Happy New Year! I wish you and your family all the best, may 2014 be your best year yet!
Welcome to the 21st monthly update to AidanBooth.com!
This is an exciting time of year…a time when I like to plot a new path, set new goals, and also reflect on what happened in 2013. In today’s post I share a lot of “personal stuff”, and also look at some of the things I want to achieve in 2014.
Personal Milestones in 2013
For me personally, 2013 was a massive year…
I got married in April 2013 to Carolina, and December 18th marked 10 years together, two big personal milestones for us.
I was also fortunate to be able to continue travelling, something my wife and I are both very passionate about!
In 2013 we explored the breathtaking Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, had 2 weeks traveling through Vietnam, made our way up the Mekong River boat to lost temples in Cambodia, absorbed the breathtaking jungle scenery Laos, went diving in the Andaman Sea in Thailand, returned to San Francisco for the first time in 8 years, went to New York twice, and visit Steve in North Carolina, explored more of Argentina, and had Christmas with my family in New Zealand.
This is what it’s all about for me…having the freedom and flexibility to travel and enjoy life on OUR terms.
It’s what drives me to be a little better every day, and excites me every morning when I wake up.
FREEDOM and FLEXIBILITY
A Couple of my Personal Goals for 2014
Having the freedom to travel is one of the big reasons internet marketing appealed to me when I started out…it’s still our passion and in 2014 we’ll continue to do it. We’re moving to Paris in April where we’ll live for 6-9 months…maybe longer, it’ll be our “springboard” to exploring more of Europe – I can’t wait!
I’m also going to learn Italian! It’ll be one of my personal goals for 2014 and will probably be a good excuse to return to Italy…
Check out the “Think Bigger” video below if you’re interested to hear about more of my goals.
2013 On The Business Front…
2013 was very much a transitional year for me, some of the highlights include:
- Setting up a solid Kindle income stream (actually my wife did this). Thanks to BRIAN JOHNSON for his help!
- Connecting with more people via my Facebook page. I LOVE being able to instantly share with like-minded individuals, and Facebook makes it so easy! If you haven’t yet “LIKED” my Page, do it now so we can stay connected: http://www.facebook.com/aidanboothonline
- Strengthening my network of eCommerce stores…I’m still chasing down a big goal here…(more on that in the “Think Bigger” video further down the page)
- Merging my company with Tim Godfrey and Steve Clayton. This included a little restructuring, and continues to be an exciting learning curve (needing to be accountable to other people again for the first time in about 8 years!)
- Growing to having 22 full time employees including a team of 15 in Pakistan, and people who are dedicated to building the eCommerce side of our business in the USA (the great thing about internet marketing is that you can expand, or “stay small”, and STILL make a fantastic living online!).
- I also released some of my best work so far, three course I’m really proud of…my “post Panda, post Penguin” SEO program called “Page One Evolution”, I took on a small group of people through my “Your First $500 Online” program, and ended the year with a bang by launching “The Trinity Code” and the exciting “Crowd Force” software (finally being in control of my traffic!).
Business Goals for 2014
eCommerce is one of the “pillars” of our business and one of the areas I’m most passionate about. Without getting into specific numbers, we want to take our eCommerce stores to a new level in 2014, and get into using Amazon as part of our eCommerce strategy in a BIG way.
From an internet marketing training perspective, I’d LOVE to finally release an eCommerce training program showing you how you can build your own eCommerce business. Depending on how things go in the first 6 months of 2014, this is something I’d love to pursue later in the year (I get emails asking about eCommerce ALL the time!).
My wife will continue to grow our Kindle income, we’ve got some exciting ideas about how we can do that, hopefully I’ll be able to share them with you once they’ve had more thorough testing.
If you’re interested to learn more about how we set our goals for our business, let me know through a comment below, and if there’s enough interest I’ll make a blog post specifically about that.
A Comment About SEO & Google…
SEO changed a LOT in 2014, and the path ahead looks pretty clear now…I think it’s time we all realized that while Google is a great source of traffic and something everyone NEEDS to exploit, we shouldn’t rely on it exclusively. I’ve included a video further down the page that explains more (Steve Clayton filmed it a few days ago and it was originally released on our “12 Days of Christmas” blog).
As far as traffic generation is concerned, I HIGHLY recommend you consider tapping into non-Google traffic sources such as YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Forums and Blogs. The traffic IS there, you just need to funnel it back to your site! If you have access to Crowd Force, I STRONGLY recommend you use it as your #1 traffic generation and SEO weapon (it takes care of both for you)!
A Few Tips, Tricks & Hacks To Experiment With In 2014
In the past couple of weeks I’ve created several new videos about little tricks I use to run my business, and also about the way I continuously train myself to think…my mindset…
The videos are all short…about 4-5 minutes each, and I recommend you check them out if you haven’t done so already.
NOTE: These videos are part of our “12 Days of Christmas” giveaway. If you haven’t been getting notified about these videos or if you’re not yet in the draw to win the $10,000 in prizes, you can sign up here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/12days/
Here’s the content:
Think Bigger…
See the full story here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/2nd-day-of-christmas/ The 90:10 Rule
Find out more here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/6th-day-of-christmas/
The LAPP Productivity System
Read more here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/8th-day-of-christmas/ 21 Ways Rich People Think Differently Than ‘Average’ People PDF Download: Right Click Here & Select “Save As” To Download The PDF The original blog post is here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/4th-day-of-christmas/ The BIGGEST Change To Google Search In 20 Years
See more here: http://blueprintchristmas.com/5th-day-of-christmas/
What have you learned from 2013?
Have you thought about what you want to achieve both personally and in your business in 2014?
Leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Wishing you a MAGNIFICENT year in 2014!
Hi Aidan
Happy New Year.
Thanks for the 1st of the year post.
I am interested in hearing how you set goals. I would also like to hear how you stay on track with your goals if possible.
Also interested in hearing about your Kindle business.
Cheers and all the best
Hey Paul,
I’ll add goal setting and tracking goals to my list of topics to cover 🙂 I’ll be sharing a few tips about Kindle on my Facebook page soon, if you’re not already following that, you can do so by going to my page and clicking the “LIKE” button: http://www.facebook.com/aidanboothonline
Hi Aidan,
as a buyer of your products, I always find value in everything that you share. Thank you for the valuable tips and advice. I’ going to try to think bigger in 2014!
Robert
Thanks for the comment Robert!!! All the best for 2014!
Hi Aidan,
Love your work and passion even if I haven’t followed you as much as I would like.
In 2013 I learned that staying focused is the only thing that will bring results.
I have some similar goals like learning Italian (plans to move there someday), focusing on e-commerse (mostly Amazon) and working towards the end goal to have a flexible life and travel the world while making a good living.
Thanks for your inspiring post.
//Patrik
Hey Patrick, thanks for the comment! I think getting into eCommerce in 2014 is a very smart thing to do!
I would love to learn more about building ecommerce stores and would definitely buy a course on that. We are Trinity members and love the training and crowd force even though we haven’t quite cracked it yet so more training on something to diversify would be great.
Hi Patrick, we’re currently working on a few changes to Crowd Force and will have more videos coming your way soon 🙂
Hi Aidan,
very good goals, it’s good to mix personal and business goals. I’m Italian, if you need help with your “Italian journey” just write to me. 🙂
Hey Giulio, thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it!
Thank you for everything you’ve shared in the past few years, and helping out people like me reach their goals (heck, even taking the time and effort to create a template and mindset so I can craft goals in the first place!) I’m really appreciative of all you’ve done, and continue to do. Here’s to an even better 2014!
Hey Chris, no need to thank me, I really enjoy being able to connect with determined like-minded people like you!! All the best to a great 2014!
Hi Aidan,
If you are ever in the Southwest of France around Bordeaux this year 2014 drop me a line and we can have a glass or two or vin rouge around the pool.
Regards
Nick
Hi Nick, I may just do that! Would love to get to Bordeaux!
Hi Aidan,
Because of your thorough step by step teaching in the past, I would follow you again to learn more about eCommerce. I have actually done an eCommerce course but there remain huge gaps in my knowledge that needs to be addressed before I can move forward with this I feel.
Following are problems I encountered that blocked my progress in this area and I would love to see it addressed in a course if possible…
The wholesale/supplier area was a big problem for me. This I found especially a huge blocker as very few wanted to deal with a newbie on the scene… and based in Australia did not help… how can that be overcome?
Buying from China… to do or not to do… what are the problems or indeed advantages?
Payment options… what to use? As far as setting up a payment option with PayPal… which one to use? What is the cheapest way? What is the cost of the various systems? I was paying monthly fees once my site was setup and ready… but getting nowhere with my site… I could not get suppliers… so a cheaper option to start would have been better… is there a cheap option?
PCI Compliance… needs to be addressed… what is it? Who needs it? How do you get it done… where, who, how?
The above are the main concerns I had as someone totally new to the ecommerce scene and if you start a course that addresses those practical problems in your usual thorough teaching style then I would follow in a heartbeat.
Hi Linda,
You’ve definitely got lots to think about…here are a few tips for eCom:
1. Use just normal Paypal until you’re making regular sales, THEN look at a different merchant account.
2. Being based in Australia shouldn’t be an issue…I’m from NZ, but I have managed to do business well in the US. Get a US delivery address (I use Earth Class Mail), get an 800 number (I use Grasshopper), set up a US company (check out MyUSCompany.com if you need help), and just work through any other obstacles you come to.
3. For suppliers, do due diligence before getting into the niche…so you basically know you won’t have issues.
Hope this helps!
All the best for 2014!
Hi Aidan,
What a fantastic future, Paris/Italian ..incredible indeed. You are inspirational just reading your goals for 2014 and romantic. Paris…..a city for lovers on the top of the Eiffel Tower looking down on the city lights boats sailing tby on the Rhine, in the evening, wow exciting. Ive been To Paris 4 times and I love it.
Kia Kaha from New Zealand
Tim
Hi Tim, I’ve only been to Paris once, so I’ve got a lot to learn there!!! Happy New Year, kia kaha!
Thanks for the content and mil felicitaciones a los dos por casarse 🙂
Ecommerce, property buying/renting, skiing, travel… we share some interest haha
Thanks for all the videos here and the others with Steve, I’m implementing them now in my day to day 🙂
Jayen
Gracias! I’m glad you’re finding the videos useful!