Choose An Anchor

Just a quick post. As you learn to sell online, and things get tough, don't flounder around on your own. If your mentor is effective and eloquent enough, you can find where you need to back up. I've created my own WordPress ebook and I've just sold one copy. Why? Pride. I thought I could just set up an ebook on a storefront without blogging about it, or giving out effective parts of it. I got a blog for it tonight, WPfasttrack.blogspot.com, and if you'd like to learn how to set up your own .com on WordPress (while saving $10 on setup fees), please stop by this weekend. I may be a little busy, so yell at me at sumosalesman@aol.com and I'll get it out to the blog. Thanks for reading and if you know anyone who'd like to learn WP, please share this post!

My MusicMemes.com Challenge

I had a great idea for a website that could generate a lot of traffic, a music memes website.

However, as I gave it some thought, I refrained from adding others' memes. 

I think I'm going to give it a go though, and look for people who don't mind their stuff posted with attribution.

So here goes:

http://musicmemes.com

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to improve the site, please let me know.  I'd really like to make this into a fun website I can update every day without killing myself timewise.

Here's a little tip I picked up for making my own memes instead of having to use online services that force you to show a link to their website:

https://snapguide.com/guides/create-memes-using-gimp/

Totally stuck time-wise? Have an 80-20 Day

I hate cutesy-shmootzy jargon.  Empowerment.  Attraction.  Potential.  If you want to write for me, you may as well cross the words out because I either skip the phrases or the whole article.

One of the concepts that makes me chafe is the 80-20 rule.  The proportion may vary from here to there, but the notion is that one fifth of what you usually do is all that makes you successful.

Over the years I’ve been squandering time on one project at a time, trying to make each perfect.  Eventually I hit some annoying time-draining part of it and it feels like it kills me.  It’s as if I have extra time left over and I have to sink it all into some minor detail.  By the next day I have nothing to show for it.

A big inspiration has been the notion of the four-hour work week, but more attainably for me, the four hour work day.  Practically every Internet guru I’ve dealt with either has an army of assistants, doesn’t divulge what hours and sacrifices it takes to make it, or works insane hours that I can’t emulate in my current home situation. This is yet another reason I enjoy learning from Pat Flynn: there is so much that is transparent in his workings that I can personally apply.  Hearing that he made his fortune on four hours a day has inspired me to trim a lot of fat out of my day, time where I would indulge every whim drifting from one income source and its complexities to another.

Writing this article will be one of the eight half hour tasks I will complete today.  When I run out of time for each task, each will still consist of a half hour’s work waiting for me to improve on or complete, and ultimately be successful with, OR show itself to be pointless and in need of permanent removal.

As the day goes on, I may remove some tasks before I start them -- are they really worthwhile? -- or keep working on projects that are already showing themselves to be doable and successful.  My target will still be five tasks.

Here is what I came up with today:

1. Write this article and publish it.  Spend remaining time in the half saying hello @patflynnwins.
2. Learn how to re-publish my app on Stencyl for free.
3. Follow up on website admin and billing for MusicMemes.com and the like.
4. Start putting business downloads on BizDL.net.
5. Deal with client emails (one half hour only, because this is the profession I want to move out of).
6. Promote my WordPress guide.
7. Edit the podcast my wife and I put together.
8. Start a movie mini-review website with Amazon affiliate links.  More details soon… I’m nearing 5 minutes on this task and want to put keywords in.

Just one tip: use online-stopwatch.com.  The moment you get distracted, stop the timer.  You’ll get into effective time use fast.  As an optional way to get into good habits sooner, add five minutes of work time each time you forget to stop or restart.

Let me know how this helps.  Thanks for reading!

In Working, Have An Anchor (Smart Passive Income Podcast #12)

Are You Rooted In Your Work, Or Just Dust?

One of the things I've done in my life is pick up and drop my inspirations. I take notes, get an amazing system down, then... Nothing. I wander off. I get discouraged. I forget critical things. By now, I would have wandered off from reposting Pat Flynn's notes. Why? My notebooks are a little disorganized. Some of the podcasts don't jive completely with their numbers. I've taken notes on a few podcasts without labeling them.

Big deal, huh? It's been enough to derail me. But the more I've been online, the more I've realized:

Just show up for work every day. Try a little something different. Put your voice into the permanent echo that is online marketing.

My old real estate boss taught me a little something about the return people can get from throwing sheer numbers at a target. The first thing he did was send me door to door on New Year's Day. I was brutally cold, but not one person was rude to me that day, and out of maybe 50 visits, I got two leads.

One wound up being a guy who wanted to trade his house for an open concept home. My boss tried ramming our current inventory down his throat, and I left real estate five months later, but I never forgot getting the door open on day one of my new job.

So... if you're not doing that well, I recommend just coming back to it, learning from a mistake or two, and having a living (or at least reasonably enduring) source of inspiration.

With that, more of Pat Flynn's productivity tips, and updates on what I've done so far in the next blog post. I still haven't made a penny off anything -- advertising, ebook sales, affiliate sales -- but I now have my own WordPress ebook and video game channel.

If you've been following this blog, please leave a comment. I would be really happy to know someone is reading this.

http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/spi-012-mind-hacks-physical-hacks-and-work-hacks-for-better-productivity-and-getting-things-done/ 

• Just keep going, with support if possible.  Be held accountable.  Realize who you are letting down.
• Break up goals, rewarding yourself for each sub-goal.

 Physical Hacks:

• Eat a better breakfast. (Done)
• Get more sleep. (Way done)
• Take a power nap (20 minutes) using an alarm. (Need to)
• Take short walks through the day, 10-15 minutes. (Could use one more)
• Stay hydrated. (Need to)
• Stay fit. (Very need to)
• Avoid sugar. (Semi-done)

Have procedure lists on paper for each project.  I thought online task management would be superior, but today's 12 tasks are being done by scratching off a piece of paper.

Stay on one project to a stopping point -- a dev takes over, et cetera.

Consider mind mapping software -- see Pat's blog, since that's his affiliate sale and he deserves a tip of the hat for these great tips.

Thanks Pat and see you in the next blog post!