Annie Anderson | Blog

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It’s almost time for the Thirty Day Challenge again - it begins August 1st. This is the 2nd year I’ve participated during the actual challenge month, although I’ve been doing the challenge for 3 years now. The first year, I began at the very end of August and went through everything on my own. It’s much more fun to do it during the “live” challenge. If you haven’t checked out it yet, I encourage you to do so.

But, you might be wondering just what the challenge is, huh?

Well, it’s put on by 2 internet marketing guys - Ed Dale and Dan Raine - who have been very successful with their own online businesses and they do this every August - for FREE. They teach you how to make your first $10 online with subjects such as:

• Niches
• Keywords
• WordPress and other platforms
• Social Media

And lots, lots more

And they use free tools to teach it so if you don’t have a lot of extra money to throw at a new online biz, this is for you. Or even if you do, this is for you. Lessons are generally posted weekly and there’s a video, sometimes a podcast and sometimes PDF downloads and such. The official website has a forum where everyone can share and learn together as well. There are even prizes to win! I have no idea what’s in store for this year, but Ed and Dan promise it’s going to be awesome!

The tagline this year - “There’s no charge for awesomeness.”

Since June, Ed’s been hosting “pre-season” - this is where he helps you get set up with some of the tools that’ll be used for this years Challenge. For 2008, they include the social web browser, Flock, YouTube, Twitter and Twhirl (a Twitter desktop client), FriendFeed, Google Reader, StumbleUpon and more.

Oh, and you know - half the fun are Ed and Dan themselves. Ed is a crazy Australian dude and Dan is witty guy from the UK.

There’s still time to get in! And yes, you can do it alongside your other activities and commitments. It’s meant to be a fun learning experience, no pressure. You won’t be graded or kicked out if you get behind.

I’ll see you there!

PS - I’m lsandrsn over on the 30dc forum.

PPS - Almost forgot! I have a 30dc blog that I blog the challenge from, too. Come along for the ride!

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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With all of the things going on around our house lately, I’ve learned the value of outsourcing. It’s a concept I learned more about when I read Tim Ferriss’ “Four Hour Workweek.” And although it sounded good, it didn’t really hold much merit for me until recently.

Now, outsourcing is something I’ve intended to do for quite some time because I did like the idea of it, especially for housekeeping and yard maintenance, but I’ve just not found the time to get it done and actually hire anyone. But since we’ve had all this fun with our plumbing, our septic system and water heater, it’s now on the high priority list.

Do you outsource anything? If so, what?

And if not, why not? Do you plan to do so at some point?

If you do, does it add as much value to your life/work as you thought it would?

Do you plan to outsource anything else?

I am going to start with housekeeping (vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, etc) and lawn mowing. Because even though my husband likes mowing the lawn, he doesn’t always have time to do it when it should be done. And it’s frustrating for me because I can’t do it for him. ;-(

The dilemma, then, is how often to have the housekeeper come? Twice a month doesn’t sound often enough (not for this family! lol) but twice a week I think is too much.

Or maybe I should just hire the teenager who lives in this household . . .

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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A few months ago, I wrote about testing a blogging schedule that perhaps you’ve noticed, I’ve failed to adhere to. While I think it’s important to have a general baseline for what I write about, I found having a daily topic schedule (such as recipes on Fridays, for example) was simply too confining for me.

So, I’m officially declaring that I will no longer have a particular schedule - most of the time. There will be a sort of general outline I follow but for the most part, I will write whatever I feel like writing on any given day. And should I decide to do a series of posts on one particular topic, I will try to space them out so this blog doesn’t seem like it’s only discussing one topic all the time.

Speaking of that, I commented about something similar on Barbara’s blog recently where she’s running a *great* series of interviews with Lorelle Van Fossen. I mentioned that I don’t want to blog about a topic often enough that I begin to think, “Gee, what if someone comes to my blog and they think this is all I write about?” I don’t want that to happen.

I think variety - and moderation - are truly important. Perhaps more important than a schedule.

What are your thoughts?

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

Share

I’ve mentioned briefly a couple of different times the past few days about having some issues with our septic system. It’s not been a very fun ordeal - especially not with little kids who *insist* on playing in the dirt. With the hose. What IS it with dirt, water and kids???

Anyway - we started having problems a few weeks ago and thought it was just a clogged drain as the tub just wasn’t draining quite right. Since there are three girls in this house with long hair, we figured it was likely related to that.

Well, it wasn’t.

First, we had our septic system pumped out and cleaned. That’s when we learned the line coming from the house to the tank was beginning to crumble (it’s concrete) and would need replacing - ASAP.

Then, we find out there’s a good possibility that the drain field has failed as well. Not only does that mean replacing some pipes, but it means tearing up the yard to do so. Right in the back yard where the kids play.

While exposing the line that needed replacing, my husband hit the main water line to the house (which stupidly enough runs right OVER the septic tank line). It sent water spewing everywhere! And flooded the septic tank. Which we just had emptied.

So, we had to turn the water off . . . again. Do you know how hard it is to bathe dirty, dusty, muddy children with no water? Yeah, let’s just say it’s next to impossible.

I’m thinkin’ that if we ever decide to move again, it’ll be to a brand spankin’ new house where we can properly monitor systems and perform proper maintenance.

Now, the question is - do I hate moving more? Or do I hate dealing with other people’s poor maintenance habits more? I’m beginning to think moving - which I absolutely loathe - is preferable.

In the arena,

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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As you may know, over the weekend, I went on a de-cluttering spree in my office to make room for a new desk and although it’s taken a bit longer than I expected (due to some issues with our septic system!!!), it is nearly finished. I expect to have pics and all up by Wednesday.

Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a bit weird having drawers in my desk again. Out of 6 drawers, I only have stuff in 2 of them so far. Aside from that, the nicest part of the whole thing is that my desk top isn’t FULL of STUFF. Right now, I have the office phone, cell phone, my MacBook Pro, wireless Mighty Mouse and my coffee mug on it. And instead of taking me 30 seconds to find things, it only takes 2.

One drawback so far - the kids think “Oh look, mom has room on her desk. I’ll just set my papers and junk artwork here.”

Yeah, I’ve had to clear their stuff off my desk once or twice today. (Can you tell? )

Anyway, I’ll tell you about the septic issues another day. For now, I’m just going to sit here and enjoy my new desk and listen to the radio before heading off to bed. It’s already midnight . . .

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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Over the past few years, I’ve accepted much of the social media that has come down the pike:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• Myspace
• LinkedIn

And more.

But plurk? I don’t know what it is - but I’m having trouble adopting it. I like the concept - mini conversations that basically anyone can jump into. A little more adaptable than twitter in that way. Yet, there’s something that keeps me from fulling accepting it, fully using it. It’s fun, but . . .

Maybe it’s the time line aspect? It has a design that doesn’t flow in what I consider a logical pattern. Or something. I don’t know . . . ??

I’m sure it has great potential and, at some point in the future, it could ultimately be one of those social media tools we can’t imagine *not* using. Right now, though, I’m having serious trouble getting my head around it.

If you’re an avid plurk user or you can at least espouse it’s merits in a way that changes my thinking, please share! I’d love to hear your thoughts on plurk or even on social media in general.

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

Share

I haven’t done a Reading List in quite a while, so here’s a new one. It’s books I’m currently reading as well as those I’ve read before that I really enjoyed. Rather than a list style like I normally post, I’ve decided to use Amazon’s carousel widget. Let me know if you have trouble with it.

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

Share