A New A Year Of Vision And Focus

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Jan 01

A New A Year Of Vision And Focus

I’m not big on New Year resolutions but it is a great time for reflection and re-aligning our focus. This focus can generally have a value attached to it as well as a price tag. This year the Extreme Ezine is going in a different direction. It may seem like we’re taking a step backwards and our rational may sound contradicting to some but income generation from our publication and this site are taking a backseat this year. There is a method to our madness. We fully expect to to achieve record profits in 2010.

This year we will be digging in and making changes for long term success. I’m going to spend ‘09 building our feed and subscriber lists, improving content, building traffic and online relationships. I’ll spend the entire year building our brand then perhaps re-structure the site in 2010 with ads.

Our Vision

Brand focus and execution are vital to our ultimate goal of becoming the number one online resource for internet marketers.

Number One Goal: Successful Branding

Successful branding is our number one focus for 2009. The Extreme Ezine is a newsletter and blog for internet marketers. I feel we have done a fair job in branding ourselves as just that. The new year will bring in new focus and determination. Determination on branding not income. Our income is important but not at the expense of our brand. Unless the income source enhances our content it will not be a factor in 2009.

Extreme Ezine Advertising Is Suspended

At this stage of our blog the paid and affiliate ads were a distraction hardly worth the effort. We have removed all paid and affiliate advertising from the main site.

We’re not crazy, we love money just like anyone else. You will still see a few affiliate links lightly sprinkled throughout the site when relevant with our content. We do have other sources of online income as well so we’re not going to go broke.

Your opinion is important to us so please feel free to express yourself below…

About the author

Keith Bloemendaal wrote 110 articles on this blog.

Keith is a passionate blogger and writes Blog Tips, Social Media Tips, and also operates a Social Bookmarking service. .

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  • Alan@internet business
    Branding myself is my new yers resolution, and i must say its going well... thanks to articles like these.
    Thanks
  • Thanks Paul, I'm glad you found us and appreciate the comment. Happy New Year.
  • Great one Brian, Branding is key for any major business to succeed. As long as you have a set goal I can see you changing the way it's been perceived. happy new year and hope to read a lot more from you this year. Paul.
  • Yeah, I read that awesome article. His take on using other methods of generating revenues is highly recommended.

    Yan
  • Gyutae Park from Winning the Web just wrote an excellent piece on exactly the same issue that I based my decision on. The difference is Gyutae has a lot more writing talent and insight than I do and put it much more elegantly. I highly recommend his post at Blogging for Ads is Dead - 5 Reasons Why You Sell Yourself Short & How You Can Fix It
  • Hi Jessie, it wasn't that difficult. I have a lot of patience and would rather wait a while if it promises a better return.
  • Good luck with the branding. It's interesting that you decided to suspend your advertising. Must have been a difficult decision.
  • hi Brad, I know, it's very exciting. Keeping up is a huge concern for me too. I have new ideas and projects in the works so hopefully this cleaning up will help.
  • Brian taking a step back and looking at the big picture is what we have been doing for the past year. I also have some new things to establish this coming year. Times they are a changing, with all the new news and predictions coming for 2.0 this coming year it is extremely hard to keep up. We are about staying on top of it though.

    You are doing well to change with the times.

    Always to your success.
    Brad West ~ onomoney
  • Your welcome Brian, what's the goal for 2009 in your opinion to achieved something that is realistic not bombastic? ...lol
  • Hey Brian,
    You have had 6 days to work on your 2009 goals. Hows it goin for ya'?

    Most people have already given up 4 days ago. LOL!
  • Thanks Ari, I wish you the best in '09.
  • Just got here and I think you have a great feature blog, I would love to come by again and make my comments to help you boost your PR.Another challenge is in 2009 making more and more tons of traffic thus will convert into sales.
  • Yes you're right Brian. I support you in this and its the best decision you ever made..
  • Hi TAM, it looks like you are doing alright. Looks like you're from Michigan too. I'm in Belleville.
  • Branding really is hard to do well. I'm realizing how bad I am at it. Good luck with your 2009 goals. I'll stay tuned.
  • No worries Ben, keep putting great content out there and i am only to happy to spread the word.

    Jason
  • Hi Dennis, I do alright with our All Pro Ad Tracking membership site. It more than covers all the bills, even the dedicated server.
  • Awesome plans man, and a cleaner blog for sure. Any chance of you spilling your other revenue streams? ;)
  • I wasn't making much there anyway Ben and the site looks so 'busy' it should help with the main goal of the site which is building a subscriber base and blog traffic.
  • Wow Jason you're my man! Glad I noticed your mention on a close read and I really appreciate so much..
  • Brian Happy 2009 to you! I know you have been busy.

    By the way, it must have been a hell of a decision for you take away all your affiliate links but thinking again, it may not be a bad thing. Take time to try out what works and what doesn't and I am sure you will find great results in the year to come =)

    Ben
  • I agree Atniz, it's time to get to work.
  • Happy New Year!

    It is time for us to clear all the doubts and start working with fresh new goals and targets.
  • Really? Well, I have been known to have my moments, perhaps that was one of them ;)
  • That's the idea Sire. I wish I could have put it like that on my post. I was struggling with my words today and you stated it perfectly.
  • Sounds like a good plan Brian. Concentrating all your efforts in one area means that particular area will grow to it's maximum potential in that time frame rather than have to compete with other areas that may well hold it back. Once you have developed a decent 'branding' then any loss in income over the short term can be more than compensated for over the long term.
  • Wow, That's big news Yan. I was just reading your post about it on TSB. I am one hundred percent certain you will do fantastic in Internet Marketing. I'm glad you are keeping TSB.
  • Hey Brian

    It appears to me that you have a clear perspective on what to focus on in 2009 and so have I. I'll be putting into action what I've learned in 2008.

    On the contrary, my focus will no longer be at TSB as I don't want to stand still and watch the year goes by.

    All the best in 2009, Brian.

    Yan
  • Hi Jason, I'm glad you stopped by. I read Ben's post too. It’s All About Branding! It's a great post and probably had some influence on my way of thinking for 2009.
  • It seems branding yourself can be very profitable and something everyone should look to do. I read a good post at Ben Pei's blog about branding and how it works. It's worth the read.

    Jason
  • Thanks Shirley, I feel a solid year of building our brand, traffic and online relationships will put us in a much better position when we do get back into advertising.
  • Good goals. Branding is probably one of the most important things for any internet business.
  • Thanks Wei, I'm glad to hear that from someone that has their brand established and moving in the right direction. It's obvious within seconds of visiting ABloggerBlog that it about coaching and teaching others to make money from their blogs.
  • Hi Brian,

    Looks like you have set a very specific goal to achieve in the new year and I believe branding will bring your site further in the long run. Nothing beats branding and building authority first. All the best for the year 2009.

    Cheers to our successes
    Wei Liang
  • Thanks Sheryl, you're a great cheerleader. :) I already like the site without the ads. It's less distracting and loads faster. I rearranged it a little and now I can work on directing attention to parts I want to focus on.

    I was going to explain how important I thought interaction is to our site but I was already going long on the post. I'll save it for another post.
  • Brian,
    I do not think that you are taking a step backwards.

    Any time you have a well thought out plan,it is a step forward. To many people rely on what has worked in the past and sometimes forget to try new (or put off) things.

    Branding is of the utmost importance, meeting people and getting them to use your name is a big part of that. That is if they have something nice to say about you! ;)

    The end of 2008 has been a game changer for me. I met some different people with fresh ideas and have started trying them out. I am now connecting with people that want to do things, not just sit and wait for things to happen. If people do not want to put out any effort or be creative then - POOF - they are left along the side lines. If they will do nothing for themselves then they will do nothing for me.

    You know a lot of great people and put out great information so, building your brand will be easier than you might think.

    You can do it!!! (My cheerleading for '09)
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