Looking back at 2011 and towards 2012

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So we’re on the border to a new year and it’s always a great opportunity to look back and evaluate what worked and what didn’t and to look ahead and make promises.

And while I don’t really believe in new year resolutions (if you want to change something – you should do it NOW), I certainly believe in setting goals for one self.

And if you don’t want to any read more about my highs and lows in 2011 and my goals for 2012 let me just take this opportunity to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011

So looking back at 2011 I’m really not that proud of my progress, although a lot of things certainly happened, I still feel that I should have accomplished more. But before I talk myself totally down, let’s see what actually did happen.

We (my family and I) started out the year in our house in Thailand – so that was great. While Denmark was having snow and ice – the only place we could find ice was in our drinks .

And while we’re on family – 2011 was also the year where my girlfriend got pregnant again (the second time that is) and we expect a little baby boy here in the beginning of January.

Personally we also moved to a new house here in Denmark (as of 1. of December) so the last part of the year was pretty much spent packing and unpacking – talking to banks, lawyers and so on.

But what happended on the business side, well besides me growing my businesses in Denmark, I also got much more targetted on what it is I really want to do (more on this later). So during 2011 I’ve spent time terminating projects that was taking too much time but wasn’t really getting me in the direction I wanted. Some of it was business that gave me money and some of it just took my time.

I worked six months as a consultant as I’ve budgetted and as part of my focus, I’ve actually transferred some of my clients to other freelance consultants. Was this necessary? No I could have kept the client. Didn’t I earn money on the clients? Why sure I did. Good money actually – but the fact remain. If I still have to work some months each year as a consultant, I really just want to do so for ONE client, I don’t want to go around having to work a week or two on that client and then jump to another client and then to a third.

It’s really too much “client maintenance”. These kind of clients also usually tend to think that I’m “always available” so when they have a small one week task, I can just get to work immediately. NO – even though my hourly rate is higher with these kinds of customers – I prefer just one client buying my services for 3-6 months in a row.

When that is said, I do not expect that I have to work 6 months as a consultant next year as my cashflow looks currently (but if I get a really interesting job I might…. “no Rasmus – bad dog…. Remember the focus… no more IT consultancy…” )

But what didn’t work then? Well I was going to launch a big online membership site together with a friend in Bangkok and while we’ve certainly worked on this – and even launched a beta program – we didn’t get to launch as planned in 2011. When that is said!! We’ve worked up some really interesting JV partners, we’re in a market where a lot of money is being spent, and we have a really interesting niche product with an angle where there is not much competition, so I’m really optimistic about this in 2012. Currently it looks like we will be able to launch in February, but let’s see after a planning session in new year.

Also I know that I like taking it slowly (kick back and relax and everything ), I did expect that I would be able to do more “products”. I did a couple of information products (ebooks – one I wrote myself and one modified PLR product), but not really something I had my heart in – and I mostly did it to get some experience with the whole process.

One of the ebooks (it’s in Danish) is something I really expect something from. I know that the product is solid, and again we’re in a market where a lot of money is being spent. Even for a small market like Denmark. The main problem is that the niche is targetted women, and let’s face it… I’m a guy. So I’ve had some trouble with the marketing. I’m totally aware of this, and I need to redo the marketing part (not the product). The problem is that I really want to do some video marketing but I need a woman to record the sales video. Unfortunately my lovely girlfriend is not up for the task, so I need to figure out what I could do then.

If this was an English language product, I could just have used something like fiverr.com (a lot of voice talents will do almost anything for five bucks. And if that didn’t cut it, go somewhere like elance.com.

But it’s not only the video, it’s also all the site graphics, product “package” and so. But because this product is not my #1 priority (I’ll get back to that in a moment) I have put this off for now. I guess that I will come back to this later in 2012 – I still think it’s a great product.

Lessons learned…

I’ve learned that when I do partnerships I really need to be the one being in control. I’ve helped out on a few projects where I was paid a percentage of the revenue. Not that the idea or implementation of that idea was bad, but I can just see that I work best when I’m calling the shots and can set the direction.

I can also see that I really need to focus on only one or two things at a time. I way too easily sidetracked and I certainly no stranger to the shiny objects syndrome. So that is why I’ve found it necessary to cut out a few projects and put other projects on standby for a period.

Bu what is my current focus then?!?

2012

I did “coach” a few people in 2011. Some people contacted me through this blog, while other people came from my network. This was mostly something I did without charging anything, basically because I’ve found out that I enjoy working with people, inspiring them to take action and help them pursue their own dreams.

So I thought why not do an online coaching program and be able to help even more people? I mean… I kind of tell people the same things anyway. And this way I might also make a little money at the same time, although I currently do not expect this to be my primary source of income. So I started in November creating the content, and I should have started recording videos in December, and while I did succeed in recording some of the content (two out of six core modules) most of the month went with our moving process.

So I’ll continue to record videos in January although also this month might go past quickly as our baby son is planned to be born in the beginning of January. Hopefully I will be done with the content in January and start the launch and marketing process in February. If you keep reading this blog and/or if you’re on my newsletter list, you’ll certainly hear more about it. Unfortunately I cannot reveal much more right now, however I can say that it’s all about following your passion, working less and enjoying life more…

So as you might see, I expect to have two membership site launches in the beginning of the new year!

Other news for 2012

I’m starting studying for a NLP Practitioner certification (that’s Neuro Linguistic Programming). I love to develop myself and learn new stuff, and being my own boss enables me to do these kinds of courses and events that a “normal” employer might not have found relevant for my line of work and therefore didn’t want to pay for or give me the time needed for it.

Also I’ve begun to brainstorm ideas for a book, it’s still way to early to say anything more about it, but I certainly hope that I will be able to write one in 2012. While it’s not so much of a goal because I’m still very unsure about the whole process so……

Argh… Who am I kidding… IF I DO NOT TELL MYSELF THAT IT’S A GOAL – IT PROBABLY WON’T GET DONE…. So.. infront of the entire world! I promise to write a book in 2012 (a real one… not “just” another ebook ).

You can hold me accountable!

So that was about it… What are your plans for 2012? Is this the year where you quit your job and pursue what you’re passionate about?