Love Dollars Blogging! Help me out!

[MattFYF]

I've decided I'm going to apply Steve's latest post on the awesome concept of love dollars to my personal development blog!

I've made enough to cover a couple of cups of coffee, but obviously this isn't going to make a dent in my finances. And I love writing about what I know and how I feel about personal development topics, and sharing those tidbits with other people. Since I already make money doing what I love #1 - piano playing! - I thought I could give this love dollars concept a try where I'm making nearly no money - my other creative outlet, my personal development blog.

So I figure, if I want to make more money on my blog - which I think has superb content - I need traffic. Right? Right. If I got traffic, and those people passed along my blog to others if they found useful information on it, I'd get more traffic. More traffic = more likely to make money on the blog. And then I'd be making love dollars!

How should I build traffic? I should write about what people want to read about. Seems simple enough. Problem is, I'm not sure what people want to read about. So... why not ask on these forums? You all are interested in personal development, and I'm sure there are a lot of topics you want to read about that haven't been covered elsewhere yet - or maybe you just want a unique twist on a viewpoint you have so you can analyze what you know in a different, fresh light. I'm pretty different than most of the people in this forum - I don't believe in the LoA, I don't believe in psychics, I'm atheist, I don't believe in syncronicities, and I think dream analysis is nonsense. You'll surely get a different outlook on life from me!

Here's my blog, so you all can see it:

Face Your Fork - There’s a fork in the road. Which path do you choose?

What are some things you can help me do so I can earn my first couple of love dollars blogging?

• Blog post suggestions - Have a post idea, or a topic you want discussed? Post it! I'll make a blog post ASAP about what I *honestly* know on the subject, no fluff, and I'll post it in a timely fashion. I'll even PM you when the post is up.
• Overall blog suggestions - Technical problems with the blog? Layout too hard to navigate? Can't find anything specific you want? Any suggestions you have that would improve the functional-ability of the website? Post them as well! I'll even PM you when I implement your suggestions - if done so - so you can check out the finished result of your suggestion.
• Anything else you can think of! - I'd love to hear any other comments as well!

You can post your suggestions, or PM me if desired.

For the mods! - I wasn't sure which forum to post this in. It's kind of... personal effectiveness, kind of business, kind of Steve's since I'm outright discussing his concept and applying it to my life, so... if this is in the wrong forum, could you pretty please move it?

And for everybody! - Need help figuring out a way to make love dollars with your chosen field? Post, and we can all help you out. I'll personally try to come up with five suggestions... and I won't even charge you a dollar.

[dbstraight]

Well, I'll give you a suggestion for a post topic.

I was recently reading Steve's article about the chances of becoming a black belt (no clue how old it is). In it, he says that you have very good chances of becoming a black belt if you commit to mastery. I definitely agree with that. It goes right along with what some of my other favorite blog authors say (practice anything enough and you'll get good at it). I have also heard of something called a 10-year law, which says that it takes roughly 10 years of dedicated practice to become world-class at something (regardless what it is). Now, given that people don't tend to live forever, it's highly unlikely that someone could simultaneously become a black belt, a professional pianist, a chess grandmaster, and a skilled sculptor. There just aren't enough years in a life. So, here's the question: How many things is it reasonable to pursue in your life? What if you enjoy a dozen different things and would like to become good at all of them? Are you doomed to be a dabbler in all of them, never acquiring any real mastery? How do you know what you should really pursue?

[Kazeko]

Dbstraight, that's just what I asked about in my "love dollar" post! Someone, please answer!

[Jarrod]

Consider a blog theme change? It looks very similar to the default one (I think). It would be nice if first impressions didn't matter but for most people they do. Your blog design conveys information about the blog. Something to think about each design conveys.

[The Large Dude Scam]

What web host do you use? If it costs you $20/month to host the blog, and you earn $1/month, then it will take a long time before you can profit from it.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by dbstraight

Well, I'll give you a suggestion for a post topic.

I was recently reading Steve's article about the chances of becoming a black belt (no clue how old it is). In it, he says that you have very good chances of becoming a black belt if you commit to mastery. I definitely agree with that. It goes right along with what some of my other favorite blog authors say (practice anything enough and you'll get good at it). I have also heard of something called a 10-year law, which says that it takes roughly 10 years of dedicated practice to become world-class at something (regardless what it is). Now, given that people don't tend to live forever, it's highly unlikely that someone could simultaneously become a black belt, a professional pianist, a chess grandmaster, and a skilled sculptor. There just aren't enough years in a life. So, here's the question: How many things is it reasonable to pursue in your life? What if you enjoy a dozen different things and would like to become good at all of them? Are you doomed to be a dabbler in all of them, never acquiring any real mastery? How do you know what you should really pursue?

MattFYF, I'll help you by giving a free bump to your thread by responding to the above quoted text.

dbstraight, instead of asking how many things can you do at once, you want to understand the mechanics that will allow you to do many things at once, effectively.

So you want to ask, "what do I have to do to do many things at once, effectively?" (Since we're not interested in doing things ineffectively.)

My answer comes partly from games, partly from biology. Basically, you want to do things that have a lot of synergy and overlap, such that they leverage pre-existing biological infrastructure such as knowledge, developed skills, and talent.

To tell you a personal story, throughout my life I've been a player of games, and I consistently drawn on the same skills when playing games--ranging from board games, to video games, to card games. Because I spend most of my time developing general skills that apply to all games, and playing games that emphaise those general skills (such as Kongai, a free virtual card game designed by David Sirlin, a game designer and Street Fighter tournament champion), I can regularly "flex" those muscles and build them to be stronger. Then I can apply that one muscle to a variety of activities that make use of them (and you'd be surprised at the amount of overlap there is when you dig deep enough).

The particular muscle I've developed is making good, intuitive decisions. No matter where I go--whether I'm in a high pressure retail environment, buying groceries, being pummeled by Guile in Street Fighter, having to decide whether my opponent is going to switch or intercept in Kongai, or catching something that's about to drop--I'm able to draw on the same skill again and again, and consequently, I get better at applying for it.

In general, I notice it takes about 10 years for someone to develop their muscle to a degree of "strength" such that other people start to notice it (I see this pattern again and again), and I also know that you'll be most likely to actively practice and develop developing something when it aligns with your talents. But if you follow your instincts, your intuition--what you're naturally drawn to--and align your life with activities that draw on that core strength, regardless of how different the specific trappings of the activity are, you'll be drawing on the same core ability for all of them, giving you the ability to at least develop a degree of mastery in them if you have an environment and mindset that supports that.

[MattFYF]

@dbstraight - Thank you for the post idea! I did a huge brainstorming session a while ago and I'll be typing up your post tonight - should be posted up tomorrow or Saturday. I'm breaking up your topic into three seperate posts - one about choosing skills to master, one about the actual success rate, and one about the reasons for choosing to master (a) skill(s).

@Jarrod - This has been on my mind for a while now; there are a couple of layouts I really like but 1) I have no editing skills and 2) I can't afford to get a brilliantly designed layout like I want. What I have now is pretty effective and it works, but since you're not the first person to suggest this to me, I'll look into tweaking it to make it stand out and become less default-like, or I'll just find and use a better layout.

@The Large Dude Scam - I use Dreamhost, so it comes out to $119 a year. I also host some other sites there as well (since you can host multiple domains). $119/year really isn't that big of a deal to me since it's just a one-time thing per year and it's over. I'm more concerned with love dollars from my blog... even if they barely, barely cover one Starbucks trip.

@Bruce Achterberg - Thank you!

[The Large Dude Scam]

Originally Posted by MattFYF

@The Large Dude Scam - I use Dreamhost, so it comes out to $119 a year. I also host some other sites there as well (since you can host multiple domains). $119/year really isn't that big of a deal to me since it's just a one-time thing per year and it's over. I'm more concerned with love dollars from my blog... even if they barely, barely cover one Starbucks trip.

Is it possible to pay the money monthly instead of everything at once?
Why did you chose that particular host?

[DivaLion]

Matt, I am DEFINITELY heading to your blog when you post your articles about choosing a medium (or more than one). I have the very same questions, which I just posted in another thread, so I'm thrilled to see the universe responding to it here through you and others. =)

Bruce, thank you so much for your insights...I pretty much devoured the book The Renaissance Soul which is for those of us who truly need a variety of goals and tasks at any given time, and your advice was reminiscent of that. Lots to think about...and hopeful to think that I might not have to give up most of what I love to do in order to master any of it!

[impaul99]

I use Hostgator for my hosting and it's only $10/m. This allows me to host any number of Blogs and databases.

My income from my Blog just a few months back (March) was only around $10/m barely covering my hosting, but since April I've been fully committing to my Blog/Inspired Lightworker Path, and my income has been growing super fast...April $270, May +$770, June +$1,500 etc.

Spending $10/m on hosting for an opportunity to make so much money is a non-issue... skip one lunch per month and pay for hosting.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Yikes, all those hosting prices seem... well, high.

It's ok if you've got a blog like Steve and are getting a tonn of traffic and actually using your bandwidth, but to me, most hosting sites (especially when it comes to small online businesses and websites, etc) don't use nearly the full bandwidth allocation that the hosting deals give them. It's like ordering a super-large-jumbo pizza that you can't finish, nor can you really readily go around to people and say "want some pizza?" without them giving you strange looks. (Ok, you probably could, but you'll get at least *some* strange looks. Lets pretend that's a deterrent for now. ) The pizza company may be happy, but you've got half a pizza left over, not doing anything particularly efficient.

Enter NearlyFreeSpeech.net.
http://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

Suffice to say I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching NearlyFreeSpeech, and have even started up a free hosting plan.

You can create an account and get a site started for free--yes, for $0. They give you $0.02 to start with--again, not kidding--and from that you can load up a site. From there, you have $5 and $10 recharge options.

From what I can tell, they're the real deal, but I'm going to have to keep using them some more before I know for sure. But then I like to jump into the pool rather than (unless the pool is really cold... but this particular pool looks warm and inviting with lots of women in bikinis ).

To share the NFS motto:

Q. Where's the best place to put my web-hosting dollars?
A. In your wallet.

I also agree that you should put your hosting dollars in my wallet. In the meantime, perhaps try putting them in yours.

Check out their site for info (linked to above), or their super-detailed FAQ (it's even longer and more nicely formatted than one of my forum posts... I think I may have them on the humour, though ). These guys have basically started a service where they put the user first, and make that into a business, and they understand that to do that they need to be genuine, up front, and efficient (so they tend to not waste their money on unnecessary stuff and optimise their system as much as possible so they have low expenses, and they can pass that onto you as a business model).

I wouldn't recommend their service for a really high traffic site like Steve's, but for the hundreds of thousands of sites that aren't getting traffic like Steve's... well, paying about $10 to $20 hosting a year, depending on traffic, is pretty good. And FYI, their costs get *cheaper* the more traffic you use. (Thanks to their good business optimisation.)

Oh and in case you were wondering, no, I'm not affiliated with them. They don't even have an affiliate program!

[MattFYF]

How Do You Decide On What Skills to Master? | Face Your Fork

Hooray! Of course, Steve totally beat me to it.

[dbstraight]

Originally Posted by MattFYF

How Do You Decide On What Skills to Master? | Face Your Fork

Hooray! Of course, Steve totally beat me to it.

Great stuff, even if Steve did beat you to it. I think the very last part was probably the most helpful for me. (Except you left out the word "is" in your final, bolded question. Not to criticize, but you might wanna catch that.) I seem to fall into the group of not being able to just commit to one thing and build my life around it. I'm about equally interested in computer programming, cooking, the game of Go, and the German language, and I'm still hoping to pick back up a previous interest in music (guitar and saxophone), and add working out and maybe even Tai Chi. And did I mention I enjoy disc golf and would like to get better at that too?

If that's not a broad field of interests, I don't know what is. I think what you mention about conscious choice is really right on too. I tend to just float about from one thing to the next, without really thinking too much about it. The problem that leads to is that I tend to get distracted and spend a lot of time not working on any of the things I enjoy (which really seems quite ridiculous when I point it out like that).

I will be anxiously awaiting the rest of the series you mentioned.

[MattFYF]

You Cannot Master Everything You Put Your Mind To | Face Your Fork

And, the other post in my series - it's a bit more somber than the last post, but it needs to be said!