3 Secrets To Explode The Growth Of Your Business
I was reading some emails from my list and I realized that there is an important lesson that few people talk about when trying to build an online business. It was something that was very powerful for me personally.
When a lot people are getting started with their home-based, small business they want to do everything themselves. The want to be completely self-reliant.
That’s a terrible goal to have for a couple of reasons.
Building a Business Is LONELY
Having a person to reach out to and share your successes and failures with is vital.
If you don’t have friends that understand what you are doing your going to end up sitting at your desk for 20 hours a day and your going to be miserable.
Even worse you are going to sacrifice your relationships with your friends and family.
You need someone that understands your excitement when you make progress.
If you don’t build relationships with people that understand what you are building, you are just setting yourself up for failure.
Don’t Try To Do Everything Yourself
A lot of people miss the boat here. They want to learn and do it all themselves. I am not saying that you shouldn’t keep learning.
For me personally, I learn better through doing. So I need to find people that I can emulate.
The key to fast growth in your business is to find people with different skill sets than you that you can learn from.
Accountability
It doesn’t matter if you actually have a real “partner” (see the video.. 
).
Just make a list of 4 things that you can accomplish today and write it down. Email it to someone or just post it on this blog.
Give it a try for one day. Post your accountability list as a comment.
Thoughts?
Luigi Fulk
Glen Wayne & Dan Tredo
Adina Duane
Anupinder Sekhon
Lance Tamashiro
Kathleen Gresham
Lance Tamashiro
George Zambrowsky
Mark Fregnan
Danica
Here’s mine for today…
1- Finish new blog post (done)
2 – Buy new flip cam
3- Finish XXXX product
4- New product idea with xxx and xxx
That’s it, simple huh?
Give it a try and see what results you get.
Hi Lance,
It’s great video. I am a great follower of yours. You made me realise some of the mistakes I was making in IM business. I am into to a good start after I was in your webinar.
This is the first time I have seen your video. Excellent and keep up the good work.
Take care
Regards
Jey
http://www.jeykumara.com
Hi Lance,
Great video and excellent advice. I totally agree with you about having an accountability partner. I like the idea of sending an email with your list of tasks (even if they don’t read it, lol).
Here’s mine for today:
1. Finish transferring files and programs to new pc
2. Write an article about keyword research
3. Post on my blog
All the best,
Theresa
Hi Lance,
Nice Video, How are you doing with IMGW have you started the program yet.
Here is my to do list for today.
1.Re-do one of my squeeze pages
2.Look for a new blog theme.
3.Finish my article and summit it.
4.do my homework for IMGW.
Thomas
Thomas’s last blog post..Three Thousand Extra a month
Hi Lance,
Great video,
Things to do today
1. Look for cheap ways to promote my busness’s today.
2. Stay focused on promoting.
3. Promote!, Promote!, Promote!
Great tip, particularly applies to me. I’m embarrassed to say that I wasted 2 hours trying to edit an ebook cover and I’m not any closer to done than when I started;-) I’m convinced that I got the right help it would be a 15 minute job. When it comes to graphics, I’m definitely challenged.
Wishing you a larger life,
BB
Hey Bill,
I know exactly what you mean. Looking back on this was really eye opening.
I used to spend hours and hours trying to understand every little thing.
The truth is, you need to start thinking like a CEO.
Of course it’s important to get the big picture, but your time is more valuable
and better spent finding an expert to handle that kind of stuff for you.
Hi Lance,
Nice to see you relaxing in your ‘underground bunker’ while spreading the word to make life easier for everyone…not just those in the IM industry!
I thought your video was so good that I have just posted about it on my blog as ‘outsourcing’ is a subject that I recently wrote about myself along the same lines but not as ‘eloquently delivered’ as by you.
Keep all of the great content coming…but remember to go outside every now and again and get some ‘Sun’…You don’t want to end up looking like those ‘Grey Walls’ of yours!
Cheers
Ted
Ted Newman’s last blog post..Outsource For An Easier Life!
That’s a great idea Lance!
I don’t have any accountability partner yet, although I suppose that could be one of my goals to accomplish today.
Joel Osborne’s last blog post..Extra Income Ideas and Blogging for Seniors
Hi, cool post. I have been thinking about this issue,so thanks for posting. I will likely be coming back to your site. Keep up the good work
I just love your weblog! Very nice post! Still you can do many things to improve it.
Hi Lance, I just watched your video on Invasion and here I am invading your blog (just kidding), but seriously it is a great formula and I am going to learn it and follow your example. I am just starting on line, building social networks on Ning as biz opportunities ready to take over. Trying to get people to get involved and guess what; yes, they are ’slowmo’, slow motion, but now I know why, I presupposed they read my mind and this is surely to a case, right?
Your post and some of the comments here gave me a lot of insights. So rushing back to implement them. Fell free to invade my web. Artur
Artur’s last blog post.."7 Steps to Building a Brand That Matters"
hey lance,
I was wondering what type of camera you use to make your videos?
A flip camera?
Do you import the video into camtasia after that?
Sorry to be off topic – just wondering.
HI Sam..
Here is a video I made a while back with my old cam about my new cam.
Great advice here lance.
Thanks !
Lance,
Very nice post, keep up the good work. You have found a new follower. You are the mentor I have been looking for over the past year. Thank you Lance!
Hi Mary,
Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you come back soon and let us know how you are progressing!
Superb posts in your blog, i share it with my pals from UK, maintain growing it, Cheers !
Speaking of.. here we are on a Saturday morning talking about IM. LOL – I gotta get outside!
You make some good points though. I found my business starting moving forward far more purposefully and quickly once I got a mentor/coach. You get that relationship and accountability, as well as having (in my case) someone who almost functions like a partner in my business – knowing the ins and outs and being able to offer opinions and advice.
It is indeed a tough go if you’re all alone…
lost need help
Hi Lance,
Great concept and super points here.
One of the things that go along with outsourcing (having other experts help you in your business) is the ability to tell them what you want. I work for a large corporation and we do a lot of contracts with the government. Getting “What you Want” written in the contract is HARD. Not to mention that your needs might change as you learn more about what it is you need done.
Just some things to keep in mind as you go about outsourcing.
1. Specify in writing as precisely as possible what you expect your contractor to do, when it is due, how you will track progress, how payments will be made and how communications will be done and how often.
2. Talk with your contractor about how to make changes as the work progresses. You and he can come up with great ideas after getting part of the work done. You need to be able to communicate those ideas to each other and decide how the work will change. Then, how that will affect the cost and schedule.
3. Check up on your contractor periodically. Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of nuclear power use in the US Navy said, “You can only expect what you inspect.” That is true in all work, not just nuclear power.
4. Don’t be afraid to tell the contractor ‘no’ if you don’t get what you expect to get. Sometimes it is a failure to communicate. What you say means one thing to you and something else to the contractor. Don’t hold your disappointment in. Let the contractor know and figure out how to work out a solution.
5. Make sure you pay for the work done. If you are going back for changes excessively, the contractor is working more than he expected. Make sure you pay for the work. That’s how these folks make a living!
6. Pay promptly when the work is done.
Hope this helps!
Fred
Great post, Lance.
Having an accountability partner is a great way to stay on track.
Everyday I use an index card to write out the top tasks I need to get done that day (shoot for 4, but sometimes as many as 6). I guess I play my own accountability partner each day because I keep that card right in front of me on the desk (below my monitors) with a red pen poised to check them off as they are accomplished.
It works great for me to help keep me focused on what’s most important each day. So I guess in principle, we’re in synch.
I definitely agree, too, that it is important to have friends who understand what the heck you’re doing for hours and hours on your computer. (BTW, my office is in my basement too, but it’s a much brighter “cave”)
Thanks for sharing your best real-life success tips. You ROCK!
Gabrielle
I remember those days…..my how you have come a long ways since then. Was this before the days of the Flip Vid? I still have the first video I ever recorded, and I laugh every time I watch it.
Todd Mick G
Hey Lance,
Great post and video.
Just bought my new camera yesterday – done!
Built new website – last week – done!
Spoke with 2 accountability partners – yesterday and today – Excellent input and advice.
I agree, accountability, partnering, outsourcing, ASKING for help when needed (I think that is one of the hardest things for many trying to make it online to do), all of these are necessary for boosting our businesses.
Oh, and if you need to outsource using the drill and getting your pictures hung, my boys are very skilled in that!
And you still need to get to my neck of the woods for that visit to Yankee Meadows!
Keep up the great work and info!
Best,
Paul Klein
Watching your video really was uplifting to know I have people that will support me that I do not even know…
4 yr old B-day boy give a big hug and kiss.!
Review Lances video again great stuff
Remember to contact him
See how we can work together ;0)
How Can I help you???
Sincerely
Tom D
Man, it’s my day off but I’ve got renewed enthusiasm ‘cos of some stuff that I did yesterday. So, here’s my list..
1. clean up – can’t find anything or move in my office so time to sort and organise
2. prep for tomorrow’s work
3. head over to mate’s birthday bash
4. get my cuttings planted
After work tomorrow I’ll do my next IM list of 4!
Tired of spinning my wheels so I like this 4-a-day technique. But then I wouldn’t have checked my email and ended up commenting on a blog and losing 15 minutes if I followed my list of 4!!
Cheers
hi lance, it sure is a blast from the past, and you are still
blasting. have a nice day, charles
You are never alone if you belong to a good mastermind. Like your basement office Lance, i too work in one but my real fun comes on mastermind days and at seminar events. For organizing my productivity and happiness has improved with using Rescue Time and Rember the Milk. Also by listening to you and the irrepressible Robert Plank live and by email He is a good accountability partner all the time
Lance paint your walls white!
Hi Lance,
Yes, it was easy to get results in the beginning of IM. Even bad products would sell. Now, it’s the “New Ages” and we have to gain the trust of others first. Sinners put honest people into agony!
Never the less, I think there is a “special” mindset to be used by all that wish to perform the written tasks for the day, without failing them.
On top of everything we must know what are we working for. Pay our bills? Pay others’ bills? Be kind to a friend? Helping someone to not commit suicide?
And stay focused.
As you can see, Lance, your post was very inspiring!
Best wishes,
PT
WOW Great Post Lance!
I so resonate with what you are saying:-)11
I have been in IM for a little over 4 yrs. now & made a little $$ here & there…LOL
I do not think I have ever reached a point of what I call ‘consistency’(What I define as JOB quitting $) with my business, chiefly because I lose FOCUS at times ,,,which is caused by the lonely feeling you speak of , of being in business all ALONE….My family & friends do NOT UnDERStanD so that in itself makes it hard.
I come from over 20 yrs. experience in MLM & usulally did well in that because in the old days it was mainly ‘Belly to Belly’,,,I LOVE PERSOnAL CONtACT with folks.
Many now a days just want to hide behind their PC screen.
Thanks
Matt
Grrrreat post as usual Lance, we can always rely on you for top notch content and thought-provoking challenges.
It sure can be lonely, especially when my spouse quizzes me on exactly what I am doing and how much money I have made. I’m sure that she thinks I’m conducting some kind of online affair and that all the IM stuff is just a smokescreen.
Outsourcing / emulating an expert – I keep putting off outsourcing, so I guess that is the uncomfortable thing that I will push towards this week and next.
Accountability – I just found a great accountability partner, so that feels really good and I’ve noticed a massive change in my attitude to tasks already.
My four things for today:
1) Photoshop tricks with Andi – we’re going to record this as a webinar. If it’s awful then we’ll give it away, if it’s any good we’ll put it out as a product.
2) Renew my expiring squeeze page domain
3) Record my freebie video for squeeze page.
4) Use Naturally Speaking to write an article for my blog.
Ok dude, peace out!
Paul
I don’t have an accountability partner, but I don’t mind working alone and getting things done. Here’s my “honey do list for the day”.
1. Clean email inbox – done
2. Blog post
3. Add new merchandise to client e-commerce site
4. Learn php to make a submittable form on another client site.
5. Write and submit 2 articles
Thanks for the cool video, Lance. It’s always nice to see your face!
Aloha,
June
Lance,
How do you stay so up with your office so DARK? That alone would get me down.
It is easy to say when you already have a partner.
I even got bit by a IM (Internet Marketer, name I won’t say) that offered me a partnership and after I paid him, changed the story. This was a person that I thought would be great to work with but instead he has no contact with me now.
This is some of the junk that we as IM have to deal with is the people that just want something for nothing and in this case it happened to be an IM.
This stuff also makes it difficult to find someone to work with.
Hey Thom,
Finding a partner that you can count on, trust and get along with is not only hard in IM, but in ANY kind of business setting (I guess life too).
My best advice would be to start build with another person in such a way that you keep separate entities and products until they earn your trust and prove that they will be a good business partner.
Also, my office has lighting and a window now.. whew.. lol
Lance, thanks for the in-site of the day…
1-check email from the weekend
2-followup to people I meet at wordcamp raleigh
3-make 1 video
4-write 1 article
5-tweek 1 website
anymore time…PROMOTE…PROMOTE…
Till next time,
Sam
Sam,
Nice to see you here.
What exactly does “tweek” 1 website mean?
When an accountability partner looks at the other 4 tasks they would be able to know if these were accomplished or not.
One reason that we try to limit our task lists to exactly 4 daily tasks is just for that reason.
Anytime we use more than 4 we always end up with nebulous tasks that never get completed anyway.
Lance:
I so agree with this entire post. I took me several years to understand this. Now, I ahve accompished more in the past month than I have in the past year. I like it. Also, very happy to reweet this as m followers should understand that, “No Man Is A Island”.
Lance,
Four daily tasks! It solves everything.
Here are today’s 4 tasks from our private accountability blog, which you already saw:
1. Create audio Kunaki disc for 6/11 presentation.
2. Create temp. acct plugin.
3. Order plastic cards for 6/11 presentation.
4. Dictate 10 articles and mail list.