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Whoa, color me surprised - this has been a great two months! Really …

Just a few month ago, and throughout the summer, we were noticing that things were getting quite rough. Sales were down across the board, advertising costs were way up, and we were questioning … well, just about everything. The news was filled with negativity, yes, everyone spoke of the rebound coming …

I’ll be honest. I didn’t believe it! I still don’t believe it. We are simply NOT turned around. We are NOT over the hump, and I predict things are going to get a whole lot worse. I see the entire rebound we are currently experiencing as entirely irrational, and I urge great saving, and even greater caution, in the coming year.

That being said - I have to admit when I’m wrong. And, based on our own results, I have to say … We sold a lot of stuff this last two months. It’s like all of America seemed to buy into the “hype” of the ending recession, and started spending like mad. It’s out of control, and we did very, very well. I’m shocked (but very happy) …

And believe you me, this has a great impact on our upcoming January, where I predict things will continue to go gangbusters on the web … We are currently refining our strategies, and predict a stellar January! Beyond that though - we think the irrational exuberance is going to wane, and we see some tough times in 2010. While I can’t argue with our exceptional November and December results, I also, can’t really say we saw it coming. How long can this kind of spending continue?

No, I am not complaining. Just making note of the fact that the country has not dealt (at ALL) with the housing issue, foreclosures, or bank financing (like my small business maybe being able to get a LOAN to expand even faster). These are troubling problems, and stand in the way (I believe) of any true recovery.

That being said - to the victor go the spoils, and in this instance, as we’ve “figured out” internet business, we’ve been strong victors. So ends a crazy 2009, and what will almost assuredly be a crazier 2010 …

Lessons Learned: Spend Less!
-> We went crazy with adwords and landing page testing, and paid the price. I am an avid tester, and PPC buyer, but we overdid it, and we paid a heavy (six figure) price. 2010? We’re going to do LESS, but more targeted, PPC. Think … hand done SpeedPPC campaigns.

-> Focus, Focus, Focus … We’re going to greatly trim our niches, and where we focus our energies. We cut down 100 sites this year, and we plan to trim 200 more in 2010. That’s right. 200 sites, bye-bye. In fact, we’re going to give MarketingCrazy members first crack at buying these sites and domain names (for very cheap).

-> No More Buying Internet Marketing Courses! Ha - I’ve promised this before, but this year - no way. We’re going to create one, that’s going to blow everything else out of the water. To do that, we’re going to need to stop reading everyone else’s for a moment. Yep, that means I’m going to drop out of the 100+ email marketing lists for the following year. Yay!

In my next post, I’m going to detail the top 3 game changers of 2010, with regards to internet marketing, and I’m going to tell you our plans of how we’re preparing to deal with them. What are you three things you’re planning for 2010?