When things are going your way in business, it feels awesome. Your latest product is crushing it, your traffic is soaring, and you pretty much feel unstoppable.
And then, out of the blue, a massive shift happens, and you get knocked on your ass.
I’m sure, in the wake of Penguin update, many SEOs and website owners are feeling this way.
Prior to Penguin, their tried and true SEO tactics were working like a charm, ranking was easy, and the traffic (and profits) flowed.
In other words, life was a bowl of cherries.
Now, after Penguin, for many, life is not so rosy and the future is not so clear.Â
If this is you, you may be wondering, “how am I going to fix this in the short term, and what is my new long term strategy?”
Adapt or Die
If you want to be successful online, you need to be the type of person that has the ability to constantly adapt to changes in the marketplace.
Failure to do so will result in high levels of stress, frustration, and overwhelm. If left unchecked, negative emotions like these can literally cripple your productivity, which then further accelerates the downward spiral that caused the onset of the emotions in the first place.
When this happens, the most important thing you can do is to start proactively managing your attitude and emotions so that you can remain the optimistic and productive person that you need to be in order to manifest success.
In addition to keeping your head in the game, you may also need to adapt, or perhaps completely re-invent, your business’ long-term strategy.
In my case, I have seen revenue from my micro-niche sites all but disappear – after nearly doubling in the month leading up to Penguin.
Obviously, I’m not the only one feeling the pain and so I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas on combating overwhelm.
How I Manage Overwhelm
Over the past few weeks, I have been laying the ground work for a new authority site that I plan to launch soon. The site will be one that can easily grow to a six figure a year business, and become the foundation of a 7 figure a year business (I’ve built one before) that should last me for many, many years to come – or as long as I’m interested in continuing.
With grand ambitions, can also come overwhelm, fear, doubt, and uncertainty. Can I really do it? Can I actually make it get that big? What if I fail? What if…? What if…? Etc….
If you let this negativity set in, you are dead before you even begin.
In the video below, I share with you my personal strategy for keeping my attitude “adjusted” in the right direction so that I can accomplish the goals I’ve set for myself. I’m sharing this with you because its my hope that you will be able to immediately put the strategy to use in your own business and get “unstuck”.
What Do You Think?
So what did you think? Was this a helpful strategy? If you have an opinion to share, please take a moment and share it in the comments below. I read every comment, so if you have a question for me, that is the place to ask it.
That’s exactly where I am Trent. And it’s killing me… I list a lot of my income and I’m ready to invest everything I have in a real business… If I would just decide on one… BTW, nice to see you back on track.
And can I add the fact that I write this comment on my phone, next to my bees…(honey bees).
Hey Nino,
Thanks for taking a moment to share where you are at. When you say “invest everything you have”, I hope you mean you are ready to invest all your energy and focus because that is what is needed. When it comes to money, I no longer invest everything I have in a single venture, because, regardless of the outcome, I need to ensure that I have the resources to stay in business…as opposed to betting the farm, losing, and then having to go get a job.
You have a good point of view Trent, and I agree with you.
When I said everything i was including the money. The thing is I am in a very weird situation (including debt), and I need to make it/get on 1 path ASAP. I also know that money can bring fast results (if invested corectly)and that’s what I think of doing.
Any advice would be appreciated, even if you don’t have the whole picture.
Yeah, to be successful online, one has to adapt to changes and at the same time, to be FOCUS matters a lot. Change and focus are two different thing online and one must know how to use both at the mercy of the internet business.
Glad to have you back Trent.
Sheyi
Nice video Trent. I like the way you are explaining to set the firm foundation in a set of steps.
I hope this next business is as successful as the current business.
Thanks Shanon,
I hope is more successful!
A simple yet effective tip, thanks Trent.
Yeah TRENT this happens to me quite a bit because not only do I feel overwhelmed, but sometimes I feel like I’m running too many projects at once – and it’s a matter of not knowing what to do next to make the greatest $$$ impact. The VA is the key I think — I’ve tried some outsourcing, with mixed results, but each time I find a new unit/component that I think would help my web business, I get overwhelmed/sidetracked just checking it out. All best, AJ
Hey AJ,
I’m not sure that I agree that the VA is the solution to your challenge. In looking at my own situation, I would say that perhaps you might benefit from fewer projects and more focus on the one(s) with the highest probability.
Hey Trent,
Can’t wait to see what you have in store for your new authority site? I know you’re gonna crush it – is it something completely outside of the making money/business niche or is it going to kind of coexist with OIL?
Thomas
It will be for small business owners and will help them to improve all areas in their business. More to come….
Hi Trent,
Really like the video. Braking down big tasks into small tasks really helped me a lot. It was really hard to focus and decide what do to when a task in my to do list was for an example: Build a niche site.
I found myself not being very productive when I had a lot of hard things on my plate. When I started to break the tasks down as: 1. Buy a domain name; 2. Install wordpress; 3. Order articles etc, I became more productive and focused.
With completing small goals I felt successful and more motivated to do more. When you put 10 tasks in your to-do list for today and do them all, you feel that you have accomplished something and it’s a great feeling.
So this was really a big turning point for me – make a list of small tasks and do them one by one.
Cheers,
Kris
Hey Kris,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the post!
“Automation” is a popular term among internet marketers. It brings to mind visions of care-free work-free perpetual passive income, if you’ll just buy the newest whizbanghyped product that “automates” the entire process. (And, yes, “this one is TRULY different!!!”)
What actually happens is that umpteen gazillion would-be “automators” pile on and start churning out crap, with the inevitable result that Google starts working on ways to cut through that pile (some of which will inflict collateral damage). I predict that “curation” will follow exactly the same path. While it has been a viable model (e.g., Drudge Report, et. al.), it will soon become “everyone trying to make a living out of taking in each other’s washing.”
Then, some innovative person will find a new way to prosper (by standing out from the crowd), up until the next “automation” pile-on.
I have come to the conclusion that there are two groups of people in the internet marketing space. One group sells automation tools, and the other group buys them.
Can you guess which group makes money?
Howard,
Yes, I can tell you which groups makes money. The group that takes action and creates something of value for others. Its called capitalism
Trent–
Great tips that you shared! What exactly will your new site be offering your audience?
Thanks,
Brandon
Hey Brandon,
The new site will be a site where I interview successful company founders to discover what they are doing to achieve success in marketing, fund raising, sales, recruiting, etc… My target audience is not going to be Internet Marketers; instead, it’ll be people that are running a business that is already generating meaningful revenue that they are looking to significantly increase.
Hey Trent!
Your authority site sounds pretty interesting. I really like it because:
A) You’re going to get the chance to interview super-sharp business owners…something I’m sure you’d love to do anyway…and
B) Your readers/listeners will probably be interesting business owners with “real” business problems…much more interesting than those who…aren’t and don’t.
After reading through and watching some of your latest content a bunch of thoughts jumped to mind (Will targeting business owners via “new media” be effective, how are you going to address their pain points, etc.) so it will be interesting to see how you target those points as you continue moving forward.
Best of luck with it!
Thanks Justin
Thank you for the great tips. I have been stuck in overwhelm for weeks now. My perfectionist has been waiting on perfect ideas or swings over to more than I can manage. Even struggling w/ perfect domain name. So I keep getting more books & articles to read. Making my action list 1st thing in the am.
Hy Lynn,
Good to hear that my post has helped you out. Lists are great…just don’t get too caught up in making them. Just take action
Trent
Timeless information, Trent…and I needed it right now! Thanks again for caring to share what you have found to work.
Glad to help