digzing

Let me preface by say that I’m not whining in this post.  I just feel compelled to let everyone know that online business takes up so much more time than you would think!  To give you an idea, here are some activities I’ve done over the past 24 hours:

• Wrote 2 blog posts
• Wrote 3 forum posts
• Updated Wordpress plugins on 3 blogs
• Learned a little more about CSS than I knew yesterday
• Answered oodles of emails
• Obsessively self-promoted on Twitter and Facebook
• Participated in Twitter’s #followfriday event
• Finally figured out how to do a few cool things on the FB fan page

Need I even mention the household and kid stuff?  Hmmm.  I’m not whining here…I think I’m actually gloating!  Woo hoo for me!

It’s so easy to get distracted.  By kids, hubby, the house, and business opportunities.   I keep coming back to what Kelly at Mom’s Mastermind said…it’s easier if you focus on one target market, and focus on everything about that market and add products and services over time.

I feel a need to tighten my focus and work harder.

We just reached our 100th member on HOMEdigz.com.  Yea!  But really, it’s less than that…there are a fair amount of “favor” members who really don’t participate, but joined to support me.  But tha’t ok…100 is 100, right! 

I’m almost done cleaning up the admin end of biz – making recommended updates to disclosures, updating insurance, adding a couple LLC’s.  Not exciting, but it’s the kind of stuff that helps you to sleep better at night! 

I’m also seeing first-hand the power of social media – I love it! 

Looking forward to this summer, I’ve got to figure out a workable schedule with the kids.  Serenity now!

Wow…I just realized that I left the corporate world one year ago today.  Guess it’s time for reflection, huh?  Here are a few random thoughts and lessons that I’ve learned thus far:

• I know my kids much better now
• I’ve added stress to my husband’s life as the sole provider
• I feel healthier and I sleep much better
• Routines and schedules are important, but need to be flexible
• Personal preparation needs to be seriously streamlined
• Don’t expect others to necessarily understand or share your passion
• Keep moving forward, even if just in small steps
• You will get frustrated and question what you are doing – take a quick break then keep on going
• Your house won’t be very clean – get over it
• It’s normal to have more ideas than time to implement – keep a prioritzed list so all projects at least stay on the radar

That’s it for now…will add more as I have time (someone is yelling “mom” again!)

I’ve been in the admin zone the past few weeks.  Just organized my biz into an LLC, changing insurance providers, and getting a legal review of my terms of service.  Not the most exciting stuff to do, but very important. 

Now here I am with just a few weeks of school left to keep the kiddo’s busy.  Things are moving forward, but I need to turn that money corner soon.  I created a matrix of opportunity based on short-term/long-term and passive/direct. 

Bottom line…keep moving the long-term passive opportunities along, but take some time to get the short-term direct income coming in as well. 

Easier said than done, especially with summer coming up fast.

I’ve noticed that my posts here have taken a turn from management of home/work/life to marketing tactics and updates. Fascninating to me, perhaps. But technology and tactics change constantly, so I’m not sure how much help it is to read about those.

Managing home/work/life is a constant, however. Perhaps I haven’t been writing about it as much because I’ve got a better handle on it. Or maybe I’ve just let my standards slip enough to remove some of the self-induced stress! Most likely some of both.

Although the various work channels are all reving up simultaneously, I do feel like have more of a structure to follow. More specifically, I have extended the hours that my youngest is in school, and have designated “office hours” four afternoons/week. That enables me to focus on home/family stuff during the mornings, guilt free. I can’t give anything my best if distracted, so this is a huge life lesson for me!

I’d like to rehire the housecleaning service…need to negotatiate that with my other half. A great line from another blogger that rings true for me is “It’s me or the house. We can’t both look good.” LOL

Well, we’re over 70 members, and folks are starting to organically interact with each other (which beats me talking to myself). I notice a real difference in activity when I stir things up with new threads, Twitter and Facebook. Interesting cause-and-effect case.

I’ve also noticed a lift in traffic to my local business website. I’ll be sure to watch and document that closely.

I had some updates made to the site this week, including an RSS feed, adding an ad program, and better email flexibility. Of course, that means more back-end to learn as well!

I’m conceptualizing a white paper to study the links between the website/forum/blog for my consulting website.

The Hartford Techology e-Summit is ocming up in a couple weeks. The paper called to see if I wanted to run an ad (at a discount) to thank those who helped me. We both had a laugh when she realized it was just me. I told her I’d already patted myself on the back and therefore didn’t need an ad.

Yes, it works.  I put a lot of thought and effort into HOMEdigz.com, and in the first 3 weeks we have 45 members and I have not yet spent a penny on advertising!  How did this happen?  Social networking. 

While HOMEdigz was in development, I started using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with my target market.  I let people know I was working on something, but wasn’t trying to sell anything.  I was building relationships (and yes, it was fun!).  Now I’m finding that others are starting to talk about HOMEdigz as well. That’s huge!

I’m still working out the best content schedule as far as emails, special topics, interviews, etc.  I’ll test several ideas and find what is most effective over time.  In the next week I will add an online survey to help me plan phase II of the development.  I have a few idea already, but need a little field research to make sure I’m on target.

One thing I’ve noticed so far, is that members are not as active on weekends.  That’s kinda good…that means I can kick back a bit too.

Is it too much to ask for a week or long weekend by myself, at a nice hotel on the beach in a warm climate?  Now I’m not talking about a vacation.  I’m thinking about a Corporate Retreat (table for one, please)! 

What would I do, you might be wondering? 

• Read books that inspire me and make me smarter (the “to read” stack is piling up)
• Pull my head out of the daily minutia and see the big picture view (a.k.a. strategic planning)
• Brainstorm ways to monetize the many efforts and services I’ve been building
• Prioritize projects based on income potential
• Simplify my daily grind by establishing a weekly schedule I can realistically stick to.

I remember how effective our Cancun trip was last year (It all came together over a mojito or two).  I need that again. 

Will it happen? Probably not.  But I can dream, right?