I’m settling into my “new morning routine” of waking up early (tough to do when you’re a lone ranger internet marketer) and getting crap done early in the morning… it makes me feel better when I get up early… but it’s tough to create a new routine for pretty much anything in your life.

Anyhow, as I’m writing this this morning… I’m getting work done on my business… without actually having to do the things myself.  My Virtual Assistant is taking care of things for me.

You see… three months ago I had a breaking point in my online business.  I was spinning my wheels and pretty much getting nothing done everyday… but I was working hard as heck at it.  You know the gig.  You do EVERYTHING in your business… you find yourself buried in your computer for hours on end hacking your way through html, submitting articles and social bookmarks, etc.

The “busy work”.

Then… once I started to actually make some good money online (away from my offline marketing consulting)… I decided that something had to change… and what had to change was TAKING ME out of MY BUSINESS.

I Was Hurting My Own Business and Progress

So, here’s what I did.

Nothing special… crazy new… nothing like that.

I just took the advice that people were giving me for months on end and buckled up and finally hired my first virtual assistant.

Just like with anything… the first month is pretty much a wash as far as having the work my VA did for me actually take time off my hands.  The first month you have to train your VA, write up the processes for things you want them to do, and on and on.

But…

Once you get past that first month or two… and your VA passes the test… you’re on your way to being a REAL ENTREPRENEUR and having that entrepreneur lifestyle.

What I Outsource Right Now

Right now, I admit that I still suck at really handing off everything I should to my Virtual Assistant… just haven’t cut the umbilical cord on everything yet.

But, here’s what I have my own VA doing for me:

• Article posting
• Social bookmarking
• Editing videos
• Submitting videos to video sharing sites
• Creating podcasts and editing the podcasts
• etc.

Really… I want to start handing off even more tasks… I guess I just need to buckle down and really think of the things in my business that AREN’T FUN.  Truly… if you’re an entrepreneur you should be doing it because you enjoy doing it.  So, anything you don’t think is fun should be outsourced.  Period.

How To Know What To Outsource Yourself

Here’s what you need to do…

1. Write down the tasks that you’re currently doing yourself in your business throughout the day/week.
2. Write down how many hours you spend on each task every week/month.
3. Write down what you hope to make in income in the next 12 months… then divide that by 12… then by 30… then by 8 (basically compute your hourly income based on what you hope to make in the next 12 months).  For instance, if you hope to make $100,000 over the next 12 months… your hourly worth (figuring 8 hours a day… which is WAAAYYY to many hours to work a day is $34/hr.That’s the number that you value your own ti

   me at.  Anything that you can hire someone for less than that # should seriously be considered to be outsourced (for like $5 $10 an hour to a VA).

4. Then, take the 2 tasks that are taking up a ton of your time but worth the least to you as far as your time value.  Find a virtual assistant, draw up a process map for them to follow to complete those two tasks for you… and hire the VA for a couple weeks as a “trial run”.
5. IF you like the VA, stay with them and increase the hours as needed
6. If you don’t like the VA, keep looking until you find one that is great!

It’s really that simple.

Here Are Some Websites To Find Great Virtual Assistants

• www.elance.com  (bid type site)
• www.guru.com   (bid type site)
• www.agentsofvalue.com  (great company according to a friend of mine.  They’re based in the Philippines and charge about $5-$8 an hour)
• www.teamdoubleclick.com  (mostly based in the U.S… charge between $15-$30 an hour)

I found my current virtual assistant simply by typing in the type of VA I was looking for in Google.

At the time I was looking for a virtual assistant to do audio/video type stuff.  So I went to google and typed in “multimedia virtual assistants”… scrolled through a few sites… interviewed a few people… and went with the one that I felt the most comfortable with.

Really there’s no science to this. You just need to buckle down and make the decision that you’re going to find a virtual assistant for x number of hours a week and run a week or two trial until you find a VA you like.  Spend the $100 it takes to hire a VA for a few projects and get after it.

Do what you love to do and what you think is fun… have someone else do the other stuff… that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about… it’s not about doing everything you can in your biz.  Sound good?

Let me know your thoughts and questions.

Okay, I’m sitting at my desk this morning listening to some great inspiring music… and thinking about how I got to where I am.

Yep, I’m still on my upclimb as an entrepreneur… my lifelong goals are still way out in the future…  but this morning I was looking at a goal sheet I wrote up over a year ago (that I haven’t looked at since then)… and my jaw literally dropped…

Why?

Because almost every one of those goals I set for myself over a year ago are either met or surpassed.  Pretty damn cool feeling if you ask me. While I did meet those initial goals… in my mind I’ve already transitioned into going for the next level of goals… so still in my mind I’m not anywhere near where I want to be.

I got to thinking about how I got there… and realized that it amounted to just one or two things… simple things actually… but most entrepreneurs simply don’t do it.

Want to hear those two things?

You’re probably looking for that magic bullet that will solve your problems… I can honestly tell you over a year ago I was too.  We always want a quick and easy way out.

Well…

Here it is…

Making it as an entrepreneur is easy as long as you’re:

• Consistent
• Focused
• Committed

That’s it.  I know… you’re saying, “holy hell… I already knew that!  That’s nothing new.”.

But, this is where I ask you… have you reached your goals yet?  Are you successful in your own mind?

A Quick Story…

Early in ‘07 I was technically “self-employed”… although it didn’t feel like it… nor did it have the cool advantages I was thinking I would have as an “entrepreneur”.

Here’s what the deal was…

I was a contract worker (I’ve never been “employed” by anyone else since I graduated from college) doing marketing for a couple companies.  But the way I had set up my work with them I basically set myself up just like an employee of those companies.  Not a lot of “freedom” (at least in my own mind), I wasn’t doing exactly what I wanted to be doing, and I wasn’t making all that much cashola.

Not an ideal situation…

So, what I finally realized is that there were a couple big constraints to my success that I NEEDED to get past.

1. I needed to separate myself from the way I felt I had “bound” myself to those other companies.  Don’t get me wrong… the companies I was “consulting” for I absolutely loved… I loved the owners, the workers, etc. Great company.   But deep down inside I knew I wasn’t doing what I really wanted to do so I felt somewhat trapped… and felt guilty whenever I would do “my own” work (even on weekends).
2. I needed to finally focus on what made me happy… and focus on moving my most important projects forward with full force.  In the past I’d be working on a project “on the side” for months and months… and never push it forward.  But, finally about 8 months ago I decided to give myself what I deserved and to really pick a project of my own (not one of my clients projects) and focus on it until it was successful.

The funny thing with this is…

As soon as I DECIDED to focus on and get done a specific project OF MY OWN… it took less than 3 weeks to have it make a huge difference in my life and my business.

Separate From Your Constraints and Focus…

So, there it is.

Find out what is between you and your success… separate yourself from those things… then focus on ONE specific project that can immediately produce results for you.

For me, like I said… I needed to separate myself a bit from the idea that I had to always work on my clients work… and I had to learn to not feel guilty if I spent time growing my own business (rather than my clients).  Yes, that thinking was backward as heck… but I’m sure I’m not alone.

As I said… within 3 weeks my whole outlook on my business changed and I actually created 2 new income streams that are completely PASSIVE and pump out more than $1k in income (from less than 2 hours of work) each and every month whether I work or not.  And… just that little bit of money was enough to make me realize that I was really wasting my time doing what I had been doing for the past 2 years.

That’s a liberating moment.

Since then I’ve been able to create multiple other passive income streams (that are enough for most people to live off of) and have several other exciting projects that will boost my business into the next level that will be happening before the end of the year.

Long Story Short…

It’s nothing new… nothing revolutionary… nothing so kick ass that I should write a book over it…

But…

It’s so important that I can guarantee you that if you’re not as successful as you want to be… those three things can make all the difference in the world for you… it did for me.

• Committment
• Consistency
• Focus

Thats it.

Let me know your thoughts… what’s holding you back?  I’d love to help ya find out and blast through them.

Chat soon,

- Trevor

A couple months ago I was presented with an opportunity that many people would think I’m absolutely crazy not to take.

A very high leadership position at a $26 million (will likely surpass $40 million this year) company that is at the top of their industry and has some of the best marketing minds around right there in the office. If you are in the internet marketing space… you have most definitely heard of this company.

The position was pretty darn good pay (six figures w/ benefits, bonuses, etc.) … a great work atmosphere… a great location… and would have been world class networking and learning.

This opportunity came at me through a reference from a close contact (and friend) of mine in the internet marketing industry… and I’m completely flattered that he has the confidence in me to put his reputation on the line by recommending me for the position… and that the CEO of the company had the confidence in me to go the length with me through the interview process.

You know what, opportunities are funny.

Right off the bat the word "opportunity" is a positive word to most people. Most people look at opportunities as something for the taking… if it’s an opportunity it must be something that you desire… otherwise it wouldn’t be an opportunity. Right?

Up until this opportunity I only had one definition of opportunity in my mind. If an opportunity is awesome… you take it. If you don’t take it… it fades away and doesn’t have the chance to benefit you a whole lot in the future.

The Struggle…

However, when I was pondering about taking this opportunity and moving my wife and I across the country I really had a struggle.

I mean… this is a once in a lifetime job offer (at least that’s what my 25 year old mind told me) that would give me great experience, excellent connections, and possibly a head start in my career. On the other hand, I’m an entrepreneur and am seeing my businesses steadily grow toward my goals… and that of course would be put on the back burner if I were to take the position.

To help get some perspective on this life changing opportunity I called on someone in my network that I trust… and that has a ton of life experience in his pocket. While we chatted outside of a Starbucks about the opportunity and life… he said something that was so simple… but so powerful.

While we were chatting he could sense it in my voice that I was definitely struggling with a decision that really would be much easier for most people. Give up my business (or at least put them on hold) that is growing the way I had envisioned it would and stay in Oregon which I love… or head to sunny Florida and take this awesome position as the head of this company’s largest marketing division… that was my struggle.

But what he said was this:

"Sometimes opportunities are meant to not be taken. Sometimes they come about to force you to really evaluate where you are… where you want to be… and where your priorities are."

So simple… and pretty darn powerful. To me, this was huge because instead of putting pressure on me to make the decision I thought was "right"… I dug deep and figured out whether the opportunity would help me get where I truly wanted to be in life, my career, and everything else. That’s it.

Long story short. .. I ended up not taking that opportunity (I know… crazy huh?). Deep down inside there was something that just didn’t feel right… and I knew my heart really was in growing my business and leveraging the connections I’ve made here in the Northwest. In the end… it really was a simple decision that I analyzed way too much.

So, next time you’re faced with an opportunity… just remember… some opportunities are meant to NOT be taken… they merely are there so you can evaluate your life and find where your priorities really lay.

I’ve heard the term “lifestyle entrepreneurship” chatted about quite a bit recently. Namely, from great entrepreneurs and bloggers like:

• Tim Ferris
• AnyWired
• Yanik Silver
• etc.

To me, “lifestyle entrepreneurship” is all about creating a business (or businesses) that allows you to truly lead the life you want to live.

For me, that life is one where I’m able to make enough income to make it so I don’t HAVE to work everyday (although, us entrepreneurs tend to love what we do… so it’s not work), where I can spend more time traveling with my wife and family, where I can technically not work for a week and still have that income coming in whether I work or not, where I’m able to golf during the week anytime I want, and where I’m truly making a difference in other people’s lives.

That’s me. That’s why I am an entrepreneur and do what I do.

Am I In My Ideal “Lifestyle Entrepreneur” Position Yet?

Right now… probably not. I DO believe that I’m on my way and will be there pretty damn soon… but I’m still trying to work my way out of my previous mindset of what it is to be an “entrepreneur”.

I graduated from college with degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship (yes… that’s a real degree). In college we were taught what it is like to run a traditional company… with the “entrepreneur” working tirelessly for the rest of his/her life to have that “freedom” we all look for as entrepreneurs.

After college I carried that mindset forward… and even worse… I carried the mindset that “If I can do it… I’ll just do it myself… heck, it’ll save me a ton of money”. After 2 years of “entrepreneurship” doing it “myself”… I began to look at what I had created.

Here’s what my “entrepreneurial” efforts created me:

• 15 hour+ days (no biggie… I love what I do so it’s not USUALLY work)
• A decent income… but not all that much
• Trading time for dollars
• Burn out just around the corner… I was doing EVERYTHING myself… EVERYTHING
• A devalued impression of what my time was worth to myself and my clients
• Lack of clarity on what I really wanted out of life

Wow… sounds like quite the “entrepreneurs lifestyle” huh?

We As Entrepreneurs Need To Do One Thing…

I’m trying to keep this post on the shorter side… so I’ll sum up what the heck I’m getting at.

We as entrepreneurs need to figure out why we are entrepreneurs… and what we really want out of our businesses deep down in our core beings. More work, less free time, and less value on your time isn’t what I wanted out of entrepreneurship. That’s a load of crap that I for some reason let take over my brain.

So, to get what we really want… we need to go after “lifestyle entrepreneurship” rather than the “entrepreneur lifestyle”. To me, the “entrepreneur lifestyle” almost has a bad connotation to it right off the bat. When I think of that term, I picture what I had been doing for the last 2 years… not much of a lifestyle.

However, “lifestyle entrepreneurship” on the other hand is just that… you form your entrepreneurship efforts based off of the lifestyle you want. Your lifestyle isn’t directed by your entrepreneurship efforts. Thin line… but in my mind it’s quite a big difference.

For me, I’m not quite where I want to be yet… but I know I’m on the verge. One of my favorite things to do is hear fellow entrepreneurs tell their stories of when they finally created their reality “lifestyle entrepreneurship” goal.

Let’s hear it… are you after “lifestyle entrepreneurship”? If so, have you reached it… when did you finally realize that you reached it?

One Last Thought…

Money is cool… but lifestyle is better. My goal in life is to use entrepreneurship to help me live the best lifestyle possible in this one life we get here on Earth… and to meet the most amazing people I can. That’s it. Pretty simple really…

A Collection of Great Articles on The Subject…

• Check out the article over at AnyWired … excellent collection of articles and resources on the topic.