How I Plan to Grow My Online Businesses in 2024

If you’re struggling to find a way to grow your online business, perhaps the following plan and strategies will help you out.

Especially if you’re starting from ground zero.

Yesterday I explained why I blew up a business that took me three decades to build and how I’m starting over at the age of 53.

Besides involving a LOT of work, it will require me to have a strategic plan and clear objectives in order to reach my goal of earning one million dollars in sales by the end of 2025.

A big fucking goal right? It’s not probable but it’s certainly possible.

Yet I’ve never backed down from challenges that seem impossible. I thrive on others beliefs it can’t be done. I’ve always dreamed big dreams.

ONE MILLION DOLLARS???

Probably not enough to fully retire but enough to be comfortable for now. Either way it’s the monetary goal I’m shooting for.

OK. Now I’ve got a clear objective.

What’s my driving force for success?

Having an objective is important but it’s also great to know my why for doing this; I need to understand the reason(s) I’m sacrificing everything to build my online businesses. But we all need this because without them, we will probably quit or fail.

Here are my whys:

1. I want to create t-shirt brand people will love … a 35 year dream!
2. I want to build my wealth so I don’t have to live on welfare as I age.
3. I want to keep traveling the world with my wife.
4. I want to give the finger to all those who said I’d never do it.
5. I want to see other creatives thrive and experience the same.

Everything I do is focused on these reasons. They are the driving force to keep me pressing forward even when the days are gloomy and difficult.

How do I plan to achieve my goal?

So I have an objective and my reasons for achieving it, but now I have to decide how to make that million dollars.

Every day I get new ideas for business. It’s a blessing and a curse. If you saw how many domains I’ve acquired the past decade alone, you’d think I was some sort of an addict. And you’d be absolutely right!

So I have to pick something. This is the hardest part. The struggle is real.

Down the road I’ll share how to overcome the analysis paralysis and how to make life easier when it comes to deciding where to invest your energy, but for now I’ll show you my cards.

Consulting Services

Everyone loves the idea of creating passive income and mailbox money. I do too. Unfortunately it can take years for that revenue to trickle in and make enough to survive.

Services provide the opportunity to earn a real living.

When you solve a problem for people and can help them overcome it, you will generate substantial revenues. And if you do it right and price accordingly, you will earn more and work less.

I know it’s trading time for dollars but I’d rather have money in the bank than be begging people on GoFundMe.

Besides, I really enjoy helping solopreneurs and creatives thrive. Plus I’m great at it so why not?

Consulting services allows me to do very well for myself.

eCommerce Brands

Over the years I’ve used my talents to make millions of dollars for other brands, but now it’s finally time for me to do it for myself.

My lifelong passion has been creating custom artwork and t-shirts. It’s what I’ve wanted to return to since 1986. And I have thousands of ideas!

The plan is to launch three different eCommerce shops on Shopify: dalman designs, Remain Strong™, and Happy Joe®. I’ll share more about these brands and why I’m using Shopify down the road, but each has a specific niche and purpose.

Normally I’d say choose one idea and work the hell out of it.

But since I’m not getting any younger, and each one of those ventures doesn’t require 40+ hours of work each week to build or maintain, I’m breaking my own rules and doing them all.

Of course I have different marketing strategies for each and that helps too.

Writing

Being a professional writer was never on my radar, but like I said in my last post, it just happened! It’s a natural extension of my creativity and every day I get better and faster at it.

I’ve written and self published three books, as well as did a lot of ghost writing for The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Freelance Web Design Business. Plus I’ve developed tons of business and freelancing content since 2005.

Writing to generate additional income makes sense and I enjoy it.

I will also rerelease my book Freelancing Success and finish another called Life is NOT a Beer Commercial.

Overall I don’t anticipate these pursuits to generate substantial revenue but rather will be a catalyst for consulting work or future speaking engagements.

And maybe I will offer writing services to pad my bank account.

What are my strategies for doing all of this?

It’s not enough to just have the ideas for launching and growing your online business. You also have to have a strategic plan.

Like a military operation, your objective is winning the war, but first you must be victorious in the battles. You can’t enter a fight without a battle plan. It starts with establishing a foothold and moving forward from there.

Sometimes you will have to adapt and improvise, but without a plan, you will definitely fail.

The same goes for business.

I don’t think I can cover all the details for each venture in the rest of this article, therefore I will write about each of those plans individually. I can however give you a snapshot of my strategies.

Write and publish.

My goal is consistently publishing five great posts relating to business and freelancing per week on Medium and Substack. These are my “lead magnets” to consulting services and are my highest priority.

Additionally I will incorporate video or content with actionable items for my readers and maybe offer some group think events.

I also have a plan for how I will promote this content on Facebook, TikTok, and other publications.

Monday and Tuesday of each week will be dedicated to this purpose with an allocation of up to 10–15 hours to do so.

Create and design.

This is my ultimate dream so it also has to be a priority even though it can take several years to take off.

Every week I will dedicate at least 10 hours towards designing new products or creating hand drawn artwork. I will also consider outsourcing t-shirt designs or graphics work to double the productivity.

Wednesdays will be the creative design day in my schedule.

Market, market, and market some more.

All the cool shit in the world will never see the light of day without marketing and selling.

So every week I have to dedicate at least another 10–15 hours (sometimes more depending on the brand) to growing the business.

Thankfully with modern technology, outsourcing to freelancers, and the help of my analytical list driven wife, I can multiply these efforts substantially.

While I love marketing and selling, which is rare for a creative, I also have to invest my time on the things with the greatest ROI.

Delegating and outsourcing is something I honestly suck at because I’m a perfectionist, but it’s time to let that shit go. This means I’ll have to spend some money upfront but it will be well worth it.

Anyways … sell, sell, sell!

I want to provide you with a more detailed plan and closer look to how these strategies all shake out, so I’ll be sharing those soon.

Each requires a break down of tasks in order to be successful.

Plus I want to show you how I will automate some of this work and the tools I will use to be more efficient.

Until next time.