August 2009 JHS (Just Hit Send)

What? It's AUGUST already??

I can't believe its August . . . ALREADY!!! That's okay, though, because I love back to school shopping sales. It's a great opportunity to fill my well and replenish (and feed my fetish for office supplies without being too obvious).

NOTE: I wasn't able to meet all of my goals because I was in the hospital with my husband for a week.

Here's my list:

• 1 blog post for With the Grain per day
  1. Plants Through the Seasons
  2. Attend Home Improvement Workshops
  3. Help Keep Your Home Free of Allergens
  4. There's Mold in my Bathroom!
  5. Are Pests a Problem?
  6. Are You a Home Improvement Novice?
  7. How to Clean Dirty Screens
  8. End of the Year Maintenance
  9. Professional Paint Tricks
  10. Block it Up!
  11. Get in the Shade!
  12. There's Paint on My Pane!
  13. Carpet Tiles Galore!
  14. Go Granite!
  15. Quick & Simple Interior Changes
  16. no post
  17. Prepare (Repair) Plaster for Paint
  18. Dress Your Windows for the Weather
  19. no post
  20. no post
  21. no post
  22. no post
  23. no post
  24. no post
  25. no post
  26. no post
  27. no post
  28. Fix Drywall Dents
  29. Chat About Home Improvement and DIY
  30. Maintaining Your Septic System
  31. Start Thinking About Fall
• 10 articles for With the Grain per month
  1. Appliances:
  2. Climate Control:
  3. Decorating/Design:
  4. Electrical:
  5. Flooring:
  6. Gardening/Landscaping:
  7. Interior/Exterior Painting:
  8. Plumbing:
  9. Room by Room:
  10. Windows/Doors:
• 3-9 articles for Examiner per week
  • Week one: Finding educational events in Maine, SAT: Is it important?, Homeschooling in Maine: are there fees?, Encourage early reading, What are you doing to prepare?, English Tutoring in Maine, Make back to school fun, Heading off to middle school, Is high school really that different?, Do You Need a Certification to Homeschool?, Are you a victim of bullying?
  • Week two: Creating Educational Craft Corners, Supplies for educational craft corner, Recyclables in your educational craft corner, Do you want to improve your grades?, Terrified About Standardized Testing?, Does your child have a learning disability?, Preparing immune systems for back to school
  • Week three: Mommy, I don't know what to write about, Does your child need some writing prompts?
  • Week four: I don't know what my teacher looks like
• 5 blog posts for Suite101.com per week
  • Week one: Balloon Animals Are Art, Mommy, My Youngest is Art Journaling, Does Paperwork Count as Art?, I Fought the Urge, and WON!, Setting Goals For August
  • Week two: Kids Craft Corners, Viewing Math as Art, At the Library, The Table Was Covered!, Another Day of Creative Explorations
  • Week three: Making Everything Right Again, Rewarding Yourself (didn't meet goal)
  • Week four: Mixed Media Art Lesson Plans (Planning), It's the Last Day of August Already!
• 1 article for Suite101.com per week
  • Week one: Art Journal About Change
  • Week two: Mixed-Media Cardboard Bangle Bracelets, Art Journal About Chaos, Back to School Collage
  • Week three: didn't meet goal.
  • Week four:
• 1-5 articles for Demand Studios per week (or more)
  • Week one: 1 submitted, waiting for approval, approved, waiting for payment Complete
  • Week two: didn't complete
  • Week three: didn't complete
  • Week four: sent in nine, seven approved, waiting for approval on rest
• 1-3 articles for Internet Brands per week
  • Week one: 4 submitted, waiting for approval 3 approved, 1 rewrite needed
  • Week two: didn't complete
  • Week three: didn't complete
  • Week four:
• 5 blogs for "my" blog per week
  • Week one: It's AUGUST Already?, Where Has Jenny Been Writing Today?, Jenny's Querying Again, Where Has Jenny Been Writing Today?, Mondays Come Around Fast, Lot's, But Not Lot's, Done, The New (MySpace) Me, Bad Night's Sleep, August Income Goal Worksheet, Is the Weekend Really the Weekend?, Focus, Jenny, Focus!, Goin' With the Flow, Yo!, This is Ponderous
  • Week two: Puzzle Pieces of Life, Working on Location, On the Road Again, Locked in the Bedroom, Planning For 10th Anniversary, Can You Sum it Up in 500 Words?, I Won an Award and Didn't Know it!, TGIF! And, No Rain!, Interesting Coincidences,
  • Week three: How do you define and find success?, Smoothing Out Rough Edges, Sharing Some Leads, Some Things Are Worth Fighting For, Do You Believe in Writers Block?
  • Week four: It Feels Like Forever Since I've Written, Tying Up Loose Ends, Are You a Working Writer?, Do You Ask For Network Support?, Work or Errands First?
• BrightHub.com (K-12 Channel): Complete 3-5 pieces per week for the rest of the month
  • Week three: didn't meet goal.
  • Week four

I'm considering bringing my Epinions.com account back to life, too, because I've been receiving a considerable amount of materials to review from various sources the past few months. That decision is still up in the air, though. I'm also in the process of building up this Squidoo Lens if you have a chance to check it out from time to time.

There are a lot of challenges that forced me away from writing in July, and I'm hoping to resolve them this month. So, I need to be realistic about the fact that this list may not be completed this month. However, the funds generated from this list would certainly aid in the solving of these issues (court fees), so I'm going to work hard at it ALL.

Er, well, my goals aren't so detailed and comprehensive, but I do have some :V

Besides figuring out my new weekly goals, I did some work on a video project, and learned some vital new information. A good day. I expect tomorrow will be spent doing some commentaries, so I'm not going to plan that day out so much.

Wow, jumping right in with August! Jenn and Jen, your detailed, comprehensive lists, as always, are an inspiration. If either of you accomplishes only half of what you shared, I bet you'll be doing better than about 90 percent of the population toward meeting your goals!

Okay... so I JUST graduated, this week, from the Secret Abundance Files e-course. (link in sig if you're interested). BIG things are happening and a lot of my goals are related to that. I've been staying up to date pretty much on my goals.

Many of you know I used to share money-related goals... I won't anymore, but they are still there. so that's first:

1. Achieve my $ amount goal, whether per day, week or month it doesn't matter.

2. Send out 15 queries or LOIs, all to high-paying markets. (ie, equivalent of 50 cents/word or more.

3. At least 8 BOL posts for the month

4. At least 4 Anything that Pays posts for the month

5. At least 8 Future-tarot posts (readings count!) www.future-tarot.com (tarot readings, getcher tarot readings here. LOL)

Right now, the ongoing work I have lined up includes:

- Article for S&C
- Three Helium articles

So yeah... I'll be busy querying and lining up more work. I also signed on a new client that I'll be doing ghostwriting for.

Oh, AND... I'm working on an ebook. Details TK.

Hello my friends. I am back. Sort of. I noticed some new names while checking out some of the other threads. Hello to you too, always enjoy meeting more writers.

I see Jen and Jenn are busy at it again with their goal lists. Jen forgot one, at least I think she's still writing for Oklahoma Writers Federation.

As for me, my goals are simple - to keep writing. More specifically:

write daily on a fiction book an editor has expressed interest in reading.
send out 4 queries
send out, really send it out, proposal for nf book
build (?) a website, with a newsletter
figure out what I'd put in a newsletter
come up with a signature for here, and for my emails.

That doesn't look like much, but for me it's plenty.

Thanks, everyone, I call it my OCD list. When I work from it, I'm able to accomplish more. I'm very much "LESS" productive without this tool. LOL! Plus, I need to make it work because I have a lot going on between now and Christmas financially . . . so, each month will look like this and each month my fingers will be crossed in hopes for completion!

wow everyone is so ambitious! The farm has kicked my butt the last week here, but I should be getting back on track here shortly. I"ll return as soon as I get a handle on the month with my goals.

Jen,
I don't want to nag but now that you're back in action - are we resurrecting the contest?
Dawn

I have a very, very big goal this week. I don't know if I'll achieve it, but I'm going to come as close as I can. I'm trying to earn $1,000 on Demand Studios in one week. It's meant working long days every day, but it will be worth it. The money is earmarked to pay a large bill coming up soon, so I thought I would see if it could be done this way. Wish me luck, gotta get back to work!

GOOD luck!!! The most I've made in one week was $450.00 over there, but that was mixed with other gigs. So, I think you can achieve this goal - we'll be here to cheer you along the way!!! ::hugs::

Whew! You guys wear me out with your amazing goals. July was a bit of a wash for me, mainly due to the fact that my day job is slowly sucking the life out of me... err... I mean, is wearing me out. I'm going to be taking 2 classes this fall (one online and one in the classroom), both starting in 2 weeks, so I'm still figuring out what writing goals would be good for me to pursue this month. I'll be back later to post 'em.

Happy August, everyone, and good luck with some great goals!

No goals for me yet. We'll see.

plaidearthworm said:

I'm trying to earn $1,000 on Demand Studios in one week. The money is earmarked to pay a large bill coming up soon, so I thought I would see if it could be done this way. Wish me luck, gotta get back to work!

Click to expand...

Kick butt, Plaid!

peggster said:

July was a bit of a wash for me, mainly due to the fact that my day job is slowly sucking the life out of me... err... I mean, is wearing me out.

Click to expand...

You, too, eh?

I'm putting any hopes of freelancing and all of my fiction writing on hold for right now while I straighten out other things in my life. I am working on blogging for right now. Just odds and ends on my mind.

Blog Post up: Fresh from two days in Seagull Heaven--the Instructions for My Pet Sitter that I left as I fled.

Finished up my blog post and recorded the entire script for a video project. But I got really distracted otherwise and ended up going to the mall...not a good idea. Tomorrow it's back to building those vital connections with others.

I just wanted to comment how helpful posting goals is. (Regulars probably know this, but for the new people). I've been working hard most of the day, but when I looked back at my goal list, I only achieved two things actually on my list! Granted I was working on an assignment for a new client, then I sent apps in for a handful of jobs. But I haven't gotten the Helium articles done yet, started my S&C article OR blogged. And now I'm sitting here playing around, thinking about going to bed. Bad, right?

I'm so grateful for this thread to keep me on track!

Matt-after recording an entire vid, you deserved a break at the mall! Sounds like you got quite a bit done.

Jen- hmm... I didn't see that post-- how do I keep MISSING the stuff right at the top of the forum? DOH! but yeah I guess that's the answer. Maybe in the future when people aren't stressed/busy/working on other stuff!

Dawn

CatMuse33 said:

Matt-after recording an entire vid, you deserved a break at the mall! Sounds like you got quite a bit done.

Click to expand...

Eh. I could've done more. And when I only do three big things a day, then putting them off is a problem :V But I think now I've got a firmer grip on what I need to do, so I don't anticipate any more problems.

Hiya everyone!! I hope your week is fabulous! I'm swinging through to say hello and share a bit of a funny....

Saturday afternoon my sister arrived. As we were discussing and making plans for her full week here, Simon needed a bottle. I got up and made it. As I walked back into the living room, I avoided a toy, strategically placed by Simon - I'm sure!, I caught his bouncy chair with my right foot. The little bar went between my third and fourth toes - snapping my fourth toe. Ouch. One trip to the emergency room and three x-rays later, my toe was reset and stabilized, but the hope of wearing my beautiful satin slippers down the aisle was crushed. Yes. It could only happen to me. I broke my toe so bad, another 2mm and it would have been a compound fracture. Looks like my footwear for the wedding will be an orthopedic shoe and a sandal. I'm sure I'll laugh more later, though I still see the humor in it now.

August 8th is coming QUICK! I'll see you all around more after that!!

Mysti, congrates on all counts. Well, except for the toe thing. No one's going to be looking at your feet with your face all glowing and everything anyway. Happy to see Simon looking so happy and well.

Matt, sometimes we are our own worst critics. Take it easy on yourself, you're doing fine.

Cat, you are so right. Posting goals here is a productive tool for us to use. Even when I don't make my goals (a regular happening for me, as most of you probably remember I've posted about sending out my nf proposal before) it helps to have my cheerleaders here. Plus, I know you all are going to want to know how I do, so I don't procrastinate quite as much, maybe.

Go Plaid Go. You'll hit that $1000 and maybe more. I have faith in you!!!!

After I reminded Jen about her article in OWFI REPORT, I forgot to add mine to my goal list. So that's on the agenda too.

Okay, this week isn't going that well :V I keep succumbing to distractions, ruining my networking efforts. Well, I'm going to keep going at it bullheaded until I'm satisfied.

Also, my script recording sucked, so I need to redo it when I have free time. Maybe this Friday, though I expect to go shopping then for stuff I've needed to replace in a while.

Tomorrow-script writing and some damn full-fledged networking. Yeesh, I'm frantic.

Matt,
May I offer some advice about networking? (I'm going to assume you're nodding your head, "Yes, please, I could use some.")

You're thinking of networking as something you do, separate from, well, life. Kind of like, "Okay, I'm going to wash the dishes now." "I'm going to go network now." And you're viewing it with the same enthusiasm I view washing the dishes. LOL If I'm wrong, you could probably disregard the rest of this and be fine... I'm judging it on the words you chose to describe it.

The BEST networking... the most effective (possibly *only* effective) networking happens as you live your life. It's not something you turn on and off -- "networking Matt and non-networking Matt."

Simply TALK to people. In fact, networking is something I do WHEN I'm procrastinating, not something I put off doing. It pays off and permits me to justify all that time I spend on Twitter and Facebook.

- When you read blogs and leave an insightful comment because the writer impressed you -- that's networking.

- When you go to a party, with some friends you know and some people you don't, introduce yourself and tell them what you do -- that's networking.

- When you IM or call an acquaintance, not someone you speak to every day, and ask what they're up to, that's networking. (Some pros call this "pinging" people.)

- I went to a comedy club Friday night with a friend I hadn't seen in MONTHS. Not only did I introduce myself to the people at the table behind us, I'm writing about the comedian and I found out my friend wants to start a home business... you guessed it - networking (and wine-- what could be better?)

Most importantly, networking should take place wherever you are, at any time -- ALL THE TIME, even.

I'm not saying to be shmoozy or sleazy or always looking out for your interests. In fact, all networking is (as described in the other thread) is taking a GENUINE INTEREST IN OTHER PEOPLE AND THINKING OF WAYS YOU CAN HELP EACH OTHER.

Please forgive the caps -- I'm not shouting, my life & business coach does that for emphasis and I feel like it worked here to set apart those very important words.

Probably the only time a successful writer shouldn't be networking is when they're actually *writing*. And both are equally important to success.

As far as goals, I've gotten two BOL posts done and am working on a third, I think this post may turn into a post for my blog, posted two F-T posts... considering it's the end of the first full week, I think I'm doing okay.

I'm off to work on my 3rd BOL post now, and then maybe the Helium articles. Going to be a late, late night.

Dawn