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Is Being Connected All the Time, Helping or Hurting Your Business?

December 13, 2010 By 3 Comments

This is a guest post written by Robert Fulton. If you would like to guest post on Blogging Labs, contact us through the contact page and we will get the ball rolling.

There is no denying that the world of business has changed dramatically over the past decade. The limitations of the traditional office no longer exist. With the growing prevalence of wireless internet, web enabled smart phones, and video conferencing the only thing tying us to the office is our accustomed familiarity with it. Many would argue that this is the crowning achievement of business technology. The ability to stay connected to the heart beat of your business at all times. While this has great appeal to some it could also be argued that this is taking away from our business prowess; chaining us to our work at all times. So does the reality of these technological leaps leave us in a better or worse position for our business? That argument is one of great debate.

Connectivity And Business Hours

The days of working nine to five have long since past. Before the dawn of limitless business connectivity the savvy business operator was putting in far more hours than the traditional 40 hour work week. Long days at the office pouring over in to late nights had become the norm rather than the exception.

With limitless wireless connectivity available the need to be tied to ones office has evaporated. Long hours once spent in cubicles have been replaced by equally long working hours from the comfort of a living room sofa. The days of being confined to an office building have been replaced often times by the beach umbrella and a portable laptop computer. This new age of technology has afforded us a very close connection to our business. When looking at any particular market the ability to respond quickly is paramount. Whether responding to your clients email of concern via your wirelessly connected smart phone, or seizing the perfect moment to purchase a stock of interest; the ability to instantly react, without delay is one of great value.

The Price Of Instant Information

While the age of constant connectivity offers us unparalleled advantages in business that have never been available before, it ultimately comes with a price. It has become increasingly difficult to divorce ones self from the business that we conduct. In the past, even while spending long days working, there was always an opportunity to retreat away from ones work and to simply relax. While this opportunity was not always taken, it was always present.

In the day of eternal connectivity the ability to “close up shop” has been greatly diminished. There is a sense that when one is not working, they are not being productive. Enjoyable activities are now often interrupted by business notifications from our phones. The sanctity of family time is often interrupted by the pressing need to react instantly to a business event. I, myself, have woken up in the middle of the night to check whether or not an expected email had arrived in my “inbox.” This surely can not be a healthy practice. In truth if we allow it, our business can become the only facet of our life and it can easily drown out all else.

While wireless internet service connectivity has allowed us to work harder and work smarter it has ultimately come with a potentially steep price tag. More than ever it is important to keep ones priorities secured firmly in the forefront of our thoughts. In running away from all that new technology has afforded us we are certain to lose out on many great business opportunities. Conversely, by embracing all that is available to us we run the risk of abandoning everything else in our lives. Limitless connectivity forces us to walk a dangerously fine line. Only in seeking a balance between our business and personal lives can we truly be happy and successful in all that we do.

Robert Fulton is a 20-something technology enthusiast originally from the west coast. When he’s not working or studying for his masters degree, you can find him traveling the world and spending time with his son.

Blogging Labs Tips To Disconnect

This great guest post by Robert Fulton outlines how we can get our minds wrapped around working 24/7 very easily. We find ourselves needing to obsessively check stats and never leave the comfort of our blogging or social media much like a kid that won’t take a nap in the fear they will miss something. The following tips are ones that we use to step away from the online world and join the living once in awhile to keep our sanity.

  1. Take Scheduled Breaks Throughout The Day – It is easier to be more productive in your work time and your leisure time if it is scheduled throughout the day. When you are just going at random, both time periods can be inefficient as you mix them together. Try to plan out your day and schedule your off time just as you schedule your tasks. It will make you better at both.
  2. Turn Off Email and Stat Alerts On Mobile Devices During Dinners or Walks – When it is time to take time off, turn off all notifications on your phone and other mobile devices to top the interruption and want to check what is going on in the online world. Without the distraction, it will be easier to relax.
  3. Take Back Your Weekends – Unless there is a HUGE project going on (like a full redesign), I try to keep my weekends as weekends. You will notice that my Twitter and Facebook usage drops drastically and I rarely…if ever…post blog articles on the weekends. If you must publish articles, try to schedule them on Friday and take your weekend as time to relax.
  4. Spend Time With The People You Care About – All of this is nothing without personal relationships. I would rather have less money and a happier life than a rich guy with no friends or family. When you spend time with the people in your life that you care about…really spend time with them as they are what really matters in this world.
  5. Get Rid Of Time Wasting Activities – If you want to be more productive and have a happier life, get rid of the time wasting activities in your life to be more productive. Is your life going to end if you don’t watch your favorite TV show or you close Facebook for awhile and miss that funny inside joke? Probably not. Use the time you have wisely and live your life to the fullest.

This is our one and only life and I doubt we are supposed to waste it away working ourselves to death and obsessing over the online world. Plan your work and work your plan. The rest will fall into place naturally.

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The Stress For Me Would Be NOT Owning My Business

December 1, 2010 By 10 Comments

I was sitting having lunch yesterday around a bunch of executives. This group of high ranking employees and business owners were talking about several companies in their industry that had gone out of business over the last year and what caused their eventual demise. While some were based on the economy or stiff competition, there was one company that apparently had bad business management from the top due to the inability to run an efficient business by the owner. During this conversation, one of the business owners said something that really hit home with me as I was eavesdropping on their conversation…

I don’t think he could handle the stresses of owning his own business. For me, the stress would be not owning my business.

I guess they saw my ears perk up because after that line I was invited into the conversation.

The Stresses Of Business Ownership

I think a lot of people have the misconceived idea that owning your own business (online or not) is just a walk in the park as you go towards the friendly oasis of palm trees and pools of money (there’s an old school Duck Tales reference for you). Like a horse with blinders, they see all of the positive aspects with business ownership without taking into consideration what goes on behind closed doors.

What they do not see is all of the back end management that goes into running a successful business. Especially for online entrepreneurs, we are now wearing all of the hats of the business. We are inventory control, production (content or physical goods), engineering (coming up with ideas), accounting, management and owner all in one day. The juggling of all of these hats at one time can get the best of any entrepreneur with a great idea. The trick is to balance time between all tasks to run an efficient and profitable business over time. Remember, you are setting your self up for life…not just next week.

The Stresses Of The 9 To 5

On the flipside, the stresses of the 9 to 5 can be overwhelming as 99.9% of us already know. You have bosses that you are accountable to, your paycheck is determined by someone else, you often have to go along with ideas and plans that you completely disagree with, bad decisions by other workers can directly affect your livelyhood…the list goes on and on.

But…most of the general public puts up with these stresses to gain the security, repeatability and low responsibility rate that goes with being an employee. In the big scheme of things, going into work from 8-5, doing your job and then heading home is just good enough to provide for the family and live a happy life.

The Entrepreneur Mindset

For me, the stresses of not owning my business far out weigh the stresses involved with running it. When I started oneninety8 and all of my blogs, I started them with the goal of taking this show full time. The stresses of having to go along with decisions I didn’t agree with and relying on someone else’s opinion of me to drive my income were stresses that I could no longer bear. The entrepreneurs mindset is one that is willing to make the sacrifices in their life to gain the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

When I want a raise…I work harder on new ideas.

When I want to take a vacation…I take one.

When build up new assets…I am setting up my future.

This is the life I wanted. Living the 8-5 life is one that was stressing me out to the point that I was not sleeping, not eating well and adding all of that up to shorten my life over time. Owning my business…for me…is not about working only 2 hours a day and making millions…it is about having the ability to fully control my future and watch my ideas grow into something I can be proud of. It is about accepting the personal responsibility for my future and not relying on others to hand me what I want in life.

Every employee thinks they are underpaid and under appreciated because you are. It is the companies job to get your skills and productivity for the lowest price they can while it is your job to try to squeeze out the highest wage. This conflicting set of goals creates an environment where you have to either be promoted internally or change jobs to increase your income over time. When you own your business, that goal is under your control…and that comes with certain new responsibilities.

You can keep the grind for a paycheck every week. While that might create a less stressed, happy life for others…that just isn’t for me.

Image by Truthout.org

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Blogging and Money – The Ugly Truth

February 12, 2010 By 13 Comments

Ok…both David Risley and Nathan Hangen have weighed in. Here are my .02 sense on blogging and making money online. You got a hint of this with ‘Problogging Is Dead‘ (free download…no opt in…hit it up!) where I showed you what it means to be a blogger that makes their full-time income online. It isn’t as easy as throwing up content and getting subscribers. Real, successful, money making blogs are much more complicated than that and based off of traditional business models that breed success. So…as others are weighing in on the blogging niche and where blogging is as far as generating income online, where do I stand and what do I think?

The Harsh Truth About Making Money Online

Everyone is not capable of making money online. If you are not prepared to own a real business that you are going to be 100% accountable for, you are not ready to make your living full-time online. There is no 2 hour work day. There is no income on autopilot. Anyone who tells you any differently…is trying to sell you something. Bloggers that make 100% of their income online are not bloggers. They are business owners that make money by leveraging blogging to attract clients, customers and consumers of their products, services and advertising.

There are business owners who feel like they only work 2 hours a day, but that is because they love what they do…not because they are actually working 2 hours a day.

A blogger is an individual who likes to get their thoughts out online as a hobby and could care less if they make a single dime. It is for fun and they enjoy doing it. More power to them as they are finding a way to express themselves…but with that attitude about online production, they will never make a full time income online.

I see a lot of bloggers that want to make money online, but they bring the employee mentality to their blogging. If you are going to own your own business, your mind does not shut off at 5pm. You do not have a set schedule you can adhere to.

As a business owner, you have more flexibility with your time but you gain that by taking all of the risk and investment. It does not come for free.

Making money online is exactly like making money in the brick and mortar world…the only difference is the low cost of entry attracts a lot of eager “bloggers” all looking to make it big. So what happens? We get a lot of blogs about blogging written by bloggers whose only blog is their blog about blogging (wow…that sentence got repetitive). The “take the journey with me as I figure out how to make money online by copying someone else’s winning formula and regurgitating it in my own words just to give up before my blog hits its first anniversary because I am not making any money because I have zero f’in clue what I am doing” is worn out and is done every 5 seconds in the blogging world. Did I mention that it fails miserably every time?

Most of the massively successful blogs online you never hear about because they don’t have a blog about blogging. A lot of times, they have a terrible design, a pitiful Alexa ranking and they are killing it with a massive amount of traffic and converting that traffic into income streams.

Here at RobbSutton.com, I try to keep any blogging tips directly sourced from how I have success on Bike198.com. The only reason I even started this site was to answer the multiple questions I was receiving about Bike198.com and product reviews/blogging. With that…I saw a need and I filled it with this site and Ramped Reviews. What I found was that I really like helping bloggers like I help cyclist on Bike198.com. So…I run both sites in my business under that presumption…I help people become better at what they want to be good at (my wife hate’s it when I end a sentence with at). It’s the basic principle of business expansion…

So How Do You Make Money Online?

Like I said before, you have to treat it like a real business and stop thinking like an employee. You have to start thinking of ways that you can generate real income and then attract the readers that will need that resource.

Look…all of the controversial posts and pure opinion stuff is fun. It generates a lot of comments, it creates traffic to your blog, but it also attracts a crowd that is critical and ready to rip your ideas/products apart without even laying eyes on it. If you are trying to make money online, is that the kind of reader you want scouring your pages?

Please do not take this the wrong way, but I do not need cheerleaders telling me how great I am in the comments of my posts…I need bloggers and cyclists that I can help accomplish goals. By helping you achieve your goals and dreams, I am able to achieve mine. Successful businesses help more than they receive. Think of it this way…the more your customer sells, the more they buy from you. If your customers (readers/subscribers/members) are not selling more, your business model is going to dry up quickly.

A lot of people would look at Bike198.com and think…that isn’t a lot of comments…this blog must not make much money. But the truth is that the cycling audience is not big on commenting…they are big on buying a hell of a lot of gear. It’s an obsession, so they **ahem** we scour the web looking for more information on the gear we want. Once we find the information we need…we buy! I know what my audience wants…I deliver what they want (honesty about products and tips on how to become a better rider)…and I make money doing that.

Find a profitable need, find the audience and then provide something that offers real value to that audience. There are many ways to generate this income from physical goods to informational goods to coaching. It is up to you to find out what works and what doesn’t. If your idea does not work, you learn from it and apply that knowledge to the next until you find a winning formula.

Stop beating your head against a wall wondering why your incredible articles are not making you any money. Unless you are a freelance writer, you are never going to make money off of just words. Even then, the freelance writers are making money off of the jobs they pull end due to their blogging and not the blog articles themselves. See the leverage?

I know a lot of this sounds harsh and makes some online entrepreneurs (maybe even me included) seem like they are solely focused on money. That isn’t true…they make money by helping people online. To help people, you have to gain their trust and make that connection, but you have to be making it with a person that is willing to consume what you are offering.

Also, there is ‘only right way’ of making money online through blogging. The only right way is whatever way puts money in your pocket on a consistent basis. You can click from blogging blog to blogging blog listening to the way they want you to do things. Some will say eBooks are dead, some will say Adsense is dead, others will say affiliate marketing is a waste of time…the reality is that you need to find the way that works with your audience and light it up! After that…test new ways and continue to diversify! If someone you are listening to is so close minded that they can only think  of one way of doing things…they are probably not the person to listen to anymore.

You can be a blogger or a business owner…it is your choice and it all starts with your mindset…

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There Will Be Those Days…

November 20, 2009 By 8 Comments

They hit you out of the middle of no where. Those days where being a business owner and entrepreneur is not all it is cracked up to be. As much as we like to portray online living and owning your own business as this oasis of freedom and the ability to do whatever the hell you want…it is still running a business and you are still going to have those days when you want to sell everything off, hang it all up and call it a day. Luckily, unlike a 9-5, those days are much farther apart (if you are running your business correctly) and you actually have the control to do something about it (unlike a 9-5)!

Over the course of your new career lifestyle, you are going to have to make tough decisions that are not exactly fun. You are going to have to plan for the future and continue to grow the empire to keep a sustainable model for the future. During that time, there are people that are going to let you down…projects that don’t go exactly the way you wanted them to, income sources that will come and go…

As you continue to hit road bumps in the road, there are two things that are going to keep you successful and not another “I had a business back in the day” statistic.

  1. Your ability to adapt to changing conditions.
  2. Your ability to push through the tough times to get to the light at the end of the tunnel.

No matter what anyone says, every day is not going to be this perfect land in make believe. You have to take each situation in stride and make smart decisions for you and your business for future growth and sustainability. In simpler terms…if owning your own business and making the “internet lifestyle” was that easy…everyone would be doing it and we would all have more money than we could have ever imagined.

What makes the successful online business owners successful is the ability to treat their online ventures like a business so they can push through the rough times with smart, calculated decisions. They do not run back to the life they used to complain about just because a little pressure hit the table. Successful online business owners continue to push towards their goal in the face of adversity.

Are you going to fold under pressure and give up your spot to someone else just because you couldn’t hack it? When things get a little difficult, are you going to go back to someone else choosing your worth with a paycheck? Are you going to let your dreams of being self sufficient fade away just because it is not fun 100% of the time?

Keep your long term goals in mind and continue to achieve and celebrate short term goals that lead to the life you want to build for yourself. This is your one and only…make it worth it.

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