It has certainly felt weird not having to watch videos of Ed Dale and the crew from the 30 Day Challenge for the last few days.

I didn’t make my first $1 during the 30 Day Challenge, but in no way do I feel disappointed with how the Challenge went for me. The 30 DC was really all about teaching a methodology to test a micro niche’s viability.

To do this, the challenge was broken down into four areas:
- Market Research
- Traffic
- Conversion
- Product

There were some things that I could have done towards the end of the Challenge, like putting ads on my new blog, which may have helped me earn the dollar, but I chose not to. I made this decision, primarily because I am still going to pursue this niche and felt it was not the right time to place ads on the blog. The blog by the is called Set Up Email Address.

As Ed Dale will tell you, 95% of mistakes in setting up an online business occurs in the market research stage. It was at this point I made a mistake in underestimating the power of domain age in Google’s rankings. This doesn’t mean that my project is a failure or won’t work, but it does mean that it will take a lot longer than 30 days before it will make it to the front page of Google for targeted phrase.

The fact that I can realise this mistake and understand this process, shows me just how much I learnt during the challenge! I now have some other ideas on how I can implement my new knowledge and will be doing so over the next couple of months.

I decided to do the challenge, with the aim of seeing if I could possible make some money online as additional income for my growing family. I have seen that it is definitely possible and now feel that I have the skills to implement some of my ideas.

I would like to thank all the members of Team Lightening, who provided great support and feedback during the challenge. Lightening has also written a 30 Day Challenge Wrap Up. And Journeyer has a contemplative post after the 30 Day Challenge titled What Does The Future Hold.

Be sure to check them out if you think the 30 Day Challenge is something you would like to try. Also all the materials for the 30 Day Challenge are still up and will be so for a while, so its not to late to give it a try if you are interested.

Technorati Tags: 30 day challenge, blogging, internet marketing

• 30 Day Challenge Update - One Week Down!
• 30 Day Challenge - Half Way
• 30 Day Challenge Update - Tired!
• Monthly Review July/August

Image by Waffler

This week has been very tiring. I was lucky enough to have the beautiful family of a close friend come and stay with us and also have some friends drop in that I hadn’t seen in months.

However the 30 Day Challenge keeps going and so I had quite a few late nights, catching up and trying to post to my new blog. The project I have selected for the 30 Day Challenge is in the micro niche of setting up an email address, more specifically Gmail addresses as a way to get connected with Web 2.0. You can check out my site Set Up Email Address for more info.

I somehow managed to stay up to date and I am very happy with that effort.  The main reason I kept up with the challenge was because my gorgeous older sister took my two young ones overnight Thursday and then gave them a wonderful excursion to the Aquarium on Friday. Thanks so much!!!!!!!! It gave me some extra hours to focus solidly on my project.

We are in the home stretch now and I really looking forward to seeing what I am going to learn next.  Even though it has tired me out, I have learnt so much from the challenge that I will be able to apply not only now on my new project, but also in to the future, for ideas that I have had swimming around in my head for a while. 

I am truly grateful to Ed Dale and his team for the program they have put together, which is totally free.  It is disappointing that some people have sabotaged efforts by the 30 DC team to teach us through a live and real time example.   Ed had been using a blog himself to test his niche on Vintage Electric Guitars and would show us each new step by implementing it on the newly created Vintage Electric Guitar Blog. 

Unfortunately some people have joined the challenge to cause trouble and have spammed other blogs in Ed’s name, left comments on important sites that says the Vintage Electric Guitar Blog is by spammers and linked Ed’s blog to all sorts of seedy sites that Google doesn’t like.  The end result of this is that for some of the last training sessions, the 30 DC team have been unable to show us live examples, but have had to use old stuff.

I really hope that these people desist from their sabotage.  It is always a shame when a tiny minority ruin it for the rest of the group.  

Only 8 days left now!

Tags: 30day challenge, blogging, family

Technorati Tags: 30 day challenge, blogging, family

• 30 Day Challenge - And In Conclusion
• 30 Day Challenge - Half Way
• 30 Day Challenge Update - One Week Down!
• Some Exciting News!

Image: 30 Day Challenge

BEWARE: This post has some Internet Marketing jargon in it. I try to avoid it where possible, but some had to be included to explain my week this week.

It was a roller coaster week for me this week on the challenge. As my lovely older sister looked after my children for me on Monday, I was able to listen to the live extended Q&A session hosted by Ed Dale and GuruBob.

While watching them go through some analysis, I started to think that the micro niche that I have chosen for my project may be a little too competitive. So I then spent a day or so, trying to refine key words and generally procrastinating.

After not getting too far with this, I saw hope through analysis of the statistics coming from my new site, so I decided to put in some heavy hours catch up and stick the course.

My aim for going into the 30 Day Challenge was to learn about how to set up a niche business on line and we can always learn through failure, so regardless if this site earns $1 before the end of August, I feel that it has personally been a success for me as I have learnt so much just in the first 15 days. I also have ideas on how I can apply what I have learnt on new projects once I have finished the challenge.

Team Lightening (my 30 Day Challenge Team) has been a great support network to me. We have a private forum where we can discuss issues, success, worries and tech problems. As a sign of gratitude to my team, I have listed my favourite posts from their new projects and would love it if you could check them out and support them too!

Set Up Email Address (mine! ) - Simple Video Explanation Of How To RSS Feeds
If you have always wondered what those little orange buttons on websites, blogs etc were, this is a video which will explain it in plain english and do so under 4 minutes!

Herb Garden - Start Your Herb Garden With Parsley
For someone who has a brown thumb, this inspired me to start growing some herbs so I can use them in my cooking.

The Fall Wedding Flowers Blog - Celebs Fall Weddings
Now I am obviously not getting married next fall, but who can resist seeing what the celebs are up to!

Dora DVDs Blog - Dora DVDs
We all know someone who loves this little girl and I love this post because it lists the Dora DVDs from newest to oldest. Great if you want to buy for a fan who already has some.

The Personal Finance Babe - Earning Extra Income In Australia
Simple and achievable ideas on how you can make money on line.

Baby Cross Stitch - Baby Cross Stitch For Baby Showers
A gorgeous idea on how to make a very personal gift for a new born.

Dark Side Of The Lens - What Is This Thing Called RGB?
Another video! This one explains in simple terms what RGB is when looking at your photos.

Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera - Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera
If you are looking for a new camera, check out this review.

Dippitiy DVDivas - Strawberry Shortcake - Rockaberry Roll DVD Released Today!
If your like me and have no idea what is out there in terms of kids DVDs, this is an excellent resource. I can’t believe Strawberry Shortcake is still going strong!

Enjoy the read and if you like it don’t forget to Stumble or Digg these post .

Now that I have made it half way, the question is, can I keep up for the second half? Wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: 30 day challenge, internet marketing

• 30 Day Challenge Update - Tired!
• 30 Day Challenge - And In Conclusion
• Pregnancy Update - Half Way!
• Some Exciting News!

Well I am officially on to day nine for the 30 Day Challenge (runs on US Eastern time) and I am actually pretty amazed that I have managed to keep up. It has required a lot of hours, which has meant a lot of late nights! I haven’t really minded this though as I am thoroughly enjoying what I am learning. And I am learning loads.

The 30 Day Challenge is an online internet marketing course which has the ambitious aim of starting August with an idea and turning it into an online business which has earnt $1 by the end of August.

Ed Dale is the face of the 30 Day Challenge and he is a fellow Melbournian. Other charactes are Guru Bob (amazing knowledge) and Dan Raine. So what have I learnt this week? In summary:

Internet Marketing is a “symphony of four parts”.
(1). Market Research
(2). Traffic
(3). Conversion
(4). Product

The first week of the challenge was primarly on Market Research and we have now moved on to traffic.

Some things and people that have helped me keep up this week have been:

- Menu planning for the month of August. When it comes to meals and shopping, I am on auto pilot and it is great to have one less thing to think of.

- Sound processes. The kids know our drill and on days when I have been very busy I have enlisted their help. The older ones have been very good at completing small tasks to help me out.

- My older sister. Sam is going to have the two smallest children each Monday from tomorrow, through out August. I am generally not great at asking for help, but to keep all the balls in the air I just needed some more child free time. Thanks so much Sam!

- My friends. Lou took beautifully Babaganouski for a play for a couple of hours on Friday when I had hid a brick wall with some technology. I also needed to bake tarts for the preparation evening that night for my eldest son’s first eucharist, so I had very limited time on Friday to work on the challenge, so I really appreciated your help Lou!

- Mr Infrastructure. He went to the shops for me on Thursday night (to get the ingredients for above mentioned tarts), made sure I had petrol in the car and gave me a sleep in on Saturday morning. Thanks!

Well I don’t think the pace will slow down at all this week, so I apologise if I have not responded to your comment as of yet. I aim to get there by the end of today.

Technorati Tags: 30 day challenge, internet marketing, Planning

• 30 Day Challenge - And In Conclusion
• Menu Plan Monday - A Big Planning Session
• 30 Day Challenge - Half Way
• 30 Day Challenge Update - Tired!