Hey all.
Just leaving an update. My daughter was born August 31, 2007. We made the deadline for public school. LOL. She was an emergency c-section after I was 10 centimeters. But she came out beautiful. Her name is Daja Jolie which translates to "already beautiful" which wasn't on purpose.
I enjoyed the experience of the online store. I learned so many new things. Anyone is free to try it for themselves. I'm sure you'll have even better results. I actually had visitors. The blog kept me accountable. With more time and money and higher profit margins I would have made a killing. But even if I helped one person it was worth it.
Ruth
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, August 13, 2007
Day 11, 12, and 13- Fast Forward But Rewind
Day 11
I spent the better part of Day 11 trying to learn how to put together a web page. I have this book that I am following the example. When I am all done I can substitute the files and elements to customize it for myself.
Building a web site is like trying to build a car from toothpicks. There are so many things that you must have done perfectly to get it functioning correctly. It is very hard to detect where exactly you went wrong. So I found myself trying to solve problem after problem. The good news is if keep refreshing the page that you can catch your mistake faster.
It was easier than I thought. Every time a piece of code didn’t get me the right kind of results, it felt like a “duh” moment once I had figured it out. Knowing what you are doing helps a great deal even if it is only basic stuff. The key is to be familiar with everything you are typing. Know why. Then when you have to go back and fix something you will remember what it is because you will know why you did it in the first place.
GoDaddy Gives Good Service
Go Daddy gives me a surprise call. They really have great customer service. I was able to ask them questions about my account. I could clarify what I paid for and what they offered. Sometimes you can only tell what they are offering, but you don’t have a clue to find out what is actually available to you when you first start.
So the woman walked me through the whole process of what to do when I am finished building my site. She also recommended me some tools that would help me build the site.
She just wanted to know how I found out about them and reminded me that customer service is always there if I need them.
This was the first time that I had received this level of service. She let me know that I could get my money back within the first 30 days. Maybe this was a retention call. It doesn’t matter. If every business did this they would make a lot more money instead of chasing new customers and neglecting people that clicked on order now.
Day 12
Happy Birthday to me! I spent my Sunday like I do every other: in church. Afterwards, I was thrown a surprise baby shower, which is my second one. I was very happy with their gesture and not to mention and cash and cute baby clothes. I’m thinking about how I will split the money between the stuff to buy for baby and investing into the project. Sinc the money didn’t come from me I think it’s fair game. Plus the very thing I want to buy for baby or that I can buy since we have so much stuff already, my husband has on his to do list.
Even though I didn’t work on the project at all, I did come up with a few ideas with my brother. Without knowing what I was up to, he and I came up with a new slogan at the same time. To add to the coincidence, he told me that I should copyright it and put it on a t-shirt. So I’m hoping that this particular word will be a big hit.
Day 13
Day 13 begins with me realizing that in one day I will be considered “full-term”. That means that the baby could come at any time now. It will be interesting to see if I have dilated yet by Day 15 at my doctor’s appointment. So I looked at the craziness called my house and had to come up with a plan of attack. All the neglect accumulated from the days that I have been on this project. So I cleaned and assembled the baby stuff until I was ready to pass out.
I was able to create and organize more slogans. The site is in need of variety so the new ones may sell the site better.
I am getting a credit for my PPC campaign so I decided to pause the current one.
So here are the numbers…
Statistics
PPC clicks: 108 clicks
Cost: $11.70
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
-----------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $20.88
I keep on racking up cost. In 11 days, I’ll subscribed to pay another $6.95 for my premium store. I need to do something to bring in free traffic. For the next three days, I’m going on a Blitz.
1. Write 5 articles
2. Submit each one ten times.
3. Sign up for 10 forums total.
4. 3 posts per forum per day.
5. Request 50 pregnant friends on Myspace.
6. Sig Line – link to my site
7. upgrade the store with 20 new slogans
8. come up with 5 pages for website
9. Ezine--- with 5 issues ( other people’s articles)
10. add 3 new blog entries
If I follow this plan, it will make up for the days that I am behind. I want to get some Viral Marketing going to do the work for me. The success of the next three days determine if I will or won’t continue. I at least want to set myself up to pay for the costs that I incurred. I know that this is all a process, but if I don’t start seeing results, this project will be unplugged for the moment. Let’s pray for the opposite.
Maybe this is what I need in terms of accountability. In business, all that matters are results. If I can maximize on the new credits at a total of $50, then I can redeem myself. I am really disappointed that no one bought from this campaign yet but maybe that means that my keywords need to be adjusted.
Tomorrow is a new day, full of new hopes and dreams. Hopefully, these dreams become a reality.
I spent the better part of Day 11 trying to learn how to put together a web page. I have this book that I am following the example. When I am all done I can substitute the files and elements to customize it for myself.
Building a web site is like trying to build a car from toothpicks. There are so many things that you must have done perfectly to get it functioning correctly. It is very hard to detect where exactly you went wrong. So I found myself trying to solve problem after problem. The good news is if keep refreshing the page that you can catch your mistake faster.
It was easier than I thought. Every time a piece of code didn’t get me the right kind of results, it felt like a “duh” moment once I had figured it out. Knowing what you are doing helps a great deal even if it is only basic stuff. The key is to be familiar with everything you are typing. Know why. Then when you have to go back and fix something you will remember what it is because you will know why you did it in the first place.
GoDaddy Gives Good Service
Go Daddy gives me a surprise call. They really have great customer service. I was able to ask them questions about my account. I could clarify what I paid for and what they offered. Sometimes you can only tell what they are offering, but you don’t have a clue to find out what is actually available to you when you first start.
So the woman walked me through the whole process of what to do when I am finished building my site. She also recommended me some tools that would help me build the site.
She just wanted to know how I found out about them and reminded me that customer service is always there if I need them.
This was the first time that I had received this level of service. She let me know that I could get my money back within the first 30 days. Maybe this was a retention call. It doesn’t matter. If every business did this they would make a lot more money instead of chasing new customers and neglecting people that clicked on order now.
Day 12
Happy Birthday to me! I spent my Sunday like I do every other: in church. Afterwards, I was thrown a surprise baby shower, which is my second one. I was very happy with their gesture and not to mention and cash and cute baby clothes. I’m thinking about how I will split the money between the stuff to buy for baby and investing into the project. Sinc the money didn’t come from me I think it’s fair game. Plus the very thing I want to buy for baby or that I can buy since we have so much stuff already, my husband has on his to do list.
Even though I didn’t work on the project at all, I did come up with a few ideas with my brother. Without knowing what I was up to, he and I came up with a new slogan at the same time. To add to the coincidence, he told me that I should copyright it and put it on a t-shirt. So I’m hoping that this particular word will be a big hit.
Day 13
Day 13 begins with me realizing that in one day I will be considered “full-term”. That means that the baby could come at any time now. It will be interesting to see if I have dilated yet by Day 15 at my doctor’s appointment. So I looked at the craziness called my house and had to come up with a plan of attack. All the neglect accumulated from the days that I have been on this project. So I cleaned and assembled the baby stuff until I was ready to pass out.
I was able to create and organize more slogans. The site is in need of variety so the new ones may sell the site better.
I am getting a credit for my PPC campaign so I decided to pause the current one.
So here are the numbers…
Statistics
PPC clicks: 108 clicks
Cost: $11.70
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
-----------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $20.88
I keep on racking up cost. In 11 days, I’ll subscribed to pay another $6.95 for my premium store. I need to do something to bring in free traffic. For the next three days, I’m going on a Blitz.
1. Write 5 articles
2. Submit each one ten times.
3. Sign up for 10 forums total.
4. 3 posts per forum per day.
5. Request 50 pregnant friends on Myspace.
6. Sig Line – link to my site
7. upgrade the store with 20 new slogans
8. come up with 5 pages for website
9. Ezine--- with 5 issues ( other people’s articles)
10. add 3 new blog entries
If I follow this plan, it will make up for the days that I am behind. I want to get some Viral Marketing going to do the work for me. The success of the next three days determine if I will or won’t continue. I at least want to set myself up to pay for the costs that I incurred. I know that this is all a process, but if I don’t start seeing results, this project will be unplugged for the moment. Let’s pray for the opposite.
Maybe this is what I need in terms of accountability. In business, all that matters are results. If I can maximize on the new credits at a total of $50, then I can redeem myself. I am really disappointed that no one bought from this campaign yet but maybe that means that my keywords need to be adjusted.
Tomorrow is a new day, full of new hopes and dreams. Hopefully, these dreams become a reality.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 10- Focus On Website and Back To Basics with HTML.
Today I focus on the BigBellieMomma.com website to draw in customers instead of sending them straight to the Cafepress store. That way I have better conversion rates, save money with my adwords campaign and control more of what is going on. So far I have had trouble in tracking and adding adsense to my store. Since I am not the webmaster of that page I shouldn’t expect to have that much control. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to track and get ads on Cafepress. Putting up the site is a better use of my energy and time. I will literally be unstoppable once I create my first website.
--------------------------
Statistics:
Total number of Visitors since stats put in place: 12 unique visitors
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $ 6.04
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 15.22
Focus on website
Since the website is the main thing holding me up right now, I am taking the time to learn how to build it. I think that this is one of the most important things that will get done in this project, because it will be the property that I own. I bring the value to the customer when they can search my site for content.
Hopefully, they will feel more obligated to at least view the items from the store as a returned favor. I want to have a content-rich site that will be helpful to these expecting moms. My goal is to answer many of their questions in one website and provide links that are helpful when I can not be. I love a site with great content so I am sure they will to about the topic they are most passionate about right now.
I can’t resist looking at all the pregnant women walking down the street or in the same store in public. Sometimes I ask them how far along they are. When I am not pregnant, the first thing I usually check for is the hairstyle (since I used to work in a salon) or if they have a kid. Now I am just checking for the belly. Especially the lady with more than one kid in all different stages that is most like me.
That is why the site is near and dear to me, because it is my passion. Pregnancy and parenting go hand-in-hand. So I know that they are many women that are like me. These women are trying to find new ways to make life easier---for them and the family. That is what motivates me to come up with this site.
Back to the Basics
I am sitting here with my old text book from my college class on HTML and a couple of other references. I have been brainstorming, organizing, and planning the site for most of my time. There are some rules in usability and design that I never considered. Skimmiing the pages are still useful in putting this site together. The most important part is the a got a book called Easy Web Design that helps me to understand the most important steps in creating a website. It really keeps me organized about the process and steps needed.
Just as I get to the part where I start using some XHTML and CSS, time is up. I will retain more information as a get my rest. I have this crazy plan of learning and coming up with code to build the site tomorrow. If I had most of my content done, then I could see it as feasible. So I have got to come up with more content tomorrow.
The good thing about my planning session today is that I wrote down all of the topics I want to include on the site. This will make it easier in researching and grouping my information. Another part of the planning process is planning how my home page will look. I still have to download the pictures that I will use in the site, and then I will be prepared to type my first piece of code.
--------------------------
Statistics:
Total number of Visitors since stats put in place: 12 unique visitors
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $ 6.04
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 15.22
Focus on website
Since the website is the main thing holding me up right now, I am taking the time to learn how to build it. I think that this is one of the most important things that will get done in this project, because it will be the property that I own. I bring the value to the customer when they can search my site for content.
Hopefully, they will feel more obligated to at least view the items from the store as a returned favor. I want to have a content-rich site that will be helpful to these expecting moms. My goal is to answer many of their questions in one website and provide links that are helpful when I can not be. I love a site with great content so I am sure they will to about the topic they are most passionate about right now.
I can’t resist looking at all the pregnant women walking down the street or in the same store in public. Sometimes I ask them how far along they are. When I am not pregnant, the first thing I usually check for is the hairstyle (since I used to work in a salon) or if they have a kid. Now I am just checking for the belly. Especially the lady with more than one kid in all different stages that is most like me.
That is why the site is near and dear to me, because it is my passion. Pregnancy and parenting go hand-in-hand. So I know that they are many women that are like me. These women are trying to find new ways to make life easier---for them and the family. That is what motivates me to come up with this site.
Back to the Basics
I am sitting here with my old text book from my college class on HTML and a couple of other references. I have been brainstorming, organizing, and planning the site for most of my time. There are some rules in usability and design that I never considered. Skimmiing the pages are still useful in putting this site together. The most important part is the a got a book called Easy Web Design that helps me to understand the most important steps in creating a website. It really keeps me organized about the process and steps needed.
Just as I get to the part where I start using some XHTML and CSS, time is up. I will retain more information as a get my rest. I have this crazy plan of learning and coming up with code to build the site tomorrow. If I had most of my content done, then I could see it as feasible. So I have got to come up with more content tomorrow.
The good thing about my planning session today is that I wrote down all of the topics I want to include on the site. This will make it easier in researching and grouping my information. Another part of the planning process is planning how my home page will look. I still have to download the pictures that I will use in the site, and then I will be prepared to type my first piece of code.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Day 9--- Nightwalker, Premium Sell Out, and Affiliations
Today you will find me to be a pregnant, cranky, sleep-deprived somebody. I went to bed very late last night. So I was in no mood to work after my doctor’s appointment. Driving is starting to be a painful experience for me. I spent the day catching up with my sister-in-law and brother. She is breastfeeding my two month old nephew right now. So she would be a prime candidate to help me come up with a few breastfeeding shirt ideas.
I didn’t start work on the project until a few minutes to midnight. My days and nights are starting to run together. Some nights I experience insomnia with so many things rushing through my mind. It’s been like this for a week now. In the last week, I probably went straight to bed the first but it was 2 or 3 in the morning. My trouble comes from laying flat or being uncomfortable laying on my side. But I can’t let this affect my work any longer. So tonight is an early night for me. (2 am)
--------------------------
Statistics:
Total number of Visitors since stats put in place: 8 unique visitors
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $ 4.08
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 13.26
I Finally Give In To the Premium Shop
Today I finally gave in to the premium shop. I thought the whole time that I was going to have to give up credit card information, but I didn’t. They way the great people work at Cafepress is that they charge you a month after the 15 day trial period. It’s like they want you to make a couple of sales first and take the money from your commissions. If you don’t have enough sales to cover the costs that’s when they charge you the balance.
So most of time was used to add images to the shop and organize it a little. I know that I have a lot of work to do to get things better. At least, I have way more products for people to choose from now. I hope that my adwords prospects have a reason to look around now. I can honestly say that Premium Shops are way better by far.
Affiliate Program
I signed up for the affiliate program that Cafepress offers. It is run by Commission Junction. I will have to fill out my W-9 and send it to them before they will be able to release any money to me. By now I am used to providing the tax information they need to pay me. Whatever must done.
Here is the premium store worth viewing. I am just getting started on the punchlines.
www.cafepress.com/BigBellieMomma
I really should start coming up with a back up plan for Google Adwords, because it is not rendering any sales right now. I know that there are other shop owners that are doing well with it. I just hope that I can get a sale during the next 50 clicks. Then I would know that the store is doing what it is supposed to do.
I didn’t start work on the project until a few minutes to midnight. My days and nights are starting to run together. Some nights I experience insomnia with so many things rushing through my mind. It’s been like this for a week now. In the last week, I probably went straight to bed the first but it was 2 or 3 in the morning. My trouble comes from laying flat or being uncomfortable laying on my side. But I can’t let this affect my work any longer. So tonight is an early night for me. (2 am)
--------------------------
Statistics:
Total number of Visitors since stats put in place: 8 unique visitors
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $ 4.08
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 13.26
I Finally Give In To the Premium Shop
Today I finally gave in to the premium shop. I thought the whole time that I was going to have to give up credit card information, but I didn’t. They way the great people work at Cafepress is that they charge you a month after the 15 day trial period. It’s like they want you to make a couple of sales first and take the money from your commissions. If you don’t have enough sales to cover the costs that’s when they charge you the balance.
So most of time was used to add images to the shop and organize it a little. I know that I have a lot of work to do to get things better. At least, I have way more products for people to choose from now. I hope that my adwords prospects have a reason to look around now. I can honestly say that Premium Shops are way better by far.
Affiliate Program
I signed up for the affiliate program that Cafepress offers. It is run by Commission Junction. I will have to fill out my W-9 and send it to them before they will be able to release any money to me. By now I am used to providing the tax information they need to pay me. Whatever must done.
Here is the premium store worth viewing. I am just getting started on the punchlines.
www.cafepress.com/BigBellieMomma
I really should start coming up with a back up plan for Google Adwords, because it is not rendering any sales right now. I know that there are other shop owners that are doing well with it. I just hope that I can get a sale during the next 50 clicks. Then I would know that the store is doing what it is supposed to do.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Day 8- Taking Care Of Other Business, Surprise Surprise, Business Management
Today, starts out with me rushing like a madwoman downtown trying to get to a class the State of Pennsylvania was holding. As a partner of an upcoming daycare, I have to go to all the classes to make sure everything is a go as far as having the information I need to open. I called last month but they said it was full.
My newly acquainted friend from a previous class encouraged me to go the day before. So I switched all my plans (just a doctor’s visit) just to go. Here I am half running thinking that I am late for a class I wasn’t even supposed to go to when I was supposed to be spread out on the doctor’s table to see if I am dilated or not.
Then I realized while I was downtown that I never sent in some paperwork for these online classes. So I figured it would be great to kill two birds with one stone. So it was a very productive day aside from this project.
Profit/Loss Statistics---
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $2.09
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 11.27
Google Surprise
I used to love to see how many clicks I had gotten when I had a different website. The idea that my advertising was sitting in front of thousands of people while I was handling other things is the amazing part of business. The real joy is to see how many actually clicked onto the site. But the bottom line is how many people bought from you.
I had received over 22,000 impressions in less than 20 hours since I set it up. So that’s
24,000 impressions
16 clicks
0.06% CTR
See it grew just in the time it took me to write this. The best part is that the bids are only 15 cents compared to the 50+ cents I used to pay. The only bad part is that it costs me two dollars. I figure that I could a sale after my first 50 clicks. Then I can work on getting that number lower and lower as I improve this site.
One oversight on my part is that I could have had my Adsense set up already. I could have made back some of investment. But that’s a lesson to learn. One should have a working plan of what they want to accomplish as big picture. Then from that, they can figure out the daily to do’s that are prioritized. A plan that comes together on paper has more success when you work at it instead of working in different directions without a clue to what should be next. That why they invented the business plan. Just because you shoestring your budget doesn’t mean you can’t be organized.
Anyway, I have the one ad performing a little better than the other one. They have the same body but a different title. Perry Marshall knows a lot about Adwords. I remember him saying that you should give each test add 20 or 30 clicks. Maybe tomorrow I could make some changes.
Managing Yourself And Your Business
Right now, I realize as any business owner does, that I have to manage the time I dedicate to the project. The project can be broken down to many different projects. Some have a small impact others may cost me money. I realize that each day I got to pick my battles. Sometimes I’ll get stuck, and I should keep working because I am in momentum. Other times when I get stuck, I should just put it on tomorrow’s list and move on to something else.
I like to make lists, but when it comes to following them, that’s a different story. Sometimes we work continuously but is it accomplishes the goal for today or creating a new problem for tomorrow? I have to constantly gage my progress on this project. I, however, can not say that I am not making progress because that would be an understatement.
I just feel that with all the work I am putting in, the results are not coming in fast enough. That is the way most business owners feel in the beginning of their projects as well. But I must keep in perspective that it is only Day 8. This is the most work I’ve ever gotten down in a week. I expect to continue after this experiment if all goes well. Somewhere down the line, I won’t even remember the beginning.
Starting something new is something we all continually face. I personally believe that if you are not learning, you are not growing. I just have to remind myself that I am going to be worth a lot of skill dollars before it is all over. And once I have the technical knowledge I need to add to my current skills I will be unstoppable.
I read that “ Rome wasn’t built in a day”. That’s something we’ve all heard, but it hit a hot button when I saw it posted in a forum today. Speaking of forums I’m due to join some…
Mile Long To Do List
I am still trying to get to my niche through Myspace. It is very easy picking out the pictures of the big belly women because they stick together. I figured out a way to requests friends faster for those of you who wants to know. It is really simple. All you have to do is right click on open in a new window. DUH?!?!!! I used to just click on each profile and wait for the download. It took so long and was frustrating. By the third time I was done. But making all those windows work at one is little something I like to call leverage. This allowed me to request 10 friends.
Part of managing my Myspace reputation is to send them a message. I mean who wants a friend who is not friendly. I responded to 2 people. I think that I will make a daily routine of that. I also included my URL at Cafepress. I hope that they check it out. I asked for feedback and I really would appreciate if they did give it. And if they want to buy something, hey that’s fine with me.
Next on my list: complete the Google Adsense process. I answered the questions gave my tax information. All that good stuff. I was so excited about getting it together and getting my code. Don’t you know I couldn’t figure out where to put the code. After searching the forums for more than an hour on this and tracking, I came up with that I am not the owner of the site so it won’t happen---at least not today.
So my new strategy is to open up a premium shop with Café Press, which I have been meaning to do. This will allow me to do much more than what I can with a basic store. I don’t have to pay for it for the first 15 days. So I am going to set up special time to create, design, and work it before they take money out. There’s no point of half doing the job. It just has to be done. Plenty of designs, categories, search engine optimization, no excuses!
The basic shop was a great learning experience. I might have given myself a head start.
I just have a weird feeling that the premium shop is for the HTML-ready user. We’ll see.
I signed up for eXtReMe tracker. Then I realized that I could use Google analytics for free. I thought that it was for getting reports on Adwords. That would be convenient if Google was all I need. Maybe tomorrow I can find out where to stick it so it can work.
My newly acquainted friend from a previous class encouraged me to go the day before. So I switched all my plans (just a doctor’s visit) just to go. Here I am half running thinking that I am late for a class I wasn’t even supposed to go to when I was supposed to be spread out on the doctor’s table to see if I am dilated or not.
Then I realized while I was downtown that I never sent in some paperwork for these online classes. So I figured it would be great to kill two birds with one stone. So it was a very productive day aside from this project.
Profit/Loss Statistics---
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Google Adwords: $2.09
--------------------------------
Total Business Expenses: $ 11.27
Google Surprise
I used to love to see how many clicks I had gotten when I had a different website. The idea that my advertising was sitting in front of thousands of people while I was handling other things is the amazing part of business. The real joy is to see how many actually clicked onto the site. But the bottom line is how many people bought from you.
I had received over 22,000 impressions in less than 20 hours since I set it up. So that’s
24,000 impressions
16 clicks
0.06% CTR
See it grew just in the time it took me to write this. The best part is that the bids are only 15 cents compared to the 50+ cents I used to pay. The only bad part is that it costs me two dollars. I figure that I could a sale after my first 50 clicks. Then I can work on getting that number lower and lower as I improve this site.
One oversight on my part is that I could have had my Adsense set up already. I could have made back some of investment. But that’s a lesson to learn. One should have a working plan of what they want to accomplish as big picture. Then from that, they can figure out the daily to do’s that are prioritized. A plan that comes together on paper has more success when you work at it instead of working in different directions without a clue to what should be next. That why they invented the business plan. Just because you shoestring your budget doesn’t mean you can’t be organized.
Anyway, I have the one ad performing a little better than the other one. They have the same body but a different title. Perry Marshall knows a lot about Adwords. I remember him saying that you should give each test add 20 or 30 clicks. Maybe tomorrow I could make some changes.
Managing Yourself And Your Business
Right now, I realize as any business owner does, that I have to manage the time I dedicate to the project. The project can be broken down to many different projects. Some have a small impact others may cost me money. I realize that each day I got to pick my battles. Sometimes I’ll get stuck, and I should keep working because I am in momentum. Other times when I get stuck, I should just put it on tomorrow’s list and move on to something else.
I like to make lists, but when it comes to following them, that’s a different story. Sometimes we work continuously but is it accomplishes the goal for today or creating a new problem for tomorrow? I have to constantly gage my progress on this project. I, however, can not say that I am not making progress because that would be an understatement.
I just feel that with all the work I am putting in, the results are not coming in fast enough. That is the way most business owners feel in the beginning of their projects as well. But I must keep in perspective that it is only Day 8. This is the most work I’ve ever gotten down in a week. I expect to continue after this experiment if all goes well. Somewhere down the line, I won’t even remember the beginning.
Starting something new is something we all continually face. I personally believe that if you are not learning, you are not growing. I just have to remind myself that I am going to be worth a lot of skill dollars before it is all over. And once I have the technical knowledge I need to add to my current skills I will be unstoppable.
I read that “ Rome wasn’t built in a day”. That’s something we’ve all heard, but it hit a hot button when I saw it posted in a forum today. Speaking of forums I’m due to join some…
Mile Long To Do List
I am still trying to get to my niche through Myspace. It is very easy picking out the pictures of the big belly women because they stick together. I figured out a way to requests friends faster for those of you who wants to know. It is really simple. All you have to do is right click on open in a new window. DUH?!?!!! I used to just click on each profile and wait for the download. It took so long and was frustrating. By the third time I was done. But making all those windows work at one is little something I like to call leverage. This allowed me to request 10 friends.
Part of managing my Myspace reputation is to send them a message. I mean who wants a friend who is not friendly. I responded to 2 people. I think that I will make a daily routine of that. I also included my URL at Cafepress. I hope that they check it out. I asked for feedback and I really would appreciate if they did give it. And if they want to buy something, hey that’s fine with me.
Next on my list: complete the Google Adsense process. I answered the questions gave my tax information. All that good stuff. I was so excited about getting it together and getting my code. Don’t you know I couldn’t figure out where to put the code. After searching the forums for more than an hour on this and tracking, I came up with that I am not the owner of the site so it won’t happen---at least not today.
So my new strategy is to open up a premium shop with Café Press, which I have been meaning to do. This will allow me to do much more than what I can with a basic store. I don’t have to pay for it for the first 15 days. So I am going to set up special time to create, design, and work it before they take money out. There’s no point of half doing the job. It just has to be done. Plenty of designs, categories, search engine optimization, no excuses!
The basic shop was a great learning experience. I might have given myself a head start.
I just have a weird feeling that the premium shop is for the HTML-ready user. We’ll see.
I signed up for eXtReMe tracker. Then I realized that I could use Google analytics for free. I thought that it was for getting reports on Adwords. That would be convenient if Google was all I need. Maybe tomorrow I can find out where to stick it so it can work.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Day 7- Hosting A Nightmare, Stepping Beyond Fear, Google Setup Success
I’m skipping a day because it was dedicated to studying for the exam that I had to take. I was going to push everything a day back. The only problem with that is that I can’t tell the baby to wait a day so I might as well adjust the day number.
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Total Business Expenses: $ 9.18
Hosting Nightmare
Finding a web host proves to be one of the most confusing tasks thus far. Just when I thought that I found the right company, they ended up changing the deal on me. There are web hosts that charge you monthly but in a plan. They lower the plan you use the most likely you are of being charged an activation fee. When I decided to call about the terms of a two year contract, the representative let me know that I would be paying a very low price per month. However, the whole amount is due upon signup. I think that I could find better ways to spend the money.
As far as hosting is concerned, I just might pay a visit to my old hosting account with Kings Domain. They don’t charge me ahead of time and I hope that they haven’t changed their policy. It’s not that I don’t expect to host the site for long. I just don’t like the automatic payment thing or large upfront fees, obviously. I think that a balance exists out there for me.
I am trying to find a great web host that gives me lots of ad credits from Google or Yahoo. That would really help with help my budget. After I researched all of my options I registered with GoDaddy.com. I put the decision off to the later part of the day.
This is the part that business owners hate the most: risk. There is no turning back once you put money out. Yes there is the risk that I might fail, but no profit will be made if I don’t take the necessary actions. So the first thing I found out was that I didn’t qualify for the credits for Google or Yahoo. Still that will not deter me from my goal.
Fear Takes Over Temporarily
I am fearful that the web host that I choose will not allow me to design the site myself. But I reassure myself that I have done it before and I am getting at finding free substitutes for the programs I need. For example, I found an alternative to Frontpage called Nu 1.0. I think its great that if I search the right term, the information that I need is just a few seconds away.
I noticed that Wordpress is a popular tool that will help me to build my website. I don’t really know the value of it yet. Maybe I won’t have to bring out the HTML manual. I was playing with the idea of learning CSS but only if time will allow.
Despite the long list of NEW challenges that I am about to face, I believe that if I am dedicated that I will master these things. I have come so far and have learned a lot in the last seven days and refuse to turn back. So with all the frustration of picking a hosting site, I needed a break. It was library time.
I like going to the library and Barnes and Nobles to find out the information that is hard to find in one place online. I feel like many of the secrets lie in those pages. After I picked up a couple of books, I felt ready to work again.
Hosting Confrontation
Like I said before, I went with Go Daddy. I went through all the setups that I could. I was a little nervous about the website they said that they were going to offer me. I shouldn’t worry even though they all of a sudden want to offer me an upgrade to a website builder.
By tomorrow they should have my account up and running and then we will see if I got what they were offering or not. I’m not afraid of calling them as I was on the phone calling other website hosting companies about their plans. That used to a foreign thing to call up a company and waiting. But that’s just what you have to do to keep your finances from flying out of your account.
Google Victory
Yesterday, I went through the whole process of setting up my ad account. But when it got time to add the keywords my research was not complete. I thought that it would have saved my work but that was not the case. I picked out my beginning words from the Overture tool. I then added my quotes and brackets to all of my words. This means that I had to copy each word three times.
I loved the results I got when I ran the Traffic Estimator tool. It looks like I won’t be paying more than fifteen cents per ad and I should get the number one spot. I know I will always be in the top six, but that’s just an estimate. This should result in more impressions and a lighter load on my budget. I basically have $20 to spend right now. I hope this can generate enough clicks that convert and the whole thing pays for itself.
I really need a email newsletter and my ads to balance the investment of this PPC campaign. The newsletter would capture the emails whether people buy or not. I applied to Adsense, so that is another proud accomplishment for me.
I also got a chance to make a logo for the website. As far as how I’ll put the whole thing together is why tomorrow might the most interesting day so far… Wait there is hope for me as I get my first comment on my blog. Thanks wai-yen!
Hosting: $6.99
Domain Name: 2.19
Total Business Expenses: $ 9.18
Hosting Nightmare
Finding a web host proves to be one of the most confusing tasks thus far. Just when I thought that I found the right company, they ended up changing the deal on me. There are web hosts that charge you monthly but in a plan. They lower the plan you use the most likely you are of being charged an activation fee. When I decided to call about the terms of a two year contract, the representative let me know that I would be paying a very low price per month. However, the whole amount is due upon signup. I think that I could find better ways to spend the money.
As far as hosting is concerned, I just might pay a visit to my old hosting account with Kings Domain. They don’t charge me ahead of time and I hope that they haven’t changed their policy. It’s not that I don’t expect to host the site for long. I just don’t like the automatic payment thing or large upfront fees, obviously. I think that a balance exists out there for me.
I am trying to find a great web host that gives me lots of ad credits from Google or Yahoo. That would really help with help my budget. After I researched all of my options I registered with GoDaddy.com. I put the decision off to the later part of the day.
This is the part that business owners hate the most: risk. There is no turning back once you put money out. Yes there is the risk that I might fail, but no profit will be made if I don’t take the necessary actions. So the first thing I found out was that I didn’t qualify for the credits for Google or Yahoo. Still that will not deter me from my goal.
Fear Takes Over Temporarily
I am fearful that the web host that I choose will not allow me to design the site myself. But I reassure myself that I have done it before and I am getting at finding free substitutes for the programs I need. For example, I found an alternative to Frontpage called Nu 1.0. I think its great that if I search the right term, the information that I need is just a few seconds away.
I noticed that Wordpress is a popular tool that will help me to build my website. I don’t really know the value of it yet. Maybe I won’t have to bring out the HTML manual. I was playing with the idea of learning CSS but only if time will allow.
Despite the long list of NEW challenges that I am about to face, I believe that if I am dedicated that I will master these things. I have come so far and have learned a lot in the last seven days and refuse to turn back. So with all the frustration of picking a hosting site, I needed a break. It was library time.
I like going to the library and Barnes and Nobles to find out the information that is hard to find in one place online. I feel like many of the secrets lie in those pages. After I picked up a couple of books, I felt ready to work again.
Hosting Confrontation
Like I said before, I went with Go Daddy. I went through all the setups that I could. I was a little nervous about the website they said that they were going to offer me. I shouldn’t worry even though they all of a sudden want to offer me an upgrade to a website builder.
By tomorrow they should have my account up and running and then we will see if I got what they were offering or not. I’m not afraid of calling them as I was on the phone calling other website hosting companies about their plans. That used to a foreign thing to call up a company and waiting. But that’s just what you have to do to keep your finances from flying out of your account.
Google Victory
Yesterday, I went through the whole process of setting up my ad account. But when it got time to add the keywords my research was not complete. I thought that it would have saved my work but that was not the case. I picked out my beginning words from the Overture tool. I then added my quotes and brackets to all of my words. This means that I had to copy each word three times.
I loved the results I got when I ran the Traffic Estimator tool. It looks like I won’t be paying more than fifteen cents per ad and I should get the number one spot. I know I will always be in the top six, but that’s just an estimate. This should result in more impressions and a lighter load on my budget. I basically have $20 to spend right now. I hope this can generate enough clicks that convert and the whole thing pays for itself.
I really need a email newsletter and my ads to balance the investment of this PPC campaign. The newsletter would capture the emails whether people buy or not. I applied to Adsense, so that is another proud accomplishment for me.
I also got a chance to make a logo for the website. As far as how I’ll put the whole thing together is why tomorrow might the most interesting day so far… Wait there is hope for me as I get my first comment on my blog. Thanks wai-yen!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Day 5- Licensed to Kill, First Graphic Success, Google Up and At ‘Em
After five years of postponement, today was the day I took my licensure exam for Cosmetology. I passed! Can you believe it? With all of the time I put into this project already I thought I would drop the ball at times. So now that that is out of the way I finally will have time to dedicate to this project. Although I still haven’t gotten my rhythm yet, I feel like the steps I’ve taken already will lead me to future success.
My whole day was taken up with a fridge delivery, a big dinner, eye doctor’s appointment, and taking care of the kids. I realized how hard it is for me to work without silence and that is a real weakness when you have the husband and kids either pulling on you or making noise. The true challenge of working from home is getting work done at home.
Graphics + Words = Something Worth Paying For
Although I figured out how to enlarge my slogan just the other day, I already forgot how to do it. I finally figured it out but the lesson of the day is to “remember it or write it down.” I was tinkering with the draw utilities with Paint.net trying to come up with some graphics. I found some royalty-free ones to add to my slogans. I thought that I would be able to at least three but I only got to do one good one. The resizing was the part that took the longest for me, but I think that I got it now.
Google Can Make You GO-GO Crazy
Opening up a Google and then not being able to get in is a very crazy thing. So after a couple of attempts and a password change, I decided to revert back to my old inactive account. I’ve already paid the initial five dollars so that should save me money. I can always delete the old campaigns with a couple of clicks.
I am in the process of getting the keywords list for the ad I just placed. I can’t wait to see what kind of bids that worlds like pregnancy and baby have to offer. I don’t plan on paying a whole lot per click because I don’t have a huge markup. I also want to wait for my statistics and see my conversion rates before I start throwing money at a campaign.
Fatigue and ADD
I won’t be able to activate the campaign until tomorrow, because frankly--- I am tired. I’m still walking and eating for two and I don’t think I am going to keep driving because it actually hurts. I am counting down the days to my birthday but the spa looks like its out of the question since I can’t lay on my belly. Tomorrow you might find me adding pillows to my site because boy are they needed.
My whole day was taken up with a fridge delivery, a big dinner, eye doctor’s appointment, and taking care of the kids. I realized how hard it is for me to work without silence and that is a real weakness when you have the husband and kids either pulling on you or making noise. The true challenge of working from home is getting work done at home.
Graphics + Words = Something Worth Paying For
Although I figured out how to enlarge my slogan just the other day, I already forgot how to do it. I finally figured it out but the lesson of the day is to “remember it or write it down.” I was tinkering with the draw utilities with Paint.net trying to come up with some graphics. I found some royalty-free ones to add to my slogans. I thought that I would be able to at least three but I only got to do one good one. The resizing was the part that took the longest for me, but I think that I got it now.
Google Can Make You GO-GO Crazy
Opening up a Google and then not being able to get in is a very crazy thing. So after a couple of attempts and a password change, I decided to revert back to my old inactive account. I’ve already paid the initial five dollars so that should save me money. I can always delete the old campaigns with a couple of clicks.
I am in the process of getting the keywords list for the ad I just placed. I can’t wait to see what kind of bids that worlds like pregnancy and baby have to offer. I don’t plan on paying a whole lot per click because I don’t have a huge markup. I also want to wait for my statistics and see my conversion rates before I start throwing money at a campaign.
Fatigue and ADD
I won’t be able to activate the campaign until tomorrow, because frankly--- I am tired. I’m still walking and eating for two and I don’t think I am going to keep driving because it actually hurts. I am counting down the days to my birthday but the spa looks like its out of the question since I can’t lay on my belly. Tomorrow you might find me adding pillows to my site because boy are they needed.
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