Want to Create Shareable Content That Converts?

Posted on by kennethburke74
Want to Create Shareable Content That Converts

I’m baffled. The world I spend my days in – that many of you spend your days in – is all about creating. Creating for ourselves, sure, but more importantly creating for others.

We write articles, take pictures, film videos, build works of art, run campaigns, all with the intent of providing value for others so that they’ll exchange whatever currency is relevant, be it shares, follows, referrals, or actual dollars. But what in the world is the recipe for creating something that will be deemed valuable every time?

There’s keyword audit tools, so that you can see what people are searching for (Googling) in your space, and then tailor content based on what people are searching for. In my experience, this is great for headlines, maybe a few bullet points, but really gives no indication of what people will enjoy enough to exchange their currency with you.

Headlines obviously work well for getting clicks, something catchy that instantly creates a bit of tension within the viewer. But headlines don’t dictate engagement, and certainly aren’t a great indicator of conversions. What converts?

You’ve got to create an emotion in viewers, but how? In what way? How do you create in such a way that the consumer can immediately connect with your work so that they want to share it? So that they want to post it on Facebook or email it to a coworker, saying “I can identify with this, and I want others to know about it.”

That’s the million dollar question! Some days I’ll create content that I feel is as good as flaming bullpoop, and it will take off. Other days, I’ll release a piece that I think is masterfully curated, and get nothing. Perhaps I’m just terrible at this! A great case study: My biggest hit on Kennetic Expression has been Want to Be Successful? Emulate the Most Boring Person You Know.

From drawing the first word to publishing, I spent maybe two hours on it. I thought it was garbage. But then people began clicking on it, and “liking” it, and sharing it, and telling me how much they identified with it. Within a few days, it had taken off (relatively).

When I sat down to write that piece, of course I intended to create something great. That’s what we all do! But I thought I’d failed miserably in that regard. Unintentionally, I created something that my audience could easily relate to. I could be abysmally wrong here, but in analyzing that piece, I think I know a few characteristics that helped it spread like wildfire.

The title starts with a question. Questions make people hesitate, however briefly, instead of scrolling on through the rest of their feed. It was also an obvious question. Everyone wants to be successful in their own way. Duh. But then the rest of the title is entirely unexpected. Typically, when you see a “Be Better” headline, it calls you to do something drastic or elaborate. This did the very opposite. It told you to be boring. Now people are curious.

Want to Be Successful? is a very short piece, maybe 400 words. It’s concise. I’m not having to fight for attention, because there’s barely enough time to get distracted. The article praises those who spend their free time honing their craft – whatever that craft might be. This is directly relatable for my target audience, other young professionals trying to get ahead in their careers and lives.

These same people have likely been given ridicule for being “boring.” In college, for instance, I was often referred to as a hermit because I’d disappear for days to study in my room or the library. This piece offered support in favor of their side of an argument they regularly have about why they don’t “get out much.”

I don’t know that there’s any secret sauce to creating shareable content, or content that converts a viewer into a customer. There’s so many variables for any piece and any audience. But people seem to engage better with content that creates a back-and-forth or discussion in their head after only seeing the title, something that piques their curiosity. And people seem to engage well with things they can relate to.

Something that gives them value for what they’re trying to do, like new information or resources to do X, while offering the comfort that their current goals, pains, or situations are okay – even good! People naturally want to improve, and they instinctively search for things they can identify with. Shareable content that converts builds around want people naturally want.

I Let My Foot Off the Gas, and It Feels Terrible

Posted on by kennethburke74
Let Foot Off Gas Feels Terrible

I do not want to be doing this right now. It’s 10:30 at night. I’m tired. There’s no fewer than a dozen things I’d rather be doing. I haven’t even touched a book in days. I’m completely drained. Yet here I am, writing for my little blog. Why?

For the first time in a bout seven weeks, I missed a day of posting yesterday. I feel absolutely terrible about it! I’ve also missed posting for work a few times recently. It’s all quite inexcusable. So I missed a day. What’s the harm?

I know that to reach my personal goals, and for our company to reach our goals together, there are certain things I’ve got to do everyday. I’ve been doing those things. And we have been growing! I’ve actually seen my personal traction and that of Text Request’s begin to grow significantly as of late. This makes my shortcomings that much more painful.

Under normal circumstances, these lapses could be excusable. After all, everyone’s been absolutely swamped at work for weeks. Something’s bound to fall through the cracks. And I just spent 18 hours driving for a family “situation.” There’s only so much any one person can do, but I feel terrible about missing posts because I’m only now getting the taste of growth.

I’ve been putting in hours upon hours, day after day, gaining traction. And then I just let it slip? That’s not acceptable in any situation! For all of us, there are going to be moments like this. Maybe it involves fitness, or writing a book, or anything. We work our tails off to gain traction, and then when we do start to get somewhere, we take our foot off the gas ever so slightly. Before we know it, we’re back to square one.

There’s going to be times when we feel that lapsing on whatever commitment is okay, maybe because we’re super busy, have already done well enough, or some other reason. What kind of commitment is it if you allow it to lapse, even for a day? What kind of discipline is it if you give into temptations? In these situations, we all know exactly what it is we should be doing. It’s excusable not to do that.

Why I Hand Write Every Post

Posted on by kennethburke74
Why I Hand Write Every Post

I do something different. My writing process is not the same writing process as the overwhelming majority. My way isn’t necessarily better or worse than others’, but I tend to think it is (that’s why I do it my way), and that nearly everyone would be better off doing it this way.

Every post I publish on Kennetic Expression, Text Request, Elite Daily, Tech.Co, or anywhere else is first drafted as a handwritten one-pager. Typically, writers – especially bloggers – do all their work online. They type out a draft, backspacing to correct errors along the way. They edit for content. Then they edit for grammar and syntax. Then they give it a final once-over before publishing/scheduling.

This is more or less the average flow. It’s a fine process! I used to do it myself. All in all, you may spend five to eight hours taking a really good piece through this process, which is relatively little for the value it could bring. But I don’t like this process, and here’s why.

Typing is very quick. It’s too quick, in fact, for the content you’re typing to stick in your working memory. There’s a disconnect between your mind and your fingers so that the information doesn’t register properly. Your thoughts become more fleeting and less intentional, leaving you less to work with in the moment, and more work to do to make up for it.

To type out an article quickly (and keep it coherent), your mind has to be firing on all cylinders. More often than not, even if focused, your mind isn’t firing at its fastest. Typing is a great tool, but it becomes less efficient when used for the entire writing process. That’s where the physical motion of handwriting comes in handy (pun intended).

Handwriting every post forces me to slow down. It enables me to concentrate fully every time I put pen to paper. Think of it like that one person you know who’s always talking too fast in every direction. They’ve got to slow down before anything they say makes any sense. Writing’s the same way.

Doing it by hand slows everything down and allows you to process your thoughts more thoroughly. This helps with word choice, phrasing, direction – everything. Handwriting my content allows that first draft to be so much better than if I were to type it.

Aside from handwriting’s cathartic effect, and opportunity to break away from the digital world for a moment, writing by hand is far more efficient. It takes me an hour and a half to handwrite a draft, transfer ink to text, and add the finishing touches. That’s far better than five to eight hours.

There are several reasons why I handwrite everything first, including that I merely prefer to do so. But contrary to what seems obvious, handwriting a first draft is more efficient than typing one.

Learning Discipline, Especially When You Don’t Want To

Posted on by kennethburke74
Learning Discipline Especially When You Don't Want To

I need to write. I do not want to write. But I have to because it’s part of a commitment I made. If I don’t write do it, I won’t achieve my goals. I’ll let myself down. And that will mean letting others down, too.

“Do what others won’t today, so you can do what others can’t tomorrow” (Jerry Rice). That’s what I want. I want to be able to look back in a couple years, and be thankful for all those moments when I made the choice to do something I knew would be good for me, even though I didn’t always feel like it.

One thing I’m glad to be learning is the discipline to do this. My goal right now is to write, edit, and publish an article everyday. I know this is what I need to do. And as I achieve this goal each day, the benefits will include exponential growth, bettering my craft, flexibility, and increased income.

I do not want to write at the moment. Starting the workday at 7am, and ending it at 10:30pm with only a few hours break in between is not how I would choose to spend my last day on earth.

But what I’m forcing myself to learn is the discipline it takes to get ahead. Truthfully, the fulfillment that comes after finishing a piece, and the pride that comes with practicing discipline is more than worth whatever inconvenience the work causes me.

You’re not always going to want to put in the extra work it takes to propel you where you want to go. But learning this discipline is necessary to any success in any environment. Take it one day at a time.

What is it that you know you need to do to meet your goals and take you where you want to go? Tell yourself, “today, I am not going to bed until I do this,” then hold yourself to that. After a few weeks, it will begin to get easier. Before you know it, you’ll be living among the stars.

Finding Encouragement at the End of a Long Week

Posted on by kennethburke74
Finding Encouragement End of Long Week

The last four weeks have been crazy! Not just for me, but for everyone around me, too. Extensive travel, too much to do in too little time, and family struggles will leave anyone feeling battered.

When you go through a period like this – be it a day, week, month, or longer – where you’re constantly busy, stressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed, you need encouragement. You need something that will in some shape or another tell you it’s okay. It’s all good, and you’re going to be just fine.

At times like these, where do you find encouragement? What brings resolve or balance back to life during these hectic times? Doesn’t the stressful, overwhelming nature of it all inherently mean you’re lacking encouragement?

If you’re going to be encouraged, if you’re going to feel better, you often have to want it. Anyone can point out the negatives of a situation. It takes a bit more effort to focus on the positives. Encouragement can come in overt forms – compliments, awards, and the like – but more commonly encouragement can be found in the little things.

Encouragement often comes in the tiny, overlooked details of life. It’s these bits of glory, if you choose to pay attention to them, that can alleviate the pains of your exasperating troubles!

Momentarily foregoing humility, I must say that I take a lot of pride in consistently being able to look on the bright side. I’m not an optimist, at least not by nature, but I’m intentionally perceptive of seemingly small, positive details. They’re what make life beautiful! That’s where I find encouragement after a long day or during a long month.

If the beauty of life is in the details, then far too much has happened to give you a full account. But there’s a few moments over the last month I distinctly remember that will likely apply to the majority.

At the beginning of February, myself and two other guys I work with drove from Chattanooga to Orlando for a conference. Long car rides, an overabundance of to-do’s, and testosterone levels high enough to suffocate left me feeling bedraggled to say the least. In the morning, I would get up a couple hours before the others, and escape to drink coffee with the sunrise. This brief time of meditation gave me what I needed to make it through the chaotic events of each day. I found encouragement through a moment of solace.

A couple weeks later, my wife and I, along with her father, drove up to Indianapolis to visit with a family member whose days were numbered. For a short time, I picked around on a guitar for this bed-ridden matriarch. A slight smile caused by genuine joy implanted itself on their face.

I was able to momentarily relieve this person of suffering by doing something simple. Travel and trying to work a 10-hour day around visitation in a different state is stressful. But I found encouragement by helping someone enjoy the last leg of their life in what little way I could. I’m thankful for that moment, and I was able to de-stress by making a difference in someone else’s day. We can all make a positive difference in someone else’s day.

At the moment, it’s 9:45, Friday evening (I write in the evenings; edit and publish in the mornings). It’s been a long, stressful month of extra work, travel, family struggle, and holding to my commitment to write everyday. I’m sitting at home with my wonderful wife, both of us trying to de-stress from the month’s events.

I’m able to take time to write. And though it means working late on a Friday, I’m grateful that I can pursue an individual dream of mine to become a recognized writer. As I sit here, cross-eyed and exhausted, I find encouragement in moving one step closer to fulfilling my goals.

Finding encouragement when you’re stressed and overwhelmed is not about someone else telling you that you’re awesome. To find encouragement, you have to look into the details. Be perceptive of when you can help someone else feel better, for when you can enjoy a simple moment and a cup of coffee. Find encouragement by paying attention to the thousands of positive things that surround us everyday, if only we have the determination to look.

4 Reasons Why I Write Everyday

Posted on by kennethburke74
Kennetic Expression Reasons Why I Write Everyday

Whoever you are, there is some thing that for some reason you do it everyday. You might work everyday because you have to. Maybe you watch TV everyday because it relaxes you. Perhaps you hit the gym everyday because you feel better afterwards.

I write everyday. Writing, for me, is a hobby. It’s also part of my day job. It’s something, ultimately, I want to make a career out of. It’s something I want to be able to use as a tool for helping others in various ways.

I write everyday because it’s a priority of mine. Here’s what that means for me. I hope you can take a few of these points and apply them to something you do everyday.

1. I write everyday, because I want to be great.

Nobody ever became an expert or the pinnacle of greatness without working on their craft everyday for years. This applies to everyone. Musicians, investors, athletes, authors, actors, architects, artists, some other career beginning with “a,” lawyers, CEOs – everyone.

I write everyday, because I need to practice. I need to get better. The only way to get better is to do it, a lot. Try, fail, learn, improve. Learning is crucial. I write everyday so I can become great at this. So that writing can take me wherever I want to go.

2. I write everyday, because I genuinely enjoy writing.

Can you imagine how utterly miserable it would be to do something that you hated every day of the week? Well, millions can. I have the privilege and the opportunity to do something I love doing as often as I want. I’d be wrong not to take advantage of that.

I also enjoy writing everyday, because in a way it’s therapeutic for me. Maybe I feel better afterwards simply because I’m introverted, and getting away to write helps me remove stimulation and get back down to my equilibrium.

More importantly, though, I think I enjoy writing everyday because it helps focus my mind, which is always moving at a thousand miles per hour, and use that focus to create something constructive. Something that might also benefit others. How could I not enjoy that?

3. I write everyday, because I’m trying to build a following.

This is a rough figure, but there’s about 200,000 pieces of content uploaded to the internet every minute. That means there’s 200,000 new articles just like this one, videos, images, memes, infographics, profiles, etc. every minute all vying for consumers’ (your) attention. If I want to even have a shot at people finding me (I do), and  (hopefully) appreciating what I do, I’ve got to be creating as much and as often as I can.

Right now that means one new piece everyday. I write everyday, because I want to grow.

4. I write everyday, because people look to me to provide value.

In the grand scheme of things, I have a relatively low number of people who actively keep up with me. There might be 100 who people who pay attention to nearly everything I create. That’s still 100 people who expect value from me. That’s still 100 people in whose lives I can make a difference.

As I keep doing this – as I grow – the number of people looking to me everyday to provide value will also grow. I write everyday, because I don’t want to let anyone down.

What Happens When You Spend a Year Just Learning

Posted on by kennethburke74
What Happens When You Spend a Year Just Learning

Today was a pretty cool day. I had an epiphany of sorts. I realized something that isn’t grand or groundbreaking or some other g-word, but that’s super important for me and my development as a professional.

Myself and our director of sales – James – met with a company who’s main reason for existing is as a live podcast (that of course is recorded and shared later). We were kind of their guinea pigs for some new equipment they wanted to test out. We talked and hung out with them for a bit. Then James and I did a ~20min. podcast.

I absolutely loved the podcast! We talked about a few basics of content marketing. How Text Request has used it, where we started from (not as experts), what do others trying to do it properly need to know, etc. It was great! It was simple. James and I made a good team. And I really enjoyed being able to share what expertise I have to help others grow. I really enjoyed adding value. But the podcast wasn’t the epiphany.

The epiphany was that I’ve actually come far enough along in the year or so since starting at Text Request that I actually can offer value! I’ve done enough, tried and failed enough, read enough, and learned enough that I can give real world, practical advice to others trying to do the same thing. It feels really arrogant to say, but for all intents and purposes I’ve become an expert in the digital/social world. That’s amazing to me.

Sure, there’s still a ton more for me to learn. I’m not an expert like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey are experts. I’m an expert in that I have the knowledge and the practical application enough to be a reference or consultant for others trying to boost their own brands. I’m going to keep learning and learning – I’ll never know everything. But this is really just a great feeling, particularly because of the relatively short amount of time it’s taken.

I got involved in the digital marketing and social media spheres, I believe, in February or March of 2015. I thought I knew a few things at the time. Truthfully I knew nothing. But I’ve been working for a startup where the only option is to try and try again. So in trying and trying, in reading everything I could get my hands on, I began to be an expert of sorts. It’s amazing what can happen in a year! This encourages me, but probably for a different reason than you’d expect.

I’ve grown tremendously in the last year. I’m not necessarily better than anyone. It’s not like others can’t do the exact same thing. We all have the chance to do what I’ve done. Really, you could probably do it better! I know there’s a lot of mistakes I’ve made that could’ve been avoided if I’d just done a little bit of reading ahead of time, or bothered to ask someone more experienced. But this milestone gets me excited.

What’s going to happen next year? I’ve already done what could be considered the hardest part – overcoming the learning curve. Now I can get into the nitty gritty, and really hone my skills to build my company’s brand as well as my own.

Everything can be an opportunity. I’m really grateful that I took the opportunity and chose to work at a broke startup. It’s forced me to learn and get better, and to do it so much faster than I’d ever thought I could. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if I spent the last year at a typical 9-5 instead of constantly having to learn.

This brings me a lot of hope. Hope for myself to continue to improve, and hope for others in similar situations to be able to mold themselves into whatever they want to be! I feel like I’ve grown leaps and bounds over the last year. I know I have a long way to go. And I’m really excited to see where things go from here!

Creating Your Best Work

Posted on by kennethburke74
Creating Your Best Work

There’s a piece of advice that I keep coming across again and again. it applies to anyone with a creative side, but it always leaves me befuddled. That piece of advice goes like this.

People will often encourage you to create what you know. Don’t do that. Create what you like. Paint the picture you want to see. Write the book you want to read. Make the film you want to watch…

This advice comes up often (seemingly) as a cry to actually create rather than just copy what you see others doing. If you create what you’d like to see created, it will be something new or different. If you create something you know, you’ll effectively be spitting out the same art you take in. Or so the theory goes.

I have a hard time figuring out what this piece of advice means for me – for anyone, really. Usually if I come across a piece of advice and I can’t make sense of it, I just leave it. I forget about it. But this tidbit has come up time and time again in my reading. Either it’s really good, or the people saying it aren’t applying it to themselves.

I know what I write and create could be more interesting. It could be better. By intentionally sitting down to write everyday, am I not inevitably creating what I’d like to create? Or does the frequency actually cause the inverse? Do I end up writing just what I know in an attempt to get things done, rather than waiting for creative inspiration to strike?

It genuinely confuses me. I don’t have an answer, or even a concise response! I’ve read various elaborations on the point, but few seem to clearly define the difference. Maybe that says something about me? Maybe I should pay attention to my misunderstanding and contemplation – maybe create from that instead. That would would be following the advice, right? Creating something for me instead of creating per advice? Would the right thing to do, then, be to neglect all the advice and do what I want? Do you see how this gets confusing?

We all naturally create what we already know. We can’t exactly pull from any other sources. Isn’t creating what we like the same thing as selectively creating what we know?

I think I get the point of it. Create whatever you want to create and you’ll get the most out of yourself. But there’s also cases everyday where so-and-so artist or creative does some kind of copycat, uninspired work to pay the bills and build a foundation for growth. Bills are pretty important! A foundation is necessary for any skyscraper!

It’s confusing. What should I – what should we as a creative community actually create? What are the artistic needs that we should provide? Where are the creative voids it’s our duty to fill?

If you’ve made it this far, please comment, give your feedback, share on your social sites and blogs. I want to start a discussion. I want to hear from you!

As creatives, we have to create. It’s like oxygen for us! How can we do that in such a way that we make our best work and serve a need or fill a hole? I think that only by combining these two pieces will anything we create matter. How do we do that?

Why I Read Everything I Can Get My Hands On

Posted on by kennethburke74
Why I Read Everything I Can Get My Hands On

It’s funny. Over the last year or so, reading has become something I’m known for. What an odd habit to be associated with, right? Why would I be known for something like this? I’ll tell you why. I’ll also tell you why it’s so important for you to get a similar reputation.

My first year-long project was to read 52 books in 52 weeks. When I started, I was doing it because I hadn’t taken much time to myself during the previous months, and because I thought it would be something cool to say I’ve accomplished (it is). By the end of the project, though, I was reading for entirely different reasons.

One of the reasons was simply that reading had become a habit. Like anything else, if you read at the same time(s) everyday it will become compulsive. But the largest reason I kept up the goal, and why I’m still on pace to read 40+ books this year, is because of the growth that comes with reading voraciously.

Before I started reading intentionally, I was rather dreadful at reading. I was incredibly slow, and had a lot of difficulty comprehending what I did read. As a student who did relatively well in school, most friends who’d study with me would be quick to notice this. I wasn’t dumb, but I was well behind the reading curve.

By the end of the project, I was up to average reading levels, maybe slightly above average – a huge accomplishment for me! More importantly, there’s been a real-life, everyday application of this growth. I now have a frame of reference, and usually a case study, for most any situation or conversation that comes up during my day-to-day. In fact, I pull references so often that it’s become a running joke with those closest to me!

I can’t tell you how many conversations or answers to questions I’ve started with the phrase “Well, I was reading a book…” Now when I start with that phrase, I’m interrupted with “Of course you were!” accompanied by a chuckle of amusement. Even though it’s become a joke for others, the wealth of information comes in handy all the time.

A coworker expresses a woe or makes a suggestion. I’m able to give advice or make a thoughtful contribution to help improve the situation. My wife brings up a point about what happened at work or something about our lives together, and I’m able to add what so-and-so expert suggests. You don’t have to do this too many times to get (what I would call) a good reputation out of it. Reading everything I can get my hands on gives me a leg up in the world.

Completely forget about an possible recognition. If you read and read and read what the experts have to say on topics you care about, that relate to your situation and where you want to go in life, you are going to have a leg up in the world. That could apply to business, faith, personal finance, the arts, personal development, even history!

Warren Buffet, the business tycoon known for Berkshire Hathaway and arguably the most successful man alive, says that he spends the majority of each day reading. He’s not necessarily reading Harry Potter. It’s more like what this and that leader said on this and that subject, or what this and that business is doing and why. Many successful leaders across industries – anywhere from music to tech – will also say that they were able to grow and rise to the top because they read everything they could get their hands on. They keep trying to learn to learn and to grow.

Continually building my frame of reference through reading doesn’t make me better. It makes me more useful, both at work and home. Take people you know who read non-fiction all the time. If you ask them a question about anything, they probably have an answer for you, and a reference to boot. The beautiful thing is that being able to do this has very little to do with intelligence.

Sure it helps to be naturally more intelligent if you’re constantly trying to learn new things. But you don’t have to be genetically predisposed to genius to gain value from reading and learning. I choose to read because I enjoy it, and because the knowledge it brings is useful for my everyday life. It’s something simple that helps me be a more fulfilled person. That’s why I read everything I can get my hands on. That’s why I think it would be valuable for you to do the same.

February Update: Adjusting this Year’s Goals

Posted on by kennethburke74
February Goals Update Kennetic Expression

My list of goals for 2016 has included things like “publish 100,000 words,” “read thirty books,” “write two books,” “gain 5,000 followers,” etc. Typing these out now makes them feel somewhat lofty. But I’m realizing they’re not enough to take me where I want to go. They’re easier than they sound, and they don’t push me enough. So, I’m updating my goals to keep me on track for where I need to be this time next year.

I started off with the goal of publishing 100,000 words in a year. I actually started this one right after Thanksgiving. I’ve since released about one article every three days, placing me on track to hit a total of 150,000-175,000 words published. Clearly my goal isn’t big enough if I can best it by 50-75%. I need to up my goal.

I also need to get to where I’m releasing content daily. Between my actual job, my side project ProductiveandSuccessful.com, Kennetic Expression, and the various sites to which I contribute, I may have seven pieces of content go out every week. But they’re not all in one location, and that makes it more difficult for people to keep up with me, which makes it more difficult for me to grow. I need to work towards publishing daily content right here on Kennetic Expression. Everything else can be a bonus.

Right now I have another goal to reach 5,000 followers by the end of 2016. Honestly, this one still feels a bit lofty since I only now have around 2,000 followers (if that) between half a dozen platforms. But I really need to hit the 10K mark this year to be able to reach my steps and my long-term goals. I want to write books. I am writing books, but I’ll need to be able to sell them. In order to sell them, and generally build my brand, I’ll need to have a decently sized and reliable audience to present my work to.

Admittedly, the number 10,000 is arbitrary. I’m not sure if there’s a golden follower count to reach before things start taking off for someone, but 10K can’t be a bad start. Right?

Ultimately, I’m trying to get to a place where I have the option to work completely and totally for myself. I’m currently doing this around my 9-5 marketing gig, which is fine, but it doesn’t involve the independence and creativity I crave. Not at the moment, at least. If I’m going to even have a chance at quitting a full-time position to work on what would be called a home business, there’s at least two things I’ll need to have in place.

I’ll need a steady income on the side that would, by itself, be enough to get my wife and I by. At the moment, that number would be roughly $2,500/mo. I’ll also need to be able to scale that and start growing exponentially as soon as I were to quit my day job.

I plan on most of the revenue coming from this triangle. Ads from ProductiveandSuccessful.com, ebook downloads from content I’ll need to finish creating, and a list of 10,000 plus followers to view and purchase these things, which I should be able to gain through Kennetic Expression and P&S.

Personally, I really like these goals. They’re a bit daunting, especially as I feel almost burnt out after only January. But I know this is what I have to do (if not more) to get where I want to be. I have goals in place. I have detailed plans to reach those goals. Let’s do this!