The Challenge – ActiveGrowth

Question of the week:

What do you challenge yourself to do or focus on for the next seven days? Pick something that you know will benefit your business and that you might normally find difficult to do.

P.S.: In case you find this site behaving strangely, it’s most likely because I’m experimenting with many tweaks and plugins, related to optimizing the page loading times.

Hi Shane,
I think I could have written the script for this weeks Sunday Update video.
All week I’ve been thinking “Bill you need to get to grips with things, so many unfinished projects and so many distractions”.
I’ve an eBook that I’ve been working on for months and many major projects that require attention/finishing.
So starting NEXT Sunday I’ve planned a months programme to tie up all the ends and get things sorted – no distractions or getting sucked into unnecessary Internet diversions.

Why next Sunday? My wife goes on holiday for 4 full blisful weeks!
Nevertheless I’ll look forward to see how you get on this next week.
Regards,

Shane says:

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Hi Bill,

Sounds good! I hope you can make a ton of progress in your own “focus-month”. :)

Reply

I’m going to try and focus on building backlinks for my niche sites over the next couple of weeks, something I haven’t spent enough time working on.

BTW, because you’re wearing black in the video it kinda looks like your head is floating out in space! Maybe a different color shirt next time? :)

Perfect timing. I been doing more of the spinning wheels thing lately and have decided that to increase my productivity I have to commit 100% so I am officially starting a business (where before there where just a lot of nice ideas floating around in my head :). My one focus for the week is to write a full fledged business plan. I am also starting this journal with daily tasks and weekly goals as well as a weekly review of my progress. I think these two things together will really help me get over from “yeah I’m kind of working” to “yes this is my goal and this is how I’m getting there.”

Consistent Focused Action will always win the day. The problem is making a habit of it =) which I am hoping this process along with social accountability will really help that become more second nature. Thanks for the challenge, see you next week!

Thanks for the inspiration Shane!

After being away from my own niche marketing for a couple of years (due to client commitments), I have decided to get back into it again. So, my 7 day challenge for myself is to create a product, build a site and have (at least) my first sale from this site by next Sunday.

Can it be done? WILL it be done? …

Woo-hoo! I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy-store. ;o)

Shane says:

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Hey Chris,

Wow, that’s quite the challenge! I look forward to reading about your progress next week. :)

Reply

Hey Shane,

Terrific Challenge! :-)

Recently I enrolled in an online coaching program for people who want to start their own IM business. (But don’t get their IM Business started due to things like: information overload, shiny object syndrom, lack of -technical- skills, procrastination,… You name it :)

One of my first challenges was to come up with a daily planning, which contains tasks (and estimated earning per task) that are time-based, achievable/realistic, practical and measurable.

Creating this daily planning took me quite some time. Once I had finished this planning, I noticed that I felt as if I was freed of a -mental- burden. Before I had all those things that I want/need to do, stashed away somewehere in my head.

After I’d put all of those things ‘on paper’, including all the nitty gritty stuff that needs to be taken care of every now and then, I noticed that it became much easier to focus -and stay focussed- on the task(s) at hand.

I think it was John Lennon who said something along the lines of: “Life is made up of the things that you get involved in, while you planned to do something completely different”. And for sure, that happens to me as well. So, than I go back to my daily planning and see what I need to change to get the things done that I need to get done.

The one thing that never changes is the financial goal that I put for the month. That one needs to be met :-)

Now, to get back to my challenge for this week: That would be to finish my first (affiliate) website. I have very little experience in building websites and am using WordPress for the first time…

So, with almost sub-zero experience in WordPress and with 2 young children at home because of the summer holiday, it really really is a challenge to finish my website this week.

Will keep you posted on my progress.

And to you: I admire your challenge to ‘be a monk’ for THIRTY days! ;-)

Good Luck,

Anant

Hey Shane,

Going to join you on this. Way too much of my time is spent reading and responding on forums, not even to get sig links so no value added to my business. So my plan for the week is as follows –
1. Complete all content for main money site ready for launch
2. Continue with daily backlink plans
3. Complete historic testing as site evidence
4. Continue with backlink plans for 2 other sites

So fingers crossed, no distractions/time steelers and I will succeed!!

Hi Shane,

You could have read my mind :) I’ve been very scattered lately, and it’s time to buckle down and get to business.

I’m going to use your entire video for my challenge. Over the next week I’m going to take a page on one of my sites and run it through the Battleplan. I’ve already done the “whole site” steps, and so I’ll start today with getting a few articles written and working on the submissions.

I’ll report in next week!

Kevin

This is SO weird! I started this type of challenge for myself last week and the results have been aamazing!

I adopted The Pomodoro Technique – this helps you laser-focus on work in a series of 25-minute bursts (called a “pomodoro” – named cutely after those kicthen timers shaped like tomatoes). Along with the technique’s other strategies and tactics, this worked really well for me. Google “Pomodoro Technique” if you think it may help you too.

For this week, I remain committed to complete 10 pomodori per day, every working day. So that’s my challenge.

Shane says:

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Ah yes, the pomdoro technique is pretty good. Personally, I like to go for longer periods than 25 minutes, but that’s just a matter of setting the timer differently. Best of luck with your challenge. I’m looking forward to your progress report!

Reply

Hi Shane,

This is the right time. Well, I’ve been doing things for my business but not like I was expected. I need to increase my productivity really soon… And here comes your video. I’ve got many begun projects that have really good potential and haven’t done anything about them.

For next 7 days I gonna be focused on two of my projects which are in state 1 out of 10. So the things are going to be more content, backlinking and no forums :-D…

Thanks for the challenge. Hope to see a big progress in my productivity. By the way, looking forward to the backlink battleplan 2.0

Samuel

Wow…it never fails to amaze me how we all are so much in sync. It seems to be some sort of internet harmonic convergence ;-).

I’ve had a lot of trouble being productive the last two weeks…also wasting time on Facebook, email and forums.

Because my writing juices have seemed to have dried up for the moment, I’ve purchased a bunch of content (PLR) and my challenge this week will be to customize it and use it for my sites, web 2.0 and article directories.

Can’t wait to see the Backlink Battleplan update.

Olivia

I was hoping the challenge would be duel with pistols :(

Shane says:

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Sorry to disappoint. If I had the choice of arms, it would have to be a duel with swords, if anything. I’m no good with firearms.

Reply

Good idea for the 7 days goal. Tuesday we’ll launch a product and on Wednesday (if I “survive” Tuesday) I would like to start something completely new to me online, let’s call it “active” affiliate marketing. So far I made money with affiliate marketing by setting up a cpc campaign rather quickly. But I think that is defenitely something I can dive into deeper. To make the goal measurable… within 7 days I want to have a challenging viable strategy, a product, a website and a timed action plan.

Shane says:

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Wow, another big challenge! Congratulations and I’m looking forward to hearing about your progress! :)

Reply

Hi Shane

My promise, 9.00am-12.00 noon, work only, no Twitter, no surfing
complete all affiliate program stuff, lots of reseach but not
completed the follow through, all to be finished by this Friday
5th August

Thanks for sharing Tony

Shane says:

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That sounds like a good plan, Tony. I like to have 3 hours of focus timebefore noon as well. It’s surprising how much you can get done, when you really shut off all distractions.

Reply

send rough draft of ebook to microsoft word expert on odesk for editing.

Great inspiration for making useful productive work.I’m happy to be part of this outfit.For about 1 month I stopped doing back links to my site and this whole week I’ll be starting only because of your video and hopefully I’ll see a better results by the next Sunday. Thanks Shane this is great!
Michael

Hello Shane,
I was following along, enjoying as usual, when you got to the Backlinks Battleplan part. What I thought was “almighty crappers Shane!”…. I am sposed to actually concentrate on one thing and I have yet to go review the V2 BBP? Dang! I have been saving that sort of like a really good IM dessert.

So, do I do BBP, or finish my girly chic website that I started building and dropped because I don’t know girly chic stuff, but is really a neat idea, or a half dozen other things like completely revamping some of my travel sites, selling some of my pre-built local mini-sites, or actually doing more articles for my Internet Marketing Training place that you were going to do an interview with me for, but that I haven’t reminded you about it because I need to do more work there before I feel that it is Shane ready. Jeez!

I think my pledge is to take time to figure out which thing I want to work on the most. (And treat myself to BBP too.)

I’ll say one thing. I already feel better after reading the Fans of Shane comments. It looks like we’re all on the same wavelength. It makes me a tad less guilty feeling. There is strength in numbers. Ha.

In the meantime, all remember the famous emblem of someone who died poor but happy in his not doing:

“I do that which I wish not to do and do not do that which I know darn well that I ought to do.” (Romans 7:15) More or less.

As always, thanks Shane. You are our man with the master plan.

Your man (clueless as usual) in Alabama
Norm

My challenge is to install and activate a plugin you reccomended on at least 20 of my sites over the next 10 days.

Hi Shane,

The Challenge is right on target! After reading all the comments it seems that many know instinctively that getting busy without distractions is a must for anyone working online. The more we know what to do and why then the more we’ll do it and that’s where some break through and others are left treading. Knowing + doing = the challenge.

So yes, I’m with you for a week, 4 weeks or even 8 weeks without being distracted. Steve D.

Hi Shane – yes, it’s definitely ubiquitous: we all suffer from ‘Internet Distraction’ to some degree. My biggest time waster? Watching IM Impact videos (only joking of course) – but it’s difficult to avoid getting sucked into spending a lot of time consuming useful material with educational content – that’s ‘work related’ isn’t it? Trouble is that it’s too easy & you end up doing it more than you should, hence avoiding ‘real’, actual productive work. That’s why your posts are so useful: because you challenge us to break out of our pattern.

So: for my personal weeks challenge.

1 – At least 10 hours spend on active client acquisition (something I’m forever avoiding)

2 – 20 Hours working with current clients projects

3 – 10 Hours creating two new videos (including optimization – backlinking and social components)

All other Internet ‘time wasting’ only to be done after the days allotted tasks (you don’t want me going into withdrawal do you?)

Hey Shane,

Great video. I’m too distracted with everything I’m doing to make a plan on how to work without distraction!

Greg

This is the first time I watched the Sunday update in awhile. I already was planning on making this month a hyper-productive month. It consists of two parts:

1. Written weekly goals of items which need to be COMPLETED, and
2. Miminize computer related distractions

As Olivia said: “It seems to be some sort of internet harmonic convergence.”

I believe that week by week goals may work best for me. But is still takes making a daily plan every morning.

Shane

This video came at exactly the right time for me (and for many others, judging by the comments above!)

It’s so easy to get distracted and I’m just as guilty as the next, so am knuckling down this week (have some off from the day job) and am going to concentrate on formulating a proper plan for my site and work on backlinks.

Hope everyone has a very productive week :0

Julie

Great video. Staying focus is the key and with this challenge it’s going to force me to put my projects into an order of priorities.
Thanks this the first place to start.Keeping the main thing the main thing.

It’ll be a tough week for me as we are on a 2 day road trip, but I still should find time enough to:
1. Organize and complete my 10 article campaign.
2. Research my next 10 campaign.

Pomodoro technique sounds interesting.

Hi Shane,

Your challenge has come along at the perfect time for me as well, and I’ve been trying to come up with an action plan.

You’ve hit upon a common problem for many of us. For a while I thought I was the only person who lacked focus, but I came to realize this is a pretty common problem for Internet Marketers of all levels. This gave me some comfort for a while, until I realized that I wasn’t any closer to actually addressing the problem. After mulling it over, I realized that just thinking about it, although while a necessary element, doesn’t resolve the problem. If you don’t take action, you don’t make progress.

I have to start at the beginning. My wife and I moved into our house last year and my office was quickly slapped together and has been the repository of many loose ends that just didn’t have a home, so I feel like I am working in a warehouse. I spend hours per day on my computer, but if I am really honest about my activities online, I would be hard pressed to categorize much of it as productive work. I’ve realized this for some time and it’s really bothered me.

With that in mind, my first goal this week is to completely clean out and reorganize my office space to make it into a fully functional work area. This is obviously a measurable goal and once I have this accomplished, I will be writing my business plan, and setting daily goals that allow me to track my progress.

I am also committing to keeping out of the Warrior Forum (and other forums) for this week to minimize distractions (no WSO’s)! I am also going to clean up my email by unsubscribing from all unnecessary mailing lists. Don’t worry… I won’t unsubscribe from yours. ;-)

It would be premature to flesh out my daily commitments in this post, as they will be part of my written business plan and goals.

These goals are all achievable in the coming week, so by next Sunday I should be in a completely different mindset.

Thanks,

MarkAGeisler

Hi Shane,

Great video and a perfect challenge, particularly as I’m just back from holidays!

My challenge for the month of August (as opposed to a week) is to get my PC rebuilt first, and to get two niche websites built, using the tools and techniques in SECockpit and Backlink Battleplan. While I still have some material and videos to work my way through, my focus will be 20% research and learning and 80% implementation… In the past, the balance has been tipped in the opposite direction (along with some of the usual distractions you mention thrown in!)!

My partner is also holding me to account, so I have no way out, but to focus on the targets at hand!
Will keep you posted :-)
Joan

Hi Shane,

On the mark as always.

OK I will take the challenge. I need to get certain things done but most important at the moment is to get content onto my site so that is my test for the week…to get the site up and running and heading for google ranking.

Looking forward to the release of the battleplan too…