Well, I started back in my ‘real’ job today, the place that made me redundant 10 months ago! I’m not the only ‘returnee’ there either. Honestly, it’s like the bloody Hotel California that place. ‘You can check out any time you like, but you’ll never leave’. Same s**t different day more like.
On a serious note it has only confirmed what I already knew. There are better ways to make a living, for me at least. I’ve had a taste of what life can be like without being a wage slave, and I liked it (apart from Job Club. I could have done without that). The issue now is to keep pushing things forward until I make some progress. I am looking into a hosting package that has the Fantastico application. It just makes installing and maintaining Wordpress that little bit easier.
I will update on my progress. Stay tuned.
Well, after another long period of no follow ups I am back. I had an exam to study for but that is out of the way so I can focus on my Internet Marketing once again.
I have been trying to upgrade some blogs to the latest version of Wordpress but it’s not going too well. This is one thing that I have to learn. The platform I am on right now is Wordpress 2.7. There is an option to do an automatic upgrade but it is not working. The only option now is to upgrade via FTP, and it’s a fiddly operation.I managed it with this blog, but all host packages are different and need a little tweaking here and there.
Instead of avoiding it I have decided I must learn how to do it. Hell, this blog was stuck in the dark ages with Wordpress 2.3 for ages because I just didn’t know or want to know how to perform an upgrade. There was no option for an automatic upgrade, so it had to be done through the FTP. In the end it was not too bad and I was proud of myself for achieving it.
My attempts to upgrade my other blog have all failed so far. It has even got to the point where I cannot even upload the previous blog because the files are corrupt. Luckily I have saved all the posts to my hard drive so not all is lost. I think the only option now is to start right from the beginning. Wipe all the files and upload the entire WP-2.8 to the server.
Why upgrade to Wordpress 2.8?
The simple reason is there is much more choice about how to write your posts and an added boost to SEO. Compared to previous platforms, WP-2.8 is much better in terms of usability.
So, i am off to try again. Who knows how long this might take. I’ll be back when the mission is accomplished.
Well as you can see I have managed to pimp my blog up a little bit. The old one was fine when I first started blogging but to be honest it needed a facelift. The only thing stopping me before was my fear of the unknown. After reading the instructions and playing about a bit I didn’t know what the fuss was all about.
Which brings me to my next point. My distinct lack of progress since the initial flurry of commissions has led me to believe I need to step up my game to make things really work. Blogs are a vital tool in the Internet Marketers armoury and now that I’ve mastered how to customise the layout to my advantage I need to set up some more.
Whereas before I would settle for a free hosted WordPress blog with a domain name pointed to it I now have to plunge into a self hosted blog. The reasons are simple. Whilst the free hosted blog is a cheap and easy option it does not allow for the freedom to customise templates and additions.There is also the possibility that a free hosted blog can disappear overnight because the content does not belong to you.
Setting up a self hosted blog is much easier than it used to be. Many hosting packages now have an ‘easy install’ button that will automatically upload the WordPress platform to your hosting package. There’s no need to worry about how FTP works as a hosting company will do the work for you. While it may cost a little bit more to do things this way in the long run it will pay off. You don’t even need to buy separate hosting packages for each blog as you can get bulk hosting packages that will allow you to set up multiple websites or blogs under the same hosting package.
This is my plan for the next week. I will be trying to set up an independent blog based on a market that has already earned me commissions. Hopefully this strategy will earn me more money.
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The one thing that has always held me back with pushing my business forward is spending more money. It is always scary for people starting out in this business to invest more money before they start seeing results. I am the same.
However, in order to get over this fear have to see things from a different point of view. These are not expenses but investments that are part of my learning process. I’ve learned to be careful with these investments as I have been scammed many many times before. Now I only invest in products that have been recommended by people I trust.
The one thing you have to realise is that if you want to take your business to the next level you will inevitably have to part with some money. This will include buying domain names, hosting packages, additional reading materials, and monthly subscription payments. As long as you choose these additions wisely you should not fear having to spend the money on them.
One final point I would like to make is that most products sold on the Internet come with a guarantee. You should never be afraid to ask for your money back if the product you have purchased does not meet your expectations.
If there is one thing I struggle with more than anything else is the concept of time management. Everything just gets jumbled up and it is hard to see what needs doing. As well as my Internet marketing business there are other things in my life that needs my attention and trying to fit it all in sometimes just does not work.
Everybody is told in order to be successful in business you need good time management skills. So here is what I do try and keep me on track with my business and my life outside my business.
I print off one day pages from Microsoft Outlook which also includes the time and a notes section to the right. I only print of a couple of days at a time because in all likelihood the plans of what I expected to do will change. It is not a perfect system but it allows me to see how I allocate my time during the day and to what tasks I allocate time to. I also keep a sheet of the exact amount of time I spend on each activity within my business. For example, if I was writing a post on my blog I write the time I started and the time I finished. If I moved on to another activity within my business I write those down to. I then compare what I plan to do and what I actually did to see whether I am on track.
How it will look when it is printed
At a later date I can then add up all the time I spent in certain activities and see whether it actually made a difference in terms of income. It also allows me to see what areas of the business I need to concentrate more on.
Everybody needs to set up an effective time management system. It doesn’t need to be perfect it just needs to be good enough to tell you where it is best to spend your time and doing what activities. I still haven’t mastered it yet but it is certainly helping me plan the day-to-day activities.
Well things might go a little quite for the next two weeks. I have an exam coming up and I need to study for it. I will still work periodically on my internet marketing business but it will have to take a back seat until the beginning of May.
I have made two more sales since the beginning of April. One for £40 and the other for £15. It’s not much, but these commissions along with the £121 I had in March will cover the expenses for a few months. If I make more commissions then it’s a bonus. Once this exam is out of the way I am really going to sit down and work out what I want from this business in the immediate and long term future. It always helps to have a little plan.
