Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

PRESS THIS TO BE A MORE PROLIFIC, PRODUCTIVE, PROFITABLE WRITER

I DISCOVERED AN EASY METHOD TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY AND INCREASE PROFITABILITY. I'M ALSO WRITING BETTER THAN EVER. HERE I WILL SHARE MY SECRET NOW.


Press THIS to Be a More Prolific, Productive, Profitable Writer

By Kel Amstutz
Wednesday, March 04, 2020

The practice of writing for most of us falls somewhere between an art and a business...


You want to make it a living, but you don't want to restrict your creativity.


You want fascinating projects and big fees, but you don't want too many rules.


And you want freedom to take long vacations on a whim, but you don't want to to work like a maniac for days beforehand.


It seems like an unsolvable problem, right. Wrong. I found an unlikely way to balance all of it.  And to be honest, it has made me a much happier, calmer, more productive and richer writer.


It will probably have the same effects on you.




What's the SOLUTION I found? 




Time tracking.


OK... OK, hold on a minute.

I can see that frown on your face.

Let me reassure you that time tracking is NOT the same thing as TIME MANAGEMENT.

I'm NOT going to tell you

  • HOW to plan your day, or 
  • WHAT productivity tips are BEST... or 
  • WHICH habits you should adopt from prolific authors of the past.


It's NOT part of a gimmick, or a subscription, or a group effort.


And you DON'T have to be organized or skilled in the arena of record-keeping. (I am not either of these things!)


Yet, time tracking can BOOST your writing productivity by impressive leaps, help you earn more, and even make you feel better about your career as a writer.


Time tracking is really quite simple:

  • When you sit down to write, or to research a project, or even to read and answer emails related to a project you are working on.... just press a button to start tracking your time.  
  • When you are finished, press a button to stop it.  
  • At the end of the day, or week. or month, you can look at the results and see how much time you've spent on that particular project, item or thing. 


Let me stop a moment and toss in a quick DISCLAIMER here - this has NOTHING to do with billing for your time.  Hopefully you've heard the common advice to NOT BILL for time spend on a project. Because in the LONG RUN, billing on a per-hour basis won't help you GROW YOUR INCOME and you'll do MORE WORK for less money.

Case in point: When I first started my life as a writer, I landed a client who needed 10 blog posts every week on a variety of different topics, at around a thousands words each.

At first, it took me two-and-a-half hours to even produce one single article.

But but the end of a month, and with hours' of practice in writing for this client, I averaged closer to 45 minutes per piece with research included.  Fortunately, I billed on a per-posting basis instead of breaking it up into an hourly rate.

This is why time tracking is SOLELY for your own information... and productivity. 




Because Ambiguity Kills Ambition

It's rare that you would ever NEED to track your writing time for anyone else... but with that said, you should ALWAYS track your writing time - but do it for YOURSELF!

This is because seeing how you really spend your time will either energize you to CONTINUE or motivate you to CHANGE.

The catalyst here is the death of ambiguity.  Nothing kills a creative career faster than too much ambiguity, where you're not 100% completely sure what to write or how to write it or how long it'll take you or even where to begin.

Copywriting legend, Gene Schwartz, the genius behind breakthrough advertising copy, had a habit of "tracking" his time. Whenever he would sit down to write, he would punch in 33:33 on a kitchen time and hit the start button. He would force himself to sit there, at this desk for 33 minutes and 33 seconds and just write. I use this advice in my own writing.

In times when I am drawing a blank, this forces me to sit there, for that set amount of time, inevitably finding the words to write something.

You see, that's the thing about TRACKING YOUR TIME. You can KICK ambiguity to the CURB!


Along with eliminating ambiguity, FOUR THINGS will happen when you start time tracking your writing: 


  • You will start to see patterns in your natural productivity. Some call this your "magic-time" - or the times of day when you are MOST PRODUCTIVE.
For example, time tracking helped me realize that I am a productive person 55 minutes out of every hour if I write after 10:00 a.m.  But, if I write after 7:00 p.m., I'm productive for 35 minutes out of every hour (usually because I spend the other 25 minutes looking (or thinking) about having a yummy snack).

  •  You'll gain confidence. 
Imagine the elation when you pound out copy on a project that would normally take you two hours, but you round the finish line at one hour and 10 minutes. (Just remember, you're not competing against anyone else, so do yourself a favor and be honest about your time.)

  • It'll bring you more money. 
Before I started time tracking, I would fiddle over projects and wonder how long it would take me. But, once I started tracking my actual time spent writing, I could connect money to time.  So whereas, a $2,000 project felt like it would take a week to finish... the actual writing time was only a total of eight hours.  Meaning, I could finish it comfortably in two days, or one long day, which meant I could accept another $2,000 project, provided I had at least eight hours free in the coming week.  It's remarkable what you can see when you subtract your distractions.

  • It can make you healthier. 
You've seen the articles about the hazards of sitting for too long.  Use your time tracker to record how long you sit during a single writing session, or how long you stand if you have a standing option.  I try to stand for a total of two hours each day, and to save myself from having one more thing to think about, I just track it with the rest of my time.



How to Time Track with Purpose



Do a quick Google search for "free time tracking software" and you will see dozens of options.  Click on a few of them and give them a once over.  Does it look intuitive? Easy? Straightforward?  Pick the one that speaks to you.  I use a free version of Toggl.com, but I have seen, and even used a few others out there that are just as reliable.



Just remember, you are not looking for a new software that you would need a manual to use. You just want something that is easy, something you can click to start, click to stop, make some quick adjustments on, and add specifics to.

To check your time efficiency for each of the projects you are working on, simply track the time it takes you to complete the project. You can break it down into research or conference calls related to the project, but I am not a huge fan of keeping it easy.  In other words, put all of that together to figure your total time on the project.

If you work on a monthly retainer for any of your clients and do multiple projects within that retainer, you can still time track on a per-project basis. But again - to make it easy on yourself, add a client tag to each of your project time entries.  Most setups will allow you to tag a client when you enter the name of a project you want to time track.  That way, you can see how much TOTAL WORK you're doing for that client each month, as well as how long it takes you to complete individual projects.





Automate the Habit

Your goal is simply to make better use of your time. When you start to really see how you are spending your writing hours, it begins to eliminate that paradoxical, stressful feeling that you have too much to do and that you never get anything finished.

Try to make it as easy as possible to keep up with this practice and it will become a habit.  Since I handle my time tracking online, all I have to do is click my browser window and a tab with Toggl automatically opens up.  And once you've made it a habit, you will see how quickly your writing career will accelerate!



I want to ask you, do you have any of your own productivity secrets that you can share or time tracking software that you might prefer? 

Please post in the comments below!





Friday, May 5, 2017

Your Step By Step Way To Freedom In 2017

By: Kel Amstutz

Freedom, Your Life, Lifestyle, Laptop Life, Work while you sleep, Marketing, Social Media


Are you ready for the 

Step-by-Step Way to FREEDOM 

in 2017? 


Hi all.  Welcome. Are you ready to learn how to find your FREEDOM LIFESTYLE this year? You'll know that I am all about doing things in my life that allows for my freedom, both financially and in a way that lets my passions shine.  



AND TRUST ME,  I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT MY FREEDOM OF CHOICE TO WORK ON ME AND BECOMING A BETTER VERSION OF MYSELF DAY BY DAY!





I have been seeking an opportunity that enables me to have TOTAL freedom to obtain these goals. 





AND GUESS WHAT...

I FOUND IT! 


That being said, I am sure you all know that there are a lot of opportunities out there, countless amounts, but the building blocks for freedom use a smart system, not a scam, are out there and, as a matter of fact, they are pretty simple to understand and use!  



So, now I want you to STOP, ask yourself this one question...



ARE YOU READY TO LEARN MORE LIKE I DID?



THE SIX FIGURE (yup, you read that right!), 3 STEP PLAN for YOU to find your Freedom to live a life that you only once dreamed about is within your reach, right NOW!  


This is a 6 figure, 3 STEP PLAN that allows you to earn an income online that is basically on AUTOPILOT - guess what that really means... no prospecting your friends, your family to buy, no home meetings, or parties, or whatever you want to call them and no 3-way calls!  

I think I might need to repeat myself on that one! 

So, at this point and time, I am SURE you are saying, 'C'mon Kel, what are YOU talking about?'  am I right?  

Well...


Here are the 3 STEPS, but make sure you are READY!



1. Traffic

OK, I know right now you are saying to yourself, TRAFFIC?  


Well, Traffic means getting people to SEE your website.  This means getting interest from people by sharing VALUE. Don't confuse this with SPAMMING your offers. 

DON'T DO THAT!  

There are so many traffic sources that you can focus on, like on Social Media for example, using Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  But, also SEO, and payed traffic using SOLO Ads and Facebook PPC (Payed Per Click) are also great option to build your traffic lanes. 

You guys still with me?  My advice would be to focus on ONE SINGLE STRATEGY, one that you prefer, and stick with it until you master it!  Once that happens, look for extra traffic sources to start expanding and building a second lead generation.



2. Sales Funnels

Sales funnels are where you lead people that are interested in what you have to offer (your leads) to YOUR OFFER.  



That 3 STEPS YOU NEED:


1. Lead Capture Page - this page captures people's best email addresses and gives a value in return.





2. Bridge Page or Thank You Page.







3. Sales Page- which is your OFFER page






3. Follow Up Sequence

This is an email auto-responder that sends out automated messages, through technology and smart systems.  

So, set it up once and it runs automatically! 

This saves you so much time and gives you freedom just around the corner! 

AUTOMATION replaces you asking people to buy from you, which will cause more sales in the long run.  

According to research, it takes up to 14 times for people to see an offer before they finally decide to buy.  

The follow up sequence allows you to keep sharing your value and showing your offer over and over again in different appealing ways, which makes it irresistible! 







So, now that you KNOW the basics of what it takes, I need to share with you the MAIN reason that I LOVE this business and it's pretty simple...the TRUE freedom that it brings me to live my life, to be a Mom, to have time to do all the things I love without being fearful of having to constantly be tied to my computer in an office. 





Not only will these three steps make life easier, it is also easy for the less experienced internet user! But, it is important for this newcomer to get the right step by step guidance so this business works for YOU! 






Having a MENTOR and/or a COACH (me, me, me!) to help and provide you with all the marketing tools that you need, all the strategies that WORK, and having a powerful community to back you up on this journey is really the X-FACTOR of building a sustainable business using the internet. 






And guess what else my dear friends...I have a BONUS! 

Who doesn't LOVE BONUSES? 

As a special bonus YOU can now get started with a $7 (yup, only seven dollars) 14 day trial and you will receive:

(I know you are jumping up and down right now, right!) 

  • a VALUABLE Marketing Training series (you guys serious DO NOT WANT TO PASS THIS UP)
  • a 60 minute coaching call to talk about your goals and let's discuss some of YOUR DREAMS too! 
  • a personal, crafted GAME PLAN that is based on what you learned in the training series inside of this trial. 



THIS IS PRETTY HUGE YOU GUYS! 



So, now I have to ask you: 





Click on the link- this one RIGHT HERE:

Follow the simple steps and ENROLL IN YOUR BONUS NOW! 



See you soon!!!



Will YOU be working beside me in 2017?  
CLICK HERE IF THE ANSWER IS YES! 




Thursday, September 29, 2016

10 of the Best Retreats, Resorts & Getaway Spots for Women Entrepreneurs

Lifestyle, Luxury, Travel

by: Kel Amstutz

http://tinyurl.com/tenretreats

Some keys in helping us all run our businesses is that lovely REST and taking the time to RETREAT.  A lot of you out there have built your businesses fully online for JUST this reason. To be able to Travel and have Adventures!

A getaway for you and like-minded women could be on your horizon, especially if you have found your way to this post!  A little R & R from the everyday life and those social media demands can and will do a world of good for you!  I am very excited to share,



So, here we go: 

Located in the beautiful hill country of Austin, Texas, this resort has guided activities like horseback riding, two-stepping, and even a local farm!  Not to mention Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in America!

10 Best Retreat, Resort and Getaway Spots for Women Entrepreneurs by SusieRomans.com


A beautiful hotel and spa located in downtown Chicago.  Here you’ll find beautiful art galleries, the Magnificent Mile, and one of the hottest shopping streets in the U.S!
 
Located in the “new” Scottsdale, this resort offers several guest room options, a golf course, a beautiful spa that offers a private garden and pool area, and is close to amazing shopping and outdoor eateries.
 
A lovely Mediterranean style resort in the gorgeous city of San Diego.  The Grand Del Mar is TripAdvisor’s #1 hotel in the United States!!  Need I say more??


A spacious resort in beautiful Oregon, wine country.  Every room has a personal terrace or patio with a countryside or vineyard view!
 
A private luxury spa and resort nestled between waterfronts and peaceful forests, this resort shows off its southern charm with 50 cottages and cottage suites!
 
This resort is in beautiful Palm Desert California, just minutes from Palm Springs.  It has a luxury spa, and an expansive pool with poolside food and beverage service.  It is also close to El Paseo which is Palm Springs’ luxury shopping district.
 
Located in Key West, this resort is a balance of fun and relaxation.  It has one of the most sought after spas in Florida and boasts Ocean Front Hotel rooms.
 
Located in Northern California’s wine country, this historic spa and resort has been operating since 1862! It sits on 16 acres in Northern Napa Valley, and offers spa traditions that were available more than a century ago.
 
As Trip Advisor’s 2014 top resort in Vail for luxury, this hotel offers beautiful suites that overlook the town of Vail, 5 on-site dining options, and an exquisite spa!
 
http://tinyurl.com/tenretreats


 
Nope! I can't wait to be done with school in two weeks and then off to my dream job! Haters approval not needed! I have found something I love to do! It makes me happy to see I'm such an inspiration to all my haters :):
If you found this post interesting, I bet you’ll love checking out my other most popular posts:

 


 Here is my most popular eBook! 

I strongly recommend my eBook, The Social Media Manager Kit by Kel (w/ bonus) in order to get you started. It will include templates for emailing potential clients or those you landed a completed job with, it will allow you to focus and challenge you to keep moving forward. 

This life, working at home, being financial free and with my family, is something that I used to dream about

Today...
  • I am living it. 
  • I am loving it. 
  • I am making it my life! 

Need More Help?  

Check out my eBook, Make your Dream a Reality in 30 Days or Less! - a jump start guide with templates to get you ready, set and ROCKING this Social Media Manager gig! 




 


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