Neil Shearing’s Internet Marketing Strategies

In Allan Gardyne’s latest newsletter he talks about the struggles he has staying focused, which is a topic I’ve mentioned here recently. Allan has some great practical tips, and I’d like to share his article with you…

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2. Here’s what I do
   …How to stay focused and achieve your goals
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(The latest goal I’ve achieved is at the end of this item.)

Here’s a question “Dotdash” asked on our affiliate forum:

   “Anyone else having problems staying focused on specific tasks? I’m finding that as soon as I get settled into something like writing a page or article I get another email from someone telling me to stop what I’m doing now and pay attention to this extremely important aspect, then another one about something else important and so on.

   “It’s so easy to get distracted by things coming at you from all directions that sometimes I spend my couple of hours a night just going round in circles and not accomplishing very much.”

This sounds so familiar. Been there, done that.

Here’s how I overcame the problem.

It’s a system which works well for me - when I remember to use it…

Keep reminding yourself who’s boss of your life.

You are.

1. ALWAYS do the following: At the end of your work day, make a list of the 6 most important tasks to do the next day, in order of priority.

If it’s a large task, break it down into bite-sized chunks.

Don’t leave this list-making to the next day. Always prepare it the day before. For this system to work, you must hit the ground running every day.

2. Next day, DON’T start your day by checking for email. Don’t read newsletters, or visit news sites, or blogs, or do any of your usual favorite distractions. Start on No.1 on your priority list. Do it. Move on to item No. 2. Do it.

If possible, break your tasks into 50-minute slices. Aim to get a task done in 50 minutes, or perhaps two tasks in 50 minutes, depending on how complex they are. Setting a time limit will speed up your work, especially if you’re a perfectionist or a procrastinator.

Reward yourself with a 10-minute break. Do a few stretching exercises. Drink a glass of water - you need to keep your brain lubricated.

As you’re reading this, picture yourself actually doing this. At last, you’re getting USEFUL things done. You’re building your business. It feels good, doesn’t it?

After lunch, when you go back to work, DON’T check your emails, don’t read newsletters etc. They can wait. Carry on doing your high priority tasks. You’re the boss, remember. You’re allowed to decide what’s important.

(If you have employees or people to whom you’ve outsourced work to who are likely to need prompt answers, schedule times for answering urgent emails. Don’t allow them to interrupt your vital tasks. If you allow them, constant interruptions will spoil your creativity and slow your output.)

When you’ve completed your list of tasks, reward yourself with an enjoyable break. You’ve earned it.

Go for a walk, watch the sunset, read a chapter of a novel. Watch TV for half an hour. Chat with a friend or spouse. Do something you enjoy, and soak in the good feelings you’re having about achieving something worth while that day.

It feels good, doesn’t it?

OK. Now allow yourself to check a few emails and answer any urgent ones.

Before stopping work for the day, make a new list of the 6 most important things to do.

Stick with this system for 21 days. It seems to take 21 days to form a habit.

Keep concentrating on how GOOD it feels when you tick those items off your list. Don’t cross them off. Write them down on paper and put a big fat, satisfying red tick beside each one as you achieve it. (If you have software which enables you to tick off items on a list, that’s good, too.)

Try this system and you’ll be utterly amazed at how much you can achieve in a day, in a week, in a month.

An important part of this system is rewarding yourself when you achieve your goals. For example, take your spouse or a friend out to dinner to reward yourself for having achieved your first day where you get 100 visitors a day, 500 visitors a day, 1,000 visitors a day, etc.

Plan special rewards for when you finish a special report, write your first 20 articles for a new website, have your first $100
day, $500 day, $1,000 day, whatever.

When you buy your first investment shares, when you buy your first property, etc., ALWAYS celebrate.

This is really important. Always enjoy your successes.

You deserve them.

I admit I get distracted from this system occasionally and then have to prod myself back to it. I’m a bit of a rebel and don’t like taking orders from anyone - not even myself.

On days when I do follow the system my productivity is hugely better than on the days when I’m disobedient.

Sometimes I wonder just how much more I could have achieved if I’d followed this system more consistently.

But it is working…

Joanna and I have just bought another apartment with water views.

It’s what you might call a “lifestyle investment” rather than a strictly business-minded investment. All thanks to affiliate
marketing.

We haven’t moved in yet. I’ll show you some photos another day.

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For those of you who don’t know, Allan runs associateprograms.com , one of the first ever ”affiliate directories” which he started in 1998… just a few short months after I registered my scamfreezone.com domain. Allan has written his very highly regarded newsletter throughout the 8 years he’s been running associateprograms.com and the latest issue is number 290. It’s a great achievement to have provided such high quality information over such a long period of time.

Interestingly, while I was always more product-orientated, Allan always stuck with earning his online income through affiliate programs. He has a few other sites in addition to associateprograms.com such as…

http://www.PayPerClickSearchEngines.com
http://www.LifetimeCustomers.com
http://www.LifetimeCommissions.com
http://www.KeywordWorkshop.com

Allan is the only high profile Internet marketer I know of who earns his income only through affiliate income. If you want to learn about making money as an affiliate, his is the first site I’d suggest you visit and the first newsletter I’d suggest you sign up for.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 15th, 2006 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Current posts, Affiliate marketing, Adsense tips, Recommendations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.