For the last few years I have been writing for CYT and building a small business creating binaural beats and working on lots of other little projects. I have come to realize, only recently, that I am still un-focused when it comes to my internet life.
Once I get an idea in my head I chase it, implement the idea and then work on it now and again. I realize I have been doing this with my blog. I have been writing for 3 years in August and have managed to get 3500 subscribers to CYT, roughly 100 subscribers per month. Now, some people might think that is good but it's really quite bad. I look at my contemporaries like Leo Babauta, he started blogging in 2007 and now has 120,000 subscribers 2 successful ebooks, a publishing deal and writes for numerous blogs and I ask myself what's the difference between me and Leo?; FOCUS. I remember a conversation Leo and I had a few years ago whilst part of a personal development network. I asked how I could improve my blog and make it better. I received numerous replies but Leo wrote back with a few home truths and basically said I need to write more guest posts, write more for the blog and a few other things. At the time ZenHabits has a few hundred subscribers and I had about 1200, boy I wished I had listened.
Focus on your main tasks
It all comes down to focusing on the things we really want. I want to give up my full time job to do my internet work at home, but I have been saying this for 2 years now and bringing in an extra $1500 per month is not enough for me to give up my full time job. Admittedly when I first started I wasn't bringing in anything and an extra $1500 per month is great but it's not enough.
I have a plethora of ideas buzzing around my head at any one time and all of them would help me reach my goal of working full time from home, however I have not focused long enough on any of the ideas to reach my goal.
Decision time
For the past few weeks I have been looking at my internet life and getting rid of all the projects I have started and cut them down to three main projects. They are; My Blog, Binaural-Mind site and my Lucid Dreaming project. I actually had 17 small projects on the go (and I wonder why I was buzzing all the time).
This is a great achievement for me. A few years ago I would have all these ideas and do nothing about them except for analyse them and give reasons why it wouldn't work. A few months ago I implemented the ideas and just did it. Now, I have cut all the ideas down to 3 projects and focus solely on them. So, you can sort of see the evolution of my focus here and now it's getting down to the nitty gritty of focusing.
A bold statement
By December 31st 2009 I will have 10,000 subscribers
That's not a pie in the sky statement and dream I have this is a goal I will achieve by the end of the year. And I know I will do this by focusing my attention more on the blog. That's 6,500 subscribers in 5 months, so instead of getting 100 subscribers per month I need to get 1300 subscribers per month, a 1200% increase on my current monthly subscriber rate.
How will I achieve this? By writing quality content every day for the blog, a new post will be posted every single day by either myself or a guest poster and new features will be added to the blog such as;
- 'Ask the coach' – A joint project with Ayo Olaniyan
- '5 minute fix' – A video section of the blog offering 5 minute personal development tips.
- Book review section – This will review books by personal development bloggers out there and there are some great ones on the way
- 'Sunday Siesta' – This has already started and is a great feature on this blog.
I have also started using a tool called DarkRoom . This is a tool for writers is basically it's a black screen and all you can do is write as there are no distractions, no icons at the bottom of the screen it's just you, a black screen and green text and I have to say it's amazing for keeping my concentration focused on my writing.
I will also start guest posting for other bigger blogs out there to get my name known again.
How you can help me out
Well, I'm always looking for guest authors and I have a few lined up already which is great.
You could tweet, stumble and delicious my posts.
In return I will always give you quality advice and help when I can.
Look out 10k here I come 🙂
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