There lies the trouble. I only got started, then I stalled. Why did I stall? Of course there are several reasons!

1. I took on a web-redesign project. I am really interesting in doing website upgrades, so that is why I took on the project.  Even that is slow-going – NOT GOOD. This has now become my top priority to finish.
2. I didn’t set aside a definite time to work on affiliate marketing. This will be done, starting with #1 above.
3. Farm-work and my regular job are busy right now.  Both of these will right themselves in due time.

As you can see, I am almost back to navigating some roadblocks, only this time it is not as serious. I believe that website upgrades may be part of my business plan, so this extra project is really worthwhile. I know that I can get back on track, I just need to focus. Lynn Terry posted a great blog about Staying Focused When You Work Online.  There is a lot of good advice in there!

I am taking a multi-pronged approach to eliminating this distraction:

• Deciding which emails I truly value.  These are not constant streams of email sales pitches, but rather provide me with useful information and tips within the email.
• Unsubscribing from emails that either I don’t recognize or that I have not found to be valuable.
• Marking spam emails. Some are true spam and others are spammy. By spammy I mean emails that don’t offer an opt-out, even though I know how they got my email address.  What else can I do when they don’t offer a means to unsubscribe?

This is what I will be doing, every time I work my in-box – eliminating distractions from email.

One other thing that has changed is the project I wanted to start.  I am putting that on hold to focus on something that will generate some quicker cash flow.  I still want to do that project, but my online business has bills to pay, now!

As an exercise in accountability, I am posting here my plans for the upcoming weeks and months.

1. This website needs a facelift.  I am going to update the look and better integrate with social media.
2. I am launching my first affiliate marketing site.
3. Create more affiliate marketing sites.
4. More consistent posting on all of my blogs.
5. Profit!!

As this is a blog about my journey to work from home, I will keep updating you on my progress and what I learn along the way.

1. It has a looming, non-negotiable, deadline.
2. It is not a quick thing.
3. I tried to outsource it but that didn’t work out.
4. It’s not the most fun thing to do.

Everyone hits these kind of roadblocks from time to time.  Here is how I am planning to break through it.

1. Make it a priority.
2. Break it into smaller pieces.
3. Set a schedule to complete the pieces.
4. Block out big chunks of time to get it done.
5. Set an earlier deadline than the real deadline.

Will I get it done?  I think so. YES!  Once it is out of the way, I can do that project that I am really looking forward to.  I guess that is point #6.  Reward myself for getting through this roadblock!

One last thing.  If you think this roadblock will come up again, plan for it next time.

This morning, I wrote a post for one of my blogs.  This blog has about three to five views per day.  It is a WordPress blog, so I added a plugin to automatically tweet a link when I publish a new post.  Within a couple hours, I had 30 views.  Now, that is pretty powerful and it doesn’t take much imagination to see how a plugin like this can really get you new readers for your blog.

Here are two plugins that I have tried that automatically tweet your blog posts when published.

1. Twitter Tools – This is what I am using on the blog mentioned above.  It is written by Alex King, who is well known in the WordPress plugin world.  It is configurable and I have included a screen shot of the options page.  As you can see, it is pretty straight-forward to configure.

   

   I found this plugin easy to use and it works like it is supposed to.

2. Another plugin that I am using to automatically tweet my blog posts is a commercial offering called TweetMyBlog.  This is an affiliate-based plugin that gives you the opportunity to make some money.  I have it installed on this blog, but have not made anything from it, yet.  It is free for you to install, but it does have a commercial intent as well as look and feel.  I found the extra graphics too much for many of my blogs, but if your blog is about making money, then this plugin should help you do that.  As you can see below, it doesn’t have as many configuration options as Twitter Tools.

   

   This blog has a few hoops to jump through as you get set up to receive affiliate commissions.  If you are looking to add another income source and increase traffic by automatically tweeting your blog posts, TweetMyBlog is a good option.

Either option I listed above will help you build traffic to your WordPress blog by harnessing the power of Twitter.

1. Is your job hurting you?
2. Do you have a vision and a solid plan for your business?
3. Do you already have a written goal for quitting your job?
4. Are you committed to the business? (Required)
5. What do you have to lose? (If you have little or nothing to lose, it’s a good time to quit)
6. How long will your savings last?
7. How much income is your business bringing in?
8. What are you willing to sacrifice?
9. Do you trust your gut? (And is it usually right?)
10. Will you dare to do what others only dream of?

These 10 questions look like they cover the important points for making this decision. I’m not quite ready to answer these questions yet. I will start thinking about them. What about you?

I have chosen to make shipping a positive experience for my customers. Whether they buy through my eBay store or website, I focus on good packaging and fast shipping. I use USPS Priority Mail to do both. The Priority Mail boxes are both free and good looking. You can’t help but give a positive impression with these red, white and blue boxes when compared to the normal brown. Priority Mail also helps with fast shipping. You can ship anywhere in the U.S. in two to three days. With online purchase of postage you get a discount plus a tracking number. (Your customers feel better about their order when they get a tracking number.)

While Priority Mail helps with fast shipping, that is only half of the equation. I know that I have been frustrated by ordering online, then waiting days until the order ships. I make it a point to ship my orders out the very next day. I pack the items carefully and make sure the box is securely closed. (I also include some free product samples as a bonus.) I then order Carrier Pickup and wait for the mailman to pick up my packages.

Using these tips, you can give your customers a positive, fast shipping experience and improve the image of your online business.

So I searched for a solution and found a great free tool called AUCTIONFB. This tool displays a simple badge that shows your feedback rating, eBay user name, feedback score, and the date it was last verified. It works with several different eBay locales and has ten different color options. There is a registration process, but this is necessary. The tool needs to know your eBay user name and you also need an account so you can change settings later.

I added the widget to my right sidebar so that it displays below my other badges of trust. If you like, click over to Ten Foot Table and see how it looks.

Lynn also has a forum called Self Starters Weekly Tips, which I joined. So far I am only lurking, but that won’t last for long. I like to participate and learn through forums. She also has a weekly webinar and email newsletter that are free! Follow the links I included and look around. Tell me what you think. I think that Lynn has a lot of good advice to share that will definitely be of benefit to you.

For some reason, he took it upon himself to tell the stories of ordinary people who have made some very extraordinary achievements.

You may know Joel as the guy who figured out how to make Google’s Adsense a money-pumping oil well and then turned around and wrote a New York Times best-selling book about it (The Adsense Code)…

…pulling back the curtain so the rest of us can do what he has done.

Many who implemented his recommendations generated significant passive income which continues to this day.

This time, instead of reverse engineering a specific method of making money online, he instead has many of the top internet entrepreneurs in his sights.

• Why did they decide to start selling online?
• What were they doing before they startedselling online?
• Were there any specific, duplicatable qualities that made them successful?

If you’ve ever wished you could have a personal conversation with one of the top internet marketers and ask how they made the transition from “normal” life to Internet Marketing rock star, Joel has gone out and done it, and more.

He cornered over forty internet marketers and forced them to document how they began, what makes them tick…

And not only that, he dug deep and provided us with the rich background of the trailblazers who “laid the tracks” so the Internet, the Web, hypertext, and the browser –which we all take for granted now– could be developed, enjoyed and used in our businesses every day.

He’s given us the inside scoop on:

• The guy who predicted hypertext… in 1945?
• The first spam message, unleashed in 1982.
• The inventor of the modern browser, the “key” that makes internet marketing what it is today.

Joel takes us back to the “glory days” of dialup connections with 300 baud modems and leads us in a revealing romp to the present…

Providing keen insight into the mindset of those early pioneers … many of whom are still active in the marketplace today.

You can get your very own copy of this piece of Internet Marketing history on August 1: Joel’s new book, Click Here to Order.

With all the fervor of a tent-revival evangelist, Joel retells stories such as:

• How the Army helped Mark Joyner become a millionaire (read page 129 and see how he could have
• learned the lesson without the Army).
• Why Declan Dunn became known as “the online guy” (page 64).
• The event where the “Unknown Copywriter” was christened (were you there? And who is this mysterious
• person? Read page 79 to find out).
• The fourteen year old girl who started a simple website that will pay her way through college (page 86).
• One of today’s top marketers who walked out of a job interview at IBM because the interviewer didn’t
• like his tie (no joke…read about it on page 181).

If you’re one of the “gang”, get in line to get your copy. If you want to figure out how these “average Joes” learned how to turn their computers into ATMs, then you will definitely want to claim your copy of this book.

Click Here To Order is a front row seat to one of the year’s can’t miss shows.

You will want to grab your own personal copy as soon as it becomes available.

To get on the priority notification list, go to this website right now!

P.S. What are you waiting for? To get Joel Comm’s new book, where he blows the cover off of the Internet Marketers’ vault of secrets, click here.