What’s the title of this blog? Focus More Do Less. Am I doing that right now? Absolutely not. 

I’m in the 3rd year of a growing business in an industry that is young, thriving and kind of all over the place. There are so many opportunities out there and I don’t want to let them pass me by. I think I made some great decisions in 2009 and 2010 when it came to growing IWearYourShirt.com and I need to return to that mentality. I need to focus on what’s gotten my business to where it is today and think about where I want it to go in the future. I can’t do that while trying to juggle 40 other things. 

So what does this mean?

Plaxico the dog: My dog Plaxico is retiring from shirt wearing. I should have done this a month ago, but I thought I could keep it going. He had an amazing run, maybe he’ll come back again, but for now it’s one extra thing I can’t have on my to do list. I’m very proud to say that he had over 150 sponsors sign up and donated over $1,000 to charity. Not many people do that in a year at a full time job.

Crowdsource the Course: Crowdsource the Course is still on, but we’re only doing 1 course (plan was to do 3-5) and extending the first deadline a month. I thought about closing the course down altogether, but I’m very passionate about sharing the knowledge I’ve gained in social media and I know there’s a need for the type of course I’ve setup. The deadline to sign up for Course One will be extended to August 31 and the online course date will be Sept 8. That will be the only course offered indefinitely. 

Focus on doing interviews, guest blog posting and helping fellow entrepreneurs: This is the stuff that makes my business grow. I’m fairly certain buying an ad in a newspaper to talk about spending money on IWearYourShirt.com would be worthless. Getting my name out there, sharing knowledge and helping people learn from my mistakes/successes has been the biggest way I’ve built my business. I’ve missed multiple interview deadlines due to being overwhelmed. That won’t happen anymore. 

Speaking engagements: I absolutely love doing speaking engagements but I simply can’t do unpaid engagements anymore. I know this might cut out some opportunities for me, but I feel I have a great speaking resume after 3 years and countless references who will say I’m worth the money.

I’m not writing a book anytime soon: This is something that has been dancing around in my head for at least a year. While I have some good ideas, it’s not going to happen any time soon. Do less.

Jason²: If you haven’t seen the weekly podcast I do with Jason Markow, it’s awesome. It’s my one time a week when I can sit down with a fellow entrepreneur/creative and shoot the proverbial shit (sorry for the language Mom). I’ve already started scaling back my blog posts/videos here and I think if I keep doing the weekly Jason² podcast I can redirect my efforts and thoughts there so they still get shared. 

2012 IWYS Plans: I’m hunkering down and focusing on what 2012 will look like for IWYS. I’m definitely wearing shirts next year and we will be having multiple shirt wearers. I firmly believe in what we do each and every day is helping companies and I know this because 90%+ tell me this. Social media is still new and brands need a unique way to get themselves out there. We will be tweaking the pricing structure to include more small businesses and we will offer a community based “game” to reward our awesome IWYS fans/friends for their involvement. I can’t believe it’ll be year #4 for IWYS and you better believe it’s going to be even more kick ass than the past 3!

My personal life: Work/life/balance is effing tough. It’s so hard to set aside time for my family, for my super supportive girlfriend and for myself. I’ve gained weight, I’ve eat terribly and I’m more stressed than I’ve ever been. When the phone rings and you can’t take the time to answer it because it’ll slow you down from the 20 other things you’re doing, you need to step back. For my Jacksonville friends, I am canceling the 24-Hour Movie Marathon this year and I promise to be better about returning calls, texts and getting out of my house more (even if it’s just for lunch or workshifting).

I know writing this blog post has already lifted a weight off my shoulders and I can’t thank you enough for reading it and supporting me. I’m always an email or tweet away, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Jason