As much as I would love to brag that I made oodles of cash as I forged ahead in business, the life of an online entrepreneur isn’t always glamorous or filled with moments of raging success. We deal with moments of picking ourselves up and dusting our clothes off, too.
I admit that the first ten days of 2015 didn’t turn out as I had originally planned, but I managed to attend several offline events that will no doubt change life as I once knew it. Before I sink in a pity party of recollection, let me say that I hope your January started off better than mine did.
There were some moments of anguish but, I also had the privilege of gaining clarity from my coach, and so utterly grateful for the time she spent with me.
Housecleaning
As a result of my coaching call, I will make changes to the BonnieGean.com website. I’ve already added code for a heat map so I can see where most of the clicks are taking place and what areas of the website need my attention.
I believe every website needs a little housecleaning throughout the year, which should relate to what you need (or what you can’t find) when you’re here. If you want to express your distaste or pleasure for my web home – please don’t hesitate to tell me!
Naturally, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there aren’t too many pages that serve problems. Byt I can’t provide a better experience for you unless I know the problem areas so be sure to use the comment section to share your thoughts!
The Daughter
Offline, I’ve been dealing with daughter issues. She needs a little bit of parental guidance to get her through a rough patch. Unfortunately, it had me running around town more than I normally do, which in turn took time away from the keyboard.
PLR Content
I am continually adding packages to the PLR store to serve your content needs. Likewise, if there is a specific topic you need, please be sure to stop by PLR Productions and let me know what the store is lacking or simply post it below if you already know.
Right now, I am working on new graphic packages for Valentine’s and St. Patrick’s Day. I will also add other holiday packages throughout the year. Leave a comment below if you need any graphics other than social images and timeline covers.
Ultra Blog Challenge
I started the Ultra Blog Challenge on January 01, 2015, but as you can see I’ve already fallen behind on the 30-day challenge. I should be writing new blog posts every day and sharing them with the rest of the challengers, but I failed to write ten articles so far.
I only finished three articles for the blog, if we count this post. However, if you need my help with anything – feel free to contact me through e-mail. I always make time to browse your correspondence whether it’s by keyboard or a mobile application.
Product Reviews
This year I intend to place more affiliate promotions via autoresponders. I never did much hands-off advertising because I don’t care for daily promotional lists. However, I feel it’s necessary to let you know about products and services that can help your business grow.
Somehow, I will find a way to bring you more product reviews than I did last year. I have a handful of products and services that I use weekly in my Internet business, and I feel you would benefit greatly by learning more about them.
Some weeks are tremendously busy for an Internet marketer, but luckily last week was a mild one. I know that life has a tendency of taking the front seat, but I promise to do my best to keep on top of things here on the blog for you, too.
How often does your personal life interfere with your web business? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Thanks for reading,
– Bonnie
P.S. Did you enjoy this message? If so, please share it with your friends so they can benefit from schmoozing. Then, if you want to get more messages like this one, connect with me via my social links below or hop aboard my notification list. I would like to keep in touch.
The Weekly Chores of an Internet Marketer
The life of an online entrepreneur isn’t always glamorous or filled with moments of raging success.
Hi Bonnie,
I was also checking in on you after your accident. Glad to see your still here and writing. Hope things keep getting better for you and your daughter. I know they can be a drag sometimes.
I’m wanting to learn more about podcasting so I will be looking over your site for those posts again. I’m also taking the new challenge with Tiffany.
Yeah me too on learning about heat maps. I have a amazon site that gets a bunch of clicks but no sales. I have no idea what they are clicking on. 😉
Hi Michelle,
A few months of hell have come and gone. I have had better times, but this has to be one of the roughest roads I’ve traveled. But I’m bouncing back as well as one can expect from an old fart like me. 🙂
I was expecting to start the new challenge with Tiffany on the first day, but I fell way behind on commenting to the conversations left on the blog and thought I would try to wipe this work out first.
Hopefully, I can finish the podcast product early this year. Do you want to be a guinea pig? 🙂
You can get a free month of information for your website from CrazyEgg.com, which is what I am doing now. I’m amazed to find several parts of my navigational menu get no clicks at all.
Finding where I am getting most of the clicks is truly going to be helpful when I redesign the website. I think you’ll like what CrazyEgg.com tells you!
Thanks for checking in on me! I really appreciate your concern and hope you will continue to return to my blog and keep in touch with me!
– Bonnie
I know it’s harder to get over things like we did when we were younger. Just being away from the crickets for 5 years, I’ve really notice when I hurt myself, I don’t bounce back like I used to.
I’ll give that software a try! And I would love to be a guinea pig for you! I really want to give it a go this year. I spent most of my days in the cricket barn listening to podcasts and I always wanted to learn how to do it. Sign me up!
Hi Michelle,
I started building the full podcast course on another domain, but I didn’t finish all the modules yet. I will make it a point to get the rest of the modules finished so you can start testing the course.
Since you want to start a podcast and have never done it before, you would make the perfect trial person. I dislike the name, guinea pig, so I will call you my trial person. 🙂
Thank you for being so willing to help me. In turn, you will get a front row seat of my training and offer great insight on how I can improve it!
– Bonnie
Awesome! Can’t wait to be your “Trial person”! Plus it will get your butt in gear and have a nice finished product you can sell! Don’t hurry yourself for me and get flustered. We can just do one step at a time.
Hi Michelle,
I’ll make it a point to go back over Module 1 to be sure it’s ready for testing. 🙂 Thanks so much, Michelle.
– Bonnie
I am all too familiar with the challenges of finding time for my business. Your 2015 beginning sounds even more challenging than usual! I’m happy you shared your struggles and successes. Makes me realizes that everyone has something they need to deal with.
Hiya Katherine,
Time is never constant; we both get the same hours in a day to tackle the work that is at hand. The difference is how we use it. Up to today, I have not used it as best as I could, and this needs to change.
Unfortunately, like a spoiled New Year’s resolution, my goals are still suffering. I haven’t finished the product I started because I am trying to quit smoking this year.
Why is this getting in my way of completing goals?
I have a Scentsy burning in there to clean up the cigarette odor, so I am still working downstairs from the laptop. Sadly, this means I can’t design too many new products because Photoshop is on the computer in my office. 🙂
I don’t want to sit there and smell cigarette stench that’s still in the carpet. And while the odor is clearing away, I am still associating that room as my “smoking” lounge. Just being in that room tempts me to light up.
I refuse to give in to the temptation, so until I am strong enough to sit in that room, without temptation, I will continue to work down in the living room. YES… following behind on tasks is part of the healing process. 🙁
– Bonnie
I pray that you end up conquering cigarette addiction for good! Even though this is affecting your IM efforts, it is a very positive step in the right direction in life so it will be worth it. You’ll find your groove. You can do it! 🙂
Hi Katherine,
Thank you very much! I pray for the same results as you. I smoked for 35 years, which is a bad habit that’s affecting my lungs. I would rather quit smoking and claim my health back before it’s too late.
That’s what I aim to do, and if it means staying out of the upstairs office until the smoke odor dissipates, then so be it. 🙂
– Bonnie
Hey, Bonnie!
You’re right, much of the business is not exciting and not all time is spent counting piles of cash, and I can definitely relate to you mentioning picking ourselves up and dusting our clothes off.. Been there for sure.
You’re a smart gal and very talented and insightful, but like you – I’m willing to listen to others to get clarify and a different perspective because two heads are always better than one. 😉 Usually. LOL
Glad you got the code for the heat map, that’s really good. 🙂
You’re an awesome mom to give/love so unconditionally.
When I first started my blog, I was taught to blog daily so that the search engines would get in the habit of crawling my site, and indexing my pages, etc. Hmmph! Then, that wasn’t the thing to do because promotion was just as important as publishing…
So, for 30 days, it may be doable, but I would probably want to promote and syndicate, and focus on blogger outreach along with the publishing of new content instead of churning it out continually with no chance to get it front of others. But for your group, I guess the benefit is that others will see it, share and critique, etc., so that would be great in a challenge/group.
Love product reviews! 🙂 I plan on doing more too, mixing in with non-promotional content this year. I’ve always done them, but will be ramping up in 2015.
Thanks for sharing what’s going on in your life and business, Bonnie, and look forward to your next post.
Talk soon,
˜Carol
Hi Carol,
Not only was I taught that daily blogging was necessary but also wise to get the search engines to return. It was important to have new content for daily visitors.
However, for as many times as I heard that daily blogging was something we all needed to do, I was never told to promote each blog post, which seems very strange to me.
It almost seems like the gurus didn’t want you to know that it was necessary to promote your content. I think this because as long as gurus are keeping you in the dark, you’ll continue to buy blogging products for the answer.
How does one promote and syndicate their blog posts other than sharing them across social media, document sharing websites and article directories such as EzineArticles.com?
The reason I started the Article Writing Challenge group is to help bloggers gain exposure for their blog content. But there is so much more that bloggers can do to promote their content; isn’t this right, Carol?
– Bonnie
Hey, Bonnie,
That’s right, there is much more that folks can do to promote their content – forums, blogging communities, email marketing, video sharing sites, blog commenting and many other ways. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
˜Carol
Thank you, Carol!
These are wonderful ideas! Have you ever thought about putting a bonus report together and offer it to your customers or to sell?
– Bonnie
Yep! Have my flagship product (membership) done and will continue to build that adding more value each and every day. Plus I have something in the works for my blog readers… 🙂
Hi Carol,
Wow, so secretive and so exciting at the same time! LOL
I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!
– Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
It’s so nice to see you! Isn’t it something that we’ve never met but our online community is one of family and when we’re no around, we miss each other. I like that!
I often think of you and how you’re doing since the accident. Glad to hear you’re working to get things in order and back to a normal rhythm.
I too am working to make a better effort online to make money from the comfort of my home. I’m not yet in a position to build a $100,000 income, but I’m determined to make it happen one day!
Take care and I’ll be seeing you around. Love you lady!
I totally agree, Cynthia! Our online community is more than just online friends. I’ve always felt like we were family, too.
I’ve wondered where you’ve been as you haven’t been updating your blog posts through the Article Writing Challenge. Maybe you’re part of another blog challenge that I haven’t learned about yet. If so, do let me know where you’re hanging your hat lately so I can visit with you! 🙂
I know you’re trying to build an online business doing videos, but don’t forget to get together with your community on your blog too. People miss hearing from you – I know I do!
So glad to see you Bonnie! Life certainly gets in the way doesn’t it. The last couple of months have been emotional and that’s caused the biz to suffer. But it’s also provided time to toss everything on the table to see what will stand out.
So sorry to hear of your personal loss, Marilyn. While I believe it’s essential for entrepreneurs to stand back from their business from time to time, it’s not easy to do when you’re suffering from losing a loved one. My sympathies for you and the family.
What happened as a result of placing everything on the table? Did you gain clarity on how to proceed in 2015?
It’s getting there. I’ve narrowed in a bit and thinking of joining Tiff Lambert’s 30-day list building challenge to help maintain focus and naturally build that list.
BTW – sending “you can do it” thoughts your way to help you quit smoking – your body will thank you : )
Hiya Marilyn,
I was aiming to join Tiffany’s list, but the comments were building on the blog. Naturally, you can see how far behind I am since it’s been weeks since you left your comment.
I am taking the rest of today to try and catch up on the commenting so I can do Tiff’s challenge, but I still need to dwell on getting my PLR products finished released, too.
RE: Smoking
So far, so good with the smoking. I am smoke-free for the last five weeks, and though it hasn’t been easy, I like the idea that my bones aren’t as stiff as they were from the nicotine and tar.
The coughing jags are happening less and less, and I am beginning to see the difference that being smoke free is having on my body.
– Bonnie
My personal life is forever getting in the way at the moment. It’s difficult with taking on a second job, and I’m slowly finding ways to make it all fit together. This week seems to be going a little smoother than last week, so we’ll see! Good luck with getting everything completed!
I know exactly how you feel, Alexandria. This week, my need to quit smoking is getting in the way. I am on Chantrix (to help quit), but there are so many triggers that constantly remind me that I want a smoke. ROFL
It’s hard not to light up. I haven’t yet, but it’s having the willpower to continue forward. One of the things that helps is sleeping when I want to smoke, but sleeping means I don’t get any work done either!
You got a second job? Wow, i didn’t know that. Is this offline or did you start doing more online for a second job?
Happy New Year Bonnie!
I am sorry to hear that your daughter is not in a good place right now. I hope things get better for her.
I always enjoy coming over to your blog to find out what you have been up to and what new lessons I can learn. I have missed watching your videos – I have also fallen off that wagon.
Hope to get back to it at some point.
I wish you well with your plans for 2015 – You mentioned in a previous post that you are aiming for a 6 figure income. I am waying my cheerleading banner for you and me both.
Good luck, stay well and be happy 🙂
Welcome back to the blog, Victoria. I’ve missed talking to you! Are you hiding or busy working at something new? 🙂
I didn’t mean to stay off of video for so long, but after the accident I had tubes in my nose and I didn’t think it was very becoming to show them in a video. ROFL
My daughter will surely overcome her problems with the support of her friends and family. Thank you for your support.
Yes, I’ve hired a coach to help me expand my online business. I know what it takes to reach success, but I also know I need accountability. I’m hoping the coach can help me climb out of my shell (yes, believe it or not, I’m not at 100%).
I want to take the partner on a trip to Italy… he works so hard to make me happy. I want to earn six figures this year so I can splurge it on a vacation he won’t forget! LOL
Oh goodness, my personal life is always interfering with my business life. I think simply having a life is going to make that happen. My two year old takes a lot of my free time away but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I think it’s just all about balance and accepting that some things you just can’t change. All we can do is try our very best.
For the most part, I treat my online business the same as I would if I worked outside of the home. The hours between 9 to 5 are work times. Afterwards, it’s making dinner for the hubby and spending quality time together at night.
However, when other life things come into play, such as the daughter who doesn’t live with us, needs us that’s when it can wreck havoc on the daily grind. 🙂
I would be like you if I had a little one still at home, Misty. I would spend as much time with her as possible because once they grow and leave home, it’s not as easy to spend that quality time together.
I’ve learned from experience. Bigger children have bigger problems. 🙂
I was wondering where you were on FB. 🙂 Glad to hear you’re plowing forward. SO happy for you, Bonnie!
Thanks, Tiffany! Having you show up on my blog to give your support means a lot to me too! How are you doing?
Hi Bonnie! I’m sorry your month got off to a bad start – I can unfortunately relate! Sometimes it’s not so easy to leave last year’s baggage behind, if there’s still some attachment somewhere!
For me, personal life includes health issues and my home businesses (freelance writing and custom quilts) that frequently interfere with my ability to blog consistently. That is my major goal, along with monetizing my blogs this year -ASAP!
I’ll be making some significant changes this year too, K.Lee.
It’s time to do work differently than I did last year. First, because I want to take the hubby to Italy for a much-needed rest. Secondly, because I want to earn six figures this year. I would love to pay off my truck because the partner needs a new ride too. 🙂
I know he’s looking forward to getting a new truck and I’m hoping I can help him accomplish that goal by earning more money from home.
We can do anything we put our minds too, so I know you can blog more frequently than you have in the past. You have what it takes to make it a reality!
Ah, daughter issues. With four daughters, I’ve had my share of those. (And I find it interesting that the 22 year old requires more parenting, sometimes, than the three still at home!) Hope all turns out well for you both.
I’ve had plenty of blog challenges where life just happened… sigh. It isn’t fun, but all you can do is keep going.
I’m interested in hearing more about how you install a heat map.
I just mentioned to Misty that bigger daughters have bigger issues. It must be true if you are having the same thoughts! 🙂
Heat maps are easy to install, Elizabeth. Just add a few lines of code to your theme or install the WordPress plugin from CrazyEgg.com
You get a full month free trial at CrazyEgg.com – Why not try it out?