Today is day 7 of my journey to wealth. Aside from launching and tweaking...and tweaking...and tweaking...the consulting site, I have devoted most of my free time to thought and planning. Thought about business, goals, mission statements, forecasting, etc.
Sales Forecasting has been the hardest part of the business plan, by far. My obstacle is, how do you forecast sales when you have never been in business before, are unsure what clients you will have, and what their marketing budgets will be like. It is a game of unknowns and I am the key player.
I talked to Ally son about it. She had some good advice. To sum up and paraphrase: Don't stress the forecasting during the first year. Just set realistic personal goals and jump in. Things will happen, things will work out. For my business model, this is good advice.
My sales goals are to generate at least $2,000 a month in profit. This will feed us and meet our basic (and I mean only basic) living expenses. Anything on top of that would be lovely.
4 months until May!!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
An Army Of One
A huge realization in starting a business from scratch hit me today. You have to not only be an expert at your service/trade/offering, but you also have to be decent at every other aspect of business (accounting, sales, leadership, etc). Maintaining a business of one is even harder, as these are qualities you have to maintain on a long term time line. Of course, I knew this - or rather I knew what it meant on the surface. The problem is that I never really understood it and all the implications of it.
To be great at sales, you have to be able to communicate, to persuade, to show people value, etc. To be a great at accounting, you have to know numbers, know the laws, and know billing. The list goes on...So my realization was, when you say you own and run your own business - an army of one so to speak - you are really saying that you are a multitasking, multifaceted undertaker of all things business.
To be great at sales, you have to be able to communicate, to persuade, to show people value, etc. To be a great at accounting, you have to know numbers, know the laws, and know billing. The list goes on...So my realization was, when you say you own and run your own business - an army of one so to speak - you are really saying that you are a multitasking, multifaceted undertaker of all things business.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Consulting Site Live
So I've launched my second site, this one is for consulting and contract jobs. No, I am not fast enough to build and write content for an entire high quality site in just one day. I have been working on both of these sites simultaneously for the past few months. I am just now getting the balls to put them into action.
The consulting site is exciting because it is actually going to be a solid and reliable way to generate income while I am working on monetizing the other websites. I am going to be consulting/contracting internet marketing services such as PPC management, SEO, media buying, affiliate management, and web development, etc.
I have manged to also work out the 12 month sales/expense forecast for the overall business, which includes both the websites and consulting business. I am planning to continue at my day job until the end of May. In the meantime, I will be working evenings and weekends to get things set up for myself, client-wise. My goal is to have at least two clients by June, preferably for PPC as that would be an ongoing monthly commitment. With start up savings and income through May, I will be able to survive until August on my own without any clientele. While it is only 3 months (June to August), I am confident that things will work out. After all, between June and August I will be able to devote a full time schedule to generating leads and pitching prospects.
The only problem I am having at the moment is figuring out how to forecast sales (for the business plan). How do you guessimate that for a service industry? I have a friend who works with business plans, so I will ask.
The consulting site is exciting because it is actually going to be a solid and reliable way to generate income while I am working on monetizing the other websites. I am going to be consulting/contracting internet marketing services such as PPC management, SEO, media buying, affiliate management, and web development, etc.
I have manged to also work out the 12 month sales/expense forecast for the overall business, which includes both the websites and consulting business. I am planning to continue at my day job until the end of May. In the meantime, I will be working evenings and weekends to get things set up for myself, client-wise. My goal is to have at least two clients by June, preferably for PPC as that would be an ongoing monthly commitment. With start up savings and income through May, I will be able to survive until August on my own without any clientele. While it is only 3 months (June to August), I am confident that things will work out. After all, between June and August I will be able to devote a full time schedule to generating leads and pitching prospects.
The only problem I am having at the moment is figuring out how to forecast sales (for the business plan). How do you guessimate that for a service industry? I have a friend who works with business plans, so I will ask.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Day Two: Motivation from PlentyofFish
I have just read the article in INC magazine about the owner of PlentyofFish.com and how he makes $10mil a year from his website at 50% profit. The revenue is generated from advertising. The concept which made him this type of money is: Take something that you have to pay for and offer it for free. Then pay for it via advertising. You will notice this theme with several successful web companies, including Google. In fact, Google is probably an expert at this practice. For example, they recently released Ad Manager which is a free ad serving platform. Not only are they drawing in a large number of users from the free aspect, but there is a feature within the web based application which allows publishers to automatically offer adsense ads. This instantly increasing their content network and thus generates additional revenue from pay per click.
Now, the question is - what is something paid which I can offer for free?
However, I think my avenue may be slightly different than that of PlentyofFish, being that I am not a programmer but a marketer at heart. While I am able to develop my own website, I have limitations in terms of programming features or complex algorithums. My strength is in driving traffic. Therefore, a content based website may be sufficient verses a website which offers a service.
With that said I have finished the design and build for the first website to be used for revenue purposes. The question now becomes content - how can I generate a large amount of unique content for my topic with limited time/resources? I think the answer lies in user generated content. Essentially having users create pages on the site 24 hours a day. So my next initiative is adding these interactive features to the site.
Now, the question is - what is something paid which I can offer for free?
However, I think my avenue may be slightly different than that of PlentyofFish, being that I am not a programmer but a marketer at heart. While I am able to develop my own website, I have limitations in terms of programming features or complex algorithums. My strength is in driving traffic. Therefore, a content based website may be sufficient verses a website which offers a service.
With that said I have finished the design and build for the first website to be used for revenue purposes. The question now becomes content - how can I generate a large amount of unique content for my topic with limited time/resources? I think the answer lies in user generated content. Essentially having users create pages on the site 24 hours a day. So my next initiative is adding these interactive features to the site.
Friday, January 16, 2009
A Slight Change of Topic
Over one year since the last post...It is nice to rediscover old treasures. It always happens right when you need them the most. Reading past posts ignites a fire under my ass brighter than the one that was there this morning.
This morning, I was thinking about starting a blog detailing the long,rocky road to becoming a extremely wealthy web entrepreneur. I know what you are thinking. First, I've read so many blogs drumming to that tune. Well, stop being selfish. Afterall, this isn't your blog. Second, you are thinking: you can't just make money online. Well, stop being pessimistic. If you are going to read about my journey, then you have to support the cause.
So, here it goes: Day One.
Who: I am currently employed as a the Marketing Director for a small agency in Southern California. I have years of extensive experience in SEO, PPC, Affliate Marketing, Display Advertising/Ad Serving. You name it in the relam of online marketing and I probably know how to make money doing it.
What: My goal: Make at least $4,000 per month minimum, online, within 12 months.
How: $500 to start, and all of the willpower a human could possibly possess.
When: I have given myself 12 months to reach my goal, 6 months to quit my day job.
Why: On a daily basis, I earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for my clients and by working for an agency I am not compensated to my full potential. It is time to put my knowledge to good use and start making it work for me.
This morning, I was thinking about starting a blog detailing the long,rocky road to becoming a extremely wealthy web entrepreneur. I know what you are thinking. First, I've read so many blogs drumming to that tune. Well, stop being selfish. Afterall, this isn't your blog. Second, you are thinking: you can't just make money online. Well, stop being pessimistic. If you are going to read about my journey, then you have to support the cause.
So, here it goes: Day One.
Who: I am currently employed as a the Marketing Director for a small agency in Southern California. I have years of extensive experience in SEO, PPC, Affliate Marketing, Display Advertising/Ad Serving. You name it in the relam of online marketing and I probably know how to make money doing it.
What: My goal: Make at least $4,000 per month minimum, online, within 12 months.
How: $500 to start, and all of the willpower a human could possibly possess.
When: I have given myself 12 months to reach my goal, 6 months to quit my day job.
Why: On a daily basis, I earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for my clients and by working for an agency I am not compensated to my full potential. It is time to put my knowledge to good use and start making it work for me.
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