Ever hear the expression “never put all your eggs in one basket?”
It sounds like sage advice, but does it work? Can you build a profitable online business by diversifying?
Probably not. Diversification is a great strategy for someone who already achieved success. However, if you’re getting started, you should, as Andrew Carnegie says, “put all of your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.”
I know this goes against what many of you believe, but hear me out.
The Battle of Julu
When I first read Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, I stumbled on the fascinating story of General Xiang, a courageous Chinese general from more than 2,000 years ago.
“Who was General Xiang, and what does he have to do with online business,” you ask?
In 207 BC, General Xiang advanced the small Chu army towards Julu to wage war against the huge Qin army. After crossing the river, he had his troops burn the ships and destroy all but 3 days of supplies, which successfully eliminated any chance of retreat.
Since the Chu army of 30,000 was about to fight the Qin Army of 300,000, you might think Xiang was crazy. However, the results tell a different story. Xiang’s army won nine consecutive battles, and then opposing Qin army surrendered.
What happened here? The theory is, since the Chu army had no other option, they had to win and their fighting demonstrated it. In other words, they put all their eggs in one basket and watched that basket.
Online, it’s no different. When you’re getting started, working on several projects sounds good. However, the odds are against you. Many more people fail at creating a profitable online business than succeed. If you want to be one of the few who do succeed, you’ll need that laser focus you develop when you have no other option. So, focus on one project at a time.
The 10,000 Hour Rule
You’ve heard about the 10,000 hour rule (it was made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers). K. Anders Ericsson discovered that elite music performers—more specifically classical violinists—all had one thing in common and it was at least 10,000 hours of practice before becoming a professional.
Again, online it’s no different. If you want one project to succeed, you must put in enough hours. And how do you expect to put in enough hours if you have 4 different projects? The short answer is, you can’t.
For example, when I first got started online, I tried building several different blogs—a fashion blog, a fitness blog, a celebrity blog, and a dating blog. For the first 4 months, I floundered. Nothing was working.
Then, it hit me! In March 2006, I decided to focus on the celebrity blog. Shortly thereafter, my site grew exponentially, and within a year, I was generating several million pageviews each month.
Why did focus work? Well, when I was attempting to build several blogs, I spent the bulk of my time writing content, which meant I wasn’t marketing my content. Once I spent less time writing content and more time marketing my content, it paid dividends.
Let’s say you think you’re able to spend enough time writing and marketing your content. Should you still focus on several different projects at once? The answer is still no. Unless your site is self-sustaining—does not require daily effort from you—you should push yourself to work on just one site.
The Power of Deliberate Practice
Remember, if you want to succeed online, you’ll probably need to log thousands of hours. And in most cases, it’s not just busy work so you can’t put in 16 hour days to make it work. Instead, you’ll have to push yourself each day and that can be exhausting. Geoff Colvin, in “Talent is Overrated,” calls this deliberate practice.
What qualifies as deliberate practice for a blogger? Here’s a list:
- Do you write content? Learn how to make it better.
- Need people to promote your products? Craft personal pitches to specific people (mass templates won’t work).
- Want higher search rankings? Spend time building links or learning about other aspects of SEO.
- Need your next article to go viral? Stop thinking its luck and discover how to create viral content.
This is obviously a short list, and it’s not complete. However, if you’re building a website, you know what you have to do. The advice doesn’t change. You just need to put the time in.
How to Log Hours in Seconds
10,000 hours is a ridiculous amount of time. As a matter of fact, it’s so much time that it may discourage some of you. Don’t worry, though. There’s a way to log 10,000 hours without actually putting in that much time, or in other words, you can log hours in seconds.
“Whoa, what are you talking about” is probably what you’re thinking, right?
Instead of logging the hours yourself, you can borrow time. Instead of spending 1,000 hours building an audience from scratch, borrow an audience from someone else (guest posting, for instance).
What if you need help increasing your conversion rates? Find expert content on the subject and devour it. Someone else already spent the time doing the research, now you need to implement it.
The Bottom Line
Put all of your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket. You have 10,000 hours to log before you succeed, and spreading yourself too thin will prevent you from building a profitable online business.
What’s your story? How many projects do you work on?
Photo Credit: wwworks
If you enjoyed this article, join 28,204 others and get free email updates!
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article. Just wish it had a tweet this button so I could share it
I added the tweet button now!
Great Article Derek. Just tweeted
Did hear the burning ships story but some referred that to Napolean.
I agree. I’ve tried diversifying my projects and honestly it’s really difficult. One project always takes priority (the one I like more). I’ve found that while I’m busying building a readership for one, I don’t have enough creative energy to find topics to write about for other blogs. So I have just decided to focus on one at a time.
Great great post. Thanks for writing this.
Your welcome.
wonderful the diy themes are awesome, and i agree, i have found myself all over the place having internet deslexia.
focus focus, i thought i could vow to not look at my email for a week and see how much more actual work i could get done.
Hi Derek,
Love your article, focus is a key element we usually forget about.
Many complaint about having “too many things to do”, but it is
ultimately us the ones that can make the difference.
One trick I use everyday is to write a list of things I want to have ticked off by the end of my day. Works for me give it a try!
So, Derek? How do you recommend cash flowing that basket while the family needs to be fed and the 10,000 isn’t producing income?
When you’re doing the internet on the side, you obviously need to keep your full-time gig for cashflow. What I’m pointing out in this article is this: most people who start websites, start several websites. And then when their first idea does not work, they start more websites. They change their domain, they change their topics, and overall, they don’t focus on one project.
How can you get to that 10,000 and work a job? Well, do it like Leo Babauta. When he started Zen Habits, he spent all his free time working on it. He spent his lunch break writing articles. He woke up before his family (it’s huge) to write articles. It’s tough, but it worked.
Also, you can borrow time, as I suggested. When you’re working full-time, borrowing time is how you can log hours in seconds. Borrow an audience to grow yours and you should be set.
I agree – success doesn’t happen overnight. You need to put in the time and effort, without immediate compensation, to build it into something that is successful in the future. The future may be a month from now, six months from now, or even a year from now. But hardwork always pays off.
hey Derek – you might want to rewrite that line, “You have 10,000 hours to log before you succeed.”
Let’s see… given a 40-hour work week, that’s (10,000/40=) 250 full-time work weeks.
With 2 weeks ‘vacation’ a year, you’re suggesting 5 YEARS before someone will “succeed.”
Not overly inspiring.
And not too logical to apply the 10,000 hour axiom to online success.
Just saying…
It is logical. Realize this, blogging specifically requires a few different skill-sets. First, you need to learn how to write. Most people already know how to do that, so they already logged those hours. Improving their writing will take a few hours. Also, as I suggested, you need to borrow time from other people. Why spend time building an audience from scratch when you can guest post and borrow someone else’s hard-earned audience?
@Jeff @Derek 5 years before a business becomes successful is not unusual, I think you made a very good point Derek.
In any case, I think it is not the exact numbers that count here, but Derek’s message and he is right. For any starting entrepreneur – not only online – it is important to focus and get one or maybe a couple of very good products going at first, before building further and diversify.
It will also help you to put our roots down and build a strong brand and image. If you diversify from the start, your (client) networks may get confused, unless there is a clear vision and message that links the various brand/product stories.
Derek, thanks for your blog, I am glad I stumbled upon it. When I started as an independent consultant two years ago I could have positioned myself as an allrounder, but decided to specialize first before going wider again in the future. There are enough allrounders at junior positions in big agencies, but having sound knowledge of something specific that is new and upcoming, makes me more competitive and marketable.
This is great stuff! It’s so tempting to work on several things at once because of a misconception that the results will be multiplied accordingly. This was a timely reminder to watch one thing until it becomes self-sustaining. Thanks for sharing it!
G’Day Derek,
You are absolutely right. A very specific business focus and a narrowly defined target market are essential for business success. Toys’R'Us used to be a small department store chain. They decided to concentrate on toys. You know the rest
I’m no marketing expert. But I’ve learnt enough about marketing after 32 years in business to realize the importance of focus and a clear target market.
Since I took my business online in 2008, one thing has fascinated me: the number of so-called internet marketers who want to distract you with all sorts of get rich quick businesses that fly in the face of the narrow focus concept.
Enjoy Christmas,
Regards
Leon
Great article, Derek.
Loved the story of General Xiang & think burning boats is a great way to greet the New Year SO have a great 2011
Always a good idea to dispose of the clutter and rubbish as well your means of escape as well!
Andrew
Wow. The timing of this article is perfect! I have two websites. Last year, it was my goal to develop both and felt I could do it. Well, guess what? Neither received that much attention from me because I couldn’t decide which one to focus upon. It’s still difficult but I may be inching closer to one over the other. I got my first client this year with the one site (a side copywriting/graphic design business) versus a craft hobby site. I just don’t want to let go of a domain.
As I gear up for my 2011 strategy, I will take your words to heart. Thanks so much for helping me focus.
Derek, great article, it tells my story to a “t”. Trying to do 4 or 5 projects at the same time which only produces 50% results on all of them.. Quite timely actually.. The 10,000 hours is a good point as well. Everyone online is either looking for an expert or looking to become one. The expert status must be earned in my opinion which means you have to do your hours of hard slog to earn the right..I tell my kids when they practice their activities that to become good at something you have to do it 100 times..Perhaps I should listen to my own rhetoric…your article was a good reminder of that.. thank you.
Great advice! As I was reading I kept thinking about all the projects I have going and how I can “shelf” a few to focus on the main ones.
*retweeted!
Good work Derek, way to make me feel like a sh*t face! Now I have to make hard decisions… a-hole.
o_0
Sorry Chase, heh. It’s so easy to focus on a bunch of different things, but you already know how I feel about that. This post shows that
. Also, I think we talked about this on Google Chat that day, too!
Good post.
I started one business on the side (hustling, full time job still) and then another.
The one that started generating an ROI then started naturally getting all my attention and kind of is self sustaining now (apart from needing a weekly post and new ebooks etc).
The first one now is my focus.
I agree re: eggs in one basket, for the bulk of work.
Tim M
Super post, Derek!
I’ve worked with a lot of classical and jazz musicians and yes, it does take a lot of work and talent to be able to step out from the crowd. It also takes grit and being savvy enough to create great content while finding the right readers to share it with.
I believe in working smart so you don’t have to work quite so hard, and would love to see your perspective on what you’ve done that has turned ‘x’ amount of energy or effort and have it morph into ‘xyz!’
Thanks,
Julia Hidy
Derek,
Thanks for the really great article!
I did something similar to you. Although I created one blog, my focus was on 6 major topics of health, wealth, relationships, self-development, fun and adventure. I knew being in a niche was important before I started but wanted to create a “Massive Blog”
As you can see these are all major top level niches. I was all over the place with no focus.
A really important INSIGHT to point out is that if your not already fairly educated, skilled or have some good experience or knowledge of your topic your going to be studying and synthesizing your topic which will take time away from marketing and lots of other stuff. Not to mention if your topics are all over the place you’ll drive yourself nuts learning multiple topics, marketing multiple topics, synthesizing multiple topics, etc..
Although I haven’t done this yet, I’m thinking of just changing my URL or brand slightly to more reflect ME and tighten up the focus to more Adventure. I want to have a blog on Adventure, Fitness and Entrepreneurship.
Derek, If I want to focus on those three areas, how do I grow it while keeping the focus on just one area. To me it doesn’t make sense to just blog about fitness or just about Adventure.
When I think of this I’m reminded of these 2 things stories Brendan Burchard talks about :
1. Digging For Gold in the Field of Opportunity – most start digging for gold, stop digging, start, stop, get a new tool dig some more, and there’s all these half dug holes with no gold. All the holes with no Gold reveal something, that there’s no depth to your mastery or hole because you didn’t dig deep enough to get to the gold. You can’t just keep trying stuff and not make the choice of mastering something. And you only move on to master something else once you’ve experienced success at what you originally decided.
2. Ultimately all experts if you start in a niche and your successful you’ll broaden out to lifestyle topics
So, what’s the strategy to have a blog on 3 main themes that all relate to each other, but only mastering one of them at a time. Kinda mind boggling…
What are your thoughts Derek…
Thanks, Curt
You’re right, but unexpected things do happen. And I guess I can put enough hrs if I knew what I am going to do. That’s the reason I don’t blog enough, I think that what I am going to put is already on other sites.
How do you deal with this feeling?
Nice post Derek!
Another thing to consider is passion. If you have multiple projects that you’re interested in, don’t just pick the one that has the most “money-making potential”.
Pick the one that you’re most PASSIONATE about.
If you go into something just for the “money”, you won’t stick with it as long as you would with something that you’re truly passionate about. There are going to be ups and downs in any project you take on, and having a project you’re truly interested in and passionate about helps when you’re faced with adversity.
Not to mention it’s just funner to work on something you’re always engaged and passionate about
.
We all have several interests, but I believe it’s key to pick the project you’re truly PASSIONATE about and then get that “laser focus” like you said.
Cheers,
Parin
I agree in finishing what you start BUT it’s critical not to start at all until you have properly researched the opportunity. What happens is that someone has an idea and leaps straight into creating a business/site only to have another, apparently better, idea a couple of months later so they abandon the first for the second, and so on.
If you research first and make sure there is money in your idea then there’s a clear target in mind and benefit in finishing the project.
I’m a great believer in having multiple sources of income (I have 4) but each should be built and secured before you begin work on the next.
Nice post Derek
The one proviso to focusing solely on one site is the danger of it being sandboxed.
I focused in on one niche site for several months only for it to be sandboxed by Google at which point it became prudent to limit marketing & internal links to 2 or 3 external links a day. At times like this, you then have spare time to market one of your other sites. Some sites can be sandboxed for anything from 3 days to 9 months (if you are unfortunate).
I would suggest giving your ‘parked’ niche sites some link love from time to time just so they stay in Google SERPs.
R
Google just doesn’t sandbox websites for no reason. If you’re actively trying to game SEO, that’s possible. However, if you’re focusing on building your business—write content, guest blogging, lead generation—without doing anything shady, you should be fine.
Hi Derek,
Derek Semmler sent me this post and I know why. We learned the hard way the same thing you learned – that there simply is not enough time to focus on and promote multiple blogs. I have a suggestion that will benefit many people. Instead of giving up on your other sites what we really need to do is collaborate.
For example, Derek and I have many blogs already installed and seasoned and I have focused on building collaborations and influence online, so what we need now is a partner for each one. If every blog had a writer who was passionate about that subject who did not have to learn the technical upkeep (because Derek handles that) or start from scratch building a way to promote (because I can do that), they could focus on consistent quality content.
Why should bloggers have to know how to install WordPress or update their Theme or do graphic design? They don’t – IF they have someone else to handle those things for them. But every blog needs a passionate writer to “drive that bus” and collaborators who love to promote what they write!
I would love to hear from anyone who is interested in collaborating. We have a couple of blogs that could easily be making money IF we could find a passionate writer for each one. Desire is more important than experience. If you’re trainable you can learn just enough to get going and add to your skills as you work.
Derek,
Great post. I stumbled across this at exactly the right time. I’m sitting on three sites, a main site and two “projects.”
Maintaining all three has got to GO and your article I believe has put me over the top on the decision of what to do now.
preciate it
if you’re going to use the example of a celebrity blog that was getting millions o f clicks per month, you should provide the name so that we can evaluate your example better
Does the celebrity site really matter? No. I could have provided it, but that would have been a distraction. The main point of the article is this: if you’re just getting started online, don’t spread yourself too thin. This includes checking out unrelated links like a random celebrity blog.
Great post Derek! Very, very inspiring. I’ve been floundering around trying to start 2 sites at the same time and getting nowhere. Your post has helped me to change my focus. Thanks again!
We’ve all been there.
Good post. Focusing on the job at hand is half-battle won.
A more appropriate title for this post could be “Why you Should Not Ride Several Horses At A Time” !
Incidentally, I`d put more importance on quality of idea and execution than a 10,000 hours rule. There was just a blog featured in the New York Times that`s become extremely popular in the last month it was launched. It was hugely popular before the Times article. It touched a chord with readers…
Incidentally, here’s an example where you fail to mention the blog name that became popular. Weird.
Also, for the record, I deleted your other comments for being unnecessarily rude and obnoxious.
I purposely left off the blog name to show you how it feels. The reader needs to be able to evaluate the example you refer to.
By the way, as for your deleting one comment, I don’t see how I’m being rude by calling you out for having something to hide by not providing the name of the site. It’s basic psychology and you’re the one who claims to understand psychology. It was also a legitimate point that the celebrity blog Chris Pearson was a part of didn’t become successful so if that’s the blog you were referring to…I don’t see why it’s rude to mention that
However, you could have just deleted my comment. By calling me out for being “rude” you’re being aggressive
I guess I should thank you
With the screen shots I’ve taken of your aggressive behavior, I’m going to write a blog post about how not to run an internet marketing business and use you as an example.
Was it “Celebrity Hack” you were getting millions of clicks on per month? Given your association with Pearson I’ll assume it was unless you correct me by providing an example.
It wasn’t CelebrityHack.com, it was another site, and still does not help convey my point. Instead, let’s take a look at the comment you left:
“referring to an example without providing a name is just unprofessional writing…don`t make assumptions about what your readers want or could find useful…I suggest you head back to the psychology backs.”
So, when I gave you my reasons for excluding the url, you suggested I head back to the psychology books (or so I thought, you wrote backs), and called my writing unprofessional. In general, we don’t tolerate name calling, whether it’s against me or anyone else in the comment section. If you merely asked for an example, in a polite way, I wouldn’t have deleted the comment, and instead, I would have provided you with the URL.
To anyone else who’s interested in the url, please feel free to email me. I’ll gladly provide you with it.
Love, love, love the idea of “borrowing time.” And that’s why I’m here!
calling someone “unprofessional” is not name calling.
If you don’t tolerate name calling in the comment section, why did you call me “rude” and “obnoxious” and also say my comment (that was consistent with your practice) was “weird”
I really needed to read this tonight but of course I still don’t know how I’ll decide WHICH of my projects to continue with. I know one thing though – if I’d picked the right focus and the right domain in 2008 when I first started blogging, I’d really have something by now. Instead, all I have is quite a lot of experience at buying domains and installing WordPress! Thanks for this post – sometimes we need to have someone else point out to us what we didn’t want to admit to ourselves!
Derek,
Just wanted to say thanks.