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How Much Is Your Time Worth?

How Much Is Your Time Worth?

Are you sick and tired of spending lots and lots of time tweaking that $50-$100 per day Facebook campaign of yours, knowing that scaling is almost impossible? Are you sick and tired of resubmitting ads again and again… and again? Maybe you’ve “outgrown” your campaign, if you will.

If you’re spending 10 hours each week working on a campaign which is only generating $350 – $700 bucks weekly even though there are more profitable projects which deserve your attention, something’s wrong. If another campaign of yours (let’s assume that it also requires an investment of 10 hours per week) is generating $3.5k – $7.5k weekly, doesn’t that tell you anything?

Yeah but Profit Is Profit… Right?

Wrong! Think about it this way: by keeping the $50-$100 per day campaign, you’re basically making $35 to $70 per hour and while that’s not bad if you’re struggling, it’s peanuts if you have the ability to run campaigns which make 10 times as much.

You’re only human and as a result, there’s only so much you can physically handle. A lot of people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk would give advice such as “keep all of your existing campaigns and, aside from that, work on new projects as well” but there’s just one small problem:

You’re Not a Robot!

If you’re not careful, it’s only a matter of time until you’ll burn yourself out and that’s just plain wrong. One of the best things about being an affiliate marketer is the fact that you are free to organize your schedule as you see fit. As a result:

**you can work on projects which are worth your time exclusively

**you have the freedom it takes to find the right balance between working and spending time doing the things you love (after all: all work and no play…)

**you’re able to take care of your health as well by not losing sleep as a result of being forced (by your job, for example) to wake up at 6 or 7 am each day (even if you only managed to get 4-5 hours of sleep): come on, what good will all of the money in the world do if you’re a wreck by the time you’re 40?

Seriously, you need to understand that time is your most important asset. You can make 10, 20 or 100 times more money next month but if you waste as little as a few minutes now, nobody’s going to give you that time back.

Taking It Too Easy vs. Burning Yourself Out

Taking It TOO Easy vs. Burning Yourself Out

This “being your own boss” thing is pretty complicated for one simple reason: you have complete freedom, you’re the only one in charge. If you feel like taking the day off because the sky is blue, you can do just that. If working like a maniac is your thing, nobody can stop you from working and working… and working.

Unfortunately, actions have short as well as long-term consequences. While it’s true that you have complete freedom when it comes to your schedule, it’s just as true that you’re the only one who has to assume responsibility when/if things go wrong.

Say What?

Think about it: if you decide to take it easy, you’ll probably have a great time initially. But if you spiral downwards into a trend which takes its toll on your productivity, it’s only a matter of time until you start making more money. Even if you think that you’ve done your job right when it comes to diversification, there are a lot of unpredictable things which can ruin everything. What if most or all of your major advertisers have to close shop as a result of a new bill or something similar? What impact would something like that have on your earnings?

On the other hand, burning yourself out isn’t a great solution easy. Sure, you might be able to pull it off for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months. But you’re only human, what happens if your body finally starts taking action with an “enough is enough” message? What happens if you can no longer physically sustain your schedule? Don’t let short-term gains dictate important decisions, always take the cons into consideration as well?

Ok, What’s the Solution?

No matter how hard some people try to hype time management products, they’re not always the solutions. You can read a motivational time management book today, feel great and energized for a couple of days and then bam… everything wears off and it’s back to the drawing board.

Nobody on this planet is in a better position to figure out the solution to your problems than you. Nobody. Period. Again: if you don’t let short-term gains (and yes, the short term gains associated with both taking it easy and working like a maniac are tempting) cloud your judgment, you’ll be just fine. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure these things out, seriously.