Running a Real Holiday: Journaling 135 Days of Joyful Vacation

November 14th 2014 - Day 30

I addressed the two issues I mentioned yesterday. After mucking around with my own CSS I found a plugin with enough customization to keep me happy. I also settled on a decent background image.

Somewhere in making these changes I undid the solution to one of the bugs I solved a couple days ago. Opened another ticket. Once this is solved I'm done with design for a while. The easiest way to improve it going forward is by adding more content and filling it out.

I got distracted today after I had an idea for another project. I ended up spending a couple hours planning it out. I really like the idea, but I'm committing to this project for at least the next 3.5 months. This planning can be considered a waste of time in the context of this thread, but overall I'm glad I did it. If anything it adds some incentive to get this one going.

I'm pretty happy where the site is right now. A handful of finishing touches are left for tomorrow/Sunday, then I'll ease into getting the site tested by visitors. My goal is just to get eyeballs on the site initially, then I'll work on conversions.

My next steps:

  • Apply to aff programs
  • Create list of headlines for next weeks posts
  • Create next weeks marketing plans
  • Thank you page for opt in

105 days left
 


November 15th 2014 - Day 31

Not around the computer much today. Posting this in advance so I don't forget.

104 days left
 
November 16th 2014 - Day 32

Organized and prepared for this week. Typical Sunday stuff done. Tomorrow will be pretty busy for me.

103 days left
 
Staccs,

Do me a favor and walk away from this project for a week.

Instead, go to the local labor board or Craigslist and find a job doing hardcore manual labor all day. Like cleaning up at a job site. Or clean dishes at a restaurant. Or work a garbage truck. Tell them you will work for free if you have to.

But go work had physically for 60 hours in a week. Learn how FUCKING HARD life is for the majority of the world. Learn how to sweat, and have blisters all over your hands and feet. How it takes every last bit of energy to get out of bed and to work the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning.

Because you share the shitty situation that many do, including my 18 year old son, you have had it too fucking easy. I saw the writing on the wall and sent him to work for a friend in Australia as I felt he wasn't ready for college. He is working at a school and on a property, doing all the shit jobs, and guess what, he is turning into man, not a man child.

Life is not fair or easy. It just isn't. You have loving parents that think they are helping you, but they are fucking up your world. To publicly put up this masturbatory fantasy of getting a couple hours of work done in this forum is a joke. I am sure it sounded good to dear old Mom, but let's be serious.

You have the knowledge and the tools to make money, or at least make a site you can be proud of. But you do not the the intestinal fortitude, the work ethic, and the pride to do so.

Go get a shitty job. Do it well. Use the blisters, the smelly clothes, the disgusting work environment to be your benchmark on what real effort and work is. Then come back to this project and put in the same dedication that your boss demanded of you doing shit work.

You will be amazed at how it will change your life.

But if you continue down the same path you are on, you might as well rub your self off 10 times a day so you will at least see some pleasure in the process. The results will be the same.
 
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Much as I've been in your corner, Staccs, I can't say I don't love TeeBird's post. "Whatever it takes" has to be your creed. Very wise advice.
 
TeeBird said:
Staccs,

Do me a favor and walk away from this project for a week.

Instead, go to the local labor board or Craigslist and find a job doing hardcore manual labor all day. Like cleaning up at a job site. Or clean dishes at a restaurant. Or work a garbage truck. Tell them you will work for free if you have to.

But go work had physically for 60 hours in a week. Learn how FUCKING HARD life is for the majority of the world. Learn how to sweat, and have blisters all over your hands and feet. How it takes every last bit of energy to get out of bed and to work the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning.

Because you share the shitty situation that many do, including my 18 year old son, you have had it too fucking easy. I saw the writing on the wall and sent him to work for a friend in Australia as I felt he wasn't ready for college. He is working at a school and on a property, doing all the shit jobs, and guess what, he is turning into man, not a man child.

Life is not fair or easy. It just isn't. You have loving parents that think they are helping you, but they are fucking up your world. To publicly put up this masturbatory fantasy of getting a couple hours of work done in this forum is a joke. I am sure it sounded good to dear old Mom, but let's be serious.

You have the knowledge and the tools to make money, or at least make a site you can be proud of. But you do not the the intestinal fortitude, the work ethic, and the pride to do so.

Go get a shitty job. Do it well. Use the blisters, the smelly clothes, the disgusting work environment to be your benchmark on what real effort and work is. Then come back to this project and put in the same dedication that your boss demanded of you doing shit work.

You will be amazed at how it will change your life.

But if you continue down the same path you are on, you might as well rub your self off 10 times a day so you will at least see some pleasure in the process. The results will be the same.
Click to expand...

Nice.

I've been working lots of manual labour since I was a teen, and this is what I think back to if I get stupid / lazy / discontent.

Ohh... I have to write how much?

Waitasecond...
I am sitting in a nice office in front of a neat computer, have music blasting that I like, a fast internet connection... instead of shoveling PIGEON shit and dead birds accumulated for 50 years out of a small backyard, wearing a fucking breath mask because that shit is toxic as hell.

Seeing you puttering on like that was funny at first.

Now it is just an embarrasment.

::emp::
 
November 17th 2014 - Day 33

Notes:

I was able to use a friend for some user testing today. I had him visit my site on his laptop as I watched his actions through Clicky. We talked about the site afterwards and he told me what he likes/dislikes/thought was missing. He's not a technical guy and is much closer to the average visitor than I am. Got some good feedback out of that.

One thing I noticed was how heavily he relied on the search bar. He used the search bar 3-4 times. I'm the opposite, I've lost faith in using built-in search functions on websites. If I can't find what I'm looking for I'll use a site: command on Google. I'll be looking into search plugins for Wordpress that better the experience.

I also applied to a handful of relevant affiliate programs. No reason to believe that I won't get into any of them.

While I was doing some research on my niche today I found a bunch of article relevant to my niche that Google Alerts hadn't notified me of. I've added a few more alerts now. It will increase the signal to noise ratio, but I have it set to weekly emails anyway. The articles I found were nothing to worry about competition wise.

I fixed the final bug in the design. CSS things.

The minimum viable product (MVP) of my site is complete.

102 days left
 
TeeBird said:
Staccs,

Instead, go to the local labor board or Craigslist and find a job doing hardcore manual labor all day~But go work hard physically for 60 hours in a week. Learn how FUCKING HARD life is for the majority of the world. Learn how to sweat, and have blisters all over your hands and feet. How it takes every last bit of energy to get out of bed and to work the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning.
Click to expand...

Good shit.

Twasn't an interweb to make moneys on when I had to get a job as a teenager and bust my ass slanging hod for bricklayers. Fuck that noise now, but you're absolutely right it sets a bar and looking back on it I'm proud I was a grunt as a kid.

I picture Staccs completely baked out of his mind speaking slowly the words as he types his posts.

Just having fun with ya Staccs. I'm not talking shit, just talking shit.
 
slowboiled said:
I picture Staccs completely baked out of his mind speaking slowly the words as he types his posts.
Click to expand...

tumblr_mdr45mzqTi1rptkmxo1_500.gif
 
November 18th 2014 - Day 34

I spent my morning on classified sites replying to ads looking for basic Wordpress sites, content, and/or social media services. I don't like where my bank account balance is at right now, and that is a reflection of my work. I want to get back to a level of comfort, and perhaps keep working gigs like this on the side to maintain consistency.

I did a lot of planning today. I was fortunate enough to exchange PMs with a member who's posted in this thread who provided me with great advice, but advice I wanted to apply in a different way. He then gave me an extremely detailed response, providing another perspective on what real productivity looks like. I gave him permission to post his response publicly in this thread if he'd like to.

I know I've had a few of these "things are going to turn around now" posts in this thread. The action taken, or lack of action taken, will show if this was just another wasted day or not. Regardless, I think it's pretty clear I'm too broke to afford to give up the $100 by not updating this thread, so you'll being hearing from me one way or the other.

101 days left
 
How in the world do you find so much time for planning?!

This is 100% a troll thread, right down to the Throlson-esque $100 that was promised to charity. Hmm, don't see him around here much anymore...

I think OP is actually a benevolent billionaire, who wants to show an example of literally everything you can do wrong so that we'll see the errors in our own ways. If he just TOLD us, nobody would listen.. but by demonstrating pure fail personified, he's able to basically hold up a mirror for us to evaluate our own hustle and to fix our shortcomings.
 
Still lurking ... not posting.. straight trolling

Staccs said:
November 18th 2014 - Day 34

I spent my morning on classified sites replying to ads looking for basic Wordpress sites, content, and/or social media services. I don't like where my bank account balance is at right now, and that is a reflection of my work. I want to get back to a level of comfort, and perhaps keep working gigs like this on the side to maintain consistency.

I did a lot of planning today. I was fortunate enough to exchange PMs with a member who's posted in this thread who provided me with great advice, but advice I wanted to apply in a different way. He then gave me an extremely detailed response, providing another perspective on what real productivity looks like. I gave him permission to post his response publicly in this thread if he'd like to.

I know I've had a few of these "things are going to turn around now" posts in this thread. The action taken, or lack of action taken, will show if this was just another wasted day or not. Regardless, I think it's pretty clear I'm too broke to afford to give up the $100 by not updating this thread, so you'll being hearing from me one way or the other.

101 days left
Click to expand...

Sup to everyone following this thread & OP..

Look, i'm a full time SEO in a crazy niche that produces billions of dollars of revenue, i've got a good thing going but still don't have something to call my own.. i'm COMPLETELY happy with my role in the big machine but i'm still working for the man. I put in about 12 hrs a day at my "real job" and still find hours in the day to do consulting for 4-5 sites at a time.

There was a time when i was just like you and catered to my real life before work.. CCarter been giving you the bidness! Smarten up! To have someone of that caliber following your post (Yes just like many on this board, she makes me melt and somehow still feel violated **we all like it**) But come on brah!

You just mentioned that you didn't like where your bank account balance was at.... Obviously after one glance at this thread it's pretty easy to see who's fault that is. Most of the people who frequent this board go in... HRS & HRS of non-stop grind to seek out the results they're looking for. To have the spotlight on your thread should have motivated you the first time CCarter even wasted her time commenting on your thread. For the sake of the male gender, get to fuckin work!

Do us all a favor and turn this story around or else we've all just wasted time hoping to applaud your efforts. I'm going for some popcorn, the end of this movie better be good. :cool-smiley-008:
 
I spent part of the day PM'ing with Staccs, and I think he is more typical of the IM'er getting started and overwhelmed. We forget how many moving parts there are in this game, and how many things we just know and take for granted.

But also, Internet Marketing is pure capitalism, and if you can not cut it, you lose and are gone. It takes drive and intestinal fortitude to make it through the learning curve to start reaping the rewards. The lie that it is easy money is quickly put to rest when you get in the trenches...

Here is a lesson (?) on how I tend to have a productive week that I sent to Staccs. Some will disagree, but I feel it is a great starting point when we need to get productive.

----------------------------

How I Got My Shit Together and Started Being Effective.
or
The Odds Of Hitting Your Target Go Up Dramatically When You Aim For It.

A Daily Guide for Being Productive.

Wake up, either work out and/or shower and do your morning routine immediately. This will get your blood flowing and create an hour of time. Whatever time you normally wake up, push it up an hour for the first 30 days.

Hit the MOST IMPORTANT TASK of the day right as you hit your desk. Do not look at email, social media, anything shiny until this is done. Start the day with a clear win.

After the MOST IMPORTANT TASK is completed or moved along to satisfaction, then check and see what fires need addressing. Email, social media, texting.

When the communication is done, walk away from your desk and find a quiet place to think. It could be walking, staring at the wall in your closet, or looking out the window. Just let your brain relax and think about possibility. Afterwards, write down any insights in your journal.

Head back to your work area and attack the 2nd MOST IMPORTANT TASK of the Day. Then complete the 3RD MOST IMPORTANT TASK.

Have Lunch or productively goof around for a bit. This could be surfing a forum like WickedFire or engaging on social media personally or for your project.

After lunch attack your MOST IMPORTANT PROACTIVE TASK. Get it to the next stage.

Odds are you will hit an afternoon lull, this is when you grind out maintenance tasks. These could be personal or for the business. You will not be at your best, so get the drudge work done. Backups, patches, SEO comments, proofreading, filing and organizing, searching for images fall into this category.

Then take another break of downtime and have a small energy snack. This will give you a recharge for the final push. Check your email, social, ect. But do it with a purpose, not a shiny object.

Then ATTACK like a wild dog your 4th MOST IMPORTANT TASK and your 2nd PROACTIVE TASK. This may be a 2 hour sprint. Be freaking relentless.

When they are done, then take a short break, and plan out your next day. Listing 5 Tasks you think are incredibly important to accomplish and 3 proactive tasks that need to be addressed to set yourself up for long term success.

Have dinner and social time in the evening, then do a walk-through of your communications and double check your plan for the next day is achievable, realistic, and practical.

-------

If you follow these steps 6 Days a Week:

- You will complete 24 very specific important tasks every week.

- You will complete 12 proactive tasks every week.

- You will be consistently keeping up with your business communications.

- You will be getting all required maintenance done.

- You will be strategic as you have blocked time to think of your business and yourself.

- You will not be wasting time.

- You will be working with a purpose towards your goals and objectives.

- You will be successful.

- You will be proud of yourself.

-----

Tasks need to be realistic, measurable and achievable.

IMPORTANT TASKS are ones that drive the business forward today.
PROACTIVE TASKS position your business for the future.

For example, when building a brandable website, important tasks could be monetization, content creation, design implementation, outsource management, quality control, ect...

Proactive tasks could be relationship building, design analysis, research, subject development, editorial calendar building, advertising sales, ect...
 
November 19th 2014 - Day 35

On my way out the door, need to make this short.

- New post created and published

- Went through some basic backlink analysis for the sites I feel are closest to being competition + the sites ranking page 1. Almost all of page 1 is ranking based off of domain authority. eHow/Web MD/etc

- These sites didn't have many links (under 1k unique domains) so I looked through and noted the good links I can attain on my own. Most of them are blog comments + forum posts + the occasional guest post.

- I picked up some guaranteed backlinks. The ones I found in the profile that would take 2 minutes or less to get. Handful of blog comments + stumble upon + a couple directory-esque sites.

- I scheduled the next 4 days of social media posts. The plan was to do 7 days, but Buffer has a limit on the free account.

- Created opt-in thank you page. It will need some work done once I setup all my email marketing stuff.

- Added a favicon + installed a new search plugin for Wordpress. Just briefly set it up and tried it out, so I'm not sure how much better it is.

100 days left
 
November 20th 2014 - Day 36

I'm posting this now because I'm about to go to sleep.

My friend runs a property maintenance business and had to answer the recent snowfall. The catch? His plow broke. I volunteered to help him (with TeeBird's advice in mind) and two other friends hand shovel at his commercial properties.

We started at 10pm, it's now 8am. I hurt.

99 days left
 
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