Paralysed with indecision

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NathanRidley

New member
Jul 26, 2008
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London, UK
Hey just wanted to get you guys thoughts on something. Since I've mainly written small tools for marketers and recently I've been building this whole automation API system I'm working on, it has occurred to me that because I'm essentially a relatively inexperienced (at least in practical terms) with regards to affiliate/content marketing, having mainly written software and not having actually done the hard yards of actual affiliate marketing and essentially the bulk of what people are doing here on WF, I don't have a very good idea of *what* to automate in the current web landscape, nor what mini tools would be in enough demand to warrant making off of the back of my system for some early revenue to fund continued development.

I would absolutely LOVE to actually have a self-supporting income from a few of my own sites and offers, but because I only have a couple hours each morning before work and then some time on weekends, I find myself getting paralysed with indecision with regards to *what* I should actually put my time into. I have a good working knowledge of the internet marketing and SEO scenes, at least on the surface, and of course my real strength is in software and web design and development (14+ years experience with that), so anything I do in these areas I can get off to a quick start on, if I can overcome this indecision of what I would be best spending my time on.

The goal: match my day job income as fast as possible.

Would I be better off actually getting some real experience with affiliate marketing and monetizing content sites and let the automation and software development take a back seat for a bit? Should I build a tool for you guys and others in the scene? Should I keep working on my API right now? What do you guys think? What's going to get me to my goal the quickest?

FWIW, I am actually willing to trade some development time for some one-on-one guidance from someone who's making real money right now doing this, though will settle for whatever scraps of wisdom are offered here.

(preparing to get dickrolled...)
 


dchuk - already there, but they don't target affiliate/internet marketing and I have no sense of how many people are going to be able to use the API of my system before I've gotten to the stage of developing a user interface. I really want to understand the other side of the tracks (i.e. be able to eat my own dog food, so to speak), but without an intimate understanding of the field, it's hard for me to (a) use my own product in depth, and (b) have a good understanding of what other people want to do with it. Not only that, but I want to be able to work on it full time, and having a day job gets me down - I need to escape it as quickly as I can, so I need to make sure my time is spent as efficiently as possible toward that goal.
 
You're thinking too much. Fear of the unknown does that.

Take the plunge, and jump in with both feet dude! Throw together some quick app, and push it in BST section, and whatever other sources. You'll get some customers, and with that, contacts & feedback. Keep your ears open, and from there, you'll have a direction.

Wouldn't bother trying to master the AM/IM/SEO field as well. Stick with what you're good at, and don't spread yourself too thin. Don't be a jack of all trades. Be an expert at what you do.
 
NathanRidley said:
I really want to understand the other side of the tracks (i.e. be able to eat my own dog food, so to speak), but without an intimate understanding of the field, it's hard for me to (a) use my own product in depth, and (b) have a good understanding of what other people want to do with it. Not only that, but I want to be able to work on it full time, and having a day job gets me down - I need to escape it as quickly as I can, so I need to make sure my time is spent as efficiently as possible toward that goal.
Click to expand...

Beta testers.

This is probably wickedfire cliche, but save up some money and spend a few months (or even longer) in Thailand or somewhere similar. That will give you the free time to develop something without having to worry much about your expenses for a while.

It is also easy to cover your expenses with some freelancing while you do that.
 
I should disclaim, none of this means I'm not putting work in right now. Right now I'm working on the script/browser automation engine that does most of the hard work. Have gotten an offer of assistance in developing the affiliate marketing side of things, so I'll see how that goes.
 
@Kiopa - yeah that is true, though what I said about eating my own dog food is very true still. I want to have a deep understanding of this business. I already know software development and design inside out (passed my 10,000 hours a very long time ago), so learning something new is not going to impede that.

@hehejo That would be cool, though I live with my girlfriend I'm very sure she wouldn't quite go for that!
 
I recommend snagging a copy of "the startup owner's manual" by steve blank. He covers a lot of the stages that include the indecision you're experiencing right now.

The TL;DR of his entire philosophy is: get it into customer's hands as soon as possible, and keep iterating.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-By-Step/dp/0984999302]Amazon.com: The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company (9780984999309): Steve Blank, Bob Dorf: Books[/ame]
 
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