Action Takers - What Are You Up To?

[Extra]

By the 1st (well technically the 4th i go back) I hope to have the nonprofit ready to be presented to the board for funding and to have it ready to go and launch.. and by launch i mean pedal to the floor and hitting the highway, no turning back.

 

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[TaxGuy]

So many goals and #1 goal is to set an official gathering in Chicago to go over goal-setting and accountability!

As far as personal goals starting today and through Jan 31st:

-register for B&P and plane-ticket/rental car
-finish organization in house, new stairs for basement
-get 2nd roommate w/ move-in date before Feb 1st(pro-rated 1st month)
-set new eating habits("diet" is a 4-letter word )/off-season treadmill/weight training to lose 20lbs by start of '09 marathon training(~Mar/Apr)
-meet with mortgage consultant and figure out re-fi/consolidation options on house
-go over and get finances in order w/ fiance
-read more books(first off finish "Patent to Profit, then 1 or 2 more RD books, "Zero Million", etc)
-keep writing down ideas and start narrowing in on a field to work on starting Feb 1st
-start looking for a mentor

 

[hatterasguy]

Its been a busy week, I havn't really gotten into the holidays this year because I have been so busy.

I have two closings this Wednesday, we are going to do a double. Were selling the used house and buying a building lot. My uncle and I spent well over an hour on Sunday with a couple who wants to buy the new house we are going to build on the lot that was attached to the used house.

In real estate it ain't over until the money is in the bank. BUT if everything closes this week as it should we will be sitting nicely on only two lots, and if that couple comes through one will be sold. That means I might be able to close on another deal in say April when the money from that one is freed up.(My 3rd deal) I want to build on the lot that we are closing on Wednesday when school ends in May.

If the economey doesn't get to much worse I might actualy, possible, maybe be able to make some decent money next year. Now thats a big IF!

 

[Russ H]

good luck on the closings, Hat!

-Russ H.

 

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[hatterasguy]

Thanks Russ, I'm working hard to build my head of steam.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Just a note ... if anyone wants to post their goals and track their progress, simply create a thread in the "Goals" forum. This way, you can publicly declare your goals and update the thread as you make progress toward them.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

The month of December and the Year of 2008 are over.

Did you get your December list done?

What is on the plate for January?

 

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[AroundTheWorld]

December 08:

a new site up check
another new site up check
motel site revamped check
loan refi done (??) nope.

January 09:

decide on structure for new venture
pick a non-profit to work with - (or start my own)
write articles regularly
market, market, market
I'l be back with more definitive goals for the month. Need to get a few other kinks worked out first

 

[AroundTheWorld]

So, we had no takers for January.

What about February? What will you get done?

Here is Mine:

FEBRUARY

Refine Pitch - Present to 10 more non-profits
Continue to trade / learn.
Finish Budget and Targets for 09

 

[bflbob]

Rep for keeping this thread going!

(Now if only I took the time to write mine...)

 

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[patientPrince$$]

A few things I'd like to accomplish in the new few months:

1. Place an order for my books wholesale.

2. Create bookmarks for promotions (urban city books)

3. Decide on what type of VOIP service I'd like to get into for kali-tech.com

4. Contact developers for kali-tech.com

5. Change the bookstore from blog to joomla website??? or another CMS or get it redesigned and coded by a developer. Do research on rent-a-coder.com.

6. Research how to allow visitors to read books for free

more....more.....

 

[Bilgefisher]

February Goals

-Start and finish B&P presentation
-2nd closing on final property and come up with the extra 8k needed for down payment
-stick with my planner. First time I've had a formal planner other then my handy notebook.
-Get my blog idea off the ground.
-put together plan for fixing and flipping one property. Mostly where to come up with the money.
-Teach Wendell to stay and lie down.
Most Important: Learn from and enjoy the B&P.

 

[Runum]

B&P:cheers:

 

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[mtnman]

Feb-


-organize and market public speaking event

-further define my markets that need a leader

-develop a market "face"

-get out of affiliate marketing (at least the type where you peddle the next best product) because my heart's not in it, and it diminishes my potential

-reach out to small businesses and create viral currency/networking through educating and opening doors in this time of need

 

[hatterasguy]

Getting close to inking a contract on custom house we will be starting in April. Since the used house closed a couple of weeks ago, that will finish my first deal, so I'm already working on the 2nd. I'd like to start that one in May, and have the 3rd in the pipe around that time. It really all depends on the market, in a normal bad market I could do 4 this year no problem, in this market 2 or 3 may be it. If it gets worse I may be owning the 2nd for awhile...

In the meantime its winter and school is in full swing. I'm going to freaken relax and do a little ice fishing. I think next month I'll go to FL for a week and fish a bit down their. When April comes around I'm going to go nuts, so until then I'll concentrate on fishing and school.

My winter project is getting Quickbooks up and running so I can better keep track of these projects.

 

[CVentures1B12]

-Meeting tomorrow for a bundle of 4 houses...contract negotiations...going to be fun.
-Ramping up a hardcore marketing plan. Getting out 5 different methods each week
-Bandit Signs (10-20 each week)
-Expired listings letters (20 each week)
-Targeted postcards (10-20 each week)
-40+ Letter of Intent offers
-10+ calls on "aged" For Rent ads in the newspaper
-Found a couple of equity partners for any deals that are coming up. I will have to work at it to find some deals that require no more than 5-9K down...but with two of them, that is a total of about 18K.

Pumped!!

Best,
Josh

 

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[AroundTheWorld]

We are only 10 days into Feb . . . not too late to set the goals for your next three weeks.

I've noticed participation in this thread slack off a little.

NOW MORE THAN EVER . . . we need proactive motion.

WHAT WILL YOU GET DONE IN FEBRUARY?

 

[kimberland]

We're too busy to post, ATW!
LOL
That's a good thing.

February 1st was the release date for my second novel, Invisible
(about Identity theft)
and I'm doing a half a$$ed blog tour,
hitting about 24 sites in February.

The second novel has been WAY easier to promote than the first,
especially after all the award buzz
for last year's novel.

It helps to have a much better cover
(covers sell, folks - if you're going to plop some dollars down, do it on your cover)
and a more gripping tagline
(copy is another great investment).
I'm also focusing on promoting on romance sites,
rather than business/finance sites.
Oh, and I got organized with my author reviews
(readers want affirmation that they're making a good choice).

I'm also on a contract gig.
It was supposed to be for a month
but has been extended (so far) for 3.

We are doing our usual stock investing
but our extra funds were allocated to helping some people out.
Spread the wealth around a bit.

 

[kimberland]

Oh, about the holiday short,
I DID get it done
but it sucked.
It had no soul.

So I scrapped it
(shorts are promo pieces - they have to be good)
and am working on an non-holiday short.
This one is going to rock!

I'm also struggling to get my 2010 novel
signed with the publisher.
The publisher thinks it might be a little too edgy
(like Invisible wasn't?).
I told her if it isn't edgy, there's no sense publishing it.
No one goes to a small press for the same ol', same ol'
We'll see how it goes.

 

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[AroundTheWorld]

Thanks for your updates Kimber!! You are rockin and rollin on your books.
Very cool.
I can't wait to see how things go for you ~ the novelist ~ in the next year.
With momentum behind you . . . things are really going to start happening!

 

[kimberland]

Thanks ATW.
The book thing IS starting to roll.
Still a lot of hard work
and SO much rejection.

Lucky I have rhino skin.
(Grinning)

I'm also glad I didn't do the B&P do this year.
Sure, I'm missing out on an awesome networking opp
but
there have been so many other opps
that I've been burning the midnight oil
to pull off.

You see, with the economy the way it is,
less people have time to supply soundbites
for blog posts, interviews, etc. etc.
(I guess they're too busy working jobs and saving pennies).
That creates opps for folks looking to promote.

And as you can imagine,
Valentine's Day is Christmas for romance writers wanting to promote.
(Christmas is still bigger sales-wise
but the media loves talking to romance writers around Valentine's Day)

 

[phlgirl]

• Sell one house
• Buy one house
• Complete tax preparation for 5 joint ventures
• Negotiate top 3 housing options in PHL and finalize move date
• Talk to at least 5 small PHL based banks
• Find 2 new Hard Money Lenders (negotiate better rates/terms)
• Transition the rest of FL properties to Property Management
• Take my husband away for his birthday (I tried to talk him into the B&P but it didn't go so well.....maybe next year!)
• Start training for Broad Street Run - increase speed

 

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[BeingChewsie]

I will get my taxes done this week and then I will get my financial aid information for graduate school sent in.

 

[Redshft]

I went over my "Terms of Use" for my upcoming website with my lawyer today and got it into a final draft.

Towards the end of next month I will form an LLC for the website(which will hopefully already be live).

 

[snowbank]

We're too busy to post, ATW!
LOL
That's a good thing.

February 1st was the release date for my second novel, Invisible
(about Identity theft)
and I'm doing a half a$ blog tour,
hitting about 24 sites in February.

The second novel has been WAY easier to promote than the first,
especially after all the award buzz
for last year's novel.

It helps to have a much better cover
(covers sell, folks - if you're going to plop some dollars down, do it on your cover)
and a more gripping tagline
(copy is another great investment).
I'm also focusing on promoting on romance sites,
rather than business/finance sites.
Oh, and I got organized with my author reviews
(readers want affirmation that they're making a good choice).

I'm also on a contract gig.
It was supposed to be for a month
but has been extended (so far) for 3.

We are doing our usual stock investing
but our extra funds were allocated to helping some people out.
Spread the wealth around a bit.

Not to get off topic but how many books do you aim to sell when you're writing. How big of a boost do you see when doing things like blogging for promotion, etc...?

 

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[kimberland]

Not to get off topic but how many books do you aim to sell when you're writing. How big of a boost do you see when doing things like blogging for promotion, etc...?

With the romance genre so crowded,
the ONLY way to sell is through relationship building.
Not necessarily with the readers
(though that is quite nice)
but with the chatty folks who talk to a lot of readers.
So I write blog posts for the host blogger or site owner first.
If I help her out
and she likes me and she likes my books,
she'll tell her core readership.
I get her seal of approval
and her readers feel confident they'll get a good read.

If I talk about my own books, it's self promotion.
If they talk about them, it's a reco!

Right now, I'm with small press.
If I sell 1,000 or so copies of a title,
I'll likely get the attention of mid presses.
If I sell 5,000 copies of a title,
I'll likely get the attention of the large presses.

I was at around 300 with my first release.
I figure Invisible, especially if I get an award, will get me to 600.
The third book will get the attention of a mid list publisher.

'Course if I was doing this for money,
I'd write for the market
instead of writing my own crazy plots
and skip to mid sized (at least).

But I'm not,
so I'm stuck proving myself.

 

[hatterasguy]

Still trying to get the house under contract, it takes awhile in this market. But I have a meeting tomarrow and we are only a very little bit apart on the terms. Hopefully after tomarrows meeting I can get the attorney to draft the final version for signing and get a check for escrow.

 

[Russ H]

This month:

-2 houses get final fire sprinkler inspections tomorrow

-Got 2 certificates of occupancy from the City
(2 separate houses, both vacation rentals, need multiple departmental approvals).

-Finally got our 2nd vacation rental up and running (took WAAAAAY longer and cost more than expected).

-We'll be converting this to a B&B within weeks, once we jump through a few more hoops.

-Working on the last, big building (8000 sq ft). Wooof.

-Looking at how best to optimize our finances and outcomes as the world changes.

-Russ H.

 

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[Edge]

About the only thing I have going on for Feb is the trip to Scottsdale.

Next month, however, is a big month for me. In March, i'll say see-ya to the corporate world!!

 

[AroundTheWorld]

FEBRUARY

Refine Pitch - Present to 10 more non-profits
Continue to trade / learn.
Finish Budget and Targets for 09

check, check, and check.

So. . . now . . .

some internet marketing for motel
some videos for future promotions
start knitting a sweater (my first one!!)
revise one chapter of self storage book

2 more weeks to get it done . . . can I do it?