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IBM 49 | Time Travel with the Iconoclasts of the 9-5: Four Things that We Would Do Differently if We Could Start Over Again

02 Oct 2008 Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen) 8 Comments


In this episode of Internet Business Mastery, we talk about four things that we would do differently if we could start over again.  Plus we have a great tool that allows you to do simple market research with Twitter.

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What do YOU Think?

  • If you could go back and start your business over again, what would you do differently?

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8 Comments Leave a Comment


It’s great that you guys are focusing on the businesses you really care about now (and that we’re getting two new podcasts a month, on top of the academy offerings :).

I’m also in the process of cutting out some of the sites I have that either aren’t big earners or that I’ve lost interest in, so I can identify with that. I do think I had to start several in the beginning though in order to figure out which ones would become winners, so I don’t really regret not having focused on just one to start.


This episode really hit home for me. Last month, when I commented on your bold action post, I said I had made written plans/notes to start six businesses based on ideas I had. Well, naturally, what you guys said about a bunch of businesses and “pet projects” was a nice little wake up call for me. Thinking about it now, I realize that my focus would be spread so thin, even if I only did two or three projects at a time. Even if I did one at a time, I would still be thinking about the next thing, spreading my focus too thin.

Listening to this episode has really brought my focus on track. Even though I think I would enjoy doing some of that stuff, I really need to focus on my primary business objectives. Just because I would enjoy something, and just because something “may” be a good idea, doesn’t mean I should spend my time and energy on it. Thank you for helping me see what should have been obvious.

As far as my own business is concerned, I would definitely do things differently. For example, I would have a plan that was less hap-hazard, write that plan down, and develop a tight focus for it. I started before I was ready — way before — and I’m kind of glad I did. I started my business basically by the seat of my pants, and it’s been an interesting ride. I’m sure it would have been more interesting if I had focused just a little bit. Maybe then I would have better cash flow.

Thanks again for a great episode. You got this stubborn guy to face the truth. Now I’ve got a lot of thinking and planning to do.


I just listened to this podcast and some of the things you mentioned really hit home.

If I had it to do over again I would develop my own product as quickly as possible and wouldn’t have wasted so much time searching for the next big thing.

I now realize that I had everything that I needed to start. I won’t tell you how much time I wasted on insignificant, trivial details (because its slightly embarrassing).

This also caused a doubly whammy of what I call the inertia penalty. For every hour, week or month that you put something off out of fear it becomes that much harder to take the action that you should have taken.

For all of you just getting started in internet marketing whatever you’re doesn’t have to be perfect. Get it made and start selling it.

Kevin C.
Helicopter Pilot Careers
Airplane Pilot Careers
Edge On Motorcycling


Just started listening to the show. Great stuff. I would +1 focusing. Having a bunch of businesses may seem like it would give you a higher chance of success but in reality it just keeps you from getting anything done. Better to start something and fail early so you can either adapt or dump it.

Also, you were talking about creating procedure lists. It sounds like yours are pretty much done. But for those who don’t, we make a tool that makes it really easy to create them, especially when you are working with people remotely. The program is called ScreenSteps. You can do a search on twitter and see what people have said about it. It makes it dead simple to create visual, step-by-step procedure lists.

Thanks for the show.


[...] spoke of their various life goals and how they set up their business to make those things happen. Episode #49 talked about their big mistakes and what they would do differently if they were starting from [...]


[...] looking for some honest-to-goodness tips and advice, go listen to the experts, Jay and Sterling at Internet Business Mastery. They have a great blog with an an active community and a highly informative podcast jam-packed [...]


Hey guys, I have a question about your toolbox and the latest podcast. You mention your 1shoppingcart account, but list aweber and automatesales for your shopping cart in the toolbox. Doesn’t 1shopping cart do it all, and have you just not gotten around to changing your links? I would prefer to have all my stuff in one place!
Thanks for the help guys!


1shop and automatesales are the same company. Aweber is FAR superior to ishopping carts autoresponders. We are using 1shoppingcart autoresponders with the Academy and wished we weren’t. The shopping cart and affiliate program are great, just the AR isn’t even a tenth of what Aweber is…

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