Progress Update : 1st July 2018
Following on from last week's balancing act between my family duties, training here at WA and delivering on a client project, this week was the big push to get the latter finished.
I've had to work some pretty long hours to make it happen so that's left very little time for WA, once I've made sure my family's needs are taken care of.
I'm not saying I haven't been active on WA all week because as I mentioned in my other blog post today, I had a contingency plan in place for when I encountered weeks like this. The short version is to stay engaged with WA by doing what little I could, when I could.
Honestly, I'm amazed I've been able to achieve as much as I actually have, under the circumstances.
This month's goals
I set myself the following goals to hit by July 10th:
- Post at least 4 blog posts to my niche website
- Post at least 2 blog posts to my Bootcamp website
- For my WA rank to drop from 35 but stay within 200
- Keep posting to social media every day for my niche site branding
- Not make any goals regarding WA blog posts. I'll do these if I have the time. :)
Goal Progress
- Nothing new written for my niche website. I haven't done the images for the post I published last week yet, either. (1 / 4 done)
- I wrote a completely new post for my bootcamp website and published it. (2 / 2 done)
- My WA rank has remained at 26 which is confusing me somewhat. I've barely been active on WA this week so I'm not sure how I've maintained that position. It doesn't matter. I'm not even going to include this in next month's goals.
- I've continued to post to Twitter every day and also put the feelers out for new people to feature in my regular posts.
- I felt inspired to write a blog post about my week this morning and of course, here's my progress update for this week.
Review of my progress this week
Niche Website - Create 3 more content posts
I didn't expect to create any new content for my niche website, not with the workload I've got on. I want to but as I was already working through the night to meet the deadline, I just couldn't add anything else to my plate this week.
Next week, I'll get something done. I'm going to have to - July 10th is all too soon and I still need to create another three pieces of content to hit the goal.
Bootcamp website
Earlier in the week I had an epiphany of sorts and registered a new domain name for my bootcamp site. I've moved the content from its previous home (and set up the 301 redirects) and I've let Google know about it.
I'm really happy about the new identity and I'll be creating some branding for it in due course but I'm totally committed to prioritizing content above all else right now.
I felt inspired yesterday and was able to write a 1,400 word article in the time it took me to drink a coffee (I was drinking it slowly). Although I already had a half-written post sitting in SiteContent for the bootcamp website, this topic just hit me and I ran with it.
It felt so good to get it published (like the last content I posted, it could do with some images). Completing this post means one of my goals is complete.
WA Rank
Oddly, in spite of my diminished activity on WA this week, my rank has remained at 26. I'm guessing it's because I've still been helping people here and there (and I have no intentions to stop doing so). I'll be removing this goal from next month's list.
Post to social media every day
I've managed to keep posting to Twitter every day and since I committed to do this last week, I noticed something very interesting. My followers have been growing surprisingly quickly,
I know it makes me sound a bit silly being surprised that regularly posting to the account is going to gain followers but it's never happened to me before. I must be doing something different. Here's the chart of my followers over the last two weeks:
I'm quite pleased about this because I'm assuming that when I do post new content to my niche website, and share it on Twitter as I normally do, it's going to be seen by a lot more people.
I haven't got my head around Google+ yet. I need to do one of Jay's workshops on it so I don't waste my time, I think.
Extras
I was surprised to see that my tiny (two post) bootcamp site has attracted a startup member. This was a complete shock as I didn't think the site was even receiving traffic yet (but I did post a Tweet for the second post I created this week).
I hope they realize the benefit of WA and become a Premium subscriber, not just because of the commission but because WA really is changing my life.
I'm excited about the things I've learned and even in the very short space of time my new sites have been operating, I've already seen results.
Recent Comments
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I am impressed by what you are accomplishing. You really seem to have worked through your time constraints and found a way to make it all work. Imagine the time you will have when your big project is finished. You should be proud of how you are handling it all.
Cindy.
There's always something, Cindy. :D
Once this project is done I owe my two little girls some swings and roundabout time in the park. :)
You really are doing well! Congratulations!
You mentioned in your previous post that you went on Live Chat when you had a few spare minutes during a lunch break. I think that has helped you keep your rank. I believe Live Chat is 'weighted' quite heavily.
Wishing you all the best for the new week and the new month.
Could be but I guess we'll see. I've not been in Live Chat much recently. It doesn't matter, really. It's the content goals that really matter.
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Hi Phil, I am totally amazed at what you have accomplished as well as what you have planned for the month. I have been in a little slump this past couple of weeks. Yes that's right weeks! I get on my computer with the best of intentions but at the end of my work day I accomplished very little. This has never happened to me before. I will snap out of it though because I know I have to get back up to par. Once again thanks for the post. It helped me a lot. :-) Frank
Don't worry Frank,
I've found my drive to get things done goes in cycles, like a sine wave. Sometimes I'm on top of my game and feel like I can achieve anything but other times, I struggle to get anything done.
That's why I started the short-term goal thing, to try to help focus my mind and add a perceived sense of urgency to getting them done.
Thanks Phil, I might give that short term goal a try. Thanks for the Tip. :-) Frank
You really should - having short term goals can make you feel like you've really got something done when you can cross them off... and that will make you feel fantastic! :)
Don't forget to make them SMART though.
I explain more about SMART goals in my training about overcoming the fear of failure, if you're not familiar with them.
Here's the specific page so you don't need to look for it: Using SMART goals to encourage a positive mindset