Welcome, fellow online entrepreneurs! This is the fourth annual training and Productivity Challenge to help you get started with a lucrative business on the Internet. This is where I share my experience and knowledge with you on how to build a profitable online business from your home computer, or from wherever in the world you happen to be. Over the next thirty days we will explore the steps to online success and the actions that will get you there.
Productivity Challenge 2014
Day 1 – Google yourself and see what you find. For example, when I Google “connie ragen green” using the Firefox browser I see there are about two hundred thousand results. I then scroll through the first three pages and see what is considered by Google to be the most relevant search results when someone is looking for more information about me.
Do this for your own name and share your results with us here.
Day 2 – Now that you know where you stand with the search engine results, let’s discuss how you will build your online marketing platform. First, decide which business model(s) will best suit your needs. These are some of the most lucrative ones:
- Information products
- Authorship (Kindle and paperback)
- Affiliate marketing
- Physical products (Amazon)
- Local business marketing
- Niche sites/Membership sites
- Providing your services to others
- Coaching/Consulting/Mentoring
Since coming online in 2006 I have earned income with each of these models, but I currently focus on mentoring, physical products, affiliate marketing, and authorship/speaking as my primary focus in my business. Over time you can pick and choose in this way, but for now choose only two or three to get your online business off the ground.
Leave a comment to share what you are doing and to ask any questions you may have at this time in the Productivity Challenge.
Day 3 – Your hosted WordPress blog is your ‘Home on the Internet’ and is crucial to your success as you continue your journey as an online entrepreneur. I highly recommend posting twice a week, every week for at least the first year, and then once a week thereafter. I have two main sites, this one and Huge Profits Tiny List. They have served me well as my business grows.
Please share your site with us and we will come take a look and leave a comment. This will give you a powerful backlink and connect you with many other like-minded individuals you will be able to build relationships with over these next thirty days and longer. If you do not have your site set up properly right now, I’ll be sharing more about how I am willing to do it for you.
This all begins with purchasing a domain name (preferably a dot com) and hosting (I recommend a Storm VPS account) that can be used for all of your sites. This is an important part of your business, so don’t cut corners here.
You’ll also need to get started with an autoresponder service, if you don’t have one already. I recommend using Aweber, and you can get started for only one dollar for the first month by going here. They have excellent tutorials and customer service to make it as simple as possible to get started with building your list.
Day 4 – Let’s discuss how you can go about creating your free giveaway to ask people to opt in to your list. There are three ways to go about this and I’ll go into more detail about each one.
- Creating your own short report, audio, or video – I tend to do this for my own free giveaways because I love to create original content that shares the essence of what I am teaching online.
- Using PLR (private label rights) – this technique is faster, and I will recommend this site because their content is well written and complete.
- Using other people’s content on your topic – this method involves searching for content on the article directories and putting it together into a short report. Make sure to leave the resource box intact so that the original author receives full credit.
When you leave a comment here, let us know your favorite way of creating free giveaways for your blog ad opt in pages. If you are using audio or video, tell us more about that as well.
Day 5 – Allowing your prospects and customers to hear your voice is the next best thing to meeting them face to face. That’s why I recommend that you get started hosting your own teleseminars right away and then turn them into a podcast.
I began hosting weekly calls back in 2007, and no one attended live for the first couple of months. I refused to be disappointed by this, and instead continued to speak about the various aspects of my topic at the same time and place each week. Over time I had created quite a bit of content and I then repurposed it into blog posts, articles, short reports, online courses, and more.
Finally word got out that I had something to share that was valuable for people wanting to get started with an online business. I was thrilled to have so many people on my calls and my income increased steadily over time.
Almost three years ago I started repurposing these calls into a podcast over at iTunes. This is fairly simple to do using a free plugin called PodPress. I encourage you to subscribe to my podcast series here. Thousands of people from around the world download and listen to these calls, building my list when they come over to my site and opt in and increasing my income when they make a purchase.
Start with a 21 day trial of the teleseminar service for only one dollar. Record your first call as soon as possible. Leave a comment here and include a link to where we can hear your call. You may want to do something like I do with my Ask Connie Anything calls. If you have questions, ask them in your comment and I will answer every one.
Day 6 – It’s all about serving, and we must remember this if we are to build prosperous online businesses. In fact, any business you can think of only exists to serve others. I find that I serve people in my niche most effectively when I speak, share, and teach my topic in person. This is also the most rewarding for me on a daily basis.
My challenge to you today is to find a venue where you can speak about your topic. Some ideas for this where I have presented my topics include the Chamber of Commerce, service organizations such as Rotary or Kiwanis, churches, groups based on a specific topic such as real estate, private social clubs, and corporations that are training their employees and need outside teachers.
This must be related to your primary business, and not to a hobby that makes you little or no income. I have worked with several people over the years who have insisted on doing this, and the result is a drop in income that can seldom be recovered. Keep this strictly business and find other outlets for your creative and fun side.
Instead, think of this as a way to further position yourself as an expert and an authority in your field, leading to increased income over time. You never know who will be in the audience, and much of my corporate work came about from speaking to these groups locally.
Please share with us where you will be speaking, the topic you’ll be teaching on, and how you will follow up with the people who are there for your presentation. Your goal is to do this by the end of this 30 Day Productivity Challenge, if you aren’t doing it already.
Day 7 – Building a successful online business requires focus, dedication, and diligence with everything you do. One important aspect of this is visibility, and an excellent way to let the world know who you are and what you are doing is my writing articles that can be published on the article directories. I got started with the free ones and now use a paid distribution service called Submit More Articles. I recommend starting with a free account and then moving up to the Silver level as soon as possible. This is how I began to build my list with people who were interested in what I had to say about the topic of online marketing.
Once you have written and submitted some articles, put them together into short reports to give away and/or sell as information products. Be persistent with this method and your knowledge about your topic will grow exponentially. Let us know where we can find some of your articles or reports.
My articles published online are here and some of my reports are available to you at no cost on the main page of this site under the ‘Short Reports’ and ‘More Short Reports’ tabs on the menu bar.
Day 8 – When I started blogging back in 2006 I was truly writing to no one. It was months before anyone found my sites and even then they rarely left a comment. Now we know that commenting on other people’s blogs is an excellent way to connect with people, to market our own site, and to increase our own search engine ranking. Even if the blogs you comment on are using a ‘no-follow’ structure, each comment you make is still indexed on Google. That’s why I always sign my comments with my full name.
My challenge to you today is to leave a comment on a recent post from two other people actively participating in the Productivity Challenge. This is the beginning of your relationship with someone who could end up becoming a friend, an affiliate, or even a JV (joint venture) partner in the future. Let us know whose sites you visited and what the experience was like for you.
Day 9 – Today let’s talk about how you are gaining visibility on the channels that receive the most responsive traffic on the Internet – iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube. I discovered years ago that I would be able to reach the most people and have the greatest credibility as well if I began leveraging the power of books, recordings, and videos. My challenge to you today is to check out each of my channels and see how they can work for you as well. Also, if you are already on any of these, let us know about that as well.
iTunes – I have two podcasts available on iTunes. One is my Connie Ragen Green Online Business Success interview series and the other is my Online Marketing Tips trainings. Subscribe to both of these if you aren’t already, and leave me a review over at iTunes. These are simple to schedule and record and I have listeners around the world.
Amazon – Since 2010 I’ve been a bestselling author, and I currently have nine books (seven of my own and two co-written with a friend), several books I have compiled, and more than twenty books that I have contributed to. Take a look at my Author Page and see how I have done this to create a residual income stream as well as readers from countries all over the planet.
YouTube – We must be ready for our closeup! My YouTube channel is the place where I can show people my lifestyle and connect in a very different way than through my writing and audio recordings. Please subscribe to my channel to see what I’m doing there.
What about you? Can we find you as a published author, a podcaster, and a video trainer? What do you need from me in order to move forward with this?
Be sure to sign up for the Book Marketing Challenge as my guest. This will help you to become a bestselling author in record time.
Day 10 – Let’s get social! When I started online in 2006 social media was not yet a part of our lives. Facebook was still just for college students, LinkedIn was geared towards the corporate world, and Twitter was not even a gleam in anyone’s eye! Today that has all drastically changed, and you may find yourself caught up in the social media frenzy that sucks your time, distracts your focus, and sends you down rabbit holes when you read something of interest.
Instead, think of social media as a venue for marketing yourself and your business. Post something to one of your social media profiles that positions you as an expert in your field. Leave a comment here to let us know where we can have a look at what you have shared.
Day 11 – We’ve talked about content you create on your blog, comments you leave on other people’s blog, and now let’s discuss tracking back to someone’s blog within your own post. The way you do this is to write a blog post about the 30 Day Productivity Challenge and to link it back to the permalink (the permanent URL) for this post using the anchor text 30 day productivity challenge or connie ragen green productivity challenge. It is https://connieragengreen.com/productivity-challenge-2014/
Once you have done this I will receive notification and go over to comment on your blog post. When even small groups of people do this for each other the impact is huge, helping everyone who participates to expand their reach and increase their search engine ranking for prime keyword phrases. Please let me know if you are doing this type of tracking back already or of you need more help using this strategy to build your online business.
Day 12 – Now let’s take another look at your blog. Remember, this must be a hosted WordPress blog on your name domain or another domain that brands your business. You will see that I maintain two primary blogs; this one that bears my name and another one at Huge Profits Tiny List. I want to focus on your ‘About’ page today. Take a look at each of mine to get some ideas.
When people first visit your site they want to know more about the person behind the computer who is sharing information with them. Make sure your photograph is clearly visible (one that really looks like you!) and share something about yourself that will help the reader engage with you and resonate with your thoughts, tips, and ideas on your topic.
Give us the direct link to your ‘About’ page in the comments section of this post. For example, the direct link to my ‘About’ page on this site is https://connieragengreen.com/about/.
Day 13 – Today I’m going to ask the question that separates the entrepreneurs from those who are ‘trying’ to start a business online. The question is…’What’s for sale?‘
Several years ago I was helping a woman on my training webinar. She told our group that she just could not understand why she wasn’t earning any money online when she was working at least thirty hours each week on her business. I casually asked her what she was selling, and when she finally answered ‘Nothing, yet.’ it dawned on me that this was not an obvious question to new online entrepreneurs. You can’t earn money until someone makes a purchase, either directly of one of your products or services, or from someone else for whom you are an affiliate.
Many of the products you sell may belong to someone else and you are an affiliate. That’s the perfect place to begin. You may also be offering your services to others. Go back to Day 2 and review the different business models that are available to you.
Please share with us what you are selling online. Also, if you are an affiliate for me or someone else and you post the link on social media, this does not count as being in business. I’ll discuss more about this concept during the last few days of the Challenge.
Day 14 – Social media can be a huge boost to your business or a colossal waste of your time, depending upon your focus and goals. I chose to use the ‘Big Three’ sites – Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – as a way to share my lifestyle, manage my reputation, and to attract the right people for me into my business inner circle. This has paid off handsomely over the past few years with an increase in business, connections with people I would have otherwise been unable to meet, and ideas for new products and courses based on my observations and discussions with other new online entrepreneurs.
LinkedIn has been the biggest boon to my business, and I recently expanded my network to include over sixteen million people! Twitter is an excellent place to stop by and share what you’re working on, and Facebook allows you to share your lifestyle with photos and videos right within your posts.
How are you using social media to grow your business? What are your biggest challenges? Note that I do all of this in fifteen minutes a day or less, and that much of it is automated so I don’t even have to show up most days.
Day 15 – Many of us doing business online today got our start by promoting other people’s products as an affiliate. I continue to recommend this as a way to ‘earn while you learn’ and recommend what you use and love. Are you an affiliate and earning money every month with this?
You can become an affiliate for me by signing up at my affiliate center here. I also recommend that you become an affiliate for the people whose products you have purchased and benefited from.
Now let’s talk a little more about how to promote other people’s products. What I see brand new people do is to post their affiliate link on Twitter and Facebook and expect to make sales. This is seldom a way online entrepreneurs choose to do business, except on that rare occasion where it makes sense.
Instead, do the thinks I have already outlined in the first half of this 30 Day Productivity Challenge. Start a hosted WordPress blog on your topic and post at least twice a week. Start building your list with an opt in box, free giveaway, and an autoresponder sequence. Host teleseminars, write short reports, and attend live events. Give presentations on your topic, both online with webinars and offline for local groups. Build meaningful relationships with people in person and using social media. All of these activities give you the opportunity to share your best resources through affiliate links.
What questions do you have for me around the topic of ‘recommending what you love’ with affiliate marketing?
Day 16 – Let’s talk about mentors in your life. Who is mentoring you in your business and/or in other areas of your life? I had my first mentor in 2005, when I was making the transition from employee/small business owner to full time entrepreneur. I can’t imagine trying to do what I’ve done without the help and support of those much wiser than myself. I continue to be mentored in several aspects of my life and credit much of my success to this factor.
Share your thoughts and feelings on this topic, and let me know how I can be of help to you as you build your online business.
Day 17 – Your autoresponder sequence and broadcast emails are a crucial part of your online business. In the beginning I found this to be terribly confusing, so I would often subscribe to someone’s lists and then print out the messages I received over the next few weeks. This helped me to see the pattern that could be used when connecting with a prospect for my business.
I recommend Aweber’s service for your business, no matter how long you’ve been online.
I’ve created an Autoresponder E-Course that explains this in great detail so you can get your messages written and begin building relationships from those who want to know more about you and what you are doing. I’ve been using that format for several years now and it continues to work well for online entrepreneurs.
How often are you emailing your list, no matter what size it is currently? Are you always including a link for readers to click on, even if there is nothing for sale? Are you encouraging readers to reply to your emails with their questions? Are you offering them a way to further engage you?
Day 18 – You – a published author. How does that sound and feel? It’s said that about eighty percent of the adult population in the United States would like to write a book and feel they have information and a story to share, yet only about five to ten percent of them ever write a book. That was my story until 2009, when I finally decided to choose a topic (making money with a small list), create an outline, and spend about an hour each day for three months writing the book. I actually blogged it and then used those posts to write my book. The result was my first paperback book entitled Huge Profits with a Tiny List: 50 Ways to use Relationship Marketing to Increase Your Bottom Line. I’m currently writing my tenth book, so you know that this experience has been a worthwhile one.
Becoming a published author changed so much for me. I was asked to speak more frequently, clients began coming to me for my mentoring, and my income increased exponentially as others saw that I was indeed an expert and an authority on my topics.
What about you – have you authored a book on your own, co-authored one, contributed to a book, or are you now in the process of writing a book on your topic? Share the details with us here so that we may celebrate with you and encourage you to move forward with authorship as a part of your online business model.
Editor’s Note: My most recent bestseller is one I contributed to called The Little Book of Big Marketing Ideas: Get More Customers, Increase Sales, and Make More Money. My friend and colleague Donna Gunter put this together and my chapter is about affiliate marketing. We went to number one on Amazon in four different categories and were at #300 in overall paid books for Kindle. My next book will be a compilation I’m putting together on Positioning Yourself As An Expert, with more than a dozen experts sharing their knowledge on this topic.
Day 19 – When is your Prime Time? By this I mean when are your best hours each day to be productive in your life and business? You must figure this out and then do whatever you possibly can to guard and protect those precious hours. My own Prime Time is from about six thirty to ten or eleven each morning, and four or five days a week I am writing and creating products during those hours. In fact, I am so productive during this time that it does not matter if I do anything else for the remainder of the day in regards to my business.
What are your thoughts on maximizing your productivity during your Prime Time?
Day 20 – Have you emailed your list this week? See Day 17 above for more details and information on doing this effectively. The people who join your list want to hear from you, so do not disappoint them. Always include a clickable link within your messages, even if it goes to a free resource or other information. Keep your emails relevant to the topic they signed up for originally, and encourage readers to connect with you in a variety of ways, such as on your blog, through social media, and by replying back to you directly from the email message itself. Your list is gold, but only if you continue to follow up and follow through with them on a regular basis.
Day 21 – Let’s discuss online content creation today. Years ago I came up with my 5 Pronged Approach™ and soon people were asking me to go into more detail on what I meant by this for new online entrepreneurs. I began speaking at live events on this topic and my students began to move ahead quickly when they applied each of these to their online businesses. At the beginning of 2014 I came out with my 2014 version, and you can read that post here on the 5 Pronged Approach to Building a Profitable Online Business.
You will see that what I’m sharing here in the 30 Day Productivity Challenge coincides with what I teach in my 5 Pronged Approach, which simply means that the more things change the more they stay the same. Which of the 5 Prongs are you implementing regularly, and which do you need more help with during and after this Challenge?
Day 22 – Let’s discuss the fifth prong of my 5 Pronged Approach – affiliate marketing. Are you actively sharing the products, services, courses, books, and other resources you are benefiting from with others through your affiliate link? In the beginning most of us share the names of the people we are learning from and the books and products we enjoy freely, but soon you will wish that you had used your affiliate link instead.
I teach an entire course on this topic, and have also written a book on affiliate marketing, but for the purposes of this Productivity Challenge I just want you to become aware of how much income you can earn when you do this regularly.
The biggest question people have is ‘Where do I find the products to promote?’ and my answer is always to only recommend what you have purchased yourself, benefited from, and truly love. They will typically be on your hard drive, so simply go through what you have purchased over the past year and see what would be a good fit for your market. I find that technical products, courses, and plugins do well for anyone who has a business, whereas products for authors or niche marketers needs to be more specific. Sometimes I recommend something in the personal development space, but my audience is not usually interested in that kind of information from me. You’ll have to experiment to learn what people want to learn more about from you.
What are your specific questions about affiliate marketing?
Day 23 – Last night I spoke at a local event on the topic of making money with your email list. It’s an area that takes many people out of their comfort zone. While I was speaking I shared that public speaking was something that used to take me out of my comfort zone, especially when I was just starting my online business.
By taking myself out of my comfort zone with public speaking, emailing my list, and becoming an author I’ve been able to change my life dramatically. What are you doing each day that takes you out of your comfort zone in a big way?
I think Eleanor Roosevelt said it best:
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
When I look back over my life I see that I did what I thought was easy most of the time. I resisted change. I ignored opportunities. I never did the thing I thought I could not do, and my life reflected this inaction.
What are your thoughts on this, and how have you changed your life by doing things you previously thought you could not do?
Day 24 – I’ve done this Productivity Challenge every year for the past four years, and each year there are fewer people that follow through with it to the end. I’m used to this now and know that there is very little I can do about it, as adults have to take responsibility for their own success. It’s also the reason there is almost no competition when it comes to building a successful and profitable online business these days.
I have to admit that when I was a classroom teacher and also working in real estate as a broker and residential appraiser I seldom followed through with things unless I was forced to by my employer or a governmental regulatory agency. This meant that opportunities passed me by, the years passed me by, and many times I felt like I was unlucky. The truth was that I was not making the effort necessary to be successful in most areas of my life. I spent twenty years in mediocrity, and then expected different results than I was getting. This is not possible.
Many people feel that becoming an online entrepreneur will change all of that for them. It will, but only if you change your attitude, your work ethic, and what you do each and every day. Most new entrepreneurs succeed only in creating a new job for themselves, and I know this to be true because I did it my first year working online.
The information I am including in this 2014 Productivity Challenge is a game changer for you, but only if you take full advantage of it. During May and June of this year I am looking for people who will follow through with opportunities they are offered, and it begins with this one. Let me know that you are on board, and you just might find yourself being offered a huge opportunity from me during the summer. Are you up to this type of challenge?
Day 25 – Today let’s get back to the basics again by going back to your ‘Home on the Internet’, your blog. I teach something called flagship posts, where you write a more lengthy post – about five hundred to seven hundred fifty words – on an aspect of your main topic. You then link out from this post to another one of your posts, creating a link the search engines will love and your readers will appreciate because the content is relevant to each other. You will see that I did that here on Day 21 with my reference to my 5 Pronged Approach.
The idea here is to link back and forth between your posts, and to create one of these flagship posts at least every three months for best results. You will see that it moves you up nicely in the search engines fairly rapidly, and your readers will suddenly become aware of the vast knowledge you have on your topic. Instead of having to search your site for additional information, you will have provided it to them within your post for easy reference.
This works both ways, with you linking both from and to your flagship posts, and soon it will become second nature to you. For the purposes of this Challenge, choose one of the posts you have written within the past thirty days and link out to another one of your posts. Make sure the content is relevant. Leave us a comment here with the link to that one post.
Day 26 – This week I’m speaking at a live event and it became obvious that those experiencing the highest level of success were the ones who are outsourcing some of their work to others. Do you have help in your business?
Just as we don’t fill our own teeth, rebuild our own car transmissions, or build our own homes, we must find qualified people to do the things we either do not know how to do or that we just aren’t good at doing. For me it all started with needing help with technology when I was new online. Soon I realized that I also needed someone to create graphics for me, and later I needed help with more clerical duties, like submitting articles, going through my email, and creating PowerPoint template and presentations I could then complete on my own.
It can be scary to entrust even a small part of our business to someone else, so I recommend starting small to get a feel for what it’s like to outsource to others. Dennis Becker has a training on outsourcing you may find helpful.
In the very beginning I believed that my helpers would be people I already knew and who live in my same city. Later I realized that the nature of the business was that of working with people on a virtual basis. Now my best helpers are located all over North America, and I have two who are in Malaysia helping me from time to time.
Please share your thoughts and experiences with outsourcing with us here.
Day 27 – As we move closer to the end of this Productivity Challenge, I’d like for you to revisit your goals for building an online business. My original goal, when I started my business in 2006 was to replace the income I earned working full time as a classroom teacher and part-time in real estate. When I achieved that goal about eighteen months later I updated it to include having more time to do as I please, more donations to charities, travel with family and friends, and living in Santa Barbara part of the time.
I believe that it is crucial to your success to know exactly what you are working towards and how you want to spend your time each day as an entrepreneur. I value my time even more these days, seldom find myself sitting in traffic, and rarely do anything I really don’t enjoy doing. How about you? What are your goals, and are they in alignment with who you are and the life you want to live?
Day 28 – I’m calling this ‘Repurposing Day’. I’d like for you to choose one piece of content you have created on your topic and repurpose it into as many different formats as possible. An example would be to take your flagship post from Day 25 and turn that into two articles to submit to the article directories, an audio that could be posted to iTunes as a podcast, several short videos to add to your YouTube channel, and a series of autoresponder messages for the people subscribed to your list.
Be creative with this and know that people actually enjoy following the same information over a period of time in different formats. Just as young children will watch a favorite movie over and over again, so will an adult who is in search of just the right information to move them forward in their life and their business.
Share what you have created with us here.
Day 29 – We’re almost at the end of this year’s Productivity Challenge 2014, so we are going to take a look at our inventory to see what’s working and what isn’t in our business. I will tell you that if you don’t have at least one mess to clean up then you haven’t been working nearly hard enough to grow and prosper. I’ll break it down into the areas we will examine.
- Domain names – Go through your list of domains with a fine-toothed comb to see what you own, what you are not using, and what you plan to develop in the future. I think of this as my ‘virtual real estate’ and started buying up domains very quickly. I still own almost six hundred of them, and almost all of these are earning money for me. I say ‘almost’, which means that I, too have a mess to clean up from time to time. I recommend printing out this list every few months so that you can make notes and straighten them all out.
- Products, courses, and other things you have created, alone or with a partner. These are your business assets, and what will earn you the most money. Are you branding any of these. Are any of them only partially completed? This is an excellent place to begin.
- Affiliate marketing tools – I consider this to be a huge source of revenue, so I am recommending that you take a look at everything you are promoting or want to promote and make sure you know how to access the information you need quickly.
These three are just the beginning, but spending time on this part of your business today will help ensure your success in the future. What questions do you have for me on this?
Day 30 – This may be the end of this year’s Productivity Challenge, but think of it as the beginning of an opportunity for you to build a business that will enable you to have a major lifestyle change. Take some time today to think about this and to imagine what your life would be like if you did not have to worry about money or time.
It took me about eighteen months to replace the income I had earned as a classroom teacher and real estate broker/appraiser with the money I started earning online. I then decided to step up my game and see what that would look like. You can do the exact same thing, and I sincerely hope this challenge has got you moving in the right direction.
What is your plan for your future as an online entrepreneur? What can I do to help you with this transition?
Surprised to find that there are several other Kimberly Schramm’s (not really). About 12,500 results.
Kimberly – have you considered using a middle name or initial?
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014
Nice to meet your Kimberly.
BTW, Adorable logo. 😉
I chuckled for the same reason regarding “referral mrktg” aka WOM/word of mouth mrktg. 😉
Ponn Sabra recently posted…A Muslim Mom’s Start-up Kit to Creating Passive Income Online
Connie, when I google myself, I get 2930 results. On the 1st page, the results are all mine except for one. On the 2nd page, the results are all mine except for one. On the 4rd page, the results are all mine except for one.
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…Why On Earth Would You Leave Corporate America
I got 13800 for “Leslie Ann Cardinal” and 1500 for “Leslie Cardinal.” There is now another Leslie Cardinal who is showing up because she has written a book recently.
Leslie – then I recommend branding yourself as Leslie Ann Cardinal from now on.
Connie Ragen Green
I Googled my name and Cynthia Charleen had 2,090 results and Cynthia Charleen Alexander had 50. If I use Cynthia Alexander there are 241,000 results, but I was surprised to find I had several things with my picture on it on page 1.
So….bears consideration.
Cynthia Charleen recently posted…Organize and Clean – Get Your Car Organized
I personally like Cynthia Charleen for you, but you must do what’s best for your business. Great to see your business moving forward in this way.
Connie Ragen Green
Then I shall be the best Cynthia Charleen around! Things are changing around here!
It is fun to watch the numbers increase.
Cynthia Charleen recently posted…Organize and Clean – Get Your Car Organized
Googling Cheryl Major on explorer, I ended up with 69,700,000 results…not all about me, unfortunately…
Most of mine are for real estate (28 years worth, I guess). I had no idea there would be so many Cheryl Majors around! The good news is at least half of the first 3 pages are me, the bad news is my health stuff shows up at the end of the third page. On Twitter, I had to snag my name with my middle initial (thank you Connie for suggesting that) a couple of years ago.
Cheryl Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
Cheryl,
Can you start using your middle initial in everything you do online from now on?
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Hmmm…Guess I should buy that domain then, right Connie? CherylAMajor.com?
Cheryl Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
Exactly!
Connie Ragen Green
I have a super common name. What about using a pen name? How do you go about doing that?
Linda – my name was very common as well, so that’s why I began including my middle name as soon as I started my online business. Can you do the same?
I don’t care for pen names, as people want to know exactly who they are doing business with when they build a relationship and make a purchase.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Hi Connie et al,
With quotes, 66,000, without quotes, 27,000.
My focus these days is Kindle and CreateSpace, having 11 books on Amazon, presently. I love your productivity challenge and look forward to it!
kate loving shenk recently posted…Self-Less Service Is The Ultimate Rewire
Kate,
Unless you are earning as much as you want/need with the Kindle and Create Space model, you may want to include at least one other income stream to what you are doing.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…The Internet Lifestyle Requires Massive Action
Good advice Connie– I also do affiliate marketing.
Hi Connie!
I’ve had several blogs, but lose interest in them and thus have never made a dime going that route. I sell on eBay and do quite well, but I was wondering about having an E-commerce site with a blog attached to sell all the PLR I have and promote some affiliate products. Do you have any experience with this or any advice for this business model?
Thanks 🙂
Kristie,
It is common for people to start blogs and then abandon them fairly quickly. I would recommend reviving one of your blogs and building it up in the search engines before adding e-commerce or affiliate products.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…The Internet Lifestyle Requires Massive Action
Well, that was interesting. For Terry Young there are 123,000,000 entries. There are 25 on Linkedin and only 8 on Facebook with the first 3 profiles being mine. Must be doing something right on Faceboook. That is where I am most active. When I did Terry Lee Young there were only 51 entries, but I had to do it in quotes to get the small number. Very enlightening!
Terry Lee Young
Terry,
Our social media profiles show up on page one of Google for our names because they have the highest ranking overall. What is truly important is to build our own authority site for our name, so that people can find us for what we do and what we have to offer.
Connie Ragen Green
My highest interests right now are physical products (Amazon), authorship, and affiliate marketing.
Terry,
Do you have physical products for sale on Amazon?
Connie Ragen Green
Connie, I am currently working on Information Products, Authorship and Affiliate Marketing. I have just added Physical Products. I have 6 information products and will release 2 more this month. I am an author of 1 book and contributed to 1. I am contributing to more books, turning my Kindle book into a physical book and working on my next physical book. I actively promote affiliate products every day. I am excited to get started with Physical Products. My question is how to balance marketing your own products with affiliate products?
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…Do I Have What It Takes To Leave The Corporate Rat Race For Online Marketing?
Adrienne,
You are doing an excellent job – I’ll bet you have a very smart Mentor! Balancing your own products with affiliate offerings is something we all struggle with. I recommend using a marketing calendar to see which days you will be promoting what. Over time it will all fall into place as you become more accustomed to your schedule and strategy.
Connie Ragen Green
I have over 400 posts that I sign as “Chef William” on my website but when I look “Chef William”, there are 6 pages ahead of me. However when I look up my own name “William H Chaney”, my picture is one of the 6 on the first page plus I am listed as an EzineArticles.com Expert Author on the first page, so I’ve got a challenge. I need to change something to get myself connected to the website/blog without starting over.
William,
How about calling yourself Chef William Chaney? That might work out extremely well in branding yourself and exactly who you are and what you do.
Connie Ragen Green
Thanks Connie, I was thinking that leaving off the last name made the blog seem more friendly, however that has not worked so I will change it. Perhaps I should go back a few days and re-sign the blogs to get some SEO asap.
Chef William recently posted…Peppery Tangelo Kiwi Sauce
Wow! I was surprised. On Firefox my name was mentioned on 15 pages. However, I didn’t find it significant. Also, there is another Molinda with the spelling Melinda…..
Molinda,
Do you own your name as a dot com? That would be the first step in building your online platform.
Connie Ragen Green
Googling “janicedugas” = 1,960
Without quotes = 2,230.
First SERP (with quotes) displayed:
-Facebook (personal)
-LinkedIn
-IM Website
-IM Blog
-2 Niche Marketing Twitter a/c name (stamp collecting and photography)
Hum…very interesting to know this…it means I have to get myself out there much much more!
Thanks Connie! 🙂
Janice Dugas recently posted…Evernote: un outil de productivité qui vous une offre une “parfaite mémoire”!
Hi Janice,
Great to have you aboard with the 30 Day Productivity Challenge! Yes, get your name out there in a way that serves you and lets the world know exactly who you are and what you do.
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Connie!
I’m so glad I didn’t miss it this year!
Day 1:
Ponn Sabra comes up with 7,940 searches. I stopped searching up to the 7th page and every single entry is all me. So, that’s good, right? Definitely can be better.
Day 2:
My focus for 2014:
a. Kindles
b. Affiliate marketing via my autoresponders and email blast (blog too)
c. Infoproducts by using PLR more effectively, and partnering to split the workload.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…How To Get Children To Help With Chores [Infographic]
Great work, Ponn! Glad to see you are monetizing your online business.
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Ms. Connie!
We’re a bit competitive here, I’m Ponn’s eldest daughter of 3.
Day 1: I have 98,900 (who would’ve thought!?) One one entry on page 3 is not me, so I make up all of the first 3 page searches.
Day 2:
1. Kindle books
2. Affiliate marketing with email and my blog
3. Providing services…which may lead to consulting/mentoring
JuJu Sabra recently posted…Seeking Successful Teens to Inteview for New Teen Success Book
Thanks for stopping by, JuJu. Isn’t it wonderful to be earning your own money from your home computer? My grandson just bought a new car, and he only works six hours a week.
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Ms. Connie!
Hah! I know GiGi is a popular name, so I have 7,090,000 searches. Only 2 searches aren’t me on page 3, they’re all me on the first 2 pages. Wow…cool!
My focus is:
Kindle books
Affiliate marketing on my blog and email list
Mic-continuity membership program (hopefully)
GiGi Sabra recently posted…America, the fattest country
Great job with this, GiGi. I see you are following in your sister’s footsteps with all of this.
Connie Ragen Green
My focus is:
Kindle books
Creating products by combining my background skills with PLR
Affiliate marketing on my blog and email list
Chef William recently posted…Peppery Tangelo Kiwi Sauce
William – how often do you mail your list? Has it continued to grow during the past twelve months?
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Currently focusing on authorship and affiliate marketing with an eye to a membership site in the near future.
Cheryl Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
Cheryl,
Which niche are you working in now?
Connie Ragen Green
I am totally focused on the health niche. Gave up on spreading myself too thin; it doesn’t work…but you told me that a long time ago.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
I thought I posted a reply, but as I don’t see it, I’m trying again. I have been totally focused on the health niche since last October (at WML). Spreading myself too thin didn’t work, but you told me that a long time ago.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
I’m truly at the beginning – and eager to start with information products, authorship, and physical products.
Miriam – selling physical products is an excellent way for beginners to start out. This is a model that is already familiar to us, and the profits are huge as people continue to move towards purchasing as much as they can on the Internet. This will only grow exponentially over the next five years or so.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
I do recognize that selling physical products is an excellent way to start doing business online, but the cost of entry (to learn how to do it) is costly, and I’ll have to start with the other two business models I’ve selected while I save to take the training on selling physical products.
Hi Connie,
My name pulls up 172,100 results with images, Youtube, Facebook and my site in that order. Definitely have some work to do, particularly my site which I have neglected. This productivity challenge is just what I need to move forward in this area.
My main focus is selling physical products on Amazon, affiliate marketing and information products in that order.
Kit Rosato recently posted…Gmail and Google Drive are Down Today!
Kit,
It sounds like you are very focused and right on track with your goals. What type of information products are you creating?
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Wow, 49,900,000 results for Shelley Michael on google.. my twitter and linked in come up on page 2. Neither of my sites came up that I could find. (the shelleymichael is being changed but its been there for 3 years). I have been struggling/procrastinating for a couple years.. biggest issue is building a list. You’re wonderful..thank you!
Shelley – focusing on getting your sites on the first page of Google must be a priority. We’ll be discussing that throughout this thirty day productivity challenge.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
About 14,400 results – most of page is me. Connie is so right -that middle name (in my case just an initial) makes all the difference AND thanks it showed up two websites I own that I had practically forgotten about! Need to start using those pronto (maybe as a part of this challenge?) I sell physical products (vinyl LPS and CDs) but I use my eBay and Amazon name (crucialmusic) so my business website does not show on my name search.
I have a small email list which I am keen to grow and add affiliate marketing, authorship and some general IM stuff to my physical sales. I find the possibilities rather overwhelming which can deter me from taking further action (other than my eBay and Amazon FBA stuff)
I am in. Day 1 – A few days behind, but I can catch up. The result of the Google search revealed that there were 5 results in the first 3 pages that were not me, or pertaining to something I “put out there.”
Day 2 – I will continue to create information products including writing books, will affiliate market, and am super excited to venture onto Amazon and sell me some physical products!
Day 3 – My main site is ModernSamuraiSociety.com, and my fat loss site is CheeseburgerAbs.com. I posted to Modern Samurai this AM. I will post to Cheeseburger Abs tomorrow AM.
Happy to be on the challenge of a lifetime.
Thanks for doing this again Connie
Hi Al.
Read an awesome article of yours about having mindset for self-defense. Wanted to leave a message, but you don’t have the option.
I did JKD as a student, my dad is a Thai boxer, 2 brothers martial artist. My girls really want to get into Martial Arts, so I’m curious where you’re going to go with this site. Home program would be definitely something my girls and I are interested in, because we can’t go to a public place nor have male instructors. Just a thought…
Wow, thanks for the heads up on the site’s comment not working, and thanks for the wonderful comment on the article. I am just about finished my first book that deals with the mindset for facing a potentially violent confrontation, and just interviewed Bruce Siddle who founded a company that became the basis for the security training here in Canada and many places in the US. This guy is the real deal, and his information will be doled out on the site in the months to come. I plan to use the site to ‘dump’ all the information I get on self-defense, and martial arts training, and compile the most complete, comprehensive list of self-defense, and personal protection tips ever assembled. In doing this, I will build a huge email list over time, and make suggestions to the list for supplements, training aids, and other products I use and love. I have 6 more interview lined up, including one of the Ninja turtles!
I will happily keep you informed of the progress, and I just love JKD. I had the opportunity to train with Paul Vunak a few times. How long did you train it for?
Hello Connie, Thanks for answering my question on askconnieanything… sorry I didnt give my webpage address. It is brand new so not much content. It is a personal empowerment site that will offer content and products for empowering people to let go of limiting beliefs and life a happy life. I am also starting a radio show to help drive traffic. I have been following you for a good while now and feel like I have a good handle on affiliate marketing but 1) I dont have a product of my own so I need to sell other products until I get my own 2) I seem to have a gap in my understanding on how to get my list started. I signed up for the productivity challenge! Thank you♥
Shelley,
Don’t put the cart before the horse. You must have an optin box, a free giveaway, and an autoresponder service before you start driving traffic. Take it one step at a time to get everything set up correctly.
You can do it!
Connie Ragen Green
My freebies on my site are personalized and unique content. But, for future products needing optin landing page I’m looking into using PLR more effectively. I just made an optin this morning and the freebie is my own.
JuJu just spent the last 2 days making new report for my site. GiGi used content in one of our kindles as a short ecourse of recipes. JoJo has a list for her freebie, all original content.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…How To Get Children To Help With Chores [Infographic]
Ponn,
Now comes the BIG question – what’s for sale? That’s the next step in building a successful business.
Connie Ragen Green
Me: 4-hours into working with my first CoachGlue product, only 30mins more. Working hard to systematize a steady stream of infoproducts. Goal to launch tomorrow or Monday.
JuJu just launched her Services page last night, to start promoting Monday.
GiGi & JoJo are working on a kindle a month. Which we all do.
Day 3 – My site is The Online Newbie.
Can not leave the link in the comment.
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…Online Newbie Mistakes To Avoid
Just visiting & commented on this blogpost–the link from CommentLuv was intriguing…and so was the article! 😉
Ponn Sabra recently posted…The Qualities of an Ideal Muslim Mom [INFOGRAPHIC]
Day 4 – My preferred format for my free giveaway is a free report; however, I have done audio before. If it is for one of my products that I created, then I create it myself. Otherwise, I tend to use PLR that I rewrite.
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…Inspiration and Advice For Starting An Online Business
Connie, I do have a teleseminar series where I discuss a different topic twice a month. I admit, I have not been very good at creating podcasts from them. My plan for 2014 is to use of the teleseminars for the podcast once a month. I will also interview a person once a month as well.
Right now, I am interviewing contributors to my Kindle Book, Leave The Corporate World Behind, for my podcast series.
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…First Steps To A Successful Online Entrepreneur
Adrienne,
You’re doing an excellent job with all of this. I look forward to your new podcast series and would love to be a guest.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie, I sent you a email to set up an interview.
Adrienne Dupree recently posted…Remote Desktop – Access your Desktop or PC Remotely Using your Android Device
Done! I am now the proud owner of CherylAMajor.com!
Cheryl Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
Excellent to hear, Cheryl!
Connie Ragen Green
When I google Peggy McAloon there are 37,100 results with only 3 who are not me on the first 4 pages of results. The results under Peggy Mound McAloon are 20,600 and pull in more results from my business career. My fantasy to inspire children to help others and have a kind heart will be released in June. I am an artist and have worked with a local jewelry artisan to develop the bronze pendant Elle is given in the book (Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals). I am also a water color artist and give away a signed print of one of my paintings each month. The current month’s picture will be found on the special offers page. I am probably not going to be your best student on this event because I have about 30 days to develop my publicity packet. I self-published “The Art of Business Credit Investigation” in the ’80’s when businesses didn’t have the internet resources available today and it was an immediate hit. This is my first attempt at fiction.
Peggy McAloon recently posted…Should your Child be Vaccinated?
Peggy,
Are you interested in earning a full time income online, or is your work more for personal satisfaction? There is a huge difference, and I am better able to help those who want to build a lucrative business they can run from home or from anywhere in the world.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie, what do you use to edit your intro & extro? Do you do it yourself or outsource?
I stopped doing my podcast because I had to outsource everything. I have AudioAcrobat which is simple for recording and hosting the audios, but I’m looking into Amazon S3 now and using Pamela for skype.
Where do you host?
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Eat Healthy Play Hard FREE Gifts
My free reports? on the fat loss site, it’s a PDF, for the martial arts site… it’s a cumbersome video. So far, I have more opt in’s from the video. I write ‘cumbersome’ because it was shot high def, and needs to be reduced. I did get an Amazon S-3 account, but have yet to put the video there. I have a bunch to learn yet about all of this. Looking forward to taking this Productivity challenge to the last day.
Al Bargen recently posted…Keep At It – and Other Key Secrets to Success in The Martial Arts
Wow – day 6 already!
Here’s an update for days 2 – 6:
Day 2
My business model:
1) Local business marketing
2) Providing services
3) Information products
Day 3
I’ve had a blog since 2011 (lost all content and started over in 2013)
Day 4
Writing special report
Day 5
Podcast in progress – have several interviews that need to be edited and publish
Day 6
I have an opportunity to be part of a speakers bureau for local businesses
Keep up the great work, Kimberly. It is obvious that you are focused and dedicated with building your business.
Connie Ragen Green
Commenting on Day 6 as I started one day late… I am a bit nervous regarding speaking about my topic; not because I’m afraid of public speaking. I actually enjoy it and have done quite a bit of it for my favorite charity. It would be very revealing about my personal struggles with depression. I don’t want it to affect the perception in my working market that I may be able to perform my job. On the other hand, I want to share how I cured my depression with food rather than drugs to give others hope they can feel better (and lose weight along the way). This will be a real commitment to put myself out there.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Alzheimer’s Disease…Protect yourself now…It’s about what you feed your head…
I just saw this challenge on Day 7 – I’m on Day 1. Thank you Connie for the adventure! Looks like a number of folks quite prominent online. I’ve been in business and real estate for quite a long time but a true newbie in online marketing.
523 results on 14+ pages, and all my stuff on the lst 5 pages except 3 queries about me. When social media started becoming important I went for the professional level of consultants, and started with LinkedIn (currently 500+ connections) and created a private group “Fractional Opportunities and Consulting” (currently 469 members). Global financial crisis hit the world shared ownership sector quite hard, and where I live in Florida is still a long way from recovered. Hence, the plan is to put time and juice repurposing my investor/agent knowledge and multiple prior hard products and seminars into online products….a whole new world. (and my name website is oh so out of date.)
Thank you again for your thoughts.
So glad you’ve decided to join the Productivity Challenge, Marge. How may we better serve you during the remainder of the 30 days?
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Marge.
1. Your link to your name isn’t right, you have your email attached, but I found you.
2. I didn’t see a blog on your site.
3. I recommend slowing down your flash, especially because it’s words not images. I’m a speed reader and even your flash was too fast for the 2nd slide.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…A Muslim Mom’s Start-up Kit to Creating Passive Income Online
Ponn – Thanks for looking at what’s up online. Both sites were created by other people with tech skills, and I wrote the content. The 2nd website and more recent is (mywatersidesecondhome.com) – that’s the one focused on fractional ownership, which is no longer a economically viable topic and unlikely to yield monetarily. I doubt that it’s worth any time by anyone. What are your thoughts, Ponn and Connie? My margecoffing.com site (a domain I’ve had for 15+ years) is the one I thought should be the hub, but it is not a wordpress site. Right now I’m thinking either that I create a series of one page landing pages for each of the vid products and giveaways to come (from repurposed real estate buyer products), or start the learning curve on how to create a wordpress.org site myself. (Day 2 – platform startup with housebuyer info tips and Kindle) (Day 3 – I understand the value of backlinks) I’m an online newbie and non-techie…yikes what a combo! And the question itself is a heavy load. Connie and Ponn – any reactions or insight would be appreciated.
Interesting insights to your market. That’s great that you reevaluated what’s a profitable market and not.
I did exactly what you’re asking. Having reviewed everything critically, I took my oldest and first url ponnsabra.com to make it my central hub, linking to all my projects, reinstated my blog, and will be doing what you asked: make separate landing pages for various products as they are released.
I’m non-techie too, so I outsource a lot. It became a great blessing that my girls wanted to learn to design, code, program, etc. and I now have in-house developers. Basic things I can do. 😉
You can do it too!
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Amazon Search Tool – MerchantWords – Free Beta Sign Up Now
Day 5 continued. I downloaded Audacity today, found my old podcast intros & extros and will see what we can accomplish with podcasts and audios ourselves.
Day 6 – Thinking about it–I have very little and limited time for outside speaking engagement. But, if I can do any of these for substitutes: make myself more available for talk show radio and podcast guests, or if I can fit in homeschooling talks or talks in my religious settings if/when I’m already there. I’ll look strategically at these options.
Day 7 – I pulled up my accounts for EzineArticles, I was a member of SubmitYour/MoreArticles before–so at least I looked into them. 😉
Great followup to increasing my sales funnel. I launched a ToolKit today based on CoachGlue PLR–your advice and David Perdue. So, thanks Connie! Feel very productive this Monday!
Ponn Sabra recently posted…A Muslim Mom’s Start-up Kit to Creating Passive Income Online
Ponn,
Thanks so much for actively participating in this Challenge and being so open with what you are doing in your online business.
Connie Ragen Green
I was following along with the 10K laser coaching and just found out about this challenge so I’d like to jump on board and catch up.
Day 1 my Google search 3050 but we are two with the same name.My social media accounts are – except from Facebook in very bad shape. I have not posted for years.
Day 2 Information products and affiliate marketing
Day 3 I don’t have a website up yet but I have the domain.TheFemaleMarketer.com. I have still to make my first dollar online but I am in some great coaching right now and I have taken a lot of notes from the 10K Coaching so I now a lot of things will happen for me this year and I wanted to use my website to journal this transformation.
Day 4 I will use PLR for give away. I have a lot of stuff from Nicole and Melissa and Jason Fladlien. I have to go through and see what fits.
Day 5 I have to sign up for the tele seminar service. How long is “just good enough”for an episode?
Thanks for joining us, Charlotte. What’s keeping you from setting up your hosted WordPress site? Email me if you’d like for me to do it for you.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Thank you Connie. Right now I am taking part in WebsiteCreationWorkShop with Christina Hills so I should be able to set up the site myself 🙂 But did you have an aff link for LiquidWeb? I think standard package for $14.95/month should be enough to start with? I will get it up tomorrow.
Charlotte,
Liquid Web has an amazing customer service and tech team and using their hosting service makes my entire business run more smoothly. My link for them is http://ConnieLoves.me/LiquidWeb.
Thanks so much for asking!
Connie Ragen Green
Just saying ‘hi’. I’m working really hard this week with JuJu to complete each lesson for my very first website since 2002 my name. I collapsed and parked 2 other outdated blogs there & rebranding everything to be my main professional hub. There’s much yet to be done, but I’m so excited! This challenge really pushed me to finally get this done. Thanks Connie!
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Amazon HTML Kindle Book Description Code Editor | KDP Author Tools
This is ALL exciting news!Are you interviewing Mike Chat of XMA Headquarters? He’s one of the most famous ninja turtles. One of our closest family friends’ 2 sons started there last week and love Mike Chat. If not, he\’s truly an inspirational person in the field to interview.I only trained while in college, many years ago. I miss it terribly.Keep us posted.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Just Write And Publish!
This was meant to be a reply to Al Bargan above.
I am trying to do affiliate links which is frustrating because I was told to do a landing page and I did tweet and buy Facebook ad and I did and still nothing.
Cookie – this business requires a dedication and focus most people are not willing or able to commit to. Are you working with a mentor? Also, check the spelling in your website URL; it goes to a page that does not exist. Take your time and choose one area to learn about each week.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Info Product Creation: Online Marketing Tips Podcast
I’m on board. Day 24 so far. The only change to your suggestions is that I am doing daily short videos on Youtube rather than a podcast. Although I do have a BlogTalkRadio show that I’m hoping to do more with before long.
Carol Bremner recently posted…Swim Like a Social Media Salmon
Carol – So glad you are on board. You’ll want to do short videos on YouTube AND a podcast on iTunes. I do not recommend using Blog Talk Radio for this, as then you are advertising their site instead of your own. It’s worth the time and effort to set your business up correctly from the very beginning so that you won’t have to spend time and money redoing things (as I had to) later on.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Online Marketing Tips Podcast: Content Marketing
Carol,
Just realized you are in Toronto. I’ll be speaking there this weekend at http://ConnieLoves.me/ExposureProfit and would love to meet you in person.
Connie Ragen Green
Day 1: Googling “Veronica Kirchoff” I get about 49,200 results. On the first three pages, 17 out of 30 results are for me and my business, including 8 out of 10 results on the first page alone.
The specific results include (in order of appearance) my personal/coaching website, my LinkedIn profile, my accounting company’s “About Us” page, the same company’s Yelp page, my Market Research course on Udemy, my Google Keyword Planner Tutorial Video on YouTube, Google Images of my profile and website photos, my Google+ profile, my Twitter profile, my Amazon Kindle Store, my user profile at JVZoo, my video podcast at iTunes, my audio podcast at iTunes, a link to one of my client’s websites that I built which has my name on it as the webmaster, a third-party website that links to my Keyword Research and SEO course on Udemy, the Google Books page of a book that I was interviewed for back in 1996, my TwitterCounter.com states page, and the MiNeeds.com profile page for my accounting company.
I know I could be doing more to capitalize on these results. I just have to get a plan together to do so, and maybe some assistance…
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…What Is a Publicist and Should You Hire One for Your Book?
Veronica – Thanks so much for your comment. If only 17 of the first 30 results on Google are for you, you may want to add a middle name or initial like I did. The idea is to set yourself apart from others so that people can focus on you and what you are doing.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Info Product Creation: Online Marketing Tips Podcast
Hi Connie-
Oddly enough, I do use my middle initial when I publish ebooks and kindle books, when I put my personal contact info on any of my websites, etc. So I just Googled “Veronica J. Kirchoff” and all 20 results of the first 2 pages are me, with 4 more on page 3.
Unfortunately, exactly half of them are not relevant results. There’s a couple of foreign Yelp pages for some strange reason (my Engilsh Yelp page translated into other languages), Canada and UK versions of my Amazon Kindle Store page, several of those “background check” websites that offer to give people my personal info (and it really is me because they have my correct city, age, etc.), the public records for my home purchase a few years ago, and my dad’s obituary from 9 years ago.
So now I’m wondering if I should just try harder to dominate the “Veronica Kirchoff” results, or hope that the irrelevant “Veronica J. Kirchoff” results eventually drop off…?
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…What Is a Publicist and Should You Hire One for Your Book?
Hi Connie,
Re day 24: Perhaps I am not reading this correctly, but the part about competition stuns me, or perhaps you mean lack of competition in internet businesses outside the IM field. I am OVERWHELMED with people on the internet trying to get me to buy their products! It seems like I spend more time “unsubscribing” to e-mail lists than I do reading the sales messages.
Cheers,
Tom W.
Tom – Thanks for your comment. You are assuming that the people emailing you with offers are successful online entrepreneurs. If you do some research, you will find that 90% of them or more have only released one or two products within the last year. This is hardly enough income to make a car payment, let alone to be able to consider themselves in business seriously. If you want to earn six figures a year or more, simply get into the mindset of someone who has a successful business. This means taking responsibility, continuing to learn, and working actively in your business each and every day. You can do it, Tom!
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
I am one of those who did not follow through to the end ( blush ) but I did print out the whole challenge to have as a guideline. Reading through it, the words that jumped out to me was ” there is almost no competition when it comes to building a successful and profitable online business these days.”First I got surprised by the words but coming to think about it, I suppose that you are right. There are not really many names out there, considering the size of the web. It was like a paradigm shift in my head and it gaves me a positive kick to put in the effort to make it. Thanks Connie! Watch out for The Female Marketer!!
Hey Connie!
I definitely have not given up–just not reporting back because I’m doing a big shift.
While AmericanMuslimMom.com (AMM) is my long-standing mom blog and continues to make $, my passion and purpose is on homeschooling/parenting. Hence my rebranding of PonnSabra.com. I just bought KidsEntrepreneurEducation.com and building that as my product store website.
Although, I am applying lessons learned to AMM, and since added more autoresponders with affiliate links, calls to action and 3 weeks in a row I got more subscriptions, more sales, more CTAs responses. Yay!
Day 11 & 12 -check.
13 – on my To Do Task for Friday morning.
14 – doing
15 – check
16 – Informal mentoring via private membership forum. My girls have a formal business coach & book coach.
17 – I just got my freebie on my first autoresponder today. I totally updated one of my most popular freebies, haven’t been updated since 2011. I read your 7-day autoresponder ebook. I will broadcast my new branding today. This site is starting my scratch, I have a new email list, 0 subscribers.
18- Book. I have 1 book totally written out by hand (all research done too) “The Productivity Secret You Wish You Knew”.Goal 6-12 weeks to publish. Need to put in time to type.
19 – Best time after dawn when hubby and girls are still asleep.
20 – See #17
21 – See Day #2. Kindles>Affiliate mrktg (email and blog)>Infoproducts.
22 – check. I’m doing it more often, without feeling guilty and happy with the results.
23 – Great quote! It’s making more CTAs, I simply couldn’t do it regularly in fear that it was too often.
24 – This is why I’m started my “Finding Passion, Defining Purpose” blog series today. I need to step out of my comfort zone right now.
Thanks for a great challenge Connie. I definitely gained a lot from it. I didn’t want to flood your comments section, that’s why I didn’t update. But, today’s email encouraged me to make these notes. Not, that you may offer me something; but, to prove to myself that I did follow-through to the end of this challenge for my own education and benefit.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Finding Passion, Defining Purpose – Exercise for Entrepreneurial Moms and Kids
Ponn – thanks so much for your updates. You are definitely on the track to great success!
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Productivity Challenge 2014 – Online Marketing Tips For You
Day 2: My current focus is on:
1) Information products
2) Membership sites
3) Coaching/Consulting/Mentoring
I’m still “Providing my services to others” only because that’s how I’ve made a living for the last 20+ years and getting the above 3 methods up and running to their full potential is taking some time, but I hope to stop “trading hours for dollars” soon, at least by the end of the year.
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…What Is a Publicist and Should You Hire One for Your Book?
Veronica,
You must take daily actions to move away from being a service provider, or else it will never happen. I’ve had many students who get caught up with this, only to realize they have created a job for themselves instead of a business as an entrepreneur. I recommend not taking any new clients and focusing your efforts on the three business models you mentioned above.
Best of success with this.
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Connie-
Thanks for the reminder. I stopped taking new clients for my services about a year and a half ago when my daughter was born, but I am still servicing those clients. I did “fire” a lot of them, but I still have about 5 clients that I’m “on the hook” with for bookkeeping, accounting, and tax preparation, all of which I absolutely hate, but can’t stop doing until I get my other income sources squared away.
I also have 2 web design clients that I’m still working with, ironically, seeing as I can’t even get my own website done but I seem to keep their websites all up-to-date and looking awesome, and I keep dropping everything and doing last minute work for them whenever it comes up.
Anyway, the only new clients I’m bringing on now are coaching clients. It’s all one-on-one email coaching, which I guess is slightly better than one-on-one phone coaching as far as not being so much of a time-sucker, but it still takes away from me completing my Info Products and Membership Sites.
I would like to move to a group coaching model so I can leverage my time better… Have you ever heard of anyone doing group email coaching? It doesn’t sound like it would sell very well, to me. I just have a problem with phone coaching because I have a 16-month-old daughter who is joined with me at the hip 24/7. Since I never really know what each day will hold, it’s hard for me to schedule a time each week to get uninterrupted phone time and be able to really focus on my clients’ needs, in real time. With email, I can answer late at night and in between other obligations.
So yeah, it looks like the coaching thing is something I’ll have to take a long hard look at and see if it’s really working for me. I make more income from coaching than I do from Info Products and Membership Sites right now, but that’s only because I haven’t released the bigger/premium products I’ve been trying to complete for the last 2 years. I have a membership site that I’m about 90% done with right now, so maybe I should stop the coaching and the last-minute web work and buckle down on that membership site. If I can get some income rolling in from that within the next few weeks, it’ll make it easier to cut off some of these other, more time-consuming income sources.
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Outsourcing Video Marketing: It’s Time-Consuming, But It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Time
Day 3: My website is at VeronicaKirchoff.com — the blog is set up but needs work as far as adding images to each post and formatting the posts so they’re easier to read.
The rest of the content (my products and services) is in the process of being added.
I always prioritize working for other people (cash in-hand) over working on my own stuff, so this site has been languishing for about two years now… 🙁
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Top Tips for Creating Web Videos that Buzz
Hi Connie,
Thanks for continuing to offer us ideas and encouragement and challenges. You are right, stepping out of our comfort zone isn’t easy, yet it offers so much possibility. This is a year of changes and adjustments for me, including some really new directions for my business. The Amazon project is one example of this…lots to learn and do, but exciting potential too. I am interested to learn more about what you mentioned in your email and in your Day 24 post.
Leslie Cardinal recently posted…Grow Your Business and Make It Bloom
Leslie,
I love watching you grow this year. You remind me of myself not so long ago, and that’s how I know you will be super successful!
Connie Ragen Green
I agree Leslie…lots to learn and do. I am writing the chapter for your book on how I’ve learned to be on time (which is clearly a work in progress as my chapter is late…). Thank you for the opportunity; I am grateful to have the chance to contribute!
I’ve posted a photo of my dinner which included hemp hearts. This relates to a series I’ve been doing on the history, uses and benefits of hemp. The facebook post generated a question from a couple of people about the sardines on my plate. I think that question gives me the subject for my next blog post (as well as a link to buy them on Amazon!)
I tried to provide the url for my blog, but kept getting a message there were too many in the comment.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Hemp…It’s a Great Food Source!
Sorry…I meant the link to the FB post/photo.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Hemp…It’s a Great Food Source!
Day 4: I use PLR content about 90% of the time, and add my own content to complement and personalize it to my own style. I also tend to mix-and-match PLR content from several different sources so that my stuff is not exactly the same as everyone else’s.
This is how I populate my blog, how I create my free opt-in offers, and how I create my own products. For products, I always create my own ecovers, and if there’s video involved, I create my own intro/ending animations and a branded “wrapper” around the video so it matches the other items in the product package. I also often record my own voiceover intro for any video and audio files.
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Outsourcing Video Marketing: It’s Time-Consuming, But It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Time
Veronica,
Using PLR more than fifty percent of the time sounds very high to me. I would encourage you to create more of your own content on your topics. Your results at the end of the month will improve if you are more hands-on in this area, I honestly believe.
Connie Ragen Green
Day 5: I started a podcast last October for my year-long step-by-step interactive training program that teaches how to start a business from scratch. The podcast’s inception was part of a 30-day challenge posted in the Earn 1k A Day forums. I completed one podcast per day for 25 days, but then got sidetracked and haven’t gotten any further on the podcast, nor on the product itself. After the initial 30 days of daily podcasts, I’d intended to turn it into a weekly show with Q&A submitted either by voice message or email, but that never happened.
Now I’m thinking I should start up a new podcast that’s more generalized, rather than being tied to a specific product. Since my previous podcast was made to follow along with that specific training program (I was repurposing the podcasts into audio/video training for the product and vice versa), if I want to promote MYSELF and ALL of my products/services, I’d need to start a second podcast anyway, and I don’t know if I have the time and energy to do more than one right now.
Unfortunately, I have a cold right now and my voice won’t last more than 5 minutes of constant talking, so I’ll have to put off starting this one until the cold subsides. But it is definitely on my shortlist!
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Outsourcing Programming: Bridging the Communication Gap
Whatever topic and format you choose, the most important thing is to stick with it and follow through, no matter what.
Connie Ragen Green
Hi Connie-
Question on Day 7: When writing and submitting articles, should we try to “niche down” to a very specific topic and only submit articles based on that topic, or should we take more of a scatter-shot approach and submit articles on a wide variety of topics within our range of expertise?
My qualifications would allow me to write authoritatively on a plethora of topics pertaining to small business, marketing, and technology. Or I could niche way down and focus on a specific topic for which I’m really trying to establish myself as an expert.
What do you think would be more effective for someone just starting to get their name out there, and for building a list?
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Organizing Your Desk and Your Computer Files
Ask yourself what you want to be known for in your business. Once you answer that question, spend time every day positioning yourself as an expert by writing, speaking, and presenting your information and ideas to others. Everything else you put out there just clouds up cyberspace with irrelevant details. Does this make sense?
Connie Ragen Green
Hey Connie.
Periodically, I tried to follow the discussions in the comments throughout this challenge, because it’s replies like these that you make that really had me thinking. Now that the challenge is over, I’m catching up on missed comments. 😉
Great advice, huh Veronica?
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Publicizing Your Passion through Free Media Leads and Placement
Day 6: There are several Chambers of Commerce in my immediate area (each neighborhood has one and I’m right at the intersection of 5 of the nicer neighborhoods in Seattle), as well as a couple of popular Community Centers and libraries that often host seminars and workshops.
I’ve had it on my marketing plan for some time now, to start doing monthly presentations on business start-up and marketing, but I’ve put it off because I would need to find someone to care for my daughter while I’m doing this. I don’t have any family in the immediate area, and I don’t trust anyone else with her until she’s a little older. It’s probably just me being paranoid, but I’d rather miss out on a few marketing opportunities than put her in a situation I’m not comfortable with and end up regretting it.
So I have the public speaking thing on my list to be revisited next Summer, when I believe I’ll feel better about leaving her with a babysitter or daycare center and I won’t be distracted the entire time I’m trying to deliver my presentation.
Veronica Kirchoff recently posted…Top Tips for Hosting Successful Webinars
Veronica,
When my youngest was born, I had no family and hubby and I didn’t trust anyone either. So, hubby and I strategically worked our schedules out to watch the girls, or I simply brought her and nursed her with me. I was a real estate agent, at the time, and was told by colleagues, wow–no one brings kids let alone babies at closings, showings, etc. then slowly I changed the trend. I actually began known as the family realtor and started bringing a lot more business simply because people saw my confidence and commitment in my family and not being told I can’t follow the norm. Since I was living in a new state, I didn’t even know there was a “norm” that I should’ve been following.
For a presentation is different, I didn’t start sharing the stage until my oldest was 5 yo and she was my “assistant” and spoke with me. But, slowly and earlier I started incorporating them in (for lack of babysitting, so necessity), but everyone saw it as “how I did business”. But, I totally hear you nonetheless.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Publicizing Your Passion through Free Media Leads and Placement
Day 26. From the very beginning I started outsourcing whatever I didn’t like doing, didn’t care to learn (techie stuff) or just not interested in. What occurred was I outsourced so much that my girls became interested in learning the business and keeping as much of the income in-house ourselves. Now, most of what I outsource has to do with my kindle publishing (ie illustrators, editors, ecover designers); and I’ve had great success using regular fiverr gigs. It’s great to have outsourcers from all around the world–it makes the world a smaller place.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Know that Everything You Do In Life Matters!
Ponn,
I couldn’t agree more; working with people from around the world truly brings us all closer. I tend to use people who come recommended from someone else I know working online, and have not connected with people from sites like Fiverr, oDesk, or Elance much over the years.
Connie Ragen Green
Over actually been burnt by recommended people before. I had a couple of poor Fiverr gigs and never used any other site. I found the key to getting an awesome gig is to actually ask questions of the seller before hiring him%her.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Find Your Passion, Live Your Purpose!
I wanted to comment on Day 19 as my productivity time has changed drastically during the time I’ve been following and learning from Connie. I always considered myself a night owl, but have discovered my prime time is 5:30 – 8:30. This is time I can have to myself to write, to read and to learn. It’s been a life changing discovery for me as I find I have greater energy throughout the day when I am up with the birds!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Hemp…It’s a Great Food Source!
Cheryl,
I appreciate your sharing this with us. Isn’t it amazing how different our life can be when we shift the time we are working at different tasks?
Connie Ragen Green
It is amazing! My focus and energy are so much higher that it sets the stage for a completely different day than what I used to experience. I also look forward to getting up to write and create…who knew?!…thanks Connie. I am grateful for all you share.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
I have done many of the models listed on Day 2, mostly Info products, affiliate marketing,authorship and providing my service to others.
Cynthia Charleen recently posted…How To Get Organized – Declutter Your Bedroom
My favorite way to create my free giveaway is PLR. Quality PLR is quality content and I rewrite it in my voice and add my own thoughts, so the customer is really getting a new product.
I like your way of thinking about this, Cynthia. Thanks so much for sharing.
Connie Ragen Green
Cynthia, I’m finally using a fraction of my PLR and lovin’ the time-savings and money-made. 😉
Congrats for your continued positive efforts!
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Know that Everything You Do In Life Matters!
Commenting on Day 23…Putting myself “out there” and revealing my personal struggle and victory with depression has really taken me out of my comfort zone. I am a very private person, so this has been scary for me. Dealing with depression was something I’ve not been proud to admit. I’m also very shy and can be perceived as stand-offish in general, so putting myself out there and relating to people one-to-one has been a challenge for me. I have found it reinforcing and empowering when I do, however, which encourages me to do more of it. I feel I am stronger and more energetic and powerful in my daily life because of my efforts to do what is often hard or difficult.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
That’s empowering Cheryl! 🙂
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Making a Profession from Your Passion and Purpose
And a little scary sometimes…thanks for your comment, Ponn. I appreciate it!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
But when fear is faced with courage, you grow in many ways more than one who is lazy or complacent. Never underestimate your will to go out of your comfort zone–persevere my dear! I’m cheering for you!
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Find Your Passion, Live Your Purpose!
Thanks Ponn. I appreciate your words of support! Isn’t it amazing how things that seemed difficult at one time become enjoyable when we push ourselves through our self-imposed barriers?!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
Commenting on Day 24…I am most definitely up to this type of challenge!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
Day 27: Great Question!
What are your goals, and are they in alignment with who you are and the life you want to live?
AmericanMuslimMom.com is definitely aligned to my personal, religious, goals and fits my lifestyle. My target market needs me, every time I try to leave, they pull me back and won’t let me go.
However, my driving daily and nighty goals are to raise, inspire, provide, motivate and assist my girls in becoming happy, healthy, successful, confident, charitable girls. I want them to live up to their potential and achieve whatever they set their minds on. This is my full-time job and everyone in my personal and professional life knows this 110%. This is where my passion lies, because we’ve found that their Passion and Purpose in life CAN be tied into their Professions as entrepreneurs. And, getting kids ignited by this entrepreneurial bug opens them up fully.
My closest colleagues, friends, all their peers and family are not Muslim–so I feel AMM limits me. That’s why I needed to rebrand PonnSabra.com and launch a curriculum to educate Kids (with their parents) Entrepreneurialism. I believe this is my new phase in life–taking the case studies and successes of my girls and creating new insights and opportunities for other families.
It took me these past 2 days to think this through, because my flagship article is now a blog series about “Finding Passion, Living Purpose, Making a Profession”.
I think it’s very idealistic and altruistic, but I’m passionate, I know my purpose and dare I say “I want to make a profession” out of it!?
Day 28: I’ll break things up tomorrow.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Know that Everything You Do In Life Matters!
Commenting on Day 25: I managed to confuse myself at first doing the links back and forth, but I think I’ve got it right now.
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Sardines, a wonder food…and these really taste good!
Day 29 – such a critical step I’ve been doing since Feb when I decided that 2014 is my Year of Simplicity.
1. I just uploaded half-dozen domains this month alone. I thought of possibly selling it, but it was more cleansing just to let them go instead of giving me more work.
2. I’m happy I cleaned 1 old product, one site I have the next 6-months of products to release, and another site I have only 1 big product to release for this year. This planning was very relieving for me.
3. Since I updated one product and relaunched my website, I totally re-did my “Tools I Love” and “Recommended List” of affiliate programs. I have one-system to only use one site, like you use connieloves.me I’m putting all my affiliate links redirected only on ponnsabra.com
Any tips for cleaning the clutter from my 3 harddrives? multiple cloud drives? emails? onedrive/google-drive/dropbox…? The list goes on.
Thanks Connie. I’m so proud I made it this far! 🙂
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Find Your Passion, Live Your Purpose – Exercise for Entrepreneurial Moms and Kids
Connie, thank you so much for a great challenge.
This is definitely a pillar post that I will refer to again because there are some pieces I’m still working on. Nonetheless, I staying focused on my Day 2 assignments for 2014:
1. Kindles
2. Affiliate marketing in my email list and blog
3. Infoproduct development – regularly and consistently
This challenge helped me clean much of my clutter in my online business and develop little profitable habits that I need to maintain to see long-term residual passive income, which is one area I’ve always haven’t been consistent. I can make good money with special offers, a big contract here and there (I stopped freelancing years ago), and whenever I need $. But, I want the passive income to be my #1 priority.
I proved to myself that I can do it more effortlessly with PLR, outsourcing more effectively, and keeping things in-house where I can.
I will share that there was one area that you didn’t touch upon, that I would love to gain your insights on: Traditional Publicity to market one’s online business.
I just posted my announcement I finally updated my list of “Free ways to get media leads and placements” (last updated in 2012). The techniques all still work, as USA Today called and interviewed my girls and I for an hour 2-weeks ago. That’s Tip #1 in my free report linked below. I’d love your thoughts on how you garner major and local media to your business advantage, beyond publishing press releases.
Ponn Sabra recently posted…Publicizing Your Passion through Free Media Leads and Placement
Great results here. I’m late to this game as I’m doing my own challenges. Currently, I’m publishing public domain books on kindle and sell 5-6 copies a day. I have over 100 titles so thats a good conversion. I do have 2 books I wrote on there and no sales, but the public domain titles are like hot cakes and I found a great niche. Next project, selling my learning curve on how to find a public domain title and post it on kindle. My public domain report on how to sell public domain related info on ebay will be the freebie to list build and then the kindle report will be for sale.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Brian. It sounds like you’re already very productive and enjoying some success. I’d love to learn more about your public domain training.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Online Productivity: Online Marketing Tips Podcast
Connie – your 30 day challenge was a good idea to start, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to stay with it… I found myself getting bogged down with basics from being behind the curve. And relearned more about myself, that to avoid stress I have to accept without guilt doing things at my own pace, while I’m learning to “get more technical”. Your invitation to me at the beginning was open and generous, to “let me know how to support you”. Thank you. And I learned more about you… I like your website and requests to chat via a voice message – very personal. I was delighted when I ordered Joel Comm’s book “So, What Do You Do?”, to see that yours was one of the first chapters. I learned that you were a Big Sister in BBBS and yesterday I completed the application process – getting out of my head and my research to be with a different part of the community. I listened to your weekly podcast yesterday, and understood more of the “behind the curtain” specifics of your podcasting choices, since I’ll be using that vehicle plus video for the online business. I’m learning about scaling rather than customization as a wiser choice for business, online or offline.
Thank you most of all for being accessible. Marge Coffing
Marge,
So wonderful to hear of all your success so far. You can create the business you desire by keeping it simple and moving forward every day. I look forward to hearing more about what you are working on. I believe in you!
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Online Productivity: Online Marketing Tips Podcast
Day 1:
So I Googled the name “Mike Darling” using a new incognito window with Google Chrome. And putting my name first without and with quotes. The result? Rather sad if someone is trying to find me… There are 15,200,000 results without quotes, and 24,800 results with quotes. Using quotes, there are 10 results for the first page of Google for “Mike Darling”, and none of them are me.
There is the senior editor of Mens Health Magazine, a movie producer, a photographer, contractor, a software engineer. Under the images result, there is a picture of me. Finally. Yay!
On page 2 of Google results, there is Mike Darling the hockey player, a registered nurse, Mike Darling cinematography, a dude living in the frozen north (Canada), a totally awesome guy named Mike Darling who is a mixed Martial Arts fighter (I want to be him!), and a teacher at Oakridge school… oh yea, there I am! A single listing from my website themikedarling. And that is it for page two. So for the first 20 listings in Google, I appear once…
The rest of these totally eye popping results, are in a blog post which you can find here=>
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 1 – Who is Mike Darling Anyway?
Mike – this is the perfect time to start taking control of your online visibility. Blog at least twice a week, have a presence on social media, and get others talking about you. I want to see YOU dominate the first three pages of Google for your name.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Top Ten Blog Post Ideas
Day 2 of my 30 Day Productivity Challenge. Today it is selecting a business model. A model that will generate income. Sales. I have to decide which are both lucrative and which best suit my needs, what I am good at…
Information products, Affiliate marketing, Niche sites, Membership sites: My strengths, the things I can do quickly and easily, is to build things. I know and love WordPress. I can connect the back end of websites. I can and have created digital info products. I can and have and continue to build niche websites in little obscure niches (such as plant niches) that get an amazing amount of traffic, regardless of what the gurus say about Panda and Penguin. This I can do. This I have done. I have actually made money through the sell of digital info products, flipping websites, Adsense, and affiliate marketing. So looking at all these possible models, I will focus on these three things. And by gosh by golly, do a lot more of them…
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 2 – My Online Business Models
Mike,
It sounds like you would benefit greatly by providing SEO and traffic generation to people with niche sites.
Connie Ragen Green
Day 3 – My hosted WordPress blog is my home on the internet. It is brand central. The challenge for today is to get a website and autoresponder such as Aweber up and going, and then share a link to the blog.
My url is sellfromyourdesk.com. In this blog post for today I share a little about recommended webhosting, and why it makes sense to use a reseller or VPS account for hosting several websites, instead of a shared hosting account.
Day 4 – List Your Favorite Giveaway for Optins. My favorite optin strategy is to use and reuse PLR. To me, what I am going to write about (the topic) the title, and an outline, are done for me. It is a quick process to rewrite the title and rewrite the content in my own voice, deleting content and adding my own fresh original content.
I haven’t started using other mediums as giveaway (i.e., video or audio) and I think that is next, to take some of the great written content I have, and re-purpose it into another media format.
Day 5 – Hosting My Own Teleseminars. Not an easy one to think about. Especially if no one shows up. But I have had experience conducting interviews, and using Skype and a conference call service to record the interviews. So… same thingie… just more people. And instead of just one person, have more…
This will be a stretch for me, especially if no one shows. But surely surely I can discuss a single topic from one of my favorite subjects (WordPress) for 15 minutes and record and publish the mp3. More on my blog…
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 5 – Hosting My Own Teleseminars
Day 6 – Stand Up and Speak – Finding a venue to stand up and speak in front of an audience is actually something that I have implemented rather recently in the past few months. I agreed to take over the stewardship of the Bend Web Marketing meetup group that meets twice a month. I have to find speakers, prep them, then organize the event, introduce them, and afterwards, make sure their content is displayed on our website. A lot of work but worth it.
It has taken me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to really practice the public speaking skills that I knew I had. It has also allowed me to speak as an expert. And lastly, it has also allowed me to really help people with some of the more technical things in their business.
You can read more about more journey on my webiste.
Day 7 – Article Writing
Well, I finally did something that I should have done a loooong time ago – I signed up for EzineArticles. Much of this challenge is not thinking but doing. I am taking an hour after work, before I get dinner with someone special, to get my own business stuff done, and I HAD to get this up now because I know I will get home late and it would be too easy to postpone… so I signed up for EzineArticles and wrote a blog post and wrote this comment…. all in 45 minutes. Amazing how much can get done if I don’t have much time and yet have to get it done!
Just an fyi Connie, went to the website of SubmitMoreArticles.com, and they are not accepting any new customers…
Mike,
Just say the word and I’ll get you approved for the article distribution site.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Getting Started Online: Online Marketing Tips Podcast
Connie:
Oh yes please. That is pretty awesome. Thanks!
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 7 – Being Visible with Article Writing
Day 8 – Relationships and Comments
Found two folks and their blogs to leave comments on – Veronica and Adrienne. Finding blogs to read and make interesting comments on, was interesting… one of the folks that posted in the challenge above, their blog doesn’t exist anymore… and others there is no activity or life… hmmm…
So it was an interesting experience just finding a blog with a beating heart instead of lifeless code… which says to me, that I need to maintain and add life (e.g. content) to a blog/website if I am serious about online marketing.
Mike Darling
Day 9 – My Visibility Online
Well, this is pretty pathetic. I am not on Amazon. Or iTunes. And on YouTube I have four videos. Two of my son playing drums and two really bad IM videos I made several years ago.
Embarrassing. If people are looking for me, can they find me and connect with me online? And if so, what do they find? This challenge has been eye opening in so many ways.
Day 10 – Social Marketing
I made a post on my Facebook profile about WordPress and setting up permalinks. You can find it on my FB account at themikedarling.
And again a realization that I need to change how I interact with people and websites and social media around me… not just react like so many people, but be deliberate and proactive with getting ME out there, an business online me…
On another note, today is July 14. This is post of day 10. yes I am behind. But I have made very good use of my time this past weekend. In two weeks is NAMS12. I want to have a viable website with something to sell and an optin box and squeeze page and business cards.
So I worked sooo hard this weekend. Paid $5 at Fiverr and got a nice looking cover for my free offer. Then I blew off the dust off an info product I launched a couple of years ago, repackaged it under a new domain name I bought productsfromthinair.com, copied files and WP install (DNS were flaky so this was a pain), then logged into VistaPrint and have new cards ready to go with my picture that I had taken of me last year at NAMS10. So I can hand out biz cards with my face, have a website on the biz card that has an offer, with products that I can sell. Worked hard and loooonnnggg way from being done… but I want to show up at NAMS12 not just learning, but be there ready to be visible with help and have things that folks can use and buy… and start building a real list…So maybe Day 10, but I have also jumped to Connie’s question on Day 13 – “What’s For Sale?” And I want to show up at NAMS12 with something to sell! 😉
Mike Darling
Day 11 and My 30 Day Productivity Challenge Post
Created really two posts, the first was about creating traffic to my blog by linking first to other people’s website. And the second was a blog about the 30 Day Challenge, and why and what it is.
Thanks for this opportunity to share.
Day 12 – About Me
Today supposed to post a link to my about me page. Here it is http://www.sellfromyourdesk.com/about-mike/
I am still struggling with finding my voice, my audience, my tribe… I think I am still not focused enough on my core strengths, skill sets, and expertise, and speaking from that and to that… this is an awesome journey, and I am glad to be part of this community.
Mike Darling
Mike,
I’d love for you to write a guest post for me on the topic of finding profitable niches.
Connie Ragen Green
I would love to Connie, to provide something like that for your readers. What would you like me to do next?
Mike Darling
Day 13 – What is for Sell Today?
This was another great thought provoking task and challenge, and it caused me to realize that I have worked myself into two jobs – my day job and now my online in the evenings-and-weekends job. I have clients and exchange services for money, but I can only charge my time once to one client. I work a task, send an invoice, and get paid. I don’t need another job. But I’ve got one.
I do have a few products for sale – but not many. And it has been awhile since I created them. My latest blog post shows how to find these, and summarizes my thoughts about getting trapped into selling my time for services to single clients. And what I am going to do about it.
Need more of my products and more buy now buttons online.
Day 14 – Using Social Media
Probably my greatest challenge with social media is twofold. First, it is managing my valuable time and not allowing myself to getting sucked in clicking and reading endless posts about this and that, and following cute kittens down endless rabbit holes. And second, until recently, it was not understanding the role that social media could play in building my brand and building my business, through strategic use of content that I share on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
I see the error of my ways now. And have taken action by making a couple of Facebook posts and a tweet last week about WordPress. Interestingly, I actually had someone here in Bend, that is a Facebook friend, ask me about one of the posts – they were very curious about what it meant. They knew I was into computers or something, but didn’t realize what I really did. (And it was a simple post about setting up permalinks properly in WordPress.)
So it worked! I have branded myself in a different light in that person’s eyes…
Love this challenge! Not for the things I am learning, but for the things I am doing! Fun fun fun!
Mike Darling
And I love watching your thinking process and progress, Mike! Keep up the great work.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Top Ten Blog Post Ideas
Thanks Connie.
Your 30 Day Challenge has given me actionable goals everyday. What I do is copy and past your daily challenge tasks as individual posts into my WordPress blog, then save it as a draft – Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, etc.
So when I wake up that morning, I don’t even have to go to your blog to find out what is next. I open up my blog, read the next unpublished post, then get busy… I carry my small Linux laptop where ever I go, so if I have 30 or 60 minutes at work (like during lunch), I get out the laptop and pound the keyboard.
Kinda of a simple but effective form of editorial content strategy.
Thanks!
Mike Darling
Day 15 – Affiliate Marketing
I love your advice for not using social media to promote affiliate products directly. But instead use social media to promote me and woo people to me… people don’t want to be sold to – they want to buy. And social media can be used as an environment to nurture the growth of Mike Darling as a viable brand.
One of the FIRST things I need to do, is to go through the few products I have for sale, and put on the download pages links to affiliate products…
Mike Darling
Day 16 – Mentors and Coaches
I have had and do have mentors and coaches in my job/career, in my spiritual life, and it is the ability of these individuals to speak into my life, sometimes by just asking questions, that has helped me stay on track.
I think that in my online business, is where I could use someone to guide/point the way/ask questions as I journey forward. It can be a lonely task, pounding away at the keyboard, and I do interact with others with marketing meetups, etc. But I probably do need to get someone onboard who is ahead of me in this online business, and can provide that oversight and perspective.
My thoughts…
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 16 – Mentors and Coaches
Day 17 – Autoresponders
The question is am I using an autoresponder? Yes I am. Am I using in a way to build specific lists and reach out to those lists in a consistent way?
Probably not. Much to do here to reach out to my audience who WANT to hear from me. More thoughts on my recent blog post.
Mike Darling
Day 18 – How to Be a Published Author
I have never written a book. Or co-authored one. But I see the immense value in creating something that not only brands you, but creates something that lasts for generations to come.
As I build my business, I build the foundation for generations to come. And books, not websites, are the long lasting heirlooms of our children’s children, and beyond.
I have not written a book. But before the end of the calendar year, I shall.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 18 – How to Be a Published Author
Day 19 – What are my thoughts on maximizing my Prime Time?
As a part-time marketer, slivers of time, and using those slivers well, is important. During the work week, my prime time is an hour or so in the morning before work, maybe an hour at lunch (I am writing this now during a lunch break) and a couple or three hours in the evening. On weekends, my Prime Time is usually 7 am to noon, before I have to take on the responsibilities of managing a household, and raising a teenager. Which means getting things done. Not surfing or emailing or facebooking – but actually getting things done. Another tool I have started using lately is a countdown timer. I set it for 45 minutes then start on a task that I think will take 45 minutes, then focus on nothing else… it is amazing what I can do in that span of time – knowing I have only 45 minutes, and knowing that I can reward myself and get up and stretch, only after 45 minutes. This has really helped my focus and productivity.
More thoughts on my Prime Time on my most recent blog post.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 19 – Finding My Prime Time to Work
If I had to do anything different over the years, the one single thing I would change would be to start building a list of customers and friends much much earlier.
And yes I have mailed my list this week. Pretty awesome feeling!
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 20 – Emailing My List
Day 21 – Online Content Creation
Connie’s question is about online content creation as part of her 5 Pronged Approach, and if I am creating online content and if so what.
It is interesting that 3 of the 5 prongs have to do with online content. My greatest traction at this point is creating blog posts on a regular bases, as a result of this challenge.
My next step to creating online content, is writing and publishing short reports and then recording and publishing audio/video products.
It is clear to me how important it is to create content online on a consistent basis, so as my content volume online increases, my exposure and my brand increases, and people will be able to find me on the internet, because I will be everywhere.
Watch out Waldo! Here I come! 😉
Mike Darling
I can see the advantage and
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 21 – Online Content Creation
Day 22 – Affiliate Marketing
As I discuss in my blog post, affiliate marketing is something which everyone seems to talk about, but few people seem to do.
Sort of like flossing.
In creating my giveaway for my optin, I learned that I hadn’t had very many affiliate links in my affiliate redirect center (I use Easy Redirect Script) and really don’t have a vehicle to promote my affiliate links.
I get it now, why I need to be producing content and create assets, which are more than just blog posts, but reports and other products that contain my affiliate links. And the more of my assets that are out there circulating on the internet, the more links will get clicked on, and the more money I will make.
I have much work to do. But this is one of the ways, one of the income streams, that will be necessary for me to produce to be able to replace my corporate income.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 22 – Affiliate Marketing
Day 23 – Mailing My List and Comfort Zones
Some of my biggest challenges with this 30 Day Challenge, are not technical. They are mindset challenges.
Identifying my comfort zone, and what it takes to leave that comfort zone, to have and live an extraordinary life, are things that as an adult, it is difficult to admit.
But to create and leave a legacy, requires more than following the herd. It requires something else. On a daily basis.
Good stuff Connie.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 23 – Leaving The Comfort Zone
Day 24 – Follow Up and Follow Through
One of the biggest shifts in my thinking as a result of this 30 Day Productivity Challenge, has been moving from “what am I going to do today?” to “should I create a blog post, helpful email to my list, or create a product today?”.
I have been living and working in a corporate world that is very clear on what I need to do today, tomorrow, next week, as defined by my job description and supervisors. And now that I am online, and a solopreneur, the only boss I have is me. And my calendar. This has been a tremendous shift in thinking and understanding. I alone am responsible for productivity and action and failure in my business. When things go south, I cannot shift the turd to someone else’s pocket.
But, I can also determine the positive outcomes by my actions and activities. And I get to keep all the money from those positive actions in my business.
As a slice of time solopreneur, I get to chose. And create. And serve.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 24 – Follow Up and Follow Through
I really enjoy your writing style and appreciate that you share your journey. I sometimes become frustrated with myself and feel I am not moving forward quickly enough. It helps to follow your progress!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Fluoride is poison…yes it really is!
Thanks Cheryl for your kind words. And it is helpful to know that my journey, and documenting that journey live and in color and in real time, is helping others.
It is more easy to look back and say “This is what I did”. It is a lot tougher and more vulnerable to say “This is what I am doing now and this is what works/doesn’t work”.
Keep moving forward Cheryl. You can do this!
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…My 30 Day Challenge
Cheryl,
We each travel our journey in our own time. I believe it is a mistake to try to walk another’s path.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Podcast: Google Hangouts on Air with Zane Miller
I agree Connie. I probably should have said it helps to be inspired by Mike’s progress. Closer to what I meant. Thanks!
Cheryl A Major recently posted…Fluoride is poison…yes it really is!
Day 25 – Flagship Posts
Instead of just doing some internal links for this daily challenge, I decided to create a Flagship Post. It took me some time and thoughtful effort, but I believe that it is a quality, helpful post on how to use GA to improve conversions on a website. I included screen shots from GA and marked up those screen shots to be a little lively.
Again, I think about what I want to see in website and blog posts that I visit – helpful, and insightful. That is what I tried to create.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Case Study – Improving Your Conversions
Day 26 – I haven’t done that much outsourcing. Except graphics. I don’t do graphics. I draw stick figures. At best.
I have found that I should focus what I am good at and what I can do quickly. And I want to outsource more. And I realize that I will have to give up control and outsource even the things I am good at and like doing. So I can grow my business. There is only so much me to go around. And if I want a big business, then I need to have a staff of outsources that can handle customer support, web design, etc.
One day at a time. Plan and grow.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 26 – Outsourcing The Business
Why do I build an online business?
My short term goals are to create some space and time for me and my sons.
My long term goals are to replace my income working full time as a geologist. I also want to travel more, spend more time fishing and hiking and traveling with my family.
I want options.
I want to be able to earn an income whose pay scale is not dictated by someone sitting in a government office 100 miles away, who doesn’t know me and has never met me.
My goal with this online business is to create a different life for myself and my sons. To create a heritage.
I also want to make a difference around me. And leave something positive and beneficial behind. To also help other people succeed.
And I want to live in Bend, Oregon for most of the year. And then after Christmas, fly to somewhere warm and sunny where I can where shorts 24/7 and take long walks on a sunny beach.
But to get there will require much work and dedication.
But oh so worth it.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 27 – Online Business Goals
Day 28 – Repurposing Content
This took me a while to wrap my head around. I’ve done it before by taking audio interviews and turned them into written pdfs, but I haven’t started with the written word or blog post, and repurposed that type of content.
But I’ve done something that was actually fun and exciting. I took a fairly recent blog post, a flagship post, on Maximizing Conversions, and converted it into a pdf, then uploaded it to Slideshare (had to create an account). This piece of content published to Slideshare then went to my LinkedIn page, and then to twitter and facebook. Wahoo!
I also made a mp3 recording of the blog post, and am getting intro/exit music added, so I can add that to my content.
The hardest thing sometimes is overcoming inertia, but once overcome, it is easier to stay in motion.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 28 – How To Repurpose Content
Mike,
You are so right about ‘overcoming inertia’ and that once overcome it’s so much easier to stay in motion. We all have days when we don’t feel like doing things, but ‘not feeling like it’ can never be a reason to not take action.
Connie Ragen Green
Connie Ragen Green recently posted…Podcasting Tips to Grow Your Business
Day 29 – Domain Names, Assets, and Tools
This was a great time, especially coming out of the Weekend Marketer Live event, to take stock at what assets I have, and how I might continue to build on what I already have. And repurpose. And build some more.
It is clear to me that a real business isn’t an ebook. Or trying to sell that ebook on Facebook. A real business has assets, and continues to build and capitalize on those assets. A real business may have online assets, that receive human traffic, and have a mechanism for exchanging dollars for a product. And if that mechanism is automated, so much the better.
So when people ask me know what I do, I tell them I am building online assets.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 29 – Names, Assets, and Tools
Day 30 – The End is Just the Beginning
Quite a journey this has been. From my blog this excerpt is just piece of what I have learned and accomplished:
“With this challenge, I was able to create and publish 30 blog posts. With this challenge, I was able to gain a unique perspective of my business – and take a hard cold look at what has worked, what is working and what I need to do more of.”
If you are reading this and wondering if this challenge is for you, the answeri is yes. Take the challenge and get it done. You will be so happy you did.
Mike Darling
Mike Darling recently posted…Day 30 – Just The Beginning