so right on with this.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamed up these awesome ideas for producing e-books, videos, etc. And because I never write them down, they never get done. It’s too easy to put them in the back of my mind and stay busy on small stuff that’s not making me any money.
So, I decided to make a plan and put in front of me where I can see it everyday. I have to give it a date to make it a plan, so I committed to adding video to my blog by the end of next week.
Wish me luck! (Or kick me in the pants)
.-= Coree@Marketing With Social Media´s last blog ..7 Cross Promotion Ideas To Boost Traffic and Sales =-.
Coree, your site is down. I’d like to check it out.
.-= Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Basic Blogging Business: Do you know what you don’t know? =-.
Darn it! Every so often I have an issue with the htaccess file & have to go back in to put a bandaid on it.
Guess it’s time to find someone that can fix all the atrocious coding I’ve tried to do myself!
Thanks for letting me know. It’s back up now.
.-= Coree@Marketing With Social Media´s last blog ..7 Cross Promotion Ideas To Boost Traffic and Sales =-.
I couldn’t agree more with you Keith. You’ve got to have a plan and set out your goals and in what timeframe.
Like you I’m struggling with a lot of things you have on your list. The primary reason is due to lack of time.
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to do stuff rather than just focusing on the stuff that really matters.
I’m considering outsourcing some of my technical bits.
Nice video post Keith. I’m happy to hear the success you’re having on your fence site.
I have become a firm believer in planning. I was all over the map for years like a kid in a candy store. That’s how I ended up with over a dozen sites, over a hundred domains, ten emails lists and on and on. That equals disaster. There’s simply no way to focus on anything when you wake up in the morning and don’t have a clear cut plan on what to do that day. I still have a way to go but I’m finally learning from guys like you
.-= Brian D. Hawkins@List Of My Blogging Friends´s last blog ..Joining Google’s PageRank N/A Club =-.
Hi Keith,
I just saw part of your LiveStream video cast and was impressed so I came here.
My blog is new and I have only just started on my plan the past couple of days, so this is the right information at the right time for me.
Have a great day!
My short term goals are to get a product about Property Tax sale produced and offer in on my website.
The overall goal for my site is to build my image as a real estate expert and to build my buyers list.
You mention Elegant Themes. Are they designed to be flexible or is there a lot of coding to modify them?
.-= Ned Carey´s last blog ..2010 Howard County Tax Sale Anounced =-.
all the best with the ebook..your new design is really cool… should have my own ebook out before this year too.
.-= mk akan´s last blog ..One Way Of Creating More Time For Blogging =-.