And a-one, and a-two…

If you read my recent posts about the lessons I learned in the process of becoming a published Amazon author, you might think I’d come to the end of sharing what I’d gleaned. You’d be wrong…but at least we’re in the home stretch now.

Here’s what my book-publishing experience hammered home about the need to take one step after another until you get where you want to be.

Lesson #7: Commit, in advance, to doing a finite amount of research.

Anyone who has ever done an Internet search for anything knows how huge the Black Hole Of Research can be. That’s why it’s essential to intentionally put a cap on how much time you’ll spend down this particular rabbit hole.

Capping yourself before you ever enter the first search term is a smart and powerful move:

• Because you know you have a time limit, you’ll plan your research carefully and strategically to make the most of your limited time. Rather than going into it “to see what I can find out,” you’ll search for answers to very specific, carefully identified questions, knowing that these answers will enable you to more efficiently and effectively accomplish your main goals.
  
  
• Clearly identifying areas where you need more information will make the whole project less intimidating. Not only have you started to chunk down the myriad steps any big project requires; you’ve also begun to de-mystify the whole process – and that clarity makes it easier to keep moving forward.
  
  
• Lastly, you’ll avoid joining the ranks of entrepreneurs who are fabulous researchers but lousy implementers. In fact, that leads directly to…

Lesson #8: Don’t get stuck in the planning stage!

It can’t be repeated too often: The best research and learning in the world are useless if you don’t apply them.

Each phase of a big project has its own starting point, and you know getting started is always the toughest part. That’s why you want to do as much as possible to facilitate that first baby step of each phase.

Capping your research time makes it less intimidating to approach an Internet search for information. You’ll also want to do everything possible to make it easy to apply what you’ve learned.

So be kind to yourself – and smart: Chunk down the items you’ve put on your Project To Do List so that each entry is a small, manageable, unintimidating step.

Lesson #9: Be willing to invest money in tools – IF you’re committed to actually using those tools.

There’s not an entrepreneur alive who doesn’t have a collection of “shelfware” – those products she bought with every intention of using, but which somehow never got taken out of the package.

Fortunately, having done smart research will keep you from adding to your collection.

For example, I found a great resource during my research on how best to approach the world of Amazon publishing. Dave Chesson created Kindlepreneur as “a free source for authors with the sole goal of giving you everything you need to take action, and see results.” Seeing as how he averages over $9000 in monthly income from book sales, I decided I was willing to listen to what he had to say.

Between blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos, Dave offers HUGE value; I bookmarked many of his free articles because of his step-by-step explanations of what to do, how to do it, and why to do it.

Then he took it one step further and basically said, “You can do all that manually, and it’ll work great for you. You can also use this software I developed to do the research more quickly.”

He’d already established his value and trustworthiness to me. He’d also demonstrated that, if you knew how to click a mouse button, you could jump right into using his new product. Can you say “easy buying decision”?

Even more gratifying, it was easy to make use of the help I’d decided to invest in. His product, Publisher Rocket, is so easy and effective that I can feel like a tech goddess just by clicking.

And I discovered an unexpected benefit of actually using this tool I’d invested in. Once I realized I was singing its praises to other aspiring authors – and they were also investing in it – I checked to see if Kindlepreneur has an affiliate program. They do, and now they have a new affiliate (that would be me). So taking action and committing to using a smart investment has created a win/win/win situation for Dave, authors, and me. Gimme a Woohoo!!

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While these and my other lessons all became clear while I was publishing my e-books, they’re equally applicable to a wide range of situations you’ll face as an entrepreneur. So the question becomes, what will you do to make these lessons work for you?

• If you want some additional resources on how to focus your efforts, email me with “Help me Zoom In” as the subject line; I’ll send you some of my best focusing tips (no charge, naturally).
  
  
• If the broader area of productivity is what you want to work on more, request my Ten-Minute Magic cheat sheet.
  
  
• And, if you happen to be in the process of writing that kick-ass book and want to start thinking about marketing it to the people who need it most, check out Publisher Rocket to make your life easier – and your book more profitable.

(BTW, thanks to machaon-dance for posting their dance image in the Creative Commons section of Flickr.)

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