Weekly Update – More on Google Hangouts, Product Creation Challenge, Mindless Mapping Method, & Britt’s Amazon Challenge

I didn’t post an update last week and it’s important to me that I do that regularly. I’ve got a video below and the text after!

I’ve been super-duper busy as always with the challenges we’ve got going on.

The first is Tiffany Dow’s product creation challenge. So far for that I’m doing a whole lot better than I thought I would at this point.

It’s really good because I’m excited for what I’ve gotten done, but I’m still not as far as I’d like to be.

And that’s ok. I’m one of those people that I always expect more of myself. And I’m learning to give myself a break for not getting everything 100% done when I want it done.

So far, for that challenge, I have 2 Niche Research Packs up, and I’m hoping to get another one or two of those done, if not by the end of this week, then over the next weekend.

I also got my Mindless Mapping Method product done too. You can check that out at MindlessMapping.com and welcome any and all feedback about the sales page.  I’m finishing up the templates that go with that, and right now I’m running a special on it. Figuring out the whole pricing structure has been something to figure out. I’ve probably read Tiff’s post about pricing at least half a dozen times.

It’s $7.00 right now and it’s a way to help people. I actually created it as a product for myself and I’ll be covering it in a lot more detail on some other hangouts.

It’s basically a way to get you organized, to keep you productive and on track and to keep you really focused on whatever it is that you’re doing.

I set it up initially for my blog and my business and so far… It’s gotten me on track to where I went from not getting more than one or two things done on my to do list in an entire day to getting two products up and online, and another two or three in the works!

What Else?

I think I told you guys last week I’m working on learning Google hangouts… how to run them, how to participate in them, and how to utilize them so that I can take advantage of the SEO that’s offered through hangouts.

Of course by default, I’m learning a whole lot more about YouTube and G+. I set up my very first playlists which is something I didn’t know how to do before. If you’ve ever wondered how to do them or wanted to, they’re really easy. It’s not one of those technical things so don’t let it scare you.

It’s just a way to organize your videos. For example, I set up one for Product Reviews, one for my How To Videos, and one for my Niche Research Packs.

I’m learning that hangouts are working really well for affiliate marketing too. So I’m going to be testing some stuff out.

I used to do my reviews using a blog post on its own. I’m going to keep doing them, and I’ll keep putting them on my blog… but I’m gonna start doing a hangout first… sort of live coverage about what the product is, what I learn from it, what I like, what I don’t like, etc.

A major advantage of doing a hangout first is that YouTube transcribes it when it’s finished. And while it certainly doesn’t do anywhere close to what Dragon Naturally Speaking does, it’s a really good place to start to save me time.

I like putting the videos on my blog now, and they’re a lot faster for me than typing everything out… not to mention it’s better for me to avoid tendonitis issues, but I still wanna make sure I have text because I know a lot of people are like me…  Videos are great but not everyone can watch them.

Change of Plans

I’ve been doing some planning for how to roll out my Mindless Mapping product. I’d originally planned to do a launch but, with it being what I’d consider a “lower-end” product, I’ve decided to do sort of a rolling launch instead.

Basically, it means the product’s ready and I’ve currently got it up for sale with a $7.00 price tag. . And I’m working on adding the basic templates.

Once those are done, I’ll be creating some additional templates as well as some Google hangout videos that explain and walk people through exactly how to use it and personalize it.

When that’s all been added, I’ll increase the price and continue to market it.

Personal Notes

My bangs were FINALLY out of my eyes! No, I haven’t had time to go get a haircut but I’ve got a really awesome hair stylist who at one time taught me enough to cut them well enough to get them out of my face AND be able to live with it!

We have 2 dogs that I’m pet sitting for the next 4-5 months. We’re getting them vetted out so that they can move to Hawaii with their puppy parent.  I say puppy but one is a  four and a half year old Rottweiler that’s 130 pounds. His name is Parker but he answers faster to Bubba.

The other one is 120 pound French Bull Mastiff. She’s very well-behaved but when she gets a drink she slobbers all over!

Nice dogs, but I’ll be SO glad when they’re ready to go to Hawaii! I wasn’t ready to take on dogs full-time. They’re a lot of fun to have around in spite of themselves, but they’re also a lot of work that I’m just not used to anymore… ferrets are always welcome, but dogs?… Not till we have a house again with a back yard and a doggy door!

Plans for This Week

This week it’s gonna be more Google hangouts, planning my next products, and I’ve decided (I was still debating during the video)…

Britt Malka just started an Amazing Amazon Amelioration (yes, I had to look that one up) challenge. It’s 15 minutes each day (weekdays) to do various things to improve your Amazon sites.

I don’t have an Amazon site up yet, but I know that it’s time to get them set up so they’re read for the holidays… yep, it’s time to get moving on those if you haven’t started yet!

So, if you do Amazon affiliate marketing, you may want to check out her challenge. I learned a quick shortcut today that’s going to save me time and I was only on a quick 30-minute hangout with her!

You can sign up over at her Amazon Challenge Signup page.

I hope everybody had a great week. I have been keeping up with most of the blogs I follow but it’s been a little bit challenging because for some reason this past week, I’ve just been really really tired.  I was like that the week before too but I thought that was from just running WAY too many hours… staying up for 36 to 40 hours and then trying to catch up just doesn’t work real well anymore at my age.

The other thing I’m guessing isn’t helping is the heat. I live In Arizona and it’s summertime. It’s 107 to 110+ every day, and it’s gonna stay that way throughout the summer.

I love the heat but I got dehydrated more than a couple times since I’ve been here so now I’m more  susceptible to it than I like. I stay in when it’s the middle of the day but with the dogs here I’m having to go out a little more often. It’s controllable (I keep electrolyte drinks with me at ALL times). I’ve just gotta keep an eye on it.

It does tend to wear me out though so… maybe more time at the pool!

Anyway, if you’re doing the product creation challenge, stick with it and keep moving forward. I see a lot of folks getting stuff ready and moving forward even without having an actual product created yet…  and then I see the ones who go “Oh, well I only have… I ONLY have… this, this, and this.”

I  don’t care if it’s ONLY two pages… I don’t care if it’s ONE page. If it’s information  that will help other people it’s a product!

I’m working on getting off MY back,  so I hope that everyone else is working on getting off theirs too!

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