Perfection Not Necessary – Just Do It
Last night I got a call from my buddy Erik Stafford. Erik was catching up with me as we haven’t caught up in a while with me missing JV Alert in Orlando. After talking for a bit he asked if I would like to discuss blogging with his coaching clients.
Now I know the thought of me talking about blogging is not something I do very often, NOT!!!! Only every chance I get so I went and we had a good discussion. Erik had sent me a few links to some of the student’s blogs and I went through nit picking what I could see that could be improved.
Other than a few things that are mentioned here regularly like tagging the biggest problem was monetization or rather the lack there of any monetization and a lack of a strong list building effort. Now these are marketing blogs and were created to generate an income.
The discussion on this was interesting because the big opinion was that they weren’t ready for it because their blog wasn’t perfect. In a few cases they were not sure exactly what the best monetization was going to be.
See your blog does not have to be perfect and it will change over time but the only way to improve it is to do it. Start asking for emails as soon as you are producing content and getting your first visitors. Add your monetization early so you can improve it.
Just like WordPress itself all things on line are fluid. You try things and some work and some don’t. Those that do you try to leverage, those that don’t you try something else.
Waiting for perfection is one of the biggest killers I see in people trying to create a profitable blog. Things will change and it will never be perfect. This blog has had more different plugins and theme changes as I try different things. Some work, some don’t, I keep going.
At the end of the day the key is to follow Nike and Just Do It.
As always your questions and comments are welcomed.
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8 comments
Fred Lotgering on April 16, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Mike,
I learned that lesson. Trying to do things perfect will not work, takes too long, some will never get there. But to start and to continue to make improvements is a good approach. And you keep learning along the way…
Fred
Fred Lotgering´s last blog post..LOSING SALES? Use Graphics with IMPACTS
Andre Arnett on April 16, 2009 at 4:08 pm
That s so true and if there is one thing I have learned from your blogs is to take action and just get it done. I will bear the criticism and hopefully make the improvements as needed but you have to start somewhere. That is a very good point.
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Captain Affiliate on April 16, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Erik’s audience would do well to listen to and follow any advice you gave them, Mike – you’re one of the few true ‘go-to guys’ on blogging that really walks the walk daily!
And you couldn’t be more right – one of the Captain’s first sites back in the mid-90’s had an opt-in for update notices, but the site hadn’t been monetized.
Heavily monetizing the site a few years later did no good with the existing subscriber base, leaving me no option but to delete a list of 15,000 subscribers. (ouch!)
Even if it’s as simple as a few banners or buttons, get them on our blog from the get-go, and use the PS in our e-zine issues to discuss products right from issue 1 or 2 – while chances are no one’s buying at that point, at least they’ll accept that it’s also a commercial endeavor and be more receptive to future suggestions and pitches.
And to your readers, if you ever get a chance to have Mike critique your site, jump at it – then make copious notes and take action immediately on his advice… Your bank account will thank you!
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Luca Di Nicola on April 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm
The only way to fly is to get out there and try. At first I was very cautious and am still to a point but have learned from my mistakes.
I think there is a bigger fear to try something online before it’s “perfect” because it’s out there for all to see.
Your site is a great resource for people like me – learning as I go
Thanks
Luca Di Nicola´s last blog post..5 Tips to Define And Set Clear Goals For Success
Earl Netwal on April 16, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I specialize in things that aren’t perfect. If I had to do something perfectly I wouldn’t ever get anything up.
Once it’s up I can make it better. Never have gotten close to perfect yet.
Earl Netwal´s last blog post..Home Staging and Renovations – The 5 Don’ts
Joel Osborne on April 16, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Good advice Mike! I think I often get stuck trying to make something near perfect when I could have already launched it or “turned it on” already.
We just end up losing out if we don’t release new blogs or new products when they are “ok”.. they don’t have to be perfect, there’s always time later to fix it up.
Joel Osborne´s last blog post..How to Become an Authority in Your Market – Authority Site Blueprint
Brett McEllhiney on April 17, 2009 at 5:22 am
You are so right Mike,
I struggled with this myself at first, as I was embarrassed to put something out for basically the whole world to see.
You know what? Get Over It!
You will never get anywhere unless you start doing something.
I have had my share of failures, but that is what we learn from and we take what we learn and apply it to the next project and go from there.
Reminds me of something I heard in one of the teleseminars I was listening to a recording of:
There were several very successful business men that were being interviewed on a TV show and one of the questions that was asked of them is how many times they failed before they became successful.
During the commercial break they figured it out between them and came up with an average of 17 times that they had failed before becoming successful.
Can you imagine what would have happened if they had given up after the first time, or even worse, if they had been afraid of even trying because what they were trying to do wasn’t perfect yet!
That’s the difference between someone that is successful and someone who isn’t. The successful person just never gives up!
BTW: I’m working on getting my 17 failures out of the way!
Great post Mike and one everybody should take note of.
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Lonnie Minton on April 17, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I am learning this lesson. There is not enough time to continue working on everything until it is perfect. Perfection probably doesn’t exists. At least not for me.
I used to find my self going over a blog post over and over. I would read it, print it out, read it again, find mistakes, and start all over again.
I finally decided to get it out and then if I see a bad error or someone points one out, I can fix it by editing the post. I now try to get it good. But you are right it does not have to reach perfection.
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