I need a little push towards the right path

[Apex]

Although it may not seem that, I've been in this area of online marketing for several years, creating websites that have come to nothing because of my ineptitude or little consistency.

I started on this because I liked the idea of managing a web site. After a while I started to see the business that was here and started working as a writer, after which I started to create my own projects, of which I've only achieved a little minimum from one, with monthly amounts of around 100/150€ , so I really haven't got anything.

Currently my only profitable project is a Spanish technology website that is increasingly going down, because this month I won't even get the 70€ minimum for the Adsense payment. What's my problem with this project? The problem is me. It's a project that has never finished taking off, probably because of me, and in which, honestly, I have no hope.

In fact, the mere idea of having to write articles for this website makes me want to do nothing. It's not just that I stopped liking the niche, it's that I think that after so much time working as an writer in my free time, I ended up hating it.

Then I read the following comment from @CCarter "A passion is something you jump out of bed for - you can not wait to get from sleeping to" doing. "The" What you do? "- that's the million dollar question." I wonder what my true passion is. I think that today the only thing that can make me get out of bed with such enthusiasm is to play padel, and, honestly, I don't know in what way I could take this passion to a effective online business with my current means.

He also says the following "If I did not have work for a living would I still be programming? HELL YES.". I know that if I were a person who did not have to work on anything, I would not spend my spare time writing on a web page about technology. Honestly, I do see myself managing an online business, but not in the way I do now, being the one who has to write and do everything.

Also, I think I've discovered another problem that causes my online failures, which is none other than my objectives. Really, the only thing I was looking for with this is money, but I haven't stopped to really think about why I want that money or how much I want, beyond that I want to make money here. This seems silly, but I think it's something that has been holding me back too, because working without knowing why you do it's something that doesn't motivate anyone.

In summary, I don't know what to do. I'm totally lost right now.

 

[CCarter]

There are a number of things wrong here, but I'll go for the first most obvious.

If you don't like writing, why are you writing the content? What are you doing with the money that yu make from the site each month? If you are just spending/wasting it on things that do not grow the business you'll be going nowhere fast.

This is what I would do - get the last 3 payments you got from Adsense together, and put the full amount towards new content - hire writers to write the content. You can come up with the topics to talk about and even outline it, then outsource the actual writing with the revenue. Now you've got a business that's sustaining itself and growing since new content equals new keyword opportunities, meaning new traffic opportunities. Do this for a year, and by the end of the year you'll have a lot more fresher content on the site from different authors giving you time to market and run the other parts of the business that you like.

The owners of TheWireCutter do not write their content, they have people that do that. At the beginning they did, but eventually hired writers in house - you can do the exact same thing - you are just starting smaller.

If you have a small side business that's just creating pocket money, it's best to simply use 100% of that revenue and re-invest in that business instead of wasting it going out and partying, otherwise there is no SCALE-ABLE way your business can grow at this rate. Your competitors are definitely writing more than you are - you may not think of them as competitors but they currently hold the #1-10 positions in your SERPs, so they are taking your money right now, while you procrastinate at something you do not want to do.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Really, the only thing I was looking for with this is money, but I haven't stopped to really think about why I want that money or how much I want, beyond that I want to make money here. This seems silly, but I think it's something that has been holding me back too, because working without knowing why you do it's something that doesn't motivate anyone.

This isn't silly. I wrote an entire opening post called "What is Your Reason?" These kind of topics don't get traction because people ignore them until they realize these posts are directly speaking to every one of us. You may find something of value in there, where I try to lay out how I see the problem and solution for every individual and how that looks based on the economic class of that individual.

If you don't care about technology in the Spanish language, then you could sell that site for probably $1,500 and walk away, based on the numbers you reported. It's either that or let it die a slow death as you stop focusing on it.

I had to search Padel to find out what it was. There might be enough search volume about it to warrant you building a site. It might not change your life, but it'll be one that you're energized for. I'd imagine there's not a lot of competition either, for the "best" and "reviews" terms, and most likely the information terms too.

My point is, you don't always have to swing for the fences. If you haven't gotten a decent win under your belt yet, why not stack the deck in your favor and manipulate your motivation by working on a project that's smaller and more contained, less competitive, and something you care about? If it maxes out at $300 a month or whatever, who cares. That's $300 more than you're making now and you'll have learned what it feels like to have fire for a project instead of having to force productivity (which never works out). And you'll have a win under your belt.

Anyways, I'm not saying you should do that. It's just an alternative look at possible paths ahead of you. As you've already pointed out productivity comes out of your passion, and motivation comes out of your reason.

Listing your passions and determining their worth and competition is easy. Doing the introspective dive to find out your reason is hard. @eliquid talked about giving yourself an alignment. You posted in there. Maybe revisiting that exercise and your answer can be a good starting point. But it can't just be platitudes and general catch-all feel-goods. It has to be personal and very specific. They have to touch something at the core of your being. "I want my mom, the most important person to me ever, to never have to _____ again." That kind of thing.

 

[eliquid]

So if you don't mind, I have some questions to ask you...

I was going to ask you if you made a lot of money on that site, would you still be interested in it? But you answered in the last paragraph everything needed to know in regards to that. Yes, you were focused on the money, and when it didn't come.. you lost interest in it.

That's kind of a good thing, but also a bad thing.

So here goes with more questions:

1. Can you pay your bills right now? - I don't mean "are you living the Richard Branson life". But are you getting along month by month paying your bills and eating?

If the answer is yes, you more than likely got comfortable in life. While you aren't living on the beach and driving a lambo, you maybe have no reason to do better because you're also not 30 days away from bankruptcy. I know MANY people that fall into this, including myself at times.

2. How come you didn't post more in the values thread? - I seen the values you posted and that's good, but here is what was missing from your post:

• Your Mission Statement
• Your Priorities

Maybe you didn't want to share them. That's cool and I totally 100% respect that.

However, if you just didn't do them. Well, that might be why you are at where you are now.

Remember, my post mentioned this too:

1. Figure out your true, real core values. Spend several days on it
2. Make a mission statement around them
3. Figure out your top 3 priorities
4. Erase your old goals and make new ones based on #1-3 above. Make sure every goal fits and doesn't violate a core value or priority.
5. Once your goals are set, set smaller daily, weekly, and monthly goals to hit those larger goals. Make sure these smaller goals that set you up to your larger goals don't violate values or priorities.
6. In 6 or 12 months, re-evaluate who you are and your values. Adapt if need be.

Did you do all 6 steps? Especially #5 and #6?

Not saying you did, but for everyone else.. If you don't get #1, #2, and #3 right, then #4, #5, and #6 won't get you anywhere.

It's been since July last year I wrote that. It's almost July 2018. You should have done this potentially 2x now ( coming up on 2 times ).

3. Do you think Stability is hurting you? - this was one of your core values, but maybe it was a mistake or it's going to far. You've been stable in that fact you have been working on this site and its been stable for you in the fact it has made $100 a month for you. You were stable in writing content for it all these days.

What else have you done though?

As in promotion and marketing for that site?

As in building new sites?

As in making new plans to grow income streams from that site?

I could be all wrong, and I hope I am, but if you have been waking up every morning like a robot and doing the same "motions" over and over with this one site, but expecting a different results then you are heading for insanity.

In your post from the values thread, you said for Stability you don't like big changes.

Well, what's big?

Is big working on a new site outside this one?

Is big getting links to the site instead of writing for the day?

Is big thinking about selling it off or finding new income streams for it?

Is big thinking about hiring someone else to write for you instead?

What I am trying to do is find out if Stability is something you want and need overall in life, or if Stability is something that could be handi-capping you in life.

And trust me, I know it can because your INTP is similar to my INTJ on so many levels. I know how Stability can actually hurt, harm, and erode you away mentally if used in the wrong way because I've let it do it to me before.

And trust me, you can overcome it IF this is the case. I could be wrong about it for you though. I hope I am because it was devastating for me and I wish that on no one.

4. Get to your "Fuck This" moment - You may hate that you feel you've spent all this time in online marketing and only have really 1 site making you $100 a month.

But is it a "Fuck This" event for you?

I first heard about this from Amy Hoy. Later on from MJ DeMarco. However, I had already had several of these moments in my life decades before I knew either one of them and knew the value in them. I just didn't have a label for them until I read someone else talk about them.

When you get to your "Fuck This" stage, you've almost hit rock bottom ( mentally ) with putting up with this shit. You will decide you want to change and hopefully, you will take the steps needed to change.

Until then, most people won't as they will go back to being comfortable and staying in what is fimilar to them. Don't be that.

Hope this helps.

.

 

[Cash Builder]

I definitely think you need a reason to want to be successful. As @eliquid said, perhaps you are just comfortable with your situation and have no reason to better yourself.

I first learned about making money about 12 years ago. I stumbled upon incentive marketing, where you refer friends to complete an offer. Once you have enough referrals you get either a product or cash. I managed to build a 1-page site on WordPress.com, spam it with links, and got myself a brand new iPod Nano. I was actually ranking #1 in Google for "free ps3" (although I had no idea how).

It was a great feeling, but at that point in my life all I cared about was partying and socializing. I had a crappy job that allowed me to do this, so there was no reason for me to do anything else. If I had pursued that at the time and got into other areas of IM I would most likely be a millionaire just now.

Fast forward to 3 years ago when I built my next site. I now have a family to look after, bills to pay and there is nothing that I want more than to be successful and look after them. That's the reason that gets me up at 5.30am every morning and keeps me up till 12 at night to work on something that I am not completely passionate about, but I know it will bring in money.

As a side note, I also hate writing content, so I outsource it. Every part of building a website can be outsourced, you have to decide what the best way to spend your budget is. I always make sure I have a budget for content before anything else.

 

[Apex]

First of all, thank you very much to those who have answered this thread and sorry for the delay in answering.

If you don't like writing, why are you writing the content? What are you doing with the money that yu make from the site each month? If you are just spending/wasting it on things that do not grow the business you'll be going nowhere fast.

Probably because even though it's something I don't like, it's what I'm best at. Right now I'm unable to provide enough value in other tasks, such as getting traffic effectively, for example.

I don't have work outside the internet, so the money that has been generated I've used it to pay hosting costs and for "day to day". I haven't reinvested money in the project beyond paying maintenance costs.

This is what I would do - get the last 3 payments you got from Adsense together, and put the full amount towards new content - hire writers to write the content.

This is something that I've to change very seriously, since I've nothing left of previous payments, and taking into account that until the end of next month I won't earn money from this project, I'll have to wait until then or find some alternative way to earn money until then.

Right now I've published about 450 posts, mainly reviews of technological products. I mention it because I understand that I could keep the project until then publishing a minimum amount of new content.

If you have a small side business that's just creating pocket money, it's best to simply use 100% of that revenue and re-invest in that business instead of wasting it going out and partying, otherwise there is no SCALE-ABLE way your business can grow at this rate.

This is something so logical that it makes me feel stupid for not reinvesting anything until now.

This isn't silly. I wrote an entire opening post called "What is Your Reason?" These kind of topics don't get traction because people ignore them until they realize these posts are directly speaking to every one of us. You may find something of value in there, where I try to lay out how I see the problem and solution for every individual and how that looks based on the economic class of that individual.

I'm going to read the whole thread to see if I can find my reason. It is something so important and at the same time something that I have not paid attention to.

I had to search Padel to find out what it was. There might be enough search volume about it to warrant you building a site. It might not change your life, but it'll be one that you're energized for. I'd imagine there's not a lot of competition either, for the "best" and "reviews" terms, and most likely the information terms too.

In English countries I think it's a sport that is known very little. In Spain and Latin America (Argentina mainly) it's a sport that is having very good reception and is increasingly practiced, to the point of rivaling traditional tennis.

Maybe a website focused on the Spanish market could be a good project.

Anyways, I'm not saying you should do that. It's just an alternative look at possible paths ahead of you.

It's something that I 've also thought about and that I think could be more motivating than my current project. The only thing that scares me is if it ends up being a new case of "shiny object syndrome".

1. Can you pay your bills right now? - I don't mean "are you living the Richard Branson life". But are you getting along month by month paying your bills and eating?

This is embarrassing, but I live in my parents' house, so I don't have to worry about bills and so. My family is of low social class, but I've never missed a plate at the table nor have I been in any extreme situation.

2. How come you didn't post more in the values thread?

Possibly I have not paid enough attention nor have I recognized the real value that thread provides.

I also have to say that I'm a Spanish person living in Spain, so English is not my native language and some parts may be a little hard for me to understand completely. I'm going to have to reread the thread again and try to do the exercises again.

3. Do you think Stability is hurting you?

I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but the more I think about it, the more I think it may be true that it is negatively damaging me.

What else have you done though?



As in promotion and marketing for that site?



As in building new sites?



As in making new plans to grow income streams from that site?

I'm bad at promoting my content and, honestly, I haven't put the effort necessary to improve. I've done some outreach gaining some links and some unsuccessful attempts at traffic leaking, but seeing no results I guess I gave up too soon.

I am realizing with all this that I'm a very negative person.

In your post from the values thread, you said for Stability you don't like big changes.



Well, what's big?



Is big working on a new site outside this one?



Is big getting links to the site instead of writing for the day?



Is big thinking about selling it off or finding new income streams for it?



Is big thinking about hiring someone else to write for you instead?

Taking this fear to the great changes to the territory of online marketing, I suppose that what I really fear is failure, to work on things that I will fail or from which I won't get anything positive.

Once again, I believe that my negative mind makes me judge incorrectly what I want and that false stability is hurting me more than I think.

The more I think about it, the more I think that what I really fear is not the big changes. For example, I wouldn't mind moving to another house, or to another city, or entering into a relationship (single right now).

4. Get to your "Fuck This" moment - You may hate that you feel you've spent all this time in online marketing and only have really 1 site making you $100 a month.



But is it a "Fuck This" event for you?

I think I just did not understand exactly what a "Fuck This" moment is. Is it a situation where you end up completely fed up with something?

My online failure does not take away my sleep, I am not thinking about it all day, and it surely affects me minimally at a psychic level. Possibly it's another consequence of me having accommodated myself. Sometimes I think I don't have blood in my veins, honestly.

I definitely think you need a reason to want to be successful. As @eliquid said, perhaps you are just comfortable with your situation and have no reason to better yourself.

As I said, I think this may be the main cause.

 

[CCarter]

"Fuck This"

I remember my "Fuck This" moment very clearly. I was at a new company, which I helped save by moving a ton of servers to my house and maintaining them online for nearly a month while the old parent company collapsed - without getting paid. I was offered a measly 10% profit sharing instead of a partnership. Anyways I was working at the company, again after single handling saving all their clients, and had to drive to work an hour a day, then the commute home was 2+ hours.

I found out though that if I left 15 minutes early, 4:45pm, that I could get home by 5:45pm - giving me an extra hour of my life. If I left at 5:00 pm exactly I would get home at 7:10 pm IF there were no accidents, easily 8pm if some car accidents occurred.

So I would skip lunch EVERY DAY, working through it completely, and then take off 15 mins before 5pm. Would you believe that within a year the owners started crying about that 15 mins - even though I literally skipped lunch everyday to make up for it?

I gave a lot for the company, lots of free time, lots of advice, I even came up with the new name of the company which they still use to this day, I came up with the marketing strategies that generated traffic, I came up with the work process and work flow that created a smooth running operation. After giving a lot of sweat and blood for this company, and getting an insulting 10% profit sharing option when everyone else did less work, talked to less clients, and relied on me for 90% of the operation they were complaining about 15 mins...

So now think about someone in that situation having to drive through hours of traffic daily:

^^ Why the fuck would anyone deal with this? Was I really going to do that for rest of my life? What sort of life is that? The next 20, 30, 40, or 50+ years until I retire? Driving 3-4 hours a day, to go work for some clowns that have no idea what they are doing and want to suck an extra 15 mins from your day when you go above and beyond for them daily and saved their clients data for weeks on end while restructuring was going on.

I was remember driving while other people's car horns were blaring and I knew I couldn't do this for the rest of my life. I couldn't leave my life into other people's hands. I couldn't hand the prime years of my life for a small paycheck. I couldn't let other people's decisions impact my well being. That's not a life, that's slavery.

Society created an illusion that you have to go to work 9 to 5 to make ends meet. I knew there was a different way. I decided in the middle of that highway traffic that I would no longer be an employee for anyone or have a boss ever again. The next 6 months I saved up every single penny I had. I only ate oatmeal and tuna sandwiches for 6 months. I didn't go out or do anything. On weekends I homed my programming skills and marketing skills. I brushed up on marketing techniques, and studied how to run successful businesses.

When I had 5-6 months of living expenses saved up I quit that job and started my marketing agency. What's crazy is it took us exactly 6 months, down to my last few dollars before we got our first client. Even when we got our offices I'd show up at 10am and leave at 7pm or 3pm or whenever I wanted - the employees however, well they're worker bees.

It required the sword being dangled over my head to do "whatever it takes!"

But that "Fuck This" moment -I remember it as clear as day. I was sitting in highway traffic realized this was no way to live as a free human being. I've never had to be in rush hour traffic again.

Every now and then when I have to be on the road during which employees are coming or going to work it brings me flashbacks to those days of daily commuting like those worker bees. I wish I could show them they didn't have to do it that way. Sometimes I feel like an alien on a foreign planet. I cannot comprehend their plights, but I used to understand.

Once I made that leap I've knew that taste of true freedom and would never go back to being a clock-puncher ever again. People think that it's going to be full of fear and rough but realistically it's a lot easier than it looks. The opportunities to make money on the internet are more than a single person can grasp. And people are desperate for knowledgeable experts in our field.

 

[Cash Builder]

If you have 450 posts and are struggling to make 70 Euros this month, then I don’t think more content is going to solve your problem.

You mentioned that you tried outreach, and it wasn’t successful so you gave up. I suggest you try again, read the crash course and just keep going with it.

You will succeed, you just have to change your mindset. If other people can have successful online businesses then why can’t you?

You can do it!

 

[seoauthority]

I've been at this online game for 5 years, it's been a rollercoaster ride the whole time. Only last week i was thinking i've spent too much money and i won't be making enough to get through the next few months.

It's a hustle, but i worked hard, i reached out to existing customers, i did everything i could, and found a way.

What i'm saying, ok, even if you're desperate, even if you're rock bottom, that fear of failing and desperation will help you pull yourself out of this whole. Even if that means taking a job/// doing freelance work, whatever it takes, to get money. In the end, that's all it's about, survival first.

But you're always learning skills and you're always expanding. So even if you have to work much harder than you want to, take a job, or downsize your apartment, you'll still have the tools and technique (and find the time!) to KILL it.

Keep on trucking!

 

[Apex]

After a time in which I've been practically disconnected from the internet, I think that I begin to see more clearly what I want to do.

What I want to do this time is to try one last round to build a profitable online business, but this time I'll have the help of the Crash Course. Why? Well, because my current project fails from its very foundations and I don't think it will be possible to correct its course to where I want to go.

My new project is not yet decided, so I'll open a new journal to detail everything from the first day. The only thing that I've clear is that it'll be a website in English, and not in Spanish like my other projects. I'm tired of all the limitations of the local market.

As you had recommended me, I've done again the Aligment exercise of @eliquid.

It's also possible that I'll be hired in the next few days for an offline work. This will leave me with a few hours less to work online, but it'll allow me to have some profits that I won't have right now and that will allow me to pay for outsourcing many of the tasks of this project.

Finally, I stopped meeting with some friends who despite not being bad people, I think that they affected negatively my interests. I'm being more selective with the people in which I invest my time.