Somehow I find myself almost all the way through March without having written an update on here for some time!! So what have I been doing for these past 3 months, well thats actually a good question as I should really be holding myself accountable and summarising for my own benefit…..

• Reading & Learning – I have taken the time to revisit a lot of the systems and products that I have previously (and even recently) bought, garnering further information and tips and techniques that I can incorporate into my business and methods. Its been quite an eye opening time as whilst I have learnt a fair bit I also lose track of how many times I have read the same old stuff. Which goes to prove either of two points, that this stuff actually works or there are a lot of people making money selling re-hashed content to ‘newbies’! Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below….
• Planning & Strategising – I have been breaking down my goals into smaller rungs on the ladder so that I can take the steps to climb higher and higher with success and an income to match. I have also looked at the different aspects of my business as it is now and as I want it to be to enable me to break it down into different sectors/types and income streams which will work pwerfully when pulled together.
• Product Development – I have been working on my planned products for 2010 (more to follow later..) which are both a combination of outsourced products which I will have rights to and also own produced by yours truly! My goal is to start to get those out there so that I can build my affiliate connections and reputation as well as achieve some sales along the way.
• Socialising – I have managed to enjoy myself along the way, doing plenty of socialising. Sadly its not been the best of business networking as yet as due to work commitments I missed out on a jaunt to Vegas to meet up with my mentor Alex Jeffreys along with the opportunity to attend Mike Filsaime’s Affiliate Appreciation weekend and meet up with lots of my fellow Marketing With You students. You can read more of the exploits over at my pal Marcus Passey’s blog. However I am looking to make up for that with some networking here in the UK and I’m looking to meet up with Sean Beardmore, Iain Buchanan & Rob Bradley in Birmingham soon – guys if you’re reading this get in contact and we can throw some dates around, or alternatively if anyone else is local and fancies a pint and some strategising….
• Anything else – sure there is tons of other stuff such as my actual day job, following all the sport thus far this year and of course the day to day house work & tasks, but no point going down that route as affects us all!!

So as we continue on the journey through 2010, what am I doing now and what are my main priorities…

Blogging – this blog has once again got to become my main priority and focus as I have been neglecting it. I need to go back to basics and hold myself accountable whilst adding value and building relationships so I will make a commitment to post at least once a week from here on in.

List Building - I need to focus on building my list and further enhancing and deepening the relationship that I have with my subscribers. Having recently digested a number of high profile products I will begin to put the ideas into practice and the experiences that I have along the way will allow me to both build and add value to those on my list.

Thats enough for now, stay tuned for my next update….

Tom

I’m not going to be talking about the great ebook Newbies Nightmare by my mentor Alex Jeffreys, but more so 2 of the major problems that we face when starting out online.

 Technical Skills

Many people starting out online will be computer literate but not experienced webmasters, programmers or IT gurus. I fit into this category.

Therefore we may need to outsource tasks in order to avoid them taking far longer than necessary and to call on others expertise. Whilst I will talk in more detail about outsourcing at a later date as I develop more experience with the process and get some tangible evidence, I can assure you that it is not actually as expensive as it may seem!

Through being on Alex’s MWA2.0 Mentoring Program, I have made some useful contacts and had the benefit of  a bit of help through the forum and its at this point that I must pay thanks to a couple of fellow students….

Adam Spiel and his team over at Pro Host Management who have been extremely helpful in setting up both this blog site and my List Building with Alex PPP site. Granted I do pay for the service but they have been nothing but efficient and helpful and I would highly recommend their services.

Also Gene Ilten for his useful video on how to make a Blog Header for free. I have finally managed to create and upload one, even if it does only turn out to be temporary if I decide to opt for something different. Probably about 3 weeks overdue but at least we are now getting there!!

Now I’m not usually one to make fun of other people’s misfortune but please spare a thought (and have a laugh) for the following unfortunate soul, who evidently uploaded an Adwords campaign without pausing and checking it before it went live, something of a technical error I think!

Time

Now I’m sure that I won’t be the only person who struggles with time and time management, namely that there simply are not enough hours in the day!!

I work full time and enjoy going to the gym and socialising and in addition I am starting an internet business which I am building from scratch. 24 hours a day is not enough at this moment and that doesn’t even allow for the 5 hour MWA2.0 Webinars or even any sleep!

So what is the answer? Well through my research and previous purchasing I had come across a program called Wake Up Productive from renowned Guru Eben Pagan (of Altitude & Guru Mastermind fame).

The program claims to be able to double your productivity whilst taking more time off. Whilst I don’t want to necessarily buy into all the hype, there are some good free time management videos available here which I would recommend that you check out if you also face similar issues –  http://www.wakeupproductiveblog.com/2009/08/time-mgmt.php

The program is due to re-open shortly and I will be taking a look, anything that can help me organise my time and increase my efficiency is always good in my book. Especially as I can use it to complement my plans and move towards achieving my goals.

So I have decided to take the plunge and commence my journey to online success. I have bought many programs and products over the past 18 months and have not seen much progress, mainly due to ‘information overload’ and a lack of focus, so it is time to make a change and really go for it. So where do I start? what do I do? what do I need?

1. A Mentor

Enter Alex Jeffreys, my online mentor. I first came across Alex through some of the products that I had bought online and the mailing lists that I was subscribed to, and over a period of months saw and heard his name mentioned increasingly as somewhat of a rising star.

This guy seemed to have all the right connections, from training and mentoring under Rich Shefren and Mike Filsaime, to cruising and swapping ideas with Multi-Millionaires including Andrew Fox. I started to realise that this was an individual that could help me and someone that I would like to align myself with.

It was then that I received a message from Ray Johnson offering the opportunity to join Alex Jeffrey’s 2.0 Coaching Program, which I snapped up and am now taking the first steps with Alex and the other students to online business success.

2. A Plan

The first module of the coaching program was a scheduled 2 hour Webinar which ended up going on at least twice that length of time, and was packed full of great content and information. After that I knew I had made the right decision and was fired up!

The module talked about the importance of planning and how “An idiot with a plan is more likely to succeed than a genius without” (which I believe is a quote from T. Boone Pickens). Alex talked about having 3 seperate plans, your business plan, your entrepreneur plan and your personal plan. I have formulated these and will be posting them on my ‘About‘ page shortly.

3. Organisation – To-Do Lists (& Did Sheets)

With the over-riding plans in place, Alex stressed the importance of being organised and breaking the plans down into manageable chunks. These may be Quarterly, 90-day, Monthly, Weekly or Daily.

The key then would be to make to-do lists around these timescales which would formulate the stepping stones to reach the goals and the plan objectives.

He also recommended having ‘did’ sheets so you can monitor what you actually do on a daily basis and identify where any procrastination creeps in or any areas for improvement (eg. constant web browsing in a non-business essential manner, or frequent checking of e-mail).

4. A Pledge

The final part of the expansion of the mindset and to draw focus on what you are trying to achieve was to create a pledge to yourself, so that you can begin to be held accountable. My simple initial pledge is to spend a minimum of half an hour per day on personal development. This will be with a business focus and will consist of reading or learning around topics which I can use in my business.

With these core components in hand, I have a solid foundation for developing my business and I continue onwards in my quest for success and financial freedom….

Its taken a little while to get going but finally I have managed my first Blog post, this signals the beginning of my journey to online success!

I realised some time ago that you aren’t go to be successful and make enough money to achieve financial freedom working for someone else. After all, that is why they call it a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke)!

However lacking that one brilliant idea, or even a strating point for some of my ideas, I turned to the internet for inspiration. Over the past 18 months I have researched Internet businesses and opportunities and having spent many ’000′s of $’s on products promising rapid success, have still not got very far.

However one thing has become clear, that I am not the only person in this situation, and that by enlisting the help of a mentor I can work towards overcoming these setbacks and the obstacles on the way to make a success of myself and my business and to help others do the same.

My name is Tom Harvey, I am 28 years of age, and I am a relative Internet newbie. I am embarking on an exciting new chapter and I look forward to charting my progress and sharing the journey with you!

To our success…..

Tom