What's your "action plan?"

[cornflower]

Ok folks.. there is no point reading the book and then not taking action.

Tim has talked about taking action in a 48 hour timeframe. So, what are YOU going to do in the next 48 hours to put you plans into action? What can we, as a group, hold you accountable to do, and encourage you to do?

I'll go first - personally, I have a little online business in blogging that I'm going to start to automate by outsourcing some of the routine tasks. I have the GetFriday signup form here and I'm going to fill it in and fax it at lunch time.

I'm going to research some info products. I have put a bid proposal thing on one of the sites to get an idea of how much it is going to cost to get the product I want to sell written for me.

Who's next? What is YOUR 48 hour action plan?

[wu-wei]

This belongs in defining.

I'm implementing GTD, scoping out what remains in a project to bring it to fruition..

I already have the virtual assistant that I am starting to unload more and more tasks onto, and will begin recruiting/training a replacement "me" for tasks that I cannot currently delegate.

[cornflower]

Wu-wei - Good going with the virtual assistant!

I faxed my subscription form two days ago to GetFriday - and emailed. Nothing. If I have not heard back by Friday I will look elsewhere. I'm on a roll and want to keep moving!

I've had 13 bids on my "Muse" project, bidding stops tomorrow and then I will selelct a "winner" to write the ebook. I've registered a domain name and started building the site.

Over the next 48 hours, I'm going to get registered with Clickbank and put some of their other products of theirs in the same categoryon my site.

I also want to get the site finished by the end of the week. I'm going to use WordPress as a CMS, because I've used it before and can get stuff up and running on it quickly - and it has alot of themes so I don't have to do a ton of work on the design. I can also then use the blogosphere to build traffic.

This is going to be a fun 48 hours!

[last mechanic]

Way to motivate, cornflower!

I'm still in the stage of finding a product to work with (see my other "muse creation" post).

I'm also thinking of doing an info product for at least one of my income streams, so I'll be looking over your shoulder to see if your plan works! Keeping my fingers crossed for you...

What I've done so far is to

1. make a list of potential product and business ideas.

2. met with partners for one product idea tonight and sent out some legal questions to a lawyer friend.

My very next steps are:

1. Follow up on idea #1 by researching prototype manufacturing options for a product (have answers by Friday).

2. Follow up on idea #2 by sending a bio and relevant info to partners and creating compensation structure (by Friday). Next meeting in two weeks.

Thanks for starting the "get your butt in gear" thread!

[wu-wei]

i found my va by asking one of my subcontractors who happens to live in the phillipines (english is the second official language) if he knew anyone qualified and willing. Now, i have a $7/hour assistant who has a BS in Accounting. Now, this isnt through an agency so there is somewhat greater risk.. but I am taking it slow on handing over personal info.

[digiratti]

After listening to the audio book last weekend, I went ahead and bought Tim’s hardcover version to be able to mark it up. Listened to the audio again and marked the heck out of the book! Yesterday was the last day on the job! (A 6-week paid internship that turned into a 3-year gig). I gave notice 2 weeks ago so that I could get back to my business.

I am winding up on 2 in-depth research papers for school, a screenplay and some statistics also for school by the 9th. I am going to use the extra time after I get all of this done by next week, to start going through my excess baggage and sell off a great deal. I’ve already made a huge dent in simplistic living over the past few years. I am also really looking forward to beefing up my 2 websites and getting more affiliate marketing going.

I have been a product designer in the past and I hear what Tim says about doing “information” as a product. I am going to look into that aspect of future income. I look forward to this group and am open for critique and advice. And in return I will give whatever I can to add to the mix.

[Midnight]

Small actions taken thus far:

1) Limiting access to email to twice per day (and yes, I admit it, limiting access to social networking sites as well!).

2) Passing off "problem clients" to other people. Got rid of two already, and my voice mail volume is waaaaaay down. Wee!

3) Conquering my pack rat gene and started getting rid of useless crap! If it isn't useful or beautiful, it's OUT! Today I made a Goodwill box for clothes, knickknacks, and goofy gadgetry - it's HUGE!!!! Already I feel less 'cluttered'. My weakness? Books. Oh, I'll try... Heh. :)

4) Doing the dreamlining exercises.

[cornflower]

Sounds like we are all making progress!

Now, i have a $7/hour assistant who has a BS in Accounting.

That's great. I've given up on GetFriday. It could be that with the popularity of Tim's book they are simply overwhelmed and my little 10 hours a month isn't worth considering anymore. They were expensive at $12 an hour for the 10 hour plan. The company I'm now with is $3.50 an hour. As I only want data entry at this point.. I don't need anyone with qualifications. I might need to go further afield if I find they can't do the job properly. I have sent them files as a test run.

I'm also thinking of doing an info product for at least one of my income streams, so I'll be looking over your shoulder to see if your plan works! Keeping my fingers crossed for you...

Thankyou! I ended up with 14 bids on my project on elance. I'm paying $300 for a 30 page eBook. I like the guy's writing style and think it will be a good fit for my product. He says he will have it done by 17th May, so I have a little while to get some of the other stuff finished.

My website is up (but still looks pretty bad) I need to create a sales letter for the eBook. I also need to get back into my clickbank account and see how I go about getting my product listed there. Need to reactivate my adwords account too.

Has anyone heard of StomperNet? I've signed up for the 1 month trial for $1 so that should be interesting an hopefully I will learn alot about Internet Marketing and getting traffic to my sites.

Yesterday was the last day on the job! (A 6-week paid internship that turned into a 3-year gig). I gave notice 2 weeks ago so that I could get back to my business.

..start going through my excess baggage and sell off a great deal.

..I am going to look into that aspect of future income.

Way to go! I wish I was in the position to be able to chuck in my full time job. If the VA I have does a great job I may actually outsource the work I have to do on Thursdays (the only day I can get to work from home) and then I can spend Thursdays working on my other projects.

Small actions taken thus far:

.. 4) Doing the dreamlining exercises.

Well done on the other actions. I find these hard to do.. especially the decluttering one.. both my partner and I are pack rats and you can tell by looking at our house. :( I need to do the dreamline exercises too.. I kind of skipped over that part of the book.. the automation part was the most intriguing for me, so I kind of focussed on that first.

[Vince]

If you're looking for FREE information on Internet Marketing, Allen Says' Warrior Forum is the place to go! http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/ (not an affiliate link, either!). People there have given away more valuable information and products than you could expect to find anywhere else. There's a Pay-It-Forward attitude that's heartening.

Yanik Silver recorded a 77 minute phone conversation with Tim and shared it on the main forum for free (no sign-up, no email). It's what got me to buy the book.

As for the Warrior Forum, some of the heaviest hitters in IM drop by and comment on questions and ideas or post useful info on just about any aspect of the business. Plus, there's a search function that allows you to dig into past posts on whatever you may be researching. :D

If you're doing it online, check it out!

[skylinrb]

Cornflower,

Thanks for your posts.

How are you using for $3.50 an hour for data entry and any paramaters?

[jetpacklife]

I was looking around and I saw vservesolution.com, which I think was around $4/hr for VA's and data entry and stuff. I'm currently going through my media blackout, and working on getting an assistant. I have a couple of more technical tasks that's going to be harder for me to replace (and I need to find someone that I really really trust).

[cornflower]

Hey Jetpack..

I found them by going to elance and looking at the companies that had bid for VA jobs. Many of them have their website listed in their profiles. I then just contacted them directly. This was easier and faster than going through the bid process.

I'll let you know how I go with these folks before recommending them. I'm giving them simple tasks and then will build up to more complex tasks involving more trust over time if they do OK with the simple stuff.

[Lloyd]

I ended up with 14 bids on my project on elance. I'm paying $300 for a 30 page eBook. I like the guy's writing style and think it will be a good fit for my product. He says he will have it done by 17th May, so I have a little while to get some of the other stuff finished.
May I ask the location of your writer (US, India, Canada, etc.)? Did you offer $300 or did you solicit bids from prospective candidates?

Thanks. Seems like a fantastic idea.

[cornflower]

Hi Lloyd, I believe he is in the UK?

I didn't want to put a price on it - in fact my RFP was very vague - just wanted to see what kind of deals were out there.. if I do a next one I will have a much better idea of what I want and what to put in my RFP. It was interesting to see all the different approaches to getting the thing written.

[read]

1) When I picked up this book, I was working 7 days a week, all night long some nights. I was waiting for something -- anything -- to help with my workload. After getting halfway through, the first thing I did was look for a VA. I'm going with Get Friday. There has been a delay with getting assigned a VA (my customer service rep told me they've been getting a huge response and are trying to get enough assistants to fill the demand). I'm hoping I'll be set up before the start of next week. In the meantime, I've gotten the first two tasks all set for my VA, when she or he is ready for me -- and okay, I'm checking my email way too often, hoping that any minute, help will be on its way! Did I mention that just the idea that someone (anyone!) can help me lowered my blood pressure by several points?

2) I hesitate in sending an automatic email response to everyone I know (and giving them more email to deal with), but I did include a little line with my email signature mentioning that I am only able to check email once per day and thank you in advance for your understanding. I added a voicemail message to my phone that says something similar. This is relatively easy for me, because my work doesn't allow me to be at a phone or desk for much of the day, and most of my contacts are already aware of this.

3) I initially read the book only to learn how to work less. Something about Tim's idea of doing the opposite of what everyone around you is doing really got to me, though, and, in kicking that around, I came upon a new way of considering my work. I work part-time for two different companies. Until now, like everyone in my (competitive) industry, I hoped for a full-time job (which would pay more) and an office. I've been waiting to start my life (get married, have a family, etc.) until I got this coveted full-time position and had more stability. Some in my industry have waited 7 or 10 years trying for such a position. In thinking about doing the opposite of what everyone is doing, I realized just how sweet a deal I have. Nobody can tell me when or where to work, and I am completely autonomous: a free agent. Instead of feeling like a less-than-valued worker, I am now counting my blessings! With a little muse income to supplement my current earnings, I could easily start my dreamline.

4) I'm using deadlines (and Parkinson's Law) to make myself more productive. It's still hard for me to stay focused, but when I do, I have gotten more done in less time.

5) I have a dreamline and obsess about how to perfect it at least once per day.

[cornflower]

read - sounds like you are doing really well!

I have trouble with the focus too. Deadlines do seem to help.

At the moment most of my non-regular-job income comes from blogs, so I set myself a task to create a certain number of new blogs this weekend. Using a deadline and batching tasks is helping enourmously. I'm nearly through the setup and will definitely make the weekend deadline.

Usually it takes me about 3 hours to do all of the setup on each blog. By the end of the weekend I will have set up 30 new blogs. I'll pack them with content and drip feed them out to the blogosphere over the next few weeks, but this has been a huge push forward in terms of income potential down the track.

I've done 90 hours of work in 48 hours, AND gone on a date AND taken my Mum out for lunch for Mother's Day.

I've been documenting as I go so that I can outsource this later on.

I've gone as far as I can on the new info product I'm having written, so its back to blogging until the ebbok is finished.

[willywa]

You never said how your E-Book turned out?

[Talon]

Applied for 3 contests to win a vacation
Started to purchase my 12th property
Sent out requests for money owed me- key this is what I should outsource
Started to look for virtual assistent- anyone been able to find a $4 an hour person yet? If so please email me
Innovation presentation started and accepted
Interviewed for promotion
Spent more time with my family via eating together-out, taking them to places..
Wrote several friends that I have not heard from in a while
Next step

Start new business idea- wrote 1 page business plan by next week
Find new information that is cheap, free, and start working on a new cause
:cool:

[BrianDale]

A bit of a background - as a "reformed timeshare salesman", I have targeted that population for my market with the best option available...not gonna delve into that...this isn't the place...but here in Williamsburg, VA, we have over 300,000+ people a year come just for a 90 min (resulting in 3-5 hour) timeshare tour...I plan on plowing a narrow & deep market in my back yard and send them to my website...and my web site goes live next week...still working on my marketing plan and do plan on joining "BrainQUICKEN" as an affiliate to market to travelers and vacationers for their recovery from travel to enjoy their vacations more....

On my creative projects, I will be entering my script in 3-4 contests this year...the first on by June 15th...titled "To Be The Man..." and will post it on my myspace website after entry...anyone interested can e-me & I'll give appropriate info...

Ya gotta act on the dream once you have it...otherwise, it's just a nice dream

[BrianDale]

The name: To Be The Man
The contest: 2007 PAGE Screenwriters Contest

A Step Towards Freedom, A Strike For Creativity

[Link82]

Bump. Great thread, would love more responses ;)

[DaveinHackensack]

I vote for a rule: no bumps. If you think it is such a great thread, contribute something to it. If not, leave it be.

[REOBULK]

1. I've started working with a VA @ $4 per hr. with some set up tasks for lead generation platforms. I work in Real Estate and am moving to being a "virtual agent" and refer everything out. Return is 25% on closed deals.
Like a couple of posters before me, I'm accelerating that process once I see results from VA.

2. Set up email and VM autoresponders. Now I just need to follow my own lead and not check the little critters so much.

3. Stopped reading the news, sports, tech stuff......wow, who would have thunk it?

4. Talked with my Broker about going virtual, on-board, she will handle the face to face with agents.

So, where should I go from here?

Time Blocking:

A. Meditate first thing in AM
B. Exercise next
C. Take care of house critters
D. Check Email and respond to all incoming
E. Send off follow up to biz partners in other biz.

All to be complete before 11am.

My next 48 hours are to check in with VA, try to "get" dreamlining, sit with Broker and agree on terms.