I turned 34 recently (August 18th).
Who knows how old you are? Who knows at what age you’ll be reading this :p
But I thought I’d share some reflections about being 34, and what I’m now thinking about.
Well.
Pearl Lemon really did, back in October 2016 when it was Purr Traffic and a full-service marketing agency – start out as a hustle.
I didn’t really know where it would end up, nor what path I was on. Simply that I was living at my mum’s place, I wished to build something meaningful and this was the best place to start that journey.
We’re approaching October 2020 and it’s crazy to think I’ve more or less had my head down for 4 years and have been working.
This is definitely the longest stretch I’ve done that for and wow what a journey it’s been.
I guess that’s what everyone would say after working consecutively for several years for the first time in their lives haha.
Pearl Lemon is something now that I do think will stay with me. That I do think will be a part of my legacy. I’m really proud of the business I’ve built – and I think about that also because of people who I encounter along the way that tell me they’re so impressed with what’s been built.
You’ll have to forgive me haha.
I’m still wiping off the ring rust with writing and believe tomorrow I’ll tell you a story.
Today it’s again a stream of consciousness.
Pearl Lemon is at a stage where it’s generating perhaps around 100 leads a month inbound.
As I keep telling my head of business development Ion…I find it surreal having that number of leads coming inbound.
That ideally means within another 12 months that will become 200 leads per month or more. Certainly, I want it to be 300 leads a month.
Let me explain my logic:
Currently, there are the following websites:
https://pearllemon.com/ (75 leads)
https://pearllemonleads.com/ (25 leads)
https://pearllemonproperties.com/ (0 leads)
https://pearllemonsales.com/ (0 leads)
https://pearllemonconvert.com/ (0 leads)
https://pearllemoninvest.com/ (0 leads)
https://kemistri.co/ (0 leads)
The two sites at the top have been around the longest and so continue to generate the most leads. But there are also 5 more websites that have the potential within 12 months from now to be generating a minimum of 25 leads per month.
25 x 5 = 125 additional leads per month which take us to 225 thus leaving a 75 lead shortfall. However, that doesn’t include the two sites already generating leads. So assuming they increase by 25 each as well – that’s now 175 leads total which would take the overall number to 275 leads per month.
Assuming things go badly and all, then 200 as a minimum seems totally reasonable.
And this is excluding outbound lead generation we’re doing (badly because I don’t have a highly motivated salesperson I’ve found just yet). But that would bring in another 10-20 leads per month.
Furthermore, there are other platforms I continue to experiment with.
I’ve signed up for Bark Elite Pro as it generates 3-5 leads per day for a colleague of mine apparently. I’ll see how it develops for me over the next month.
And then outside of that, I’m trying to build processes for other 3rd party platforms such as Hubstaff.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, is that as I think about my next 3-5 years there are several things I want:
Pearl Lemon becoming a truly stable business with a never-ending inflow of leads built around SEO, branding as well as referrals is hugely important to me. And I keep building in this vein to ensure that we get there.
I’m also recording video testimonials, gathering reviews, recording YouTube content, and the like.
And outside of this, as I do wish to have children with Daniela before I’m 40 with her, I am now thinking about building our financial stability.
This is primarily going to come through the success of Pearl Lemon first, property 2nd, and one/some/many of the apps I’m trying out 3rd.
I started this newsletter in November 2019, and annoyingly none of them are making any money 9 months later.
But I continue to work on it haha, in the expectation of one of them still becomes a big success. It’s just a matter of persistence.
It’s interesting to chart how my vision has changed in the last year.
Being with Daniela, and building a business means there is much more of a sense of what the next 10 years will look like for me now.
Continuing to build the business, get married, have children, and then see what’s next.
That’s at least the ‘5-year plan’ lol.
And it gives me a strong anchor and clear goals to work for that drive me to still wake up at 430am in the morning.
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I definitely feel like I am part of something now that is beginning to become bigger than myself (Pearl Lemon and Daniela’s future).
The internship program since I started this newsletter has totally transformed as well:
Head over to our website and take a look.
This is ultimately going to provide the training ground as well as a place for Pearl Lemon to develop its leaders for the future, and also a great place in the worst case for someone to (hopefully) get a really positive experience of interning with us and to help contribute to the growth of the Pearl Lemon brand.
At the moment there are 14 interns working across the various aspects of the business – this side of the team is as big as the full-time side of our team and they’re spread across the several websites and apps we’re working on.
Overall the internship program will really drive the development of Pearl Lemon as a brand and company.
I think this is a huge unique competitive advantage to our business as opposed to many others – that at any one time we’ve got a solid team of people working on the further development of the brand internally.
In many ways, this began with Adina in its nascent stages three years ago and as with everything the program has improved and I hope will continue to do so as we figure more things out.
The sense of businesses and ‘things’ developing over months, years, and decades now feels more meaningful than it ever did.
I guess I’m writing this post, and it feels like a rather strange one for me – because I sense the passing of time more acutely than I used to, and I understand more than ever the power of planting seeds and sowing in preparation for the harvest that really is tomorrow.
And tomorrow never comes, so just keep planting seeds to enjoy the harvest now and forever.
Education has been very helpful as well. The latest book I’m reading at the moment is ‘The Best Of Les Brown’ – an amazing motivational speaker. I massively recommend to anybody to practice reading on, literally, a daily basis because of what it can do for your mind.
Your mental diet really is as important as your actual physical diet.
And I see what listening to hundreds of hours of audiobooks – mostly in the space of personal growth, business development and transformation is doing to my mind. Somehow, I just ‘believe’ in myself more than I used to.
As well as learning the hundreds of things I have learned along the way (head to my website to check out more on that).
Anyway, I rant and I ramble and write a post without perhaps the clearest sent of purpose..
I guess what I mean to say is, the older I get, or maybe the more settled in doing one thing I get, the more I can see the next 10 years playing out in my mind’s eye.
In the words of Les Brown – all I would encourage you to consider (as he recommends) – is that ‘it’s possible’.
For me, that means living in a £9 million pound house in Hampstead Heath. It’s the place of my dreams and Daniela’s as well now that I’ve shown her haha.
I know we will get there.
I just know it.
