Happy 2012 & Recap of My 2011 Goals

Happy new year everyone, happy 2012! It’s my favorite time of the year. If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know I’m always thrilled to share my goals for the new year around this time. Two years ago, I shared my 2010 goals and last year I shared my 2011 goals. Since I’m so big on goal setting, I want to make the process a bit more formal this year. In today’s post, I’m going to reflect on my progress towards my 2011 goals. In one of my next posts, I’ll share my 2012 goals. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned – my 2012 goals are quite different from my 2011 ones. In 2011, I had 5 main goals…

Goal 1: Continue To Set Myself Up For Vice President of Marketing

Finishing The Half Marathon

I’ve now been at the Director level for over three years. The last 2 years and 4 months have been at a large, publicly traded company. When I was exploring my current job opportunity, I actually had a VP level offer from a 60 person startup (now larger). This goal is not only about achieving VP (if I wanted to do that, I could have joined that startup 2 years and 4 months ago), it’s about achieving VP at a large company.

Going from Director to Vice President at a large company takes time. It takes persistence. More than anything, it takes the consistent delivery of stellar results. In 2011, I spent a considerable amount of time delivering stellar results while broadening my corporate scope. In my affiliate business, IJL Productions LLC, I have always employed a broad marketing strategy. I regularly leverage all online marketing channels and even a few offline ones. In 2011, I expanded the scope of my corporate focus. In addition to pay per click, I focused on the following channels in a major way: Landing page design, SEO, social media marketing, display, and other marketing channels.

I hit my goal in 2011 of continuing to stay the course, I’m setting myself up for VP at a large company. Moreover, I did a few other things in 2011 that position my career quite well.

Goal 2: Grow My Affiliate Marketing Revenue By 5x

Check out my Money Map and you’ll quickly understand my financial strategy. Affiliate marketing is absolutely critical to my long term strategy. In a nutshell: I’m building up passive income above and beyond the income from my job. I’m reinvesting that money in other passive instruments (such as Lending Club). Long term, the passive income will balloon out of control and fund my family’s life.

While I did not hit my ambitious goal of growing my revenue by 5x, I did increase revenues by 79%. Moreover, my margins were the highest ever. I expanded them from non-existent (I made a net investment in my business in 2010) to 67%, the benefits of an SEO-focused portfolio of websites. I’m quite happy with my results, but at the same time have much higher goals. Stay tuned for my 2012 goals, I will definitely be discussing this one!

Goal 3: Focus On Fewer Websites

Out of my personal website portfolio 120+ websites, I actively focused on about 5 of them in 2011. I believe that is one of the main reasons I grew my affiliate marketing revenue so dramatically. Looking back, I started seeing even better results in recent months due to a two site focus (PPC Ian and one of my authority websites). The end result: I achieved this goal.

Goal 4: Half Marathon, Here I Come

It all started with the 2010 San Carlos Fun Run. After that race, I was hooked and started running all the time. I quickly set my sights on the half marathon and, as you can see in the picture above, I did it! I completed the half marathon in 2011, a long-time personal goal. I ran a strong race (the “Run With The Jets” race at Coyote Point in San Mateo) and did not walk at all. After the race, I felt quite bad, but that’s because I did not hydrate properly. I learned the hard way that it’s all about hydration when preparing for something like this.

Goal 5: Great Vacations With My Wife

Nicole and I really enjoy Hawaii. We enjoyed the Hawaiian Islands each year for the last three years. In 2011, we had Major Fun Times In Maui. We really went all out and had a super vacation. In addition to Hawaii, we visited Las Vegas. Also, we just got back from a holiday vacation to Carmel. Goal achieved!

So, there you have it. I achieved 4 out of 5 goals, not bad! Stay tuned for my 2012 goals. I have some incredibly exciting things in store for 2012 and can’t wait to write about my plans. Also, my sincere thank you for reading and for your support. I’m wishing you an amazing and prosperous new year!

Image in this post of PPC Ian running © PPC Ian

Happy 2011! It feels like I was writing about my 2010 goals just yesterday. It’s truly amazing how quickly 2010 flew by. Looking back at my 2010 goals, I totally crushed them. Why? Two reasons: First and foremost I worked really hard. Second, I wrote them down. That’s right! I’m a huge proponent of writing your goals down. When you write them down, it’s a lot more likely they will come true. To that end, I have my biggest and most important goals written down on a small piece of paper that I carry around in my wallet everywhere I go. Moreover, I’m excited to write down my shorter term goals for 2011 in today’s blog post. I couldn’t be more excited and I’m wishing you a great and prosperous 2011!

Goal 1: Continue To Set Myself Up For Vice President of Marketing

Happy 2011

I wouldn’t be PPC Ian if I didn’t place my corporate online marketing career at the top of the list. After all, I’m the biggest advocate of the corporate online marketing career path around! I’m Director of Search Marketing at a large, public company, and I have my sights set even higher. 2010 was all about preparing myself for VP of online marketing. And, I did just that. 2011 marks more of the same, getting even closer to my goal of hitting the VP level. I couldn’t be more excited, the opportunity in the corporate online marketing world is unparalleled.

Goal 2: Grow My Affiliate Marketing Revenue By 5x

2010 was a great foundational year. I had the original goal of launching 6 websites, but I actually ended up launching about 80. It was truly crazy! Moreover, the original sites I launched in 2007 are firing on all cylinders. In short, I had a record year in terms of affiliate revenue. However, I’m setting my goals much higher for 2011 because I’ve figured out a system that works and have the history and foundation in place to make it happen. As such, I’m going for it: I want to 5x my affiliate marketing revenue (on a run-rate basis) by the end of 2011.

Goal 3: Focus On Fewer Websites

Goal 3 really ties into goal 2. 70% of my affiliate marketing revenue comes from my top website. If I want to scale my affiliate marketing revenue by 5x, I truly need to focus on my top websites because they offer leverage. In short, I want to focus on this top performing website and PPC Ian, spending no more than 10-20% of my affiliate marketing time (which is very low) on any other sites.

I’m writing this goal out because it’s going to be very difficult. I’m obsessed with domain names and have many in my portfolio with huge potential that are just waiting to be developed. I love developing new websites. However, this year it’s going to be all about focus in hitting my big goals. Also, I plan to rely on smart outsourcing to continue to develop my other websites with scale and efficiency.

Goal 4: Half Marathon, Here I Come

I really got into fitness and running in 2010. My wife and I consistently met with our personal trainer each and every week. Moreover, we consistently went to the gym and running. I’m in the best shape of my life. I even wrote on PPC Ian about how I ran the 5K San Carlos Fun Run. By the end of 2010, I built up to the 10K and ran two of them. 2011 is my year to run the half marathon and start building up to the full marathon. Running is so much fun: I come up with my best Internet marketing ideas while running.

Goal 5: Great Vacations With My Wife

It’s so easy to get caught up in the online marketing game. Between my amazing job and my affiliate marketing business, it’s easy to forget the big picture. Internet marketing is fun and addictive. In terms of keeping my eye on the big picture, I’m planning to take a multitude of great vacations with my amazing wife this year. The two at the top of our list include Hawaii and Las Vegas. We’ll probably end up going to Las Vegas multiple times. Fun times ahead!

So there you have it: My 2011 goals. I have them written down and now it’s time to start working towards them. What are your 2011 goals?