JAN'S IDEAS for Internet Entrepreneurs » Writing Services

The Internet Challenge Continues

Jan — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:06:07 +0000

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.

Entrepreneurial 50 Hour Challenge Summary

Jan — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:50:05 +0000

This is what I accomplished doing my 50 Hour Challenge. My entrepreneurial challenge started on February 9, 2011 and ended on March 30, 2011.

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.

Entrepreneurial Challenge Update

Jan — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:57:42 +0000

Well, I haven’t been working on my own projects as much as I would like to be. I had a goal of doing it every morning and had started out strong until I started sleeping a little later. I never seem to get to it later in the day. I have chipped away at my 50 hours though.

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

Productive Entrepreneurial Team-5 Hours

Jan — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:41:16 +0000

Working with my son is always productive and educational. Each week we do our best to get together for a couple hours to work on our Internet products. The time together isn’t only productive as we work on websites, it is also motivating. That motivation and excitement about what we can accomplish lasts throughout the week. We always end up brainstorming and I always learn something new about how to market and develop a website.

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

Entrepreneurial Break

Jan — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:12:22 +0000

I believe to avoid burnout, it is important to take breaks from my business and do enjoyable things. I took Saturday off from wage earning and my business. I was tempted to bring my laptop since I wasn’t driving, but resisted and I am glad I did. I enjoyed a beautiful drive to Arivaca Lake and took pictures of some interesting people, the lake, abandoned businesses, and awesome scenery.

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

Writing Services-2 Hours

Jan — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:53:42 +0000

One of the things to being successful with Internet ventures is to finish tasks. I am going to spend 2 hours on writing and I should be close to getting the last of my article orders finished. This will be an important task to finish. It seems like unwritten articles feel like a ball and chain that I carry around with me all the time. It is always in the back of my mind and I always feel like I should be doing that instead anything else.

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

Entrepreneur at Home Sick

Jan — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:30:53 +0000

This entrepreneur is home sick today. It sucks because I can’t afford to be calling out at Walmart, but the bright side is that I’m not scheduled for my second job. One call out is better than two! Being home today as I alternate sitting up at the computer and laying down on the couch, I am thinking about the time when I will be able to work full time from home. Being sick has made me think about another advantage to working from home….I can work a little as I feel up to it. I can’t work at all today at Walmart and I wouldn’t have been able to go into a group home to work.

Being an entrepreneur that is sick has the following advantages:

I don’t have to worry about getting anyone else sick
When I feel up to it, I can work
I can rest whenever I feel too sick at the computer
I can still generate some income
I’m able to rest more to get better faster

I feel bad calling out because I know that they need me, but I just don’t think I can make it standing and walking around during my shift. I also don’t want to get anyone else sick and have them call out in a few days.

Update on my financial restoration

It is going slow, but I am moving forward. I hope to make some leaps in that area as soon as I’m feeling a little better.

It is best to be well, but if you are going to be sick, it is best to be working from home on your entrepreneurial projects.

Writing and More Writing

Jan — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 03:28:35 +0000

Been busy writing and writing some more. It can be discouraging that it doesn’t move along faster, but I just won’t give up that I can do this and find balance with the wage earning, my writing, and my internet ventures. It is just so annoying to have to sleep! lol.

I was about to add a post to Jan’s Group Home Support and I thought I could fix something on how the post looked. I ended up messing it all up! I would work on it a few minutes and go back to writing. Finally I figured it out, but it was frustrating and time consuming and I never got a new post up.

At least I have another day off tomorrow so I can stay up late tonight.

My Own Entrepreneurial Projects

Jan — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:34:15 +0000

It was a hard decision, but I kinda feel like….”If not now, then when?”, so I wrote a little for my own projects. It’s about tending to my own garden while being paid to tend to other gardens, it is about balance and accomplishing both.

Even if I increase my hourly wages (which is difficult in these economical times), I will still be putting in hours to make money for whoever I work for. Even writing, I write articles that bring in income for others. The solution is to increase my passive income. I keep putting off working on my projects and it just prolongs how long I will be working so many hours. I can’t keep putting it off, I need to integrate my projects in, so I started yesterday.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SATISFACTION

Every time I write for my own entrepreneurial projects and on subjects I enjoy it always reminds me that I it is energizing and motivating. I love writing for pay, the income it brings, and the freedom in my life because of it, but it is not the same as writing for my own projects and topics that I already are knowledgeable about.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN WILL I WORK ON MY PROJECTS?

Instead of finding reasons to put off working on my Internet projects, I need to find reasons to work on my own projects. There will always be more articles to write, hours to work, calls to cover people who call out at work, and it will prolong me reaching my goal of having the financial freedom to make choices how I want to spend my time and how I earn money. I have to start NOW to make my projects important.

WHAT I HAVE DONE ON MY INTERNET PROJECTS

I have some posts here on Jan’s Ideas, on Jan Fran’s Redneck Yard, and on Jan’s Group Home Support. Each has a couple posts that are scheduled for the next few days. I wrote 2 articles for directories. One for the Orchid Plant Site and for Jan’s Group Home Support. The Orchid Plant Site is one that Bob and I have started marketing for, so I want to keep up the momentum. I had one click on Jan’s Group Home Support that paid out over $3, so I took that as a sign to work on marketing that one.

Well, back to my article orders.

Internet Business and Facebook

Jan — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:28:09 +0000

A perfect pair….Internet business and Facebook. You can set up a separate Facebook page for your business so that people can “like” you page and share it. You can also put links to your website, new articles, and current posts on your personal Facebook page so your family, friends, and coworkers can check it out at their convenience.

INTERNET BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE

I haven’t worked on it much, but I have a Facebook page for Jan’s Writing Services. I will be posting more often in the future and include help for people who are writing for pay in addition to mentioning my services. The photos will include pictures of me and my laptop at different places that I can work from. The one I have up currently is of me writing while watching my daughter ride her horse. When I post on my writing services page, it shows up on my personal Facebook page. It lets people I know keep updated with what I am doing with my writing services.

PERSONAL FACEBOOK PAGE

When you have an Internet business that only some of your friends may be interested in, you can pick and choose who you send information about your Internet business to. You will want to be careful that your friends and family on Facebook don’t feel like they are being spammed! My friends that I have on Facebook that I know from the Maverick would love my blog Jan Fran’s Redneck Yard but not be interested in Jan’s Ideas. I can pick and choose who I send links and updates to.

Don’t be afraid of matching up your Internet business with Facebook.