This morning I woke up, yet again on the couch. Normal people sleep in their nice comfy beds, I should sleep in my bed even though my couch is SO comfortable. Yet, today wasn’t the first time that I woke up and there just “happens” to be something useful and motivating to me on the television. Now it wasn’t some awesome miracle product available on an info-commercial…it had to do with my writing or photography. Today it was Art Wolfe’s show, Travels to the Edge. Besides just some interesting information about Mongolia, he talks about why he chooses shots and what makes a good picture. It motivated me to do more with my photography.

Today as I got up off the couch to let my dog out, it occurred to me that sometimes we need to be outside what is “normal” to be on the right path and receive all that is out there for us.

Look around at what you are doing and see if you stripped away the “rules” and what is “normal”, would you be on the path that you are on, or are you missing out on something because you are not on the path that is going to lead you to everything you are to receive. This goes for life, Internet projects, work, etc.

There was a comment that I should get back on the horse if I haven’t met my goals, well…..I’m mounted up and I didn’t even take time to change out of my PJ’s before I got back on the horse!

 I’ve been writing, just haven’t posted the rest of the daily challenges and I haven’t quite finished. I refuse to give up, so will post (with the dates that it should have been posted) that I have finished so far.

The reason I”m even up is that I fell asleep on the couch early and now am wide awake listening to Doo Wop music on public television and cooking some chicken for soup…seemed like a good time to catch up on posting since this is one of the first times in a long time that I have been caught up on my writing orders.

DAY 1-FIND WHAT MOTIVATES YOU

You may be struggling to get motivated to work on your Internet ventures. The first thing to decide is if you really want to be an Internet entrepreneur. It not only takes work, it will take patience. If you don’t have a lot of funds for outsourcing, you will need to be doing a lot of work before you will see results. If you are outsourcing, you may not have enough income to cover the outsourcing costs at the beginning. If you are sure this is what you want to do and can wait it out until the income you desire is realized, you will need to find out what motivates you.

To find out how to get motivated again, think of something that you do that you don’t have to push yourself to do. Think of why you are able to work hard at that task or activity and why it seems easy. Apply what you learned to motivate you on your Internet projects. Sometimes money isn’t enough of a motivation. Find a project that you enjoy and work on that in addition to the projects you are working on only because of the income it brings in or has the potential to bring in.

• Article/content writing-11 hours
• Categorizing domains-2 hours
• Business development-3 hours
• Brain storming-3 hour
• Photography-11.5 hours
• Jan’s Writing Services-6 hours
• Marketing-4.5 hours
• Organizing-2 hour
• Planning-1 hour
• Keyword research-1 hour
• New project development-5 hours

The challenge resulted in me working on my photography more than I had planned, increase in income, and some great ideas for future projects.

All posts on the 50 Hour Challenge

To find out more about other challenges you can go to the category-challenges.

PHOTOGRAPHY

I spent 5 hours on my photography at the workshop and at the rodeo. I spent another 2 hours photographing snow in the dessert (rare) when we got enough snow that it stuck a couple weeks ago. It was quite the experience. I took so many pictures between a couple trips to the rodeo, the snow, the barn dances, visiting a national monument, and friends out dancing that I was almost tired of taking pictures! Have lots of great shots and awesome memories.

WRITING

I have been getting a lot done with my content writing services. I have a new writer and new client. I’m going to credit 4 hours towards the challenge. I got my new writer started, worked on articles for a new client, wrote articles for use for marketing, and wrote a little for a new faith focused project I started. That would be 2 hours for Jan’s Writing Services and 2 hours for content writing.

WORKING WITH BOB SCHMUCK

The time working with my son, Bob Schmuck continues to be productive and motivating.  We have gotten together twice in the past few weeks. During that time we did the following:

• organize (1 hour)
• marketing (1.5 hours)
• keyword research (1/2 hour)
• write (2 hours)
• brainstorm (1 hour) during our time.

The focused time has paid off. I hit my $100 in Adsense income in two months…a personal record! (happy dance!….happy dance!)

NEW PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

Working on a few new projects. One is for Super Bowl L (50). I am going to have two sites that I will develop over the next 4 years and then sell it right after Super Bowl XLV (45). This I got the domain names and keyword research done.

The other project is faith focused and I haven’t gotten much farther than lots of notes and ideas in a notebook. It will have a lot of videos. It will start with a focus on teens. I did get the domain names.

When my new writer submitted her sample article, she actually had an excellent keyword. I have the articles ordered for that and am going to develop a website. I got the domain names.

For these projects I probably spent about 3 hours plus about 1/2 an hour on keyword research.

Well, I’m almost done! I have tomorrow off and hope I will be able to get closer to finishing.

TOTAL    42.5/50 hours

Yesterday was especially productive time spent on my 50 Hour Challenge. In addition to the time with my son, I had gotten some writing done earlier in the day and prepared some handmade American Indian jewelry to photograph. My photography is another one of my incomes streams (self-employment).

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING MEETINGS

When  Bob Schmuck and I get together we usually do the following:

• Brainstorm
• Write articles, content, intros, etc. (me)
• Submit articles to directories (Bob)
• Create/update website designs (Bob)
• Blog comment submissions (both of us)
• Plan future projects (both of us)
• Keyword research (Bob)

BASECAMP FOR WEBSITE MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS

Basecamp is a free service (click on pricing, then in small print the free option is under the price boxes on the right) that is upgradeable. Yesterday we set up a Basecamp project for our work. We are going to upgrade in the future, but for now, we are using the free option. We started with having our meeting under milestones and then added a to-do list that covered everything that we did. This will be a good document of how we progressed and we will be able to evaluate the length of time until we see results from our work. The write board will be used to list ideas for future meetings.  This should help us be more efficient in the future when we meet.

One of the main reasons we want to upgrade is to be able to share files and also to be able to have more than one project.

INTERNET VENTURES UPDATE

Adsense-My Internet income from Adsense is continuing to break personal records as the results of previous Internet marketing is seen.

Jan’s Writing Services-Bob and I re-connected on Facebook with an Internet marketer that we met years ago online. He contacted me regarding doing some writing for him. I am no longer writing for Karma Snack due to inconsistencies in my delivery of articles. I’m looking forward to using what I have learned with new clients.

The re-organization of Jan’s Writing Services included working for my family first, getting new writers, setting up schedules, and only working with clients who have professional business practices. The fresh start will fit in perfectly with my re-organization. New clients won’t have unproductive practices that will need to change and I will start with a clean slate. This will be great for everyone.

(2 hours writing, 2 hours marketing,1 hour brainstorming)

TOTAL     20/50 hours

I will plan 51 things to do to increase income and build my businesses. I will probably do more than one a day some days if I know I will be busy or miss a day due to being busy.

I will list my Internet projects and income streams and have at least one day devoted to each project.

I spent about an hour planning my next challenge.

TOTAL     15/50 hours

50 HOUR CHALLENGE

SATURDAY-I will consider about 4 hours part of my challenge because of the pictures that I took I can use for future projects and the brainstorming that I did as we drove.

• I have some collage ideas for artwork that I jotted down
• A logo for myself. I have many “Jan’s….” so I was looking for a logo idea that would be changeable so it could match each project, but still be consistent enough to be recognized as one of my projects. The logo will be able to use my many photographs! Still working on the details of it.
• Blog ideas

SUNDAY-I spent about 2 hours on my challenge on writing related projects. I spent the time going over articles my writers have submitted and a new writer’s sample. I will be using the new writer, I really like her work. She is new to Internet article/content writing, but I know her and will work with her to help her get started. I did some organizing of the work I have available for my own projects and for my paid writing-1 hour

The break was rejuvenating. The relaxing drive with my friend, the walk around the lake, enjoying a drink at the local bar and the interesting people, good food, and relaxing. Went to bed early and didn’t have to get up for anything. It was very energizing.

Had a record day for my Adsense and getting comfortable with the success and results of the work I have been doing.

TOTAL     14/50 hours

When planning tasks, it is important to know your limits, know your schedule, and plan for everything to take longer than needed. My problem usually is that I set my goals too high and try to do more than I am capable of.

TOTAL      2/50 hours

As my 51st birthday approaches  realize that I didn’t really have a 50 Day Challenge before my last birthday. Before I can create a 51 Day Challenge, I felt I should do something for 50! I have several days off since I am not moving like I thought I would, so I am going to do a 50 hour challenge.

There will be more details later today and expect lots of posts the next few days.