Time or Money, which is it?
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Everybody taking the steps to start their own online business runs into on of these two problems at some point. Either they don’t have enough time or they don’t have enough money (usually because they spent their money in the wrong spots).
Yes, you can actually have too little of both.
The question is what to do about it?
This really depends on what you are lacking time or money.
If you are short of time but have money then it simply takes outsourcing some of your work. There are a lot of online services that will do parts of your to do list for you, plus they can do the technical work that you don’t know how to do.
You can find services that will write custom programs for you, create your website for you, create custom graphics, handle your customer support, etc. The prices will vary quite a bit and I recommend that you use a service that puts the money in to an escrow account until the work is done.
Make sure when you do hire a free lancer either directly or from a service that you find out as much as you can about them. Ask for references, ask to see samples of their work and make sure they have done the type of work you are looking for. There are some people out there that will bid on everything but have no experience actually providing this service. You want to avoid these people.
That pretty much covers if you have more money then time but most people starting out are just the opposite, they have more time then money. I’m not going to lie to you this does make it harder and it takes longer to get established but you can succeed if you are diligent about your work ethics.
This does mean that you will have to learn how to do a lot of things for yourself. You will need to know how to maintain your own website, you will have to write your own sales copy, you will have to do basically everything yourself.
But don’t try to do it all at once. Pick one area that you need to get you to the next step and concentrate on that until you have it done. It doesn’t do you any good to learn about Adsense and SEO if you can’t put the code on your site or if you can’t create your own site.
What do you do if you have too little time and too little money?
There isn’t a lot you can do about this you need to have one or the other to make progress, there is no magic button you can push to be a success.
But, I do have one suggestion; form a Joint Venture (JV) partnership. Most people think of JV’s as just some one that will promote your product or site for you but this isn’t the case. A joint venture is any situation where two or more people work together for the benefit of all parties involved.
Let’s say you have some talent in creative writing, maybe (with a little studying) you could start writing sales pages, email, content for websites and even products themselves.
Another person has all the technical background to put the site up on the server and install the scripts and edit and maintain the site(s) but can’t write a word. Wouldn’t this make a good partnership?
This way you can get the technical skills you need and they can get the copy they need. Or you can go together on one site and split the profits 50 / 50
Where do you meet people like this? Good question. There are a number of places online that you can look for people like this such as www.linkedin.com but the very best place to meet people for any type of joint venture is at live events.
I have learned more from the people that I have met at seminars then I have from the presenters!
Yes, that is true and the reason why is that you see the presenters for a hour and a half and the people you meet you can have a relationship with for years. People that you have a relationship with will be more likely to help you then the guy standing on the stage.
If you get a chance to go to a live seminar GO! Don’t think about it! Just GO! Pay attention meet some people and open your mind and your heart to learning. No, I am not plugging a seminar here I am just tell you the way it is.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Good post Randy. The biggest challenge I thought I faced was lack of time. I soon realised that it was not so much the lack of time BUT the lack of focused and effective use of that time that was the issue.
Everyone can make time - stop watching TV for one!! But it is what you do with that time that is so important. If you spend it learning or worrying how to do something it will disappear and there’s no progress.
As I always say “Do It Now”. Do a little each day, but make sure it is effective and moving you towards your goals.
As an aside, even if yoiu have money to throw at the task make sure it is at something that really will move you forward - don’t buy business cards until you have a business!
May 9th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Hey AntiHype,
You always seem to add what I leave out.
I think I will send you all my post to edit before I post them from now on
Great comment.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Ditto what’s already been said…lol
And I’d like to add to the seminar points you made Randy…
I actually made some great friends at the one I attended last October.
And these people have
A) Promoted my products (which is great )…
But as you also mentioned… meeting people lead to other things
B) I’ve had techy people take a look at my suites and offer solutions to problems I was having.
C) They’ve also taught me to do certain tasks that were previously beyond me
D) I’ve also exchange skills with others and received $000’s worth of graphic design in exchange for me writing their sales copy
And a few other things besides.
Add to that the fact that it’s nice to have conversations with people whom you’ve become friendly with and grown to trust - and knowing what they look and sound like, as well as something of their character … it makes working alone online - well - less alone!
Randy
http://www.SalesLetterABC.com
May 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hey Randy,
It is very nice to have a conversation with people that actually understand you when you talk about squeeze pages, oto’s upsells, etc.
Most of the people that I meet for the first time and tell them that I am an internet marketer try to blame me for all the spam they have in their email. When in fact I don’t send out nearly as many emails as I should and they are only to double opt-in list members. But because I am an Internet marketer I am the spam guy. If you try to explain it you will spend hours on it and they still won’t understand.
So, live events are like therapy for me, I get to talk to people that understand me