How do YOU measure success
 

Ive been doing this for quite a while and I know its much harder to make a buck then it used to be.

Many of us have those days where we spend a lot of time working on projects that may or may not make money or even make money for a few months until it builds up traffic, etc. And for me personally, making money is not the end all either.

So Im curious how others gauge whether theyre succeeding or heading the right way on a project when a lot of times theres no immediate results

I personally measure it via $$$ in the bank...

At the end of the day, you could have one of the most popular sites on the net, with millions of vistors a day, but if dont make cents, it dont make sense.

However, you could have a small niche site that has say 5000 visitors a day, but if 1000 of them spend $5 you are laughing ! Plus you dont need expensive hosting either.

Thats what Im curious about... If youre working on a long term project and its not putting money in the bank (at least not right away) how do YOU determine whether you are succeeding on a day to day basis, whether to assure yourself your idea is valid and continue to put in the time to work on it, and/or keep the excitememt level/motivation up? Do you use other factors other than money in the bank to guage daily success?

And also, if you had one of the biggest sites on the net, you have something established. You can test and look at statistics, sales, and traffic and see immediate changes. But its different when youre building something from scratch. To build a site is challenging enough. But in this day, getting traffic to that new site is a challenge in and of itself that requires you to possibly learn the ins and outs of new traffic sources before you can even send real traffic to it.

Steady income ...

Enough income to not worry about money (that doesn't mean I need to be rich).

Flexibility of managing my own schedule.

and the biggest one.............

Not having to deal with assholes I don't want to deal with.

that's it - mostly

Doing what you want to do whenever you want to do it.

That gives me something to ponder. My ultimate goal is not just to be financially successful. I'd also like to further my relationships with fellow webmasters and my own reputation as a successful business person. It is probably more important to me to be respected for my work and whatnot than how much money I have in the bank

My biggest problem is... I have tons of ideas and mountains of motivation. But I have been working a "day job" my whole life. I am very hard-wired to do physical work and see immediate results, get praise for a job well done, get a promotion, get a weekly paycheck or bonuses. So its hard for me to work on a project that takes some time and not get discouraged or second guess myself when I dont have those immediate or daily gauges of success or failure

I tend to think I'd make a way better employee than an owner. But there's not much room for that in this business either

to have hardon

and this:

http://i.imgur.com/WZZdC8u.gif

Happiness
:thumbsup:2 cents:

Bump for more input...

My bank account, recurring revenue streams, 5 cars, condo, and 8 properties I own are a pretty good judgement.

By how happy you are. Money is just money. Cars are just cars. Properties are just properties. If you don't wake up everyday just feeling great to be alive, then you are failing at life.

Laughter, happiness, both inside and around me. Makes me smile if the ones I love are happy to be near. Money is always a nice measure as well, but not a define.

Damn Squealer, this struck us both ......at the same damn time ! Peace:thumbsup