Today I want to share one of the best lessons I’ve ever received in the Internet marketing world.
I don’t even remember where I saw this but it had an immediate and lasting impact on my online profits.
This may sound simplistic, but here is the advice:
“Do something profitable first.”
Every day when you first fire up your computer, make sure the first task you perform is something that can generate a profit.
On today’s Internet it is far too easy to do unprofitable tasks one after another and waste hours upon hours. Fall into these bad habits and in a few months you’ll be wondering why there’s no money coming in.
However when you do something profitable FIRST every day and you will steadily grow your income.
I’ll show you some examples from my own past experiences, right after today’s top sponsor ad…
Here’s how the “old me” operated…
Most days when I fired up the PC I started by checking my email. That was a mistake. Yes, answering email is important but it should be done AFTER a profitable task is completed.
Here’s a list of unprofitable or marginally profitable tasks that you should NOT do right away:
- Check email
- Go on Faceboook
- Go on Twitter, Pinterst or any other social media site
- Watch videos on youtube
- Read a sales letter or watch a sales video
- Buy a product
- Shop at Amazon or any other site
- Feel overwhelmed and watch TV instead of working
While all of those things are perfectly acceptable on a limited basis, they are not making you much, if any money.
So now you may be wondering what things you should do BEFORE you do any of those things. Well, here is a list of things I replaced those with, and saw an immediate impact in my earnings…
- Create a new blog post
- Contact 2-3 potential JV partners
- Research and review a potential affiliate product
- Write a solo email series for a good affiliate product
- Send a solo email to your list
- If you don’t have a list, work on growing your own buyer’s list
- Add a high-converting affiliate product to an autoresponder series
- Brainstorm a new product of your own
- Work on a sales letter for a new product
- Learn a new marketing skill by reading or watching a training product, then implement it immediately
- Create a video that will help you sell a product of your own or an affiliate product
- Perform a traffic generating task such as post at a forum, build a link, place an ad or do a guest post
- Outsource some profitable tasks at fiverr.com
Do you see the difference in this list compared to the list of unprofitable tasks?
The unprofitable tasks take up just as much time, and sometimes more. In fact, it is easy to waste an entire day doing the non-productive stuff. But at the end of the day you may as well have been sleeping or watching TV.
However if you do at least ONE of the items from the profitable list BEFORE you do anything else every day, you will steadily grow your profits.
Do this every day for a few weeks and it will become habit.
Then look back a month or two later and you may be pleasantly surprised to see how much this new habit helped you grow your income. I know I was!
It’s funny how one small change in the way you think or the actions you take can make all the difference in the world.
Great article Jim. Thanks for the kick in the pants. I am sitting in my office a little after 800 a.m. reading this article. Yup, I checked my email first thing this morning. I have some money making things to do and simply got lazy. Great reminder. Off I go to get the money polarity moving back to me instead of away.
Thanks Jim, Some great advice! I find myself getting overwhelmed at times trying to keep up with the many websites and projects that I loose focus and start another before completing the task at hand.
I like the idea of completing a traffic generating task first thing as that is what really grows our bottom line and I have plenty of those to keep me busy busy busy! I guess maybe that’s why I prefer the paid traffic route…
It’s Fast and easy to see results good or bad. Your post had made me think it’s time to re structure my mornings! Much appreciated Jim Thank You!
All the Best! – Tommy
Thanks for the reminder Jim. Time for me to develop some new habits. Production before consumption!
Thank you, Jim, for this much needed article. For a lot of folks out there, it is easy to get into the habit of checking emails first, going on social networks, going on Amazon to buy things–it’s fun going on Amazon to buy things–they make it easy and fun. I think a good study of their marketing techniques would be useful. Amazon is magnetic! So, what do we do? we need to resolve that we want to stop procrastinating and get things done. We need to focus on things that helps us to develop good working habits–and that means we have to do the desired behaviors we want to make a good habit of-we need to develop the good habits–it takes some work, and, it comes easier to some than others. I remember reading an article by Marlo Thomas, daughter of Danny Thomas–He gave his daughter advise that says we sometime need to put the blinders on to get things done. He used the example of blinders being used in horse races, so the race horses would not be distracted by the other horses in the race. We need to do the same thing sometimes and put on the blinders so we can see and focus on things that will make our business good and profitable.
Hi JIm. I always start the day by attending to email… I never seem to wake up enough to “work” productively until I’ve had a couple of cups of coffee, so dealing with email is a good use of that time LOL.
Agree that social media is a total time waster. You can easily lose several hours just browsing through your FB newsfeed if you go there.
Anyways… time for another coffee and then I will get stuck into some work!
Cheers
Stephen
Absolutely! Thanks a bunch Jim. Great words of advice.
Hi Jim. I am guilty for checking emails promptly after starting the computer, and it can eat up an awful lot of time!
All of the suggestions were good, and clarifies money making tasks, especially for newbies. I liked the idea of learning, but implementing immediately.
Thanks for the great advice. Rose
Thanks, Jim for a really helpful article. I hate to admit it, but I’ve often fallen victim to many of those things I shouldn’t be doing first. It’s just such an easy trap to get hooked into. Your pointing them out is a great warning about the importance of prioritizing.
Hey thanks Jim. Great article. I thought it was so good I had to copy and paste it in a WordPress document so I could refer back to it again! Boy I needed to see this.
Thanks again,
Art
Great advise. Sometimes, (most times) it’s the simple and small things that make a big difference, whether for good or bad.
Getting in a daily routine and sticking to it is so important. This is a great post and just what I needed to read, thanks Jim.
I can relate to this Jim, this article is an awakening one.
I am so addicted to checking my email first and can be there for the next two to three hours or more, Now I know is a bad habit.
Hey Jim, your headlines are magnets. Keep up the good work.
I just had to laugh at that 1st list – especially the last one! Watching TV has become binge-watching now that TVs are so Smart they always know where you are! It takes about 3 weeks to break those bad habits but it can be done. Thank for the reminder.
Yeah, I never imagined a day where everyone would be walking around with their own little hand-held TV, great point! Distraction temptations are all around. 🙂