Ghostwriting and self-publishing startup in earnest today

Today is the first day of my new life. That may sound a little dramatic but that is exactly what it is. I finished my employment in Sunday, the kids were off school yesterday so today marks the start of my solely self-employed life. I find it a refreshing change already! I am now a writer. As regular readers of this blog will know-

I started out looking to set up my own estate agency.

I have fallen into writing for myself and others.

The estate agency idea is firmly on the back-burner today, but will come through in some of the other things I do because I still write an estate agency blog, I have an estate agency/real estate gig on fiverr and I will be writing a guide on how to set up your own estate agency.

This blog will now take the form of something that informs readers about my progress, something that informs you about other startups and products that might be useful to you.

So with the start today I have planned out my next ten books so that I know what I will be able to produce over the next few weeks. The reason that I have done this is do that I don't have any downtime. My main source of income initially will be to write for others. This is so I can gain immediate income from producing things got other people. I am paid up front for this work and I don' t have to wait for sales. This puts me in a position where I can warm straight away. But I can't guarantee that I can fill every minute of every day with this. There will be times where I don't have anything to write for anyone else. In those times I will write got myself, add to my portfolio and give myself a chance of long-term income.

Today will also see three telephone calls-

• The inland revenue to register as self-employed
• The tax credit people with a change in my circumstances
• A charity called Tax Assist to see if they can help me with my accounts

I'll let you know how all of these went on the next blog entry.

In the meantime check out my books that are already available-

The Strategic Startup is a great place to expand your Startup business

The best startup entrepreneurs are learning all of the time. They take on information and process things that can help them with their business all the time. One great way to gather information that can be useful to your startup business is by reading blogs. I have found a great blog that is interesting and full of useful information. It is called The Strategic Startup and it is full of tips and ideas on how to make a success of your startup business.

It is a sad fact that so many startups don’t make it through the first year. This is not through a lack of ability or knowledge but often through a lack of learning. I urge my readers to open their eyes to all potential sources of information that can help you to expand your horizons and become the best startup entrepreneur that you can possibly be. The Strategic Startup is a fantastic place to start. From the very first words in the very first entry you can feel the enthusiasm that Kishan, the writer of this blog, has for this subject. Enthusiasm goes a hell of a long way in startup business and this guy has it in spades.

I have looked at reading books and articles, attending meetings and listening to others in the same way throughout my career. You may well go to a meeting, for example, with the attitude that you have heard all of this before. You would actually be wrong. If you go in with the attitude that if you learn just one new thing then you will have made a success of that time. With The Strategic Startup blog from Kishan Modha you will learn all kinds of new things that can be applied to your startup business-

•          How to develop your potential
•          How to set up your startup business
•          The research you need to carry out at the start of your business
•          Planning your short-term and long-term goals
•          And more!

The Strategic Startup is a wonderful place to add to the knowledge and experience that you have when getting your startup business off the ground. As your business develops then you will want to arm yourself with more knowledge and more skills to cope with the oncoming challenges that any startup business faces.  By reading the informative and inspiring words of Kishan you will get a massive helping hand on your way to success.

My latest book is available on the Amazon Kindle store this week

As time moves by and the startup dreams are on the back burner for the Winter, I have started to branch out into other areas. My regular readers will know that I have been doing a lot of writing recently.

My work on fiverr.com has really taken off and I am very pleased with the number of gigs I have been getting. I have also expanded the different writing gigs that I offer, which is bringing in more activity and more income.

But it is the book writing (and publishing) that is the reason for today's blog entry. I have published my latest book this week and it is gaining some interest already. I have started to promote the book through social media and there has been a small buzz associated with it.

I have written about the book on this blog before and it's now ready. The book is-




It is available now, so please investigate. Ask me any questions you have and I will help you on your own quest to write a book. It really can be done if you follow a plan like the one outlined in my book.

The next book is starting and it is going to be about writing a blog, gaining readers for your blog and then monetising the blog. It will be another mid-sized book like the others I have written and I think that it will become as popular as te others I have written and published.

Everything slows down on the blogging front as Christmas approaches

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I'm starting to put my blogs to bed now until the New Year. The fact that many io the areas I blog about slow down dramatically at this time of year only adds to the fact that people's attention is drawn away to other places and things. Christmas is on the way and all of my blogs drop significantly in readership from early December until the start of January. Subsequently I'm starting to switch the blogs off-

Estate agency

This really is a quiet time for estate agents as the market starts to shut down for Christmas. People who have sales going through now want to be in their new home before Christmas. Most solicitors close completely for over a week and everything goes really quiet.

And likewise with my How to sell your home blog - there aren't many people starting to look at selling their home at this time of year.

Retail

Retailers are the opposite of estate agents at this time of year - they are too busy to do much reading. My blogs would bypass many of my potential readers because they are all busy at this time of year.

Mystery shopping

This is another area that goes really quiet at this time. In the same way that retailers want to concentrate on sales right now, they don't want their busiest season to be interrupted by a major mystery shopping programme. And because of this, the mystery shop companies cut back their activity to almost zero until the new year.

You'll see less of me during the next month or so on all of my blogs.

See why every second counts - any how to make the most of them

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I feel like every second counts both at (employed) work and at home currently. Having taken on full-time work at the same time as my freelance work has started to take off is a bit of a challenge. A "normal" day is-

• Up at 5.45am
• Update my website
• Leave the house at 7am
• Write a blog post on the bus
• Start work at 7.30am
• Lunch hour at 11.30am
• Write another blog post
• Finish work at 4pm
• Write a blog post on the way home
• Home at 4.30pm
• Get half an hour of promotion work done
• Dinner at 5pm
• A couple of hours with the kids
• Start writing, promoting, tweeting and investigating at 8pm
• Finish and go to bed around 11pm

It all adds to quite a tiring day, and I'm at work tomorrow, pretty much the same routine but I'll leave the 8pm activity, and catch any of that up on Sunday.

I'm really enjoying it all, work is a promotion as well as a change to full-time so I'm managing a team, coaching and training. These are things I'm good at and well practised in. The frustration is the amount of new team members and the fact that business is heavy at this time of year in retail. It doesn't give me a lot of time to develop and train the team into the group of people I want them to be.

The freelance work is fitting in around all of the other bits that I'm doing. I've mentioned before that I sometimes write pieces on my iPhone on the Park and Ride bus on the way to and from work. I find that this gives me the opportunity to switch off from work, and I've also found time in my breaks to do the same. I can put together a large part of what I need and then re-read and edit it down when I get back onto a PC at home.

It's really good to be busy all the time and the fact that most mystery shopping companies stop the amount of mystery shops available in December (see here) means that this is a good time to be doing more at my employed, paid work.

Watch this space!

I started writing, got half way through a piece and just stopped.....

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I've got half way through a writing piece this week and stopped in my tracks. It's not really happened before but I do t really know how to finish what I've been writing. It's not writer's block or anything like that, it's just I don't really know where I want to go with it. The current text is the second sample blog for my estate agents blog that I let you know about recently-

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/11/see-writing-skills-that-can-help-estate.html

And the text I have do far is-

"Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England has hinted that interest rate rises will happen later rather than sooner-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34733480

The global economic situation means that inflation is less likely to rise and interest rate rises are less likely to be needed.

But what does the phrase 'interest rates' mean?

When newspapers, television news and websites say interest rates, they mean the Bank of England base rate. This is still at the lowest it has ever been. It has stayed at 0.5% since the credit crunch of 2009, and there really hasn't been much sign of it changing since then. And it's this Bank of England base rate at half a percent that goes on to influence the interest rate you pay on your mortgage. A consistently low base rate gives confidence to the banks to offer low mortgage rates.

But what does that mean for home buyers in Yourtown? What does it mean for customers of estate agents in Yourtown?

Well, a second statement from the Bank of England this week sheds a little more light on this-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34741331

The Deputy Governor states that the Bank of England base interest rate should not be used as a tool to control the housing market. This should mean that house prices in Yourtown follow a more natural curve of demand and supply, without a large intervention from outside sources. This gives you an idea that changes in interest rates are made to control inflation - not to control the price you pay for your next home.

The best way to know about your local market us to keep a watch of your local market. Register with home estate agents and we will send our freshest properties on the market to to your email inbox. To have the latest homes for sale in Yourtown sent directly to you when they are released puts you at the front of the information market. If you speak to is then we can let you know what is available to you and what the asking prices are for the type of property you want.

And it's by understanding what you want that you can get to grips with your local housing market."

 As I've said, I'm not unhappy with the current content, I'm just not completely sure if how I finish it. I'm trying to create several things at once-

1. An SEO-optimised piece that will boost an estate agents search engine rankings.
2. Something that their customers will read all the way through.
3. Something that prompts the customer to action.
4. Something that creates customer confidence.

And I think that this piece so far creates points 1 to 3, but I'm concerned that it borders on infringing point 4. Interest rates are a touchy subject and I don't want the blog piece to put customers off buying a home because they fear interest rate rises. The next step in the blog will have to be a careful one as I want to say more about how my estate agents can help clients but without causing any fear. I'll think long and hard about it and post any updated version on here.

It's a strange feeling to not finish a piece of writing, but it's come to this here. Hopefully it's a one off!

See how the half-term time off didn't stop all the startup planning

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It's half-term week and roughly-speaking a week off from many parts of the startup planning. I've not switched off completely and sitting as a passenger in some car journeys along with other spare time gives me the chance to write a few blog posts, tweet some marketing links and check my fiverr gigs. It's important to keep an active present with things like this and most of my gigs offer services that I can produce in less than half an hour on my smartphone. Even if I need to conduct some research then a smartphone can take care of that. In fact, there's little that I can't produce at short notice.

I think that a slow build of what I do is the way forward. I've written and self-published several books now and I'm starting to sell my writing services more on fiverr. And writing is something that I really enjoy. If writing my books brings in a good income and writing for others can supplement that whilst I'm running an estate agency then I'll be very happy.

But it's getting to that next level that is taking that time. My reviews on fiverr have all been five star and my clients have been incredibly happy with my writing. I need to be able to turn a few gigs every now and again into several high-paying jobs a week. With my trust levels at their highest, I promote my gigs in my blogs and on Twitter to keep up the exposure levels. It's gaining exposure that will help to keep things moving on.

And it's research into this marketing exposure that's at the front of the thoughts in this blog. I have started to look at different ways if getting my blog exposed to a larger audience. For example, I've applied to have my mystery shop blog featured on the blogs section of mumsnet. Also my estate agency blog is featured on real-estate network. It's by having these extra outlets that I feel I can get my work noticed. By having my work noticed I can get more readers, more orders, more happy customers and the cycle continues. And that's how the theory goes.

A short blog today, but keeping the thought processes moving and the words flowing will always help.

See the different marketing ideas I'm using to sell my books

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I've been looking at ways to expand the sales of my mystery shopping book. It's had some initial interest and I want to capitalise on that interest and turn it into book sales. There have also been a couple of positive reviews already. It's one of those things that every time you talk about it, other people are really interested in what you have to say. It's a topic that everyone has some interest in, either what you do or becoming a mystery shopper themselves. To assist with the book I've started a blog that mixes hints and tips from the book with my daily experiences as a mystery shopper. Each blog entry prompts the reader to take a look at the book. The blog can be found here.

I have also set up a basic promotional YouTube video to help with the book sales. The idea behind these two things is to get people to like the look of what is going on and then go on to buy and read the book. But the next questions I have are-

• How are people going to find the blog or the YouTube video?
• Who is my target market?
• How will I reach them?

The people who I think will be mainly interested in mystery shopping are university students and the mothers of children that are at school. I live quite close to a university city so I thought that the below poster could get me a bit of traction. I'm going to put it up in a few places around the city that I know students frequent. I hope that more readers of the blog might mean more book sales. Finding the mothers might take a little bit more doing. I'm thinking that the forums mothers frequent such as mumsnet might be somewhere to look. I know from sites like Money Saving Expert  don't allow people to advertise their own products on their forums so mumsnet may be the same. Aside from these two areas, it's a case of searching and thinking more about potential readers and how I can reach them.

The poster looks like this-

Wish me luck!

See how changing blog presentation should improve click through

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I looked recently about a different way of presenting the work that I carry out over the internet.

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-different-way-of-presenting-my-work.html

It's about looking at headlines that will prompt the reader to look further into the article. Many of my blogs are publicised on social media and I'm looking at how the initial words get someone to read through and get interested. I've taken on this way of looking at my blogs as well as starting to formulate how I will put this together for my photography.

The result in a couple of places is starting to show dividends and I have stared using these style of titles in my blogs-

How To Sell Your Home

http://how-to-sell-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/

With titles such as "Find out how to highlight your home for the best sale price" and "Use this selling tip when marketing your home" give interested readers enough information to read through the hyperlink and maybe take in more of the blog whilst on that page.

The mystery shop blog

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.co.uk/

This is another new blog and is designed to help sell my new Kindle book-




It has titles like "See how a quick 2 hour mystery shop can be profitable" and "Find out how I earned money with a shopping trip to a local coastal town" which again are designed to get people to read through. If they then like the content, it may trigger a sale of the book.

I'll report back on here how the sales of these products go through and the response to the blogs with these new titles.

I'm starting to resurface back into the world after the eye operation

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I'm starting to resurface back into the world after the eye operation and the recovery period. After the operation and the recovery period I've been finding that even the simplest of tasks leaves me tired - until today.

I've re-started my gigs in fiverr, with the hope that they bring in some income that I re-spend on fiverr itself. There's a vast array of items that I can see myself spending credit on, and some others that are interesting as well-

• I will ghostwrite, proofread and edit your ebooks and kindle books
• I will write a 500 word introduction for your book or ebook
• I will illustrate your book
• I will design a Sensational Book or Kindle eBook Cover
• I will advertise your book or bookish product on my book blog
• I will add PERMANENT Facebook likes
• I will post PERMANENT Amazon review 
• I will write about your site in my Real Estate Site

There's a wide array of things to be ordered on Fiverr, and probably a whole host of other things that I haven't even come across yet.

During my time on the Fiverr website I've done a few Gigs that I've been really interested in, and I'll share a bit of detail with you on the latest one. I have explained how the website works on recent past blog posts, so I won't go into too much detail there. And also to say that I won't be giving updates on every Fiverr Gig I conduct but in the early days it's been quite interesting.

The below blog link is a sponsored link through Fiverr, where the producers of the product wanted more exposure for their products and to create some back links for their Etsy shop-

http://inofftheblogpost.blogspot.com/2015/09/so-your-child-wants-to-be-footballer.html

The products themselves are great, but it was thinking about how to frame them into the context of who is reading my blog on football, and who is likely to buy the products when they've read the blog. I worked on the different angles available to me and then decided hat they aspirational aspect was probably the best way to go, as it is still too early to go heavy on the Christmas theme.

In all, I'm very pleased with the way it went and the fact that I'm resurfacing onto online life, if not the real world quite yet.

The products can be found at -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/247211206/personalized-christmas-stocking-custom?ref=shop_home_active_3

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBusyElfWorkshop?ref=hdr_shop_menu

homeestates

Fiverr

Seller

I am a writer - I write all the time. I have several blogs, have written three books (so far) and I just love writing. I will write positive reviews or articles or mention you in my blogs in clear English. I'm new to Fiverr but I'm incredibly passionate about what it can empower.

My first fiverr gig - Mannys Sauces

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I've completed my first gig for fiverr this week and I absolutely loved it. The gig was producing two blog entries and a testimonial for Mannys Sauces - an exciting new venture by the guy who originally founded Nandos in South Africa many years ago.

The idea behind the blogs is that they fitted the narrative of my existing blogs but mentioned heavily the products of Mannys Sauces and provided a platform for the products to gain more exposure. And I'm pleased with the results-

http://inofftheblogpost.blogspot.com/2015/09/whats-best-food-to-go-with-football.html

The first blog entry is related to football and I decided to look at how food and football mix. The blog was about the perfect good to go with football and Mannys Sauces fitted this bill with their mix of spice and flavour. It's a similar way to how curry is eaten when watching the football - with friends and a few cans of beer. My football blog is read by the type of demographic that would enjoy the product.

The second entry is on my retail blog and talks about two things - buying from a UK business and getting to know a product or brand on the ground level. My retail blog is read by independent retailers that may want to stock the sauce and by people in larger retailers that may want to get onto a product that may become very big very quickly.

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/09/shop-local-is-about-spending-with.html

The idea is they both of these blogs and the surrounding social media marketing will give the brand and products some exposure. The other piece I wrote for Manny is a testimonial piece for his own use. It's related heavily to the product but I believe that it is a positive article that can be used in different strands of his marketing strategy.

Overall in pleased with the work and already looking forward to the next gig.

homeestates

Fiverr

Seller

I am a writer - I write all the time. I have several blogs, have written three books (so far) and I just love writing. I will write positive reviews or articles or mention you in my blogs in clear English. I'm new to Fiverr but I'm incredibly passionate about what it can empower.

A different way of presenting my work

-95

The internet, especially social media, seems to be full of headlines or strap lines such as-

You won't believe what happened next…

See what happened when…

Who would have thought what could…

And I like the fact that people have realised the world is more interesting with words. As someone who writes a lot, I think that simple, interesting stories can transform other parts of the internet, and the world around us. And it's got me thinking about how I present things such as my photography and Kindle books to the world. Adding my own story to the photographs or the books gives some context, some background and some interest to what I present.

I can now see photography as a story. "See what happened when one photographer…" is a far more interesting piece than just uploading photos to social media - no matter how good the photos are.

Presenting my books with the context behind them of how I ended up writing them will mean more to potential readers than telling them it's good or great or interesting or any other description I could come up with.

So, off the back of this enlightened thinking today, I'm looking at re-writing the blurb on Amazon for my two current books and adding to the introductions for both. I think that anyone browsing through Amazon and coming across my books would be more interested in whi ive written them than a synopsis of what the books are about.

So here goes. I write them because-

I'm sick of dealing with estate agents that aren't very good at their jobs.

I think I can do better.

I want to help people to help themselves.

I think that there is a better way than how houses are currently bought and sold.

I think that consumers should know more about the process.

Watch this space, and I'll update you on my progress.

It's time to get the house set for the colder weather

 -83

It's time to get the garage-cum-office finished and all the little snagging jobs in the house find before the weather turns. Before long Autumn will turn Wintry and it will be too late to get any outside jobs done, so that's where I will start the focus.

It looks like it's list time again…

I'll have to go round the house and trek a look at all the areas that I feel need attention. From there, it's a case of setting up sons time to ensure that I can get everything done. I'll probably start the list this afternoon and from there I'll have an idea of how much time it will take me to complete.

If like the setting up if the estate agency for next year to follow a similar path but there are do many aspects of it that I have no idea about timescales. I'll just have to leave more time than I think possible and take it from there.

I'm one of these people that likes to have everything planned to the finest detail with accurate timings but it's just not possible when setting up what will be a new business. The current thinking is to finish my current job at Christmas, take a couple of weeks off and then start in earnest during January. From there I'll step up through the gears to be opening after Easter with a view to building stock levels for this time next year. I follow the cycles of the market and it appears that there are two main markets in my part of the world. The first is taking on property in January and February for sales in March and April. The second phase is taking on property through the Summer to sell after the kids go back to scho in September for people that want to move in for Christmas. I'm looking to catch the tails end if the first market and be really up and running for the second.

Wish me luck!

To blog more or to blog less? That is the question.

93

I am currently writing 5 different blogs, most 3 or 4 times a week. My next question to myself is do I take in the 2 new blogs that are forming in my mind? Or do I actually cut the amount if blogging I do to make room for other activities. Now long-time readers will know that I carry out a lot of my blogs in spare time that I would probably struggle to do anything else -on the park and ride bus in the way to work, waiting at the bus stop, in my lunch break at work - so the question on productivity may not be relevant. I can't get any jobs fine around the house, set up my business or even mystery shop effectively in these times. So what would I be gaining of I cutdown on my blogging time? In terms of time or replacement tasks, nothing.

I enjoy blogging and getting down ideas and concepts - in fact it often helps me to think things through. The fact that I'm typing down my thoughts and sharing them with the world isn't all that different to just sitting, staring out of the window thinking about the same things.

The new blogs that I'm considering g writing are-

One that's football-related. I love football and I've followed it all my life, so I feel that I've got something to say on this matter. It will be an opinion blog with a few solutions thrown in for good measure. I have views on the way football has developed recently and I'd like to share them with the world, as I'm sure thousands of football fans already are.

The second blog is related to my photography. I know I've shared a lot of photography on this blog, but if be looking to go into a bit of detail about locations, timings, equipment and what I'd do differently next time. It's about being a learning tool for me to evaluate what I've done and properly think about the next time I shoot a similar subject, as much as sharing my experiences with the world.

I'd also consider my journey as a creative writer in hrs form of a blog. Once I've finalised my photography course, I'm starting an online creative writing course and I would like to document the journey from starting out to (hopefully) publishing my first book.

Watch this space!

I am the answer, but I don't totally understand what the question is yet

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I am the answer, but I don't totally understand what the question is yet.

I don't mind admitting that I sometimes have doubts over this new business estate agency thing. I suppose it's natural to have thoughts about maintaining the status quo, especially when I enjoy my life as it is. I have a many irons in the fire at the moment that I find I'm not concentrating on any one enough -

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/01/too-many-balls-to-juggle-what-to-let-go.html

I have to compartmentalise areas if my life and the what's next method has started to pay dividends -

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-next-my-new-strategy.html

I've refined it a little and now I'm having weeks concentrated in certain areas to emphasise and maximise the amount in each area I get done. This week is stuff around the house week and has consisted today of-

Filling and sanding bathroom ceiling

Painting hall and landing walls

Buying a new kettle and milk pan

Buying sealant for the bathroom

Tomorrow will be sorting out-

Painting the bathroom ceiling

Buying curtains for my bedroom

Buying curtains for the landing

Buying a beanbag for the newly-configured lounge

Buying a lampshade for the lamp in my bedroom

Buying a rug for the lounge

All might seem fairly mundane things but all need to be sorted so I can concentrate my efforts all in one place.

The quote at the start about being the answer but not knowing the question really related to the doubts I have and what I want to do to give me a contingency income to allow me to carry in with the estate agency without constantly worrying about money. The blogs, the self-published books, the photography, etc are designed to give me financial security and a small monthly income no matter what the business is doing. If I can add that to income from investments and perhaps rental income from a property, then it allows me to go for it and take the risks that may be necessary to become a success.

What's next? - my new strategy

120

After sounding off a bit on my last blog and feeling a bit rudderless, I've devised a new strategy to deal with all the different balls I'm trying to juggle at present. I've dubbed it the "what's next approach." On one sheet of paper I've made a note if all the areas I'm trying to progress in, then in each area I've written what I need to do next. Sounds simple? It has only started today after a little formulation in my brain last night and the process of writing these small steps down has been hugely refreshing in its own.

The list is-

The Business

Paint the left wall of the garage

Assemble the table that will be my desk

Paint the rest of the garage

At Home

Sand and paint the bathroom ceiling

Glue stones on cupboards in kitchen

Paint hall and landing

My "Books And Games" Selling Business

Get all stock out of loft and place in new office in garage

Check and update inventory

Writing

Finish a book I'm writing on how to buy a home

Edit the book down to get it ready to publish

Start the creative writing course I've enrolled in

Mystery shops

Update my spreadsheet with all shop data on

Prepare for the 7 shops I have on Thursday

Look at adding to the 4 shops I have on Friday

Look up online about self-assessment and tax

Photography course

Go to the local city and get the final city photos for my final project, based on the main river that runs by here

Retake some of the other photos I have, in the golden hour, to ensure the sky is lit best

245 days is worrying a little as the new venture starts in earnest

144

I'm not sleeping the last bit in the night/morning very well. I have no trouble getting to sleep - I inherit this habit from my father. It's the last hour or two, usually from about four or five in the morning where I start thinking about what I'm doing and what I'm about to get myself into. I think that it's the mixed focus that's getting me in a spin at the moment. I've got three things in trying to focus on a they are all a drain on time and effort-

Making money to replace the list income from reducing my hours at work.

Getting the house in shape so I don't have to spend time and money in it when the business starts.

Actually setting up the business that I think will be the thing that keeps me gainfully employed (or self-employed) until I retire.

The extra money will come from the mystery shopping I do and from buying books and games and selling them on Amazon along with sales of my two existing self-published books plus any new ones I write.

There are several jobs that need to be completed around the house, most of it painting. I want the house in a condition where we have it just how we want it, as I won't have the time to spend on it when I'm setting up and starting the business. One of the most important of these is the home office. Getting this ready will give me the space to so what I need, without getting in the way of everyone else (and without them getting in my way as well.)

Which brings me to the reason for the whole blog, my change in working hours and everything I'm doing at the moment - the new estate agency business.

I've documented before in this blog what I feel needs to be done, so it's now a case of just doing it.

I'll keep you updated with the actual process of each step, as well as updated in how I feel about things.

Are blogs worth anything other than getting my thoughts down?

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I've been blogging now for close to a year, and the impending anniversary of the start of my blogging activity has got me thinking-

Are blogs worth anything other than getting my thoughts down?

How do you measure worth?

Let's start at the base level, the definition that I'm sure many would apply - do they generate any money. Now this blog is too young on Blogger to enrol in their advertising programme and I usually make this blog on the move, so I don't have access to html links from Amazon or others. In that sense, it earns nothing. And my older blogs that have Adsense and Amazon ads on warm me very little as well. So in this sense of worth then, not presently, but enough content will eventually bring a trickle of money every month and will filter people to my website when it's up and running.

These blogs are a conduit for my ideas and the finalised blog entry isn't always the same set of ideas as what I set out to write. In this sense, it's my learning style to think about what I write as I write and this gets my creative juices flowing. The ideas will formulate how I operate my business and how I will be different to other estate agents on the market - especially int local market. So in this sense of worth, yes, but I need to be able to reference and re-read my blogs to filter the concrete ideas I will use going forward.

My blogs get interest on social media and are often "shared" by other users, but the interaction level rarely goes any higher than that. I find this frustrating, as I'd like to know people actually read the words and digest the meaning of my blogs. At this level, I think that my blogs are read and some parts of them are used, but I'd like a degree of interaction or feedback that confirms this. So in this sense of worth, yes and no.

Mondays always lead me to reflection. On with the rest of the week.