the hundred dollar business

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So, today is officially the beginning of Day Four of the project, and I want to take a macro-scope at where things are at.

In terms of authors signed up: we have 36, with perhaps 5-8 additional pending, and “leads” for several more.

In terms of customers, we have 10 that are signed up, though I haven’t determined yet how/when to take those orders.

We’ve received 4 of the author stories, of those 36, and have a pending deadline for this Saturday. (And yes, I did set the first deadline earlier than I needed, to give some slack time for the publishing deadline).

We also have about 3 individuals who have signed on to volunteer with various things– editorial content, technical things, and publishing options.

I’ve a steady flow of e-mails and comments with great suggestions, ideas, and questions about the project. Many of our authors have referred the project to others, and we get about 3-7 new authors per day. (Thank you!!)

And to be honest, I haven’t had a single minute to start on my story…

So how is the project doing? And, how am I doing with the project?

The Project

In terms of participation, we’re doing okay/good-ish. We are definitely on track to get the 100 profiles– but are we on track to get enough profiles soon enough?

And, how can we be sure that we will get the quality of content/final product that will be compelling enough to our potential customers?

And, as I haven’t posted a schedule yet of when things need to be finished, how do we know if we are really on track or not?

Me

I usually don’t post updates on myself, but what I learned from the kiosk experience is that my project’s success is very closely related to how I’m doing.

Friends, I am sooooooo busy, getting a little stressed (not bad stress yet, just feeling the immediacy of things), and low on sleep.

(How does this always happen!)

Where To Go From Here?

I think I need a day to organize myself… I haven’t had time yet to find an apartment in Idaho, so I’ve been staying with various friends, and that’s a small stress. Also, I’ve been at my new job for 8 days now (I’m really liking it!), and that’s an adjustment as well. And, the project… 

So basically, right now things are happening in a spontaneous, organic, non-structured, perhaps semi-chaotic way. 

That can be a good thing in some ways, but with the need for tight deadlines on this specific project, I think that certain measurable milestones need to be hit in a very deliberate way, and if it’s not planned for, we’ll get into an uncomfortable time-crunch that may sabotage the end result, and all of this without even realizing it’s happening.

(For example, by this date we need 100 entrepreneurs, by this date we need their stories, by this date the content needs to be edited, layout designed, files sent to publisher/web app A, B, and C, and then these certain marketing & promotional tasks need to be aggressively pursued).

I’ve had several extremely key suggestions from blogreaders, and haven’t had time to implement them, even though they really could be critical to the project.

The Sum-Up

I’m working in the business, instead of on the business… just doing tasks every day instead of the tasks that matter every day, and even though a few people have stepped up to help out, I’m not really using that resource yet. (Why is this?!)

For example, last night I spent at least an hour coordinating details from the several e-mails I get a day (about 30) related to the project, replying, forwarding the author info emails, responding to blog comments, etc.

Those are great things to do, but I’m wondering if there’s a more effective way to organize that communication so I can spend more time on the project itself, in terms of the content, my story, the publishing needs, the marketing, customer orders, etc. 

I think the best thing I could do today would be to:

1. have a great day at my job

2. take some down time this evening

3. before taking on small tasks, map out the overall daily plan of what the project needs in order to be successful, and then fit the details into that.

4. Delegate some things to those that have volunteered– they WANT to be involved, so why not take them up on that!

I don’t want to be dropping the big stuff (work/life balance, major project deadlines, writing my story, sales & marketing, etc.) in favor of the not-as-big stuff, whatever that may be.

(By the way, if I sent you an e-mail in the last few days, don’t associate that with this quasi-complaining blog post. In fact, I LOVE getting emails from everyone, which is probably why I spend a lot of time responding, but from the macro-view of the project, I’m trying to assess where I need to focus my efforts). 

So, that is the quick assessment. Help me out by pointing me towards my biggest priorities, and any other suggestions, if you would!