I wrote a post last month that tackled the difference between static and profitable time.
In general, these static activities are going to have little-to-no benefit to you directly generating profits. You will be going nowhere in a hurry with most of these activities, so lets take a look at the good stuff. Profiting tasks may include:
When you are profitable, you are doing what you set out to do as an entrepreneur; make money. The more time you spend being profitable, you will be able to spend less time working hard, and your profits will hopefully soar. So I have to ask you, how are you spending your time?
It has been a personal goal of mine to increase my profitable time to the point that it encompasses most of my work days. Well it has come to fruition, to say the least. I have been extremely busy ever since the launch of Unique Blog Designs.
Unfortunately, my blog has fallen into the static time category lately. I am not monetizing my blog yet because I don’t want to seem disingenuous by spamming you with ads, so therefore it is a branding tool that can at most be used to promote UBD.
Excuses, excuses… so what’s the point of this post?
I can’t reiterate enough how important it is to maximize your profitable time. There are so many distractions to choose from, and if you aren’t careful in how you choose to allocate your time you will fall victim to dry income streams.
Forcing myself to take a step back from the blog and refocus my daily goals on UBD has been a monumental step in my entrepreneurial career. The business is BOOMING with clients and we have begun hiring designers and coders to take on the workload. Speaking of hiring…
If you are a competent designer and/or coder that has experience in wordpress, PLEASE shoot me an email.
How are you spending your time?
I have to pose this question again, and I am more interested this time because my readership has grown significantly. Are you standing still? Has static time wasting become habitual, or are you the type of person who is focused on really succeeding and making money online? I hope you are the latter! 🙂
Great post Matt. It’s tough sometimes to keep focus on the goals we set. I know a lot of times I seem to just be “staring” at the computer with no real purpose. Need to keep the focus. Thanks!
Hi Matt, I have to disagree that you spending time posting on this (non-monetized) blog is “static” as opposed to “profitable” time. Those definitions would hold true for for those interested in immediate gratification.
Your posting here is an investment…in your content, your readers and your traffic. When you have a large and loyal following, generating some income will be a piece of cake.
While your other website may be bursting with traffic & clients, it still requires time and talent for you to code it all, not to mention the headaches of running a business.
But running a blog? No headaches, no timelines.
Just a small entry every day or few will keep this blog humming with readers.
Keep up the great work!
I personally am not really for squeezing the pennies out of my readership. Although later on I will definetly introduce some of this to a small extent.
I spend my time networking and trying to bring traffic to my blog. I am not a web entrepreneur so I don’t do any of the profitable business. So I guess that I do a mix between both?
Why put all your time and effort into a blog where you see no money (you may see it down the road, but not now) when you can work on other things that are profitable now?
Blogs are nice because they can be bid moneymakers, but it takes a ton of time and effort, and moneyless hours, to get to that point where you are making good money.
I think a blog is a way for “potential” customers to get to know you on more of a personal level. This will enable them to “drop their guard” and see you as a real person. Hopefully this would ultimately end in a loyal visitor and customer:)
As an Internet Entrepreneur, we are always struggling to “stay on task”, but a blog is a nice reprieve…and can help grow the business in the long run!
That is a great point, Mike. Blogs are an incredibly powerful branding tool because you can reach your clients and potential clients in a very personal and distinct way.
Hey Suzanne,
I wouldn’t dare question the long-term benefits of blogging as you’ve laid them out, but the idea behind the post was all about filling an immediate income gap. I believe it is something that a lot of diehard “make money onliners” (the people that are quitting their jobs) have an issue with.
As I said in my post, my blog here is mostly for branding myself and associated businesses/products, which is definitely a long term investment. The real problem with putting this blog in the profitable category right now is that I have a limited influence, with results that aren’t yet quantifiable.
Great points though, blogging is definitely a long-term endeavor!
Matt, i agree with you, when some one is in to deal with the clients , your clients should know about your values, Blog really helps.
One of my friend is running own software development company through only one client with the millions $ business in every quarter.
you should have maximum business relationship with customers from different different regions. Anglina nothing is permanent, you can not run your business only through one person.
It’s upto to an individual, how he can grab the opportunities with out thinking so much after pros and cons.
Just do the business, hardwork never gets failed.
Ahhh the life of an entrepreneur. Cheers to a good post, thoughts well expressed, points well made.