Let’s face it – there are so many new marketing tactics and strategies coming out every day that no one has time to learn everything.
Even by specializing in a certain niche, you have to ask yourself: “Is what I have to offer always going to be in demand?”
Chances are, different methods will come and go, and you’ll have to learn something new.
When that happens, rather than dreading the process, you can make it easy and streamline what and HOW you learn.
No matter what you’re attempting, whether it’s building a business, learning a sport, understanding a new language – anything, it can only be done in three ways:
- Studying
- Observing
- Doing
Now, you WON’T get results if you spend all your time studying, all your time observing, or all your time doing. Each one of these methods has its own inherent flaws.
In school, you probably spent a great deal of time studying. That ties in nicely with our natural comfort zone, since the body resists actual CHANGE. But learning everything there is to know about marketing will simply make you a “jack of all trades” and master of none.
You want to find one or two things, and completely MASTER them.
So instead, divide your time up as follows:
- 25% of your time should be spent studying – That means watching videos, participating in webinars, listening to audiobooks – whatever it takes to learn the basics and new developments.
- 25% of your time should be spent observing – This means watching the experts in your field and seeing what they do. If you want to be successful, observe successful people.
- 50% of your time should be spent doing – This involves the actual process of TAKING ACTION – where most people get “analysis paralysis” because they’re worried they won’t be smart / old / young / good enough. Forget about that and just start DOING.
Want to be an expert in search engine optimization? There are plenty of ways to ethically build up your ranking – backlinks, video marketing, blogging, social media, etc, but you don’t have to know all of them to do well. Most people only halfheartedly attempt one or two, but never truly master them.
Whatever it is you decide to do – start now and divide your time up as 25-25-50 for studying, observing and doing, and you’ll be able to hit that coveted six-figure-income because, unlike your peers, you’ll be IN DEMAND. People will start to seek out your unique skill-set.
They’ll want to work with YOU because you’ve:
- Learned the basics of succeeding
- Watched what other successful people in your industry are doing
- Took action on what you learned and observed and achieved success
By dividing up your time correctly, you’ll also enjoy other side benefits like the ability to get more done, and retain more of what you learned, while boosting your productivity.
Try it for a few days and watch how much more you’re able to accomplish.
And please share your opinion on the 25-25-50 rule by leaving a comment below.
Thanks.
Comments 24
Great add-on to the 80-20 rule. Use them both, and you will definitely make it, and faster!
Great share Alex. One of the most difficult hurdles that any novice or even veteran Internet Market encounters….is time/productivity management. Your post is SOLID and ACTIONABLE information for anyone trying to succeed in any entrepreneurial business. Once again, thanks for the valuable info and I recommend that anyone who needs help in their time/productivity management, should put Alex’s advice to work immediately!
Author
You’re welcome Travis,
And yes, poor time management is one of those things that can cripple your business.
GREAT POST. WE SO MANY INFORMATION OUT THERE, I GET OVERLOAD
Author
Hi Luis,
And that’s why it’s so important to have a system like this in place.
Very well constructed and nice post..hope it helps my focusing and TAKING ACTION.
Arigato!
Hi Alex,
Great sharing !
You Wake up me now.
Will use 25-25-50 method from now.
Thank you
Great post Alex,
I’ve put it on my own website as a post (with a link back to you, of course)
Now if only I could force myself to put it ineo practice!
Author
Thanks Peter,
You must make the decision of applying it and then make it a habit.
Great advice Alex! This is great advice for learning and life in general. There’s so much stuff out there and you can get caught up in just “reading” and not doing.
Author
Hi Maximo,
And the DOING is the most important part.
All the knowledge in the world is useless to you if you don’t apply it.
I really llike this post and something that I will go away and implement.
I realise now that I have my percentages the wrong way round and need to spend more time taking action.
It is very true that all the learning in the world is useless unless you take action.
Thanks for putting things in their proper perspective.
Nice one Alex. Always a good reminder. I think one of the biggest challenges is to sift through all the information and decide what to pay attention to and what to ignore. I doubt I am alone in this.
For instance it took me years of buying and trying various tools before I came across yours.
Author
Thank you Martin,
Observing what the successful people in your niche are doing can help you with the challenge of deciding what to pay attention to. You should always pay more attention to what “they” are paying attention to.
Hi Alex,
Man, that is a great post and so right on the money. I am certainly guilty of all the things you talked about. I sometimes catch myself watching and reading just about all day and not getting anything else done.
I am going to put your 25-25-50 rule to work today. I even printed it out and taped on my monitor to remind me.
With your permission, I am going to post in on one of my blogs and of course I will link back here.
Herschel Lawhorn
Author
Hi Herschel,
Of course you can post this on your blog.
Great stuff Alex. I tend to get stuck in one mode or the other – but the one that I feel I most often fail on is the “DOING” one – which you have correctly put as the one you should spend most your time in.
I am going to put your ratio to work and let you know the results.
Thanks for the great post.
Hey Alex…
Interesting ideas – and while the percentages may be subject to discussion, definitely reflects the three main facets of the learning process.
While I totally agree with you and I KNOW it is correct, *I* like all of us, I suspect… struggle to balance these things properly, when there is no plan in place.
Whenever I am in ‘surfing mode’ online, I end up learning new things, that I never get to apply, maybe, but I can – from then on – easily observe being used by others.
The key here is WHEN one decides to do it consciously, to draw an action plan with specific goals. And spruce it with small tasks all the way through… (that covers the usually over-stepped third part).
Great topic, it deserves an indepth discussion, imho…
Cheers,
Steve ✉ Master eMailSmith ✉ Lorenzo
Chief Editor # eMail Tips Daily Newsletter
Author
Thanks Steve,
Yes, you’re right… The most important thing is to become aware of the time we spend doing each of these 3 things and make a plan to balance them out in a way that will help us to be constantly learning but also taking action – because if we don’t put it into action what we learn usually goes to waste.
Hi Alex,
Good time management and prioritizing tips are always a good to find. However study and observe are so closely related they could almost be twins.
Thanks for the article.
Author
Hi Kimberly,
What I mean by observing is to figure out what the top earners in your niche are doing, what is working for them, how are they getting more leads and making more sales, etc.
Great post Alex. Good reminder to quit procrastinating and just DO!
Hey Alex,
Awesome post Alex! I can’t agree more… Just like you said, if we want to have more, we have to become more.. While studying the roots, others are gathering up all the fruits.. What I do and I know this will help others to take action more, while driving and before I go to bed, I use that time for personal and business development.. This way, when I’m in front of the computer, the majority of my time is taking action.
Hope that helps and let’s do it!
Eric Rosen
Author
Hey Eric,
Love the quote… “While studying the roots, others are gathering up all the fruits”
And yes, using the time you spend on your car to listen to educational material instead of music is a great idea.