I am among many who are waiting for internet income to rain down on me! Prepare yourself to survive while you wait for the rain.
Here in southern AZ the monoons are beginning. The monsoons mean our “dry heat” is no longer and the humidity jumps. Our evaporative coolers give minimal relief and when it rains in the morning and the sun comes out afterwards, it’s as though we are being steamed alive! Mostly it rains every afternoon, there are impressive sunsets, and cooler evenings as we wait for fall. I was walking around my backyard after a rain and was looking at the plants. I’m the corner lot in a cul-de-sac, so I have a very large yard. There was a lot to learn about internet survival from observing how the plants and trees survived the summer.
The affects of summer on different plants:
- WEEDS-most of these plants didn’t make it. The weeds that did flourish were near the base of some of the trees, hiding among flowers, or trying to blend in with small patches of grass. I know there are many dormant seeds in the yard waiting for the monsoon rains to sprout. At this time they will attempt to overtake the yard by sheer number. I’m ready with my weed killer to defend what is mine!
- TREE SEEDLINGS-they were flourishing with new growth until it got too hot for me to make it out each day to water them. I will have to replace them in the fall so that they have the next few seasons to establish deeper roots. They needed more protection from the sun than they had.
- SMALL PLANTS-these plants barely hung on until the rains came. They had dropped leaves in an attempt to slow the evaporation of what little moisture there was. The tips died off to focus on the base and the roots of the plant. Some dead leaves shriveled up around new sprouts, protecting them from the sun and heat. It looked as if the rains were delayed for even a day, they would have perished.
- MIXED WILDFLOWERS-these plants combined many survival techniques while still providing me with beautiful blooms throughout the summer. The older patch of flowers continued to grow. Some plants died off, while others grew tall to bloom. The newer patch had a few stragglers that grew and bloomed, but were half the size of the older and established patch. Many of the plants died off, some providing shade and mulch for the survivors. I know there are many dormant seeds from the spring blooms that I allowed to naturally go to seed. These will start sprouting with the weeds and I will have to be careful what I am spraying with the weed killer.
- NEWLY PLANTED TREES-I had some 5 foot pine trees I planted early this year. They made it through the summer, but showed the stress. They have brown branch tips and brown tips on the needles. The lowest branches did the best. I have wells dug around the base of each one to prevent water run off when I water and when it rains. There were weeds flourishing in the wells. They were easy to pull up, though.
- ESTABLISHED TREES-not only was there no evidence they were effected by the summer heat, there was new growth to the point I need to cut back some of the branches so I can walk through my yard. These trees provide protection to the yard (and even my home) from the burning hot sun rays.
Look over your internet projects. The different types of projects will have different survival capabilities. How do you survive a current or upcoming drought? Here are some helpful hints:
- Weed out projects that just take up time
- Protect and nurture developing (seedling) projects
- Destroy dormant projects with no potential
- Sprout dormant projects with potential
- Replace projects that have died off
- Combine projects that can produce at different times
- Projects that are strong during the week with projects that are strong on the weekends
- A project that will be strong during each season
- Projects that are strong during weak economies with those that do well with a strong economy
- Summer time projects and school time project
- Prune established projects and let them grow and cover the new projects while they become established
Focusing your time and efforts efficiently will allow you to survive the heat of being an internet entrepreneur.