In internet marketing you often find yourself thinking about the next thing to do.
This is a transcript of an email that I received from one of the most productive internet marketers I know – Sean Mize.
This is how it starts…
I’m gonna share a concept I use in my business to get me more results, and I’ve used iterations of it for years, and it’s one of the key things to which I can attribute my aggressive production (whether it was 25,000 articles on ezine articles, testing ~ $30,000 of solo ads, or running well over 100 wsos) and I use it today to increase my productivity.
And that’s the “what’s the next thing I need to do?” principle.
It works like this:
I know what my yearly goal is, and I know what my next big goal is (they are sometimes the same, sometimes not)
So since I know my goal, and I know the current state of my business, I also know there are a number of things that need to be done to achieve that goal.
But that’s where I think most folks get derailed (is that where you get derailed)? So much to do, so you do . . . nothing on the path to getting where you want to go? I digress 🙂
But instead I ask the question, what is the NEXT thing I need to do to achieve my goal?
For example, if my goal is 100 subs a day, and I’m at 10, what is the NEXT thing I need to do? Is it create another traffic instance? Is it add a new squeeze page version into my testing rotation? Is it to write another article? Record another video? What is my NEXT thing that I need to do?
Here’s another example: if I am creating a 10 hour training program, and I need:
- an outline
- record for 10 hours
- write a sales letter
- write 5 sales emails
- create a download page
- put the routing into infusionsoft
That can be overwhelming and if I just put it on my “to do” list with everything else, everything else gets done, but nothing on this.
But what if I wake up everyday and just ask, what is the NEXT thing to do?
Day 1 I write the outline
Day 2 I record one of 10 hours
Day 3 I record one of 10 hours
…and so on.
In a finite period of time my task is done.
The problem is, when you look at it this way, you might think, but this will take so LONG.
Maybe 30 days.
But in reality, trying to do it all at once isn’t working for you, is it?
I doubt it (you do too, think back on the last month, did you accomplish what you set out to do?)
So . . . what is the NEXT thing you need to do to get to your goal?