I’ve spend a lot of time lately thinking about 2009 and what I should focus on. “focus” is really the right word here as I think spending 3 hours a day on 1 or 2 projects is much better than spending the same 3 hours on a hundred different projects. Otherwise, you don’t get anything done. So, I am sharing with you guys my plan for 2009. Don’t confuse plan with goals as I feel they are two completely different things.

The local business

It is weird, but while most people try to go from an offline business to an online business, I am kind of trying to do the opposite. In fact, I see HUGE potential in helping small and medium businesses succeed or position themselves online. I think small companies using the Internet to promote their business  will literally explode in the coming years and I want to jump into that market. Well, this is true for where I live in Canada, I don’t know about your local market.

With Internet and social medias, the way you build and promote a business has changed a lot in the past years and helping small businesses take the turn really drives me. I mean, I really feel the potential. There was a time a couple of years ago when you just needed a website to promote your business online, but now things have changed and are a bit more complex than that. You need a strategy with that website, you need to target keywords you want to rank for in Google, you need to spread the word using social medias, etc. It doesn’t cost a lot of money or doesn’t require out of this world skills, but small/medium and even large corporations don’t know where to start.

I always try to focus on projects that depend on me and not on another business/third party. I love making money using AdSense for example, but if for whatever reason in 10 or 15 years AdSense or Google doesn’t exist anymore, what will I do? I know we can’t imagine a world without Google or AdSense, but just look at how fast things are moving in this business. This is just an example as I think Google will still be around in 10 years from now, but they are already experimenting with social rankings (rankings influenced by the end user) and I don’t see building websites strictly for AdSense being a viable lifetime project for me for that very specific reason. The 35 years old mother will have more impact on the rankings in the coming years and that’s why I think a lot of people will lose if they don’t build websites for people. Don’t get me wrong here, I do it and will continue to do it, but they always say don’t put your eggs all in the same basket, right?

That was just an example, but I think it expresses very well why I am driving projects that make money because of me. The local business is a great opportunity not only to build my personal brand, but also to build a REAL business. That is the perfect way for me to use what I know about Internet Marketing in real life scenarios with real people and real businesses.

I am already working on my first contract, business cards are on the way and I’m also working on my website for this business. I am serious about it and it will be a great and fun challenge for me in 2009.

Doing what I’ve studied for

Another reason why I want to merge my online and offline businesses is to put everything I’ve learned all together. I will be graduating in December next year and honestly, I want to put that almost 5 years computer engineering degree to good use. I’ve learned SO MUCH in the past year online when it comes to Internet/social medias strategies and I feel like there’s something great I can do with that and my computer knowledge.

You see, that computer engineering degree is about building software, hardware, managing projects & teams and all that kind of stuff , so I can offer complete solutions to customers/companies when it comes to building their brand online. I can build whatever website they need and also code whatever they need. Whether they need a custom solution to take orders online or a Wordpress based solution, I can do it on top of the online strategy plan. My goal is to focus a lot more on the online strategy plan, but I can still do whatever is needed when it comes to coding/building websites.

The online business

I love doing business online and will continue to do so! I will continue to blog, build new websites, flip websites and increase AdSense revenues because it pays the bills and also because I love it. But, as I said, I will really try to merge the online business with the offline business and create the perfect business opportunity for me.

Joint ventures

Yep, some really nice and interesting joint ventures are on the plate for 2009, but this is a big secret! Honestly, I can feel some great things will come out of these joint ventures, but unfortunately, I can’t talk about them now. Stay tuned!

frogstr

I love this blog, you guys and the community here, so you can be sure frogstr is a big part of my 2009 strategy. It is incredible the people I’ve met this year because of this very specific blog and the relationships I’ve built. I have good plans to turn the blog into a stronger community and you will see the changes very soon. I also want to put the focus on you guys and not just on me so I have a small project where you will be able to answer questions and share your personal experiences on some Internet Marketing subjects. I think it will be great!

I will also introduce the “reputation” concept instead of the “top commentators” concept. Why is that? Because I’ve seen a couple of times on this blog and a lot of times on other blogs people showing up, dropping a comment on the last 10 posts and then they never came back. Well yes, they come back the month after around the same date just to be a top commentator again. As I said, this didn’t happen very often here as I have a solid community, but I don’t feel the top commentator plugin always rewards the right persons. Comments aren’t about the quantity, it’s about the quality.

I will have a great offer in January for you guys to get business cards CHEAP. I always talk about small things add up and make a difference in the end when it comes to branding and business cards are part of that, so I got you a nice deal! I would like to make more of that kind of stuff during 2009.

Am I planning to monetize frogstr any further? I don’t make my money online with this blog and I don’t really plan to. I mean, I will keep the 125×125 banners, but it is more a place for me to share my knowledge and experiences.

That’s about it

This is what I will try to focus on in 2009. I guess what really stands out in this plan is to build my personal brand locally, build the frogstr community and some awesome joint ventures. And don’t get me wrong when I say I want to work on a local/offline business, this online stuff is still REALLY important for me and will still be very active. I will just watch less T.V. Let me know what you think!