Hey! We’re nearing the end of the year and I’ve been so focused on a few things that blogging has, sadly, taken a bit of a back seat. I hate it when that happens (see The most commonly blogged phrase and how to avoid it) but it happened.
So here’s what’s up with me:
I’ve been trying to finish up a whole bunch of projects, just to wrap them up as the year ends. As well, I’m starting up a few projects — for myself and for some clients — that is taking up a lot of time and has me fully booked through 2015.
I’ve been fully booked for a year or two out for a while. And I haven’t yet gotten used to saying it! I love it… but it’s also weird because it totally changes how you work and how you market yourself. You still need to market yourself, of course, but it’s a very different type of marketing.
Along with these changes is another change: I usually keep a couple dozen clients in a regular rotation but right now I have one client that takes up 8 to 9 hours each day with a MASSIVE project that will last for more than a year. So that is a different dynamic too. It’s good for me because it forces me to finish what I start even when there’s one start and a whhhhhoooooooole lot of finishing. :) This same client brings some other benefits to my business: I work with a team of other writers (which is a nice break from working by myself) and their various deadlines and meetings force me to be a bit more disciplined in my approach to writing.
Here’s an update of my #FinishWhatYouStart projects…
- I will have developed a strategy for one of my brands (which I started up a year and a half ago but it stalled out and has a couple of false starts since but no real progress). Update: Done! The strategy is developed. It’s ready to deploy. In fact, I would deploy it right now if it weren’t for a few other projects I want to finish first.
- I will have published 100 articles (which is a project I started — I’m 10% done — but then got busy doing other things). Update: Bah! Nothing more on this. This one won’t be done by the end of the year. But I also don’t want to just leave it completely untouched.
- I will be doing 3-set high-intensity circuit-training workouts 6 times a week with 30 pound weights. (I keep getting stuck at 3 circuits with 20 pound weights or 2 circuits with 30 pound weights). Update: I found that the 30 pound 2-circuit workout was my absolute limit and I was hurting my joints. So I decided to focus on 20 pounds weights for now and maybe push myself a bit more with those. And there’s been another change: With my new client (mentioned above), I’ve had to change my workout times because they conflict with a meeting. So a benefit is that I’m getting up early — 5:30 AM! — and I’m working out then. But I haven’t been able to get past 2 circuits of 20 pounds… because that’s all the time I have for the workout in the morning. It’s a little discouraging to feel like I’ve regressed.
- I will have finished putting together my US corporation (which has been a long and painful process to set up since I live in Canada). Update: Done! The paperwork has arrived. Everything is done and official. There’s money in the bank. It’s good.
- I will have completed a copywriting course. (I’m always taking courses to improve my skills and I’m currently taking one on copywriting, which I started last year but which has stalled). Update: Things have been going good here, even though they took an unexpected turn recently. I don’t know if I’ll be FINISHED by the end of the year but I’ll be pretty close. Keep pushing!
- I will have published my Sales Funnel Bible book (which I finished writing in the spring but the editing has stalled). Update: Yeesh. No farther ahead than I was.
- I will have finished the first draft of a book I’m co-writing with a friend of mine (which is actually going well but is right at the precipice of falling into an abyss of delay!) Update: Done but not in the way I was expecting. We decided to shut this project down because it wasn’t going to deliver the benefit we anticipated when we started the project.
- I will be marketing each week to a joint venture list and earning a minimum amount of weekly income from that effort (which is something I’ve been doing off and on with mixed success for the past couple of years but which I’d like to have consistent income from). Update: Done! (Although by “done”, I mean: It’s going well as a continuing project).
- I will finish deploying a new brand that I’ve just started. (See? not everything is stalled. I want this one to do well before I let it crash!) Update: Done. I’m happy with where this has gone and I expect to do more on it in the new year… but it’s done for this year!
- I will develop a plan for an internet television brand I put together a couple of years ago (which I put aside for a while to focus on my Sales Funnel Bible book). Update: This is going well. The plan is being worked out and I’ve done a fair amount of research, although haven’t nailed down any decisions yet.
- I will drywall and paint the recroom in my basement and install a bar (which is something that I’ve be ready to do since the summer but haven’t got around to yet). Update: Nope.
- I will have finished a client’s book (which we’ve been planning to write for a while!). Update: Done.
- I will finish a year’s worth of newsletters for a real estate investor (which we’re in the process of doing — everything is going well there. Again, I don’t want to let it fall). Update: My client had a few things come up in his business and this was delayed. We’re tackling it again but it won’t be done by the end of the year.
- I will finish a book for a real estate investor (which, again, is going okay so far, although the timeline is starting to alarm me). Update: Same as above.
- I will have a plan in place to start marketing one of my brands (which is going well but I’d like to push it forward more). Update: Done.
- I will have a plan in place to take one of my brands to a new level (which has done well but I want to take it in a new direction). Update: Done.
- Proprietary project #1. Update: This one is going well. No complaints.
- Proprietary project #2. Update: This one has fallen short but I’ll keep pushing anyway.
- Proprietary project #3. Update: Still pushing.
- Proprietary project #4. Update: This one will keep going almost right up to the last day of December. So far so good!
So far: 8 done out of 20.
The end of the year is just around the corner… and this is when it’s time to step on the gas and not let up! Keep pushing pushing pushing!!!