This is the mantra of the entrepreneur.
Work harder. Work faster. Work more hours.

If you can just push a little harder, you’ll overcome that next obstacle. Or will you? Let me tell you a story of a fellow entrepreneur, and how he approached building his online business…

This gentleman (and I use that term loosely), was as dedicated as they come. With the passion of a warrior going into battle, he approached each day with a primal battle cry. Wake up at 5:30am get some work done, eat, go to day job, take care of a couple of things during lunch, come home, eat, and work some more, sleep, repeat.

Come the weekend time, it was play catchup for all the things which didn’t get done during the week. This cycle continued for 7 years. Yep, 7 years!

During this time period, this person also worked a long string of useless, stressful and low paying sales jobs, while desperately attempting to carve their own path and escape the 9 – 5.  Sometimes, two jobs at a time, all to no avail. A vicious cycle.

This person blew their late twenties and a good portion of his 30’s. Time that will never return.
A long term live-in relationship broken from lack of attention, fun, friends, hobbies and a social life turned down, tons of energy exerted. While this person’s efforts didn’t pay off in the way he thought, it got him out of a bad situation and into an even better place than imagined.

While we all need to have goals and work hard, passing up life just isn’t worth it.
Don’t be THAT guy.

THAT guy was me!

If I could do it all again, I would be ruthless with my time. I mean really strict.
Life should always take priority, period. For those of you with a spouse, kids and huge responsibilities, even more so.

My advice? When in doubt, take a break.

Plan for fun.

Always ask yourself , if what you are doing right now is helping your business, or busywork to make you think you are busy.

Heck, always ask yourself as a whole, if your business is really helping your life.

Really take the time to make sure you’re concept is valid, has a future and a time frame for profit or potentially closing up shop.

Get advice from people who have been there before you, your life could depend on it.
There is really no excuse. However, all of the blogs, forums and advice you get from others is worthless, until you critically and honestly apply them to your situation, and ask tough questions.

Try a technology fast.

Personally, I just got back from a 3 three day event called Paralounge, where I camped in the forest. There were bonfires all night long where we drummed, danced, watched fire breathing belly dancers and took a break from the mundane world. The first thing I did upon arrival was shut off my phone.

Try taking a day or two for yourself, preferably away from your usual environment. Shut off all electronic devices and bring a notepad. Simply get your thoughts on paper with no distractions about your business, goals and life in general.

Consider asking yourself questions, as if you were asking someone else, then answer them.

For example:
“Can you see yourself doing this same business in 5 years?”
“Are you happy with your life? If not, why?”

Sometimes, this style of questioning really helps you to identify and document both personal and business issues which are holding you back.

Do yourself and me a favor……go take a break!
Even if it’s just half a day. You owe it to yourself.

When you are nearing the end of your life, look back with a clear conscience and know you made time to stop and smell the roses.

PS. Have you struggled with similar issues in your life? How did you overcome them?

Over time this inventory becomes more expensive to warehouse, inventory and can even disturb your mood when seeing it collecting dust. 
The home based online retailer tends to hold inventory even longer, due to inexpensive storage costs, which creates a downward spiral, both emotionally and financially.

I know personally when I started my shop, I had an emotional tie to the inventory I purchased, since they were items I personally liked and used. I wanted to stockpile a deep and wide collection of SKU’s in the hopes of “getting a good start” and having strong cash flow. This didn’t always work out as planned. In a future article I will detail out what I learned about purchasing goods for a small online shop, and the pitfalls you can avoid.

If you have a pile of particular SKU’s sitting there 60-90 days that aren’t moving at all, it’s time to consider making room for fresh stock. Understanding, some specialty items could theoretically take 6 or more months to sell. It is usually the 20% of your stock which accounts for 80% of your sales.

And remember at this point, it doesn’t matter what you paid for the stock, or even what the MSRP is.

All that matters is what someone else is willing to pay for it!

This situation may have occurred from several past actions including:

• Buying discontinued SKU’s for extra cheap, optimistic on their sales potential.
• End of season product leftovers
• Inventory purchase mismanagement
• Damaged inventory during storage/transport in warehouse
• Increased marketplace competitiveness

Some of the usual outlets for disposing of dead inventory and getting pennies on the dollar are:

Sending products back to the manufacturer
While this option may seem an easy and attractive way out , a hefty restocking fee may be charged. This is considering IF the manufacturer will even take it back at all!

Selling in a clearance sale
There may be some benefit in this approach. Some customers may have been waiting for markdowns to buy a particular item, refusing to buy at it’s peak price. Consider this a loss leader approach. Consider up selling higher end recommended products that would be a nice accompaniment if possible.  Depending upon how your email management system is structured, can you do a follow up “related items you may like” email tied to these clearance SKU’s?

Auction sites
Sites like eBay can sometimes uncover those obscure buyers who have been looking for exactly what you have. Those buyers are often making an emotional decision to spend a good amount to obtain a particular item. Given the potential costs/time investment to list, answer questions and ship, this is a mixed bag.

Craigslist
This approach could work fairly well, if you find a local business that happens to need what you are offering. Again, expect a fairly low return on your initial investment, perhaps below wholesale cost.

Inventory Liquidators
This tactic can help you unload your excess product, but for pennies on the dollar.

Perhaps there is a better way?

Could some of this dead inventory welcome deep links into your eCommerce category pages, which were otherwise difficult to obtain?

Let’s look at the possibilities…..

Many local business websites have a website resources page, or even an email newsletter you could be included within. Not to mention getting a shout out to their social media audience or face to face customers.

Instead of just purposely searching for companies needing sponsorship, be proactive. Search out local companies in your niche via every source possible. Organic searches, local, news, social etc.  Make it easy for the company to say yes!

For example, let’s say you’re a physical products retailer, and your market is the infamous pet niche, or more specifically dogs.

I would consider a search in all of the following areas:

• Canine rescue
• Dog trainers
• Kennels
• Vet’s offices
• Breeders
• General resources. Meaning a dog enthusiast that keeps up a local website.
• Dog parks

Here is a practical example.

1.I did a search for:   Canine Rescue Orlando

As we can see from the organic search results page, we have several options to start with , from this one search term.

2.Let’s see how the first opportunity looks….

Several options exist for potential ideas which I’ve pointed to in red. Even the upcoming Dog Adoption Day event is an opportunity. Perhaps you could lay out a few giveaway products with your business card attached at the event?

Take a look at the Donation page. We will see an entire chart full of acceptable donation item types. If you sell pet supplies, I bet you can find something that fits.

Now we’ve identified a place we can contact for a potential relationship. One of several, based on this one search term alone. In a case like this, I would recommend sending a brief introduction email, followed by a phone call. It’s worth going the extra mile with a phone call. It sets you apart, and lays the groundwork for a mutually beneficial relationship in the future.  Not to mention the next time you have excess inventory, you can have a list of past collaborators.

Hey… what about our link?

After looking through this site, I see a few possibilities. One is the Resources For Owners page, which lists out several categories of places to buy stuff. I prefer not to use Pagerank as a true value measure of a webpage, however,  this page happens to be a PR4. Furthermore, it’s a legitimate, helpful resource page for a site visitor, which can result in actual click thru traffic.

Secondly, when I click through to their Facebook page, I see over 6,000 fans and recent activity. Perhaps something can be worked out here as well.

While this example would potentially work out well, not all niches are this exciting. What if you are a parts retailer to local air condition repair companies or lawn care products?
It just takes a bit of creativity. Even if the end result is not a link, it could be a business card included in a local mailer or some other benefit we have yet to conceive.

Accompanying video for this post:

Have you used any tactics to ditch your dead inventory that worked out well? Do tell!

Saturday

Knowing I had a pricey cabin lined up for myself in the woods later on during this trip, I rented a $30/night makeshift Hostel room off AirBNB. This proved to be a good decision, given the friendliness of the host, and people from all over passing through. Like most hostels, I met people from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, etc.

As coincidence would have it, DraconCon was happening the very week I was visiting. For those of you unfamiliar, DragonCon is a huge convention, centered around the Sci-Fi, Anime, fantasy, gamer, comics, literature, art and music crowd. It’s in fact, the largest of it’s kind in the world, spanning over 4 hotels to contain the tens of thousands of patrons.
Overall all, I pretty much wandered around, talked to random people, played my Djembe here and there, and consumed way too much Tequila. It was a very late night to say the least!

Sunday

After the chaotic and inebriated throws of DragonCon, a fairly lax day was in order. Wandering around the bohemian inspired Little Five Points area seemed to fit the bill. Getting here was an adventure itself. I took 2 trains on the MARTA and walked about 1 mile in the heat wearing 18 hole Doc Marten boots to finally arrive. I got into an interesting metaphysics conversation with the owner of a Native American Indian shop, due to the Rasputin beer shirt I was wearing, that’s always fun.

Originally I tried the Vortex for lunch, a giant skull covered entrance, but was met with an hour wait. Luckily, I wandered upon Planet Bombay, which served fantastic Indian food.

The interior was really charming, the food delicious and service very friendly. In additional to starting off with a complimentary flat bread and chutney, the meal was finished with Mukhwas. This is a concoction of seeds like fennel and anise, designed to aid in digestion as an after meal snack.

 Monday

Six Flags theme park was the order of the day. Admittedly it was a shock when I got to the front gate and was asked “Would you like regular parking for $20, or premium parking for $25?” I asked what the difference was, but didn’t get a straight answer.

Most of the rides were out of control and a lot of fun. Among the most extreme was the Daredevil, which takes you into a 90 degree climb and drop. Superman was a first for me, as you are literally suspended in mid air, looking down at the ground. The ride makes you feel like flying the whole time, it was great.

After all of the adrenaline fueled excitement, I went with people from the hostel for Mexican and margaritas later that night. We finished up with a small bonfire in the back yard and passing around my Djembe for an impromptu drum circle.

 Tuesday

Stone mountain. boy oh boy, was this an adventure!!!!
Upon arriving to the park, I encountered a first, the ticket admission gate was closed, in fact, everything was closed. However, the park was wide open to walk into….and I did pay for parking at the gate. So map in hand, off I went to find the first trail into the woods I could.

After taking a couple different connecting trails, I came upon a clearing, complete with wildflowers and the actual trail leading to Stone mountain. I saw a couple deer run by from this very spot!

While paying careful attention to the trail marking on rocks and trees, I ventured up through the rock and woods, almost reaching the top of the mountain. A darkening sky and rumbling of thunder quickly gave way to a torrential downpour.

I could have ducked out into a shady tree lined area, but opted to continue to the top, where the skylift station (closed today) had an internal covered shelter area.

Once the rain let up, I prepared to make the descent, only one problem……very slippery!
Stupidly, I tried to do this hike in worn out walking shoes, big mistake. Luckily I ran into some other people and took a shortcut down with them, but this didn’t prevent me from hitting the ground several times. On the way down, I came upon this beautiful intermingling of rock and water.

Later that night, I headed out to an Industrial music club called The Shelter. While the Tank Girl heavy decor was fantastic , it was a slow night due to other events in town, so about 20 people showed up.

 Wednesday

On the way to REI to get some new stable, waterproof hiking boots, I made a wrong turn.
When I pulled into a shopping center to turn around, I was greeting with a big sign for Ethiopian food staring me in the face, how convenient! I’ve always wanted to try this cuisine and hadn’t yet done so. As you can see from the Vegetarian platter I ordered, it was very colorful and tasty finger food. You scoop up everything with this spongy type bread, the flavors were terrific.

It was pretty cool going to REI in person, I’ve been building most of my digital nomad travel/survival/bug out bag backpack through their site.

Later that day, with a full belly and new boots, I took a visit to Sweetwater Creek with the hostel host. I attempted to keep up with my hiking partner, this was a fast paced hike along a river, over rock, stone and root. Enjoyable, but brief.

After 8:00pm that night, turned into one of the most satisfying and visceral experiences I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. That pleasure is called Dead Can Dance. This band formed over 25+ years ago and this was their first tour in 7 years, with all of their European venues sold out. The best way to describe this band is tribal, world fusion, apocalyptic folk. Their sound is reminiscent of a tribal opera of sorts, that’s the type of timeless feeling you get when listening to them. From any of you who have seen the film Gladiator, the main theme song is sung by Lisa Gerrard of this band. Their lyrics are timeless and meaningful, this was truly one of the favorite moments of my life.

Thursday

I packed up from the hostel, and drove over to Helen, GA a couple hours away.

Helen, GA is a German alpine village recreation, nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from the Appalachian Trail. It was an entertaining town to walk around for a while. A trip to the Hansel and Gretel candy shop was top of list, to stock up on homemade fudge!

To balance out my mattress by a front door hostel trip, I reserved a killer cabin in the woods. It was an A -frame two story cabin, with a Jacuzzi, pool table, wood fireplace, deer in the backyard and a stream!
This cabin was way out there, no street lights, dirt/gravel roads down a hill, nice and secluded. My cell phone had no service inside, but there was a Wifi signal available.

Overall, the town of Helen is a novelty to enjoy, and can be seen in half a day.

After getting some groceries and firewood from a local country store, I lit up the wooden fireplace, enjoyed this new dwelling and called it a night.

Friday

Anna Ruby Falls, was one of two hiking trails I wanted to visit while in this part of town.
This was an easy hike, on a paved surface up to two beautiful dual waterfalls. Along the way, I found a great meditation spot to relax at for a while. Ironically just the day I was there, a poor woman got bit in the foot by a poisonous snake. Copperheads reside in this area. It was the first time in five years apparently, since someone was bit!

Overall this was a very easy, safe and enjoyable experience.

Saturday

Saving the hike I was looking forward to the most until my last full day, I set out to find Raven Cliffs Falls. This trail was exciting, and took about three hours round trip to complete. Lots of stream crossings, mossy roots and turns to enjoy. When I got to the first landing, I took a nice break to the sound of rushing water, and watched a couple dogs running around jumping across rocks.  I decided not to climb the rocky terrain to the very top of the falls, where the falls cut through two giant cliffs. It was enough for one day, considering I was hiking solo.

Sunday

It’s a wrap. Time to hit the road for a long 7 hour drive back home. Overall, it was a fun trip, however the only reason I’d head back to Atlanta or Helen I think, is for the hiking and reclusive cabin stay!

Have you ever been to Atlanta, or Helen? Love it, hate it?

This is the final fourth post, in a four part series, designed to help you overcome several common online business success obstacles. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4

Money.

Ah, the green stuff we devote a large part of our waking hours to obtaining, that disappears from our grasp all too quickly. While our first two obstacles Vision and Time can be improved relatively easily, money can be more difficult to manage.

In reality there are only two ways to amass more money.

1.  Spend Less
2. Earn More

Spend Less

The first approach to spending less, is knowing how much you spend monthly.

Many people I’ve encountered in life say they are not planners, or can’t deal with money. Unfortunately, this is a basic necessity in life. If you’re unhappy with your present situation , or complain of “never having any money”, this has to be attended to.

Even for those (like myself), who are not money hungry and don’t need to always “buy stuff”, using money to become 100% debt free and build a cash cushion of at least 6 – 12 months is crucial for peace of mind in life.

The first step here is to track what you are spending. I use Mint.com for automatic tracking. Mint is a free service that can read information from your bank account or other accounts you choose like a credit card, car payment, mortgage, etc. This service automatically categorizes and graphs out your spending habits. You can establish budgets in a category and get text/email message alerts if you go over. Once a week I make sure transactions are categorized
correctly.

This exercise is often very eye opening as to where your money is going. Nights at the bar, or excess “shopping” can really add up.

The goal here is to get real with where your money really goes, and pick one or two areas to cut back. Even cutting $100 across the board from different categories is $1200 at the end of a year, which is more than many people have saved. It’s all a matter of what’s important to you…..what’s really important to you.

You have to be really merciless with yourself. If you just can’t “live without”, a TV subscription or eating out frequently, then that is more important to you than saving money and changing your life. No hard feeling, just the cold truth. Everyone chooses how to spend their time and some come to a tipping point sooner than later.

Outside influences may question your sudden change in spending habits. It’s best to be truthful in your response, but unwavering in your determination. People don’t like change. Ironically, life is nothing but change. The sooner you accept this, the better. Few people are able to break free of tradition or the “way we’ve always done it” mentality. Thus they live fairly unfulfilled lives, taking hopes, dreams and aspirations to the grave.

While the tone of these last couple paragraphs may seem a bit morbid, I’m a firm believer in reminding myself that time is limited and for every day I fail to take action, is another day wasted towards a fulfilling life. I always ask myself, how I’d view a particular action, or lack of action on my deathbed. Will I regret not taking a chance, or will I have some relief that at least I tried to reach out and grab what I wanted. Nobody can do this for you, except yourself.

Ok, rant over…back to our talk about money.

Using Mint is one way to track your spending and plan how to save based on your current habits.

I’ll share personally some of the things I’ve done to lower spending. While these work for me as a single guy in his late 30’s, those with a wife, kids and pets to consider may need to tweak.

• Cut off the TV subscription (instead I use Netflix).
• Get fresh food from farmers markets and ethnic stores.
• Never aimlessly shop at a mall, order most stuff online after research.
• Cook meals at home most days and avoid vending machines and eating out too often.
• Downsized clothing, and only buy something if really necessary.
• Downsized and sold many possessions and live modestly in a 1 bedroom apartment.
• Considering moving cities to live a “car-free” lifestyle.
• Digitized media where possible. For example, threw out DVD cases and turned my media tower into a notebook sized case.
• Bought a Kindle, and converted books to e-book format, freeing up more living space, formerly used for storage
• Converted CD’s to .mp3 and gave away the whole lot to friends.

Earn More

Now that we’ve approached a few ways to save money, the other side of the coin is making more money to fund your emergency backup account or business venture.

Some of the ways to make more money are a bit self-explanatory, such as:

• Hold a garage sale for your excess stuff
• Get a second job
• Increase your hourly freelance rate
• Ask for a raise
• Do occasional odd jobs

Spend Less + Earn More = A Winning Combination.

The bottom line here is that money can be managed positively, and used in small chunks towards your business venture. Ideally, you start something that is low risk to get a feel for how your vision, time and money strategies all work together. Once you get into a flow and can effectively balance your full time job, family and side project effectively you are on the right track.

Understanding your risk potential is really crucial.  A good question to ask is whether you want to first clean up your finances and start saving before starting a business.  Starting a business has a way of consuming your extra money, or even borrowing more on a whim. It’s a matter of what level of risk is right for you.

It’s a tough road. It’s taken me over 7 years of full time work and side projects to come to these realizations and implement them in daily life.

I think the hardest lesson I’ve learned is to schedule time for fun.

While sacrifice is a necessary part of building a business, personal time shouldn’t be overlooked for a healthy life/work balance.

I remember when starting my online shop, I was consumed all the time. During the week I would get up early to work on it (like 5:30am), use time from my lunch hour at my job when possible, then come home and work some more. Come the weekend, I’d look forward to “catching up”.

It’s very easy to waste time in a half work/half browsing the web situation. It really wasn’t until I implemented time tracking that I realized I was essentially using my web business as my hobby and lifestyle business, instead of putting a higher value on my time a becoming a bit less emotionally driven so to speak.

In the beginning, there is a period of time you need to totally immerse yourself, however it shouldn’t take years (as in my case). As you learn a task, document how you did it with images, text and video, and decide if it can be outsourced.

Ideally, you should run your initial plan and ideas by a seasoned business coach, to help ensure you’re pointed in the right direction.

It’s now time to bring this four part series to a close.

If you take nothing else from these words, remember that really analyzing how you craft your time, money and vision has a huge effect on the things you are, and the things you want to become.

Sometimes we just need an outside view or kick in the pants to realize the things blocking our success. If you’re not having the success in online business you’ve hoped, try implementing some of these tactics – you may be surprised!

Posts in this series

Part 1:  How To Crush 3 Obstacles Blocking Your Online Business
Part 2: Choose The Wrong Niche, Your Online Business Will Fail
Part 3: Finding Time For Your Online Business, When You Work Full Time
Part 4: But It Takes A Lot Of Money To Start An Online Business, Right?

Recommended Reading
A short guide to consumer disobedience
Fighting financial pressure from friends

How would doing one or two of these actions affect your outlook and subsequent savings?

This is the third post, in a four part series, designed to help you overcome several common online business obstacles. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4

Time.

Time is an invaluable commodity. Flowing through our hands like water, once gone, never to return.Working a fulltime job, taking care of family, community obligations, hobbies – so many things consume our waking hours, especially if others depends on us.

Trying to grow a business in your spare time, while remaining sane is a daunting task. The thought of putting our free time towards a project which may never provide us any income is a scary proposition. Without some risk however, the chances of reward decreases dramatically.

Regardless of your life situation, finding an extra hour or two during the day to work towards your goal is possible, through discipline and efficient time planning. While taking care of your family should always be first priority, there is a high probability when you really look at your daily habits, several of them don’t contribute to your end goal.

As humans, rarely do we question why we are doing something, as routine becomes habit. [Tweet this]

Becoming conscious of how your time is being spent, is crucial for identifying where you can free up time. You might be surprised to learn exactly how much time you are wasting on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Before we get into the tools and techniques, ask yourself the following question throughout the day, as many times as possible.

“Is what I’m doing right now, bringing me closer to my goal?”

Once you get in the habit of doing this, all of the wasted opportunities and distractions start to come into focus.

Before you even start planning out tasks for your project, I’d recommend you track all of your free time for at least one week. We are going to break this down into three easy steps.

Step 1

Tracking daily habits.

Get yourself a little pocket sized notepad, to keep on you at all times for this weekly experiment. During your non-work hours, write down what you are doing in blocks of time.

For example:

6:00am: Woke up
6:30am: Made breakfast
7:00am: Dressed for work
7:30am: Facebook/email replies

You get the idea. Don’t lay any judgement on your actions at this point, just get into the habit of becoming aware of your actions. If at all possible, do this during your work hours anytime you find yourself doing activities other than work.

Step 2

Tracking your online activities.

We’ve all been there……
“I just want to check my email for a second.”

Next thing you know, you’re watching funny pet videos on YouTube and wondering where the last hour went.

This is where a free program program called RescueTime comes in really handy. RescueTime monitors how much time you spend on an application or website. You can see reporting about your activities and re-categorize activities in a meaningful way for you. An advanced feature (with the paid version) you can implement is choosing to “Focus” , by blocking access to your most distracting websites for a period of time you specify daily. Another option is the free Firefox add-on called Leechblock.

Between reviewing your daily habits list and RescueTime reporting, a clear picture will begin to emerge about your amount of wasted time daily, along with opportunities to get stuff done.

While this is a good eye-opening exercise for a week or two, focusing on actual productivity is more more important. I’ve found it’s eventually more important to focus on what you did, rather than all the things you didn’t do. Checking reports of all of your non-productive time, can become a dead end if done for too long, not to mention demotivating.

Step 3

Determining how much your time is worth.

I sadly recall when starting my online business bragging about how I “do everything myself”. I didn’t know any better and took a smug pleasure in hoarding all tasks for myself. It’s important to know how to do all of the tasks in your business, but not for the reason you may think.

Only by knowing how to do something yourself, can you explain it to someone else. Once you can explain it, you can create a video demonstration or written document and free yourself from this task. The idea is to spend your time on the highest value activities and ones you enjoy. Create systems to remove yourself from the equation and from low value tasks where possible.

For example, here are some of the lower level activities I recall doing in the beginning of my online ventures:

• Hand coloring images in Photoshop the really hard way, to change a background color.

• Creating an intricate excel spreadsheet for eCommerce product data, before I knew about standardized csv file formats and proper image storage.

• Writing all of my own product descriptions (note, I do rather enjoy this sometimes).

• Spending too much time on unimportant stuff, instead of marketing.

and the mistakes go on and on…….

I first realized there was a problem with my approach when I read a report called the Internet Business Manifesto by Rich Scheffren. There was a game changing diagram which showed how impossible my trying to do everything myself was. Luckily I read this in the same year my original eCommerce shop launched, not years after. I highly recommend reading that free report, as it explains several concepts far better than I can.

A very important takeaway is determining how much time you put into your business, and how much you pay yourself. Outsource lower level tasks which are below your hourly rate, and continue to scale things up.

An invaluable tool I use daily to help me get stuff done is called Toggl. For a mere $5/mo, I get fantastic insight on what I really do with my online business time.

Let me show you an example of how I use it.
I create categories for a particular business and associated task category.

Ex. Business A

• Administrative Tasks
• Marketing
• Productive Time (creating systems and important high level stuff)
• Content Creation

When it’s work time, I manually start the timer for a particular task. You can choose to mark the task time as “billable” if it’s paid client work, and even integrate with an online invoicing system perfect for freelancers called Freshbooks.

Another awesome feature is the ability to sync with your calendar system. Personally I use Google calendar. I created a special color coded calendar to pull in my documented task time entries from Toggl. This gives me an eye opening, visual way to quickly skim the week and see how much work I really got done vs. half browsing the web/half working.

If I’m idle for 10 minutes (or whatever time you set), I get asked if I want to keep or discard that time. This is time to really focus when the meter is running, so if you find yourself wanting to click away from your work….immediately stop the timer.

Sometimes, you may find out of an hour, you only got 20 minutes of work done, not the ideal scenario. I find working for a set time of intense focus, then taking a 10 minute break away from the computer really helps.

At the end of the week or month, you can pull reports in Toggl and see exactly how much time was spent on particular tasks. Often the reality of what you think you did, and actually got done, are two different things. Sometimes, even though our business is always in the forefront of our minds, the actual quantifiable progress we are making is hard to discern. If you consider tracking your progress like this – that gray area will be a thing of the past.

Once you figure out how much time you are spending, divide it by the amount of money you pay yourself to get your hourly rate.

Look at the tasks you enjoy and don’t enjoy. If you can outsource the tasks you don’t like, or are worth less than your hourly rate do it! This is how you begin to scale operations and give yourself the gift on working on tasks which really inspire and motivate you.  Do what you are good at, and outsource the tasks you dislike to people who can do it cheaper, potentially better, and in less time.
You now begin to learn how long tasks take to accomplish, their value and how you can fit them into your day, in place of time wasting habits you’ve become accustomed to. If you see, for example 10 hours of Administrative Tasks, but only 2 hours of Content Creation, you know it’s worth both upping your game and systemizing some lower level administrative tasks to free up time.

Next week, we will look at the third obstacle blocking your business success, Money.

Posts in this series

Part 1: How To Crush 3 Obstacles Blocking Your Online Business
Part 2: Choose The Wrong Niche, Your Online Business Will Fail
Part 3: Finding Time For Your Online Business, When You Work Full Time
Part 4: But It Takes A Lot Of Money To Start An Online Business, Right?

What time savings tips or tricks have worked well for you?

Vision

Everything starts with an idea, a vision.
Seeing the whole picture at the beginning of an undertaking, while being uncertain of your direction can be a real challenge.

If nothing else, remember the following sentence. Ready?

Everything depends upon the niche you choose to enter.

Choose the right niche, and you are well ahead of the curve. Choose the wrong niche, and you could be setting yourself up for months or years of needless struggle.

While an entrepreneur’s “gut feeling” provides the passion for pursuing an idea, it’s what the market wants, which will dictate your success or failure. It’s often a lot easier to enter a market which already has existing cash flow and money to spend, than trying to convince people they need your product or service.

In some cases, based on market research, you could potentially be the first to create a new niche market. However, if this is your first time dipping your toe in the waters of micro business ownership, shoot for a market that has a need, and fill it.

Ask yourself…

• Can I make it better, faster, cheaper?
• Can I create an accompanying product that piggybacks off current market offerings?
• What is my unique selling proposition (USP)?
• Do I have a unique way to market my product/service offering?

Give this a lot of thought!

You’re probably asking, how do you determine what the market wants?

Let me share a few ideas to get you started. This short post isn’t an instructional manual on any of the mostly free tools below, simply ideas to point you in the right direction. If you have any specific questions on usage or results, I’ll be happy to give advice, simply email me.

Keyword Research

Seeing fairly accurate keyword research data goes a long way in determining initial niche market considerations. Also gauging the approximate PPC costs can help reveal commercial intent.

Google Keyword Tool – Straight from Google, research keyword search volume.
SpyFu – Research what your competitors are spending on Pay Per Click (PPC).

Social Activity

Tapping into the social stream of existing conversations, forums, blogs, twitter posts and more, can possibly uncover an existing need in the marketplace. Do you see a recurring question in forums people keep asking over and over again? Is there a product/service available to solve this problem? This could be the seed idea for your next project.

Boardreader – Browse current message board activity by topic or keyword.
Social Mention – Research a search query across multiple channels, like photos, blogs, micro-blogs and more.

Competitor Research

Chrome SEO Plugin – A slick tool to analyze several ranking components of a webpage.
Open Site Explorer – The classic backlink analysis tool by SEOmoz.
Backlink Watch – A free, quick and dirty tool which lists a website’s backlinks.
Ahrefs – A newcomer backlink analysis tool with lots of potential.
Compete – A collection of demographic information about a website in your market.

One of my favorite robust tools which blends keyword research, social media monitoring/scheduling, backlink analysis, link outreach management and a whole lot more, check out Raven Tools, which starts at $99/mo.

Let’s say you found a niche with good keyword potential, active social media channels, paid advertisements and a handle on your competitor’s strategies. It’s time to create your initial Unique Selling Proposition (USP) , content strategy, product offerings and marketing plan of attack. Make sure to have a good understanding of what need your product /service fills, how you will market it and what the conversion goals will be.

It’s important to know that over time your niche product/service may likely need to pivot, to keep relevant in the marketplace.

Next week, we will look at the second obstacle blocking your business success, Time.

If you could start over again, would you stay in your current niche?

Posts in this series

Part 1: How To Crush 3 Obstacles Blocking Your Online Business
Part 2: Choose The Wrong Niche, Your Online Business Will Fail
Part 3: Finding Time For Your Online Business, When You Work Full Time
Part 4: But It Takes A Lot Of Money To Start An Online Business, Right?

Recommended Reading
The ultimate guide to finding your unique selling proposition
A better starting point for choosing a niche

Success.

That long coveted word, strove after by many, seemingly attained by the few.Why exactly does success always seem so elusive? The thing others seem to attain so easily “overnight” , while others strive endlessly in vain.

Is it some special skill people are born with , or do these privileged few somehow get lucky? As we will see, self-defined success is merely the byproduct of maintaining good, focused habits.

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

- Benjamin Franklin

Here is the thing about luck, the more you plan for success and diligently act, the luckier you get. This is especially true, where online business is concerned.

The more you plan for success, the more that little voice in your head finds reasons to resist. [Tweet this]

A hundred different excuses and self convincing reasons can stand in the way of your taking consistent action towards your goal of success.

What is success really?

Success is different for everyone. To some, it’s a million dollars in the bank, with a collection of large houses and garage full of exotic cars. For others, success is bringing in an extra $500 a month to put towards savings or a car payment.

For some, creating something which creates an impact in others lives is reward enough.

This four part series you are about to read is meant for those who are working a full time job, and struggling to get an online based side project off the ground in their spare time. There are many of us, our numbers are strong. I know, because I am one of you.

Many of us are itching to escape from our day jobs and live life on our own terms. However, something is always in the way. There never seems to be enough time to get things done. Never enough money. There are always unforeseen roadblocks which creep up, and derail our efforts, often causing us to abandon hope. Getting a side project off the ground with limited time is too difficult they exclaim, much to the “I told you so” retorts of family and friends.

Indeed this can be a challenge, let that be known right away. With the proper mindset and tools, progress can be made in a consistent way. When we see a plan moving forward , it inspires us to keep going, to do more. Action begets action.

This 4 part series will reveal how to stomp out three major obstacles blocking your success.
These three obstacles are , the perceived lack of:

1.  Vision

2. Time

3. Money

That’s it. Three shorts words which are the classic blockers of reaching the finish line.

Before I reveal my interpretation of how to overcome these challenges, you may be asking yourself why you should consider my advice.

I don’t claim to be a veteran Internet marketing guru, sitting on the beach, and working 1 hour every six months while the cash rolls in.

Who I am, is a guy that’s tried diligently since 2004 to make a full time living with an Internet based business, while working full time.

The number of jobs I’ve had during the first several years of this 7+ year time period is a blur, and in fact I’ve actually lost count. I’ve picked up all types of different jobs , while trying to make a go of growing my eCommerce shop to a full time income. I’ve gone from being dead broke several times with a negative bank account , to working three jobs to make ends meet. All through this time, I’ve managed to grow this eCommerce shop into profitability, as well as gain extensive experience in all facets of running an online business.

I’m currently working full time with a web development company, where I’m creating the SEO department and digital marketing strategy, while managing all paid media, analytics and conversion optimization. I’ve seen what works and doesn’t work. I am now using my hard won digital skills towards helping other eCommerce shop owners succeed, while becoming 100% debt free and saving a two year emergency fund. Not bad for someone who started while stuck in an endless stream of short lived, dead end phone sales jobs year after year.

Location independent skills can save your life!

Next week, we will look at the first obstacle blocking your business success, Vision.

Posts in this series

Part 1: How To Crush 3 Obstacles Blocking Your Online Business
Part 2: Choose The Wrong Niche, Your Online Business Will Fail
Part 3: Finding Time For Your Online Business, When You Work Full Time
Part 4: But It Takes A Lot Of Money To Start An Online Business, Right?

For quite some time, I’ve been disenchanted with living in Florida. While this state may be an escapist destination to those who dream of living on the beach, sipping Margaritas and wearing flip flops all year round, the humid and plastic reality is anything but. 

Especially living in Orlando, I experience a high level of commercialism with similar strip malls on every corner, overwhelming heat beating on your back most of the year and a nightmarish fight with traffic all too frequently among tourist drivers.

For years, I’ve searched for a State which has a lot of attributes I want in a home-base, including:

• The ability to live without a car, and rely on my own two feet, a bicycle and public transportation.
• A dense walk-able city, not far from nature hikes and trails.
• An independent spirit, with as few chain stores as possible.
• Vegetarian/Vegan friendly environment with a ton of choices.
• Season changes, with a vibrant autumn season.
• Nightlife that suits my particular musical taste.
• Abundance of spiritual, community building activities like drum circles and meditation gatherings.

Not only did Portland meet my wishlist with flying acorns, but also surprised me with having:

• Hundreds of ethnic food carts located throughout the city, priced on average $5 – 7 for a meal. In fact, Portland was rated #1 in the World for street food.
• More breweries than anywhere in the world.
• An overall friendly crowd who live at a slower pace than the East coast.
• A very green culture, including solar trash compactors, electric car chargers, self cleaning solar bathrooms and more.
• Powells , the world’s largest independent bookstore.
• Voodoo Doughnuts , supplying a better than expected Maple doughnut with Bavarian creme filling. Yum.

…..and I could go on and on about the great stuff I saw. I asked many travelers and locals for their opinion on the city and it’s crowd, and it was mostly positive. Every city has its drawbacks, but for my needs it was killer. Sure, it does drizzle a very large portion of the year, but I’d rather have this than scalding heat….I’ve always preferred the woods vs. a beach. The cold energizes me, the heat depletes my energy.

Lodging and Transportation

For my week long trip, I stayed at Hawthorne Hostel, which was a great experience., especially considering it’s location and under $30/night cost. I met some awesome people traveling from all over the world and we shared plenty of stories. I had a great conversation with a fellow traveler Nan, who sold all her stuff to travel, and was on a multi-month European adventure you can read about at her blog.

Located in the kick ass Hawthorne district, I was smack in the middle of about 30 – 40 blocks of independent shops, restaurants, beautiful side streets and mountains off in the distance. The hostel was picture perfect with candle lit carved pumpkins , a rocking chair and resident black cat.

I’d catch the bus which took about 10 minutes to get into downtown. It was a great experience walking around the city on foot, interacting with people and seeing so many cool places. A far cry from the traffic locked, strip mall existence in Florida.  In fact, there were a ton of transportation options available from street cars, light rails, an ariel tram, buses, taxis, bicycles, rent by the hour Zipcars and of course your own two feet.

Culture

There was a very prominent cultural vibe present in Portland, which I dug including everywhere being dressed up and in the Halloween spirit several days beforehand. If you’re into locally grown food, supporting independent artists, spending rainy days in a bookstore sipping coffee and celebrating all things earthy, this place is for you.

Some people I met from the East coast hated it, it’s an acquired taste. I liked the overall grungy fashion, party due to the weather, partly to due aesthetic. The punk scene was alive and well. It was refreshing to see punks and goths roaming the street in native attire in addition to the Bohemian vibe on Hawthorne, and more business like attire downtown.

One day I wandered into a cool shop called Memento,  and was overjoyed to find surreal art and postcards featuring Alice in Wonderland and Mark Ryden, while Siouxsie and the Banshees was playing overhead.  Later, I came upon a liquor store in the downtown area playing Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys. Want to play at a nickel arcade, or watch a stop motion Jan Svankmajer film while sipping on local crafted beer…its all there.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see the coast, tour wine vineyards, ride a bike or a handful of other possibilities.

Nature

One of my trip highlights was an adventure to the Portland Japanese Gardens. After four days of late night drinking,  I rushed out of the hostel with no food in my belly. Armed only with a bottle of water and a power bar in my trusty Maxpedition Rolly Polly backpack, I started the trek. I could have easily taken a bus all the way there, but wanted a bit more adventure. After taking a bus part of the way, I decided to walk the rest.

Using my Iphone GPS, I kept trying to place a particular street to no avail, walking in each of the four directions possible. Finally, it turned out my needed street, was an unmarked trail which winded into a mountain, starting with just a few visible steps. I can’t remember the last time I felt so exhilarated to find such a picturesque path. Up into the woods with an uncontrollable smile, I rushed into the green like a 10 years old boy after a new toy.

After reaching a clearing, I took a short breather and consumed my powerbar.

 
On the way to the Japanese gardens, I passed through the International Rose Test gardens, where over 200 rose cultivars are grown every year. This was truly a sight to behold. There was an ethereal radiance over the area, producing this just after the rains saturated glow which was otherworldly.

Finally, I arrived at the gates of a magnificent Japanese garden, which is apparently the most authentic of any outside of Japan.  There was such an intoxicating fragrance in the air and multiple gardens and waterfalls to behold. One of the most extravagant sights, was this brilliantly hued Maple tree.

After meditating on the steps of a Japanese building for a while and taking tons of photos it was time for a return trip back to the hostel. Still starving, I attempted to find my way back, which proved a challenge. Finally after getting caught in the rain, exhausted and an about to die GPS I found the way back.

Must eat.

What better way to break my hunger pangs, than indulging in some proven to be fantastic Lebanese food at Tarboush, housed in a warm and cozy Victorian.

In lieu of writing an entire book on my experience, I will close out this post here.

Overall I really loved this city and wanted to break my apartment lease and move immediately. Unbeknownst to me, other opportunities would soon present themselves, which persuaded me to stick it out here for another couple years to achieve some very large goals. The creative vibe, locally grown food options, walk-able districts and preferred weather really left an impression. I had a sort of coming home feeling while being there. Something about the environment, retro feeling, simple pleasures and abundance of like minded people deeply resonated.

I’m considering taking a trip back in 2013 for the ever growing blogger and “remarkable people” event run by Chris Guillebeau, called the World Domination Summit.

Have you ever been to Portland? I’d love to hear about your impressions of the city….

I set up camp right next to a running stream, which was narrow enough to jump over, along with a couple small bridges for crossing. My spot was close to bathrooms, showers, picnic tables and running water spigots  vs. the primitive area, which had none of the above. I plan to try primitive camping at an upcoming Rainbow gathering next year.

For food I brought a gallon of water, 2 power bars, bag of nuts, 2 fruit strips, 1 banana and 1 apple, for Friday night – Sunday morning.Not a lot of food, but I wanted to rough it, and just see what happens. It turned out everyone offers and shares. I love sharing. In fact, I like a recent post I came across called ways sharing can save your life. I bought a 12 pack and 6 pack of brew and gave to a couple people who shared food with me,  on a run we made to a local store miles away.  I was impressed with several of the camp setups, RV’s, Moroccan lanterns, big tents with red/purple sheets, etc. I had the smallest, minimalist 1 man tent there and brought the least stuff. I have a backpack/hiking type setup, where everything fits in one bag.

My first night was mostly getting oriented with the landscape, meeting new people , plus hanging out with people I already knew from Orlando.

At night I went to an awesome bonfire drum circle until around 2:30am, then headed back to my tent.

Trip Report – Day two

For most of the day I wandered around talking to people and sat in on a couple of drum and dance classes.

Around 6:00pm is when the magic started to happen. I ate some magic mushroom chocolates, and sat by a stream getting ready for the impending adventure.  Off in the distance, I heard some really fast drumming over by the African dance classes and decided that would be a great place to “cross the threshold into wonderland”.

I sat right in the dirt,  cross legged and took in the sights. Around 7:00pm, I began to feel overwhelming joy. That coming back home feeling started to take over as the emotions began to flow. The sun was making its nightly descent and for a time all I could see were the silhouettes of dancers kicking up sand, doing traditional African dance. The drum beats were furious presented by about 6 or 7 hand drummers. The sun was grazing my face, as I kept splashing water on my skin. An indescribable primal feeling swept over me due to this intoxicating scene, like something out of National Geographic. I closed my eyes and saw a subtle collage of flashing colors, faces and some fractals. Forever, this scene is engraved in my soul. Just the sound of tribal drumming helps bring me back to this point, and it’s a scene I plan to paint on canvas.

For a time, I wandered in a huge green field as the sun was setting.  This was magical,  with a lot of flowers and shifting bright green trees in the distance.

Going back into the woods, I sat on my drum in front of the stream where I setup camp. Off in the distance I could hear chanting and drumming, to the smell of forest and incense. While staring into the exposed tree roots, I saw a Gaia looking face in a triangular root that captivated my attention. Long did I stare into this cunning root, whose face would slightly shift, as I heard whispers around me and smelling the scent of deep earth and wood. This inviting root borne face appeared to have outstretched arms. As I gazed forward,  the entire landscape in my field of vision became deeper and bright green, much like the old stereogram graphics. In this woodsy, 3D space , I breathed deep and slow, while the ground and water breathed in unison with me.

All too short was this amazing space, until I felt drawn to get up and wander more.

Towards the smell of food I went, it was around 8:30pm now and I hit a plateau for the most part.
I broke my 6+ year 95% Vegan (5% because I’d sometimes eat cheese) diet, and devoured some chicken with homemade BBQ sauce around a fire, it was too alluring to pass up in this state.

Later that night a performance was going on, with high energy dancing and ceremonial mask clad dancers on stilts, a sight to behold.

Finally around 11:00pm,  I settled in around the drum circle in a vast field with a black sky and bright stars. A decadent bonfire, dug into an earthen hole raged with all its might and looked mystical against the stars.

Slow and uniform we drummed like a heartbeat to kick off this tribal experience.
Several of the African performers were there and started off the vibe. As a sacrament , a bowl of water was offered as a receptacle for intention. The drumming intensified, as dancers and tribal folk alike circumambulated the fire. Some dancing, some shaking traditional jugs and shakers, some with drums dressed in colorful attire and headress.

With a quickened Spirit, drumming amidst this communal ecstasy was really powerful and feeling the ground shake under you is an experience I long to duplicate and re-experience as much as possible.

As things settled down a bit later, an exotic looking gypsy chick sanctified the circle with a large shell of burning sage, then danced with a red scarp flowing against the backdrop of fire.

Around 3:00am, worn out from the events of the day and psychedelic mindset, I headed back to camp and passed out in my tent to the sound of drums off in in the distance and running stream water.

The following morning, I packed up camp to head home. I was still invigorated and felt somewhat wide-eyed from the night before, colors brighter, sounds more clear and extremely grounded to the earth.  Stopping on the side of the road next to a big field, I picked some wildflowers to dry between the pages of a printed journal I keep.

I loved the timeless feeling of this village setup with no set time/place to be. Wandering off to be alone when needed, or joining activities to spend time with others were both options. No computers or distractions.

A much needed communion back to nature, where the old concert becomes the new. Where synthesia and a heartbeat of sound enliven the Spirit and remind us we are still human, destined to rise and fall like the sun.

Camp Maitres Tambour Afric (Masters of the African Drum & Dance Camp) is a  three-day Camp that was held at Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville, Florida  on Thursday, March 15th through Sunday, March 18th, 2012.  This event provided the unique opportunity to study African Drum and Dance, culture and  traditions with over 25 African Drum and Dance Masters from multiple African ethnic groups (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Congo, Senegal).  12 dance classes and 12  drum classes (djembe, djun-djun, ngoma, & sabar)!  Traditional instrument classes (Balafon, Kora, Dodo) & traditional African Song classes also!  Children’s program workshops and nightly drum circles around the bonfire.  Performances by 4 different African groups!

I’m not talking about that measly one week look over your shoulder excuse for a break many of us are accustomed to. I’m not even talking about a two-week hiatus where you start to unwind, only to be tethered to your cell phone and email. 

I’m talking about the kind of break where you step away from your job or ego defining career and experience life on your own timetable.

The kind of break where you remember what it’s like to just breathe again, to experience whatever hobbies and passions make you a creative human.

Taking a two hour lunch with no plans for the rest of the day, other than to wander a new city and explore is a good start. You start to feel refreshed, and filled with that childlike energy and sparkling eyes which you thought were a long forgotten thing of the past.

You start the day naturally rising out of bed when you’re ready, eager to let the day’s adventures unfold, now that’s a career break!

Time for a disclaimer, since this post will likely offend.

A large majority of people value ongoing stability and are very risk averse.  Many people inherit the logic of their peer group, family and societal conditioning.  For those, please forget you saw this post. In the past I’ve seen others labeled as deluded, selfish and unrealistic in wanting to experience a fuller, more exotic life. Fair enough, to each their own.

Recently, I went to a local event in Orlando, FL.  for the website Meet Plan Go , founded by Sherry Ott. The purpose of the event was to hear the experiences of a panel of interesting people who found ways to take an extended career break and travel extensively.

To some that meant using their existing location independent skills, like SEO or web design for a work/travel arrangement, or others selling their home, cashing in on retirement and traveling the world with their three teenagers.

There are always excuses like….

“I don’t have any money saved.”

“But I have kids.”

“How can I get another job upon return.”

While these are valid concerns, there are always alternative ways to make it happen!

Check out Meet Plan Go, their site gives some good tips for the various planning stages necessary and connecting with others who have conquered the same questions, it’s inspiring.

Considering the value of personal time is not as high in the U.S. , we need to make it happen. Waiting for the elusive days of retirement, may never come to fruition.

I don’t know about you, but for me a one week or two week vacation is far from sufficient. I refuse to accept those who are being “realists” and resign to the idea of working until death with a short break here and there.

In fact, many countries in the world provide an extensive amount of time off,  *for example:
Austria has a statutory mimimum of 25 days for vacation and 13 days off for public holidays.
Brazil has a statutory minimum of 30 days for vacation and 11 days for public holidays.
France has a statutory minimum of 30 days for vacation and 10 days of public days off.

The point being, many of us live the deferred life plan (to quote Tim Ferris), waiting diligently for that elusive “someday” to travel and do the things you really want.

And let me tell you Jack, someday may never come.

It was inspiring being around other like minded people and hearing their stories, challenges and how with careful planning they just “made it happen.”

It seems to me, the only way to truly take a decent break is to carefully plan and quit your job, or to build skills that transfer to the online world, providing a hybrid work/travel situation. While I understand many people have 2 cars, a mortgage and kids, with dilligent planning a several month break is possible. For example, checkout this couple who travel around to 20 plus countries with their 5 years old at Soultravelers3.com.

I feel pity when overhearing people talk about never missing a day of work in x amount of years. Your life is ticking by while you pledge your allegiance to an employer who can terminate you at any given moment.

Too many bills? Have a high mortgage?

Ask yourself every day if this is really the life you want, and if all the material items requiring work to maintain are really necessary for your happiness. It’s a good exercise and practice to get into.

These have been difficult questions for me personally, but the more I downshift possessions and increase travel time, the happier I become.

On your deathbed, would you rather recall your perfect attendance record, or reminisce on the fantastic adventures you had?

Have you ever taken a career break? Or are you planning to? Do share…