Finally I got around to deciding what I should set up for work-related goals for 2013. One of the first things I need to do is learn to not be so snarky when commenting on things that annoy me. This of course will take all of my self-preservation skills since stupidity makes me crazy and I can’t help but call it out when I see it. Step 1 I guess is going to be avoiding forums that piss me off 
But the real goals!
First, this blog needs some TLC – I am worried that I’ve allowed this blog to get stale and I seem to have run out of things to write about which does not make a lot of sense. I think part of the problem here is I’ve painted myself into a corner . I don’t do “news” releases, I never talk about my earnings (except broadly) and I have provided rundowns (and updates in some cases) on all the sites where I currently contribute. This sort of narrows my options a bit but I am sure I’ll come up with something. This blog has a total of 627 posts on it and probably 1/3 of them are actually the “scam” sites I’ve called out so in reality, only a shade over 400 of them are actually related to this site in the first place. Rather discouraging when I think about how long I’ve had this blog. So my commitment this year is to expand on some of the topics I write about (even if they become rants!) and post at least 2x’s a week.
Of course, this brings me to the No Scam Work at Home blog. I currently seem to have a publishing problem with it which I suspect will be fixed sometime soon. For this site, I plan to do two posts a week – but one will be a scam and one will be a legit opportunity with information on how to sign up. These sites will not have any “start up” fees because I refuse to believe that any of us need to pay a fee to find work – makes me nuts!
My portfolio blog has been neglected for a long time! I currently have 288 posts there which is rather amusing since I have 1300 plus articles at Helium and around 200 at Bright Hub. The goal: add at least 5 new pieces each week (and preferably more) until I get everything in there. Who knows, maybe I can get some additional hits on the work!
Non blog work
The fact of the matter is my blogs are not making much money and frankly, if I had to live on the revenue from them I’d starve to death! Therefore, like it or not, I have to do some real work some of the time! I am lucky enough to have about 1/2 my time taken up by a regular client but like everyone, I’m always concerned about losing them. So here’s what I’m thinking about writing:
- 2 – 5 articles weekly at Writer Access – This sounds low but frankly, I’m so darned picky that this is about all I can find most weeks
- 2 – 3 articles daily at Textbroker – I am on enough teams now that I can almost pick and choose my work which is fun! The nice thing about TB (for all the problems) is that you can get paid weekly if need be!
- 1 – 3 articles monthly at Skyword – I am only in the Bounty program and there are not a lot of titles so I figure this is about all I can manage.
- Microtasks – I have both Crowd Cloud and Mechanical Turk accounts and frankly, thanks to some great hand/eye coordination, I can do simple tasks really fast. In fact, if I push myself I can gather enough “pennies” in a couple of hours a day to keep my eBook appetite paid for which is neat! I actually do these to relax so I won’t set a specific goal for them!
- Helium – For all my complaining, There are some titles on Helium I would like to write to. I plan to write at least one per month. If I have time to do more great but one will work!
Social Media
I really need to take some time to fix all my titles and hash-tags before I upload to Twitter again. I would also like to get my RedGage account up to par and get all of my work uploaded there. I would anticipate having these two tasks complete before the end of March and then we’ll figure out how to maximize the time I have freed up after that.
So, there you have it. I like writing these up if for no other reason so I can look back at the end of the year and see how I’ve done!
About Doreen Martel
Well-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid to write sites and revenue sharing sites. Doreen is legally blind and has worked at home for more than 10 years. She uses the lessons learned from this experience to enhance her writing and share information with others.
These are some pretty good goals. If I could make a suggestion? Put a ticker in your calendar to look at your goals quarterly. I find it helps me stay better on track with year long goals. Usually, the first time I look at them, I scrap something which I should have never attempted to commit in the first place
Happy New Year, Doreen.
xxx
Hey Red — Happy New Year!!! I’ve done one better than that
I’ve added the goals to my calendar on a daily basis so each day shows what my plans are for that day. The “extra” stuff that gets tossed in will be a bonus and any “new” work gets added on “before” the goal list. That way I can at least understand when/why I miss one 