Want to start from the beginning?

I'm starting something new today.

I initially created this Pig Pilots micro blog in order to record my progress and talk about my failures. So, harkening back to that, I'll be taking the micro part to heart and posting with #minifear and #failure. Starting right now.

At the moment, my #minifear is over-extending myself, which means I'll have so much going on that I won't be able to deliver and follow up and generally just have my shit together, which will make me stressed and uncomfortable and probably way less productive. All of that leads to #failure.

tl;dr I'm going to be using #minifear and #failure to post micro-updates on what I'm feeling – both the struggle and the success.

Author Bree Weber Published 8/22/2018, 12:30:46 PM Permalink

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FAILURE

I knew when I switched over to a more rigorous and business-focused #conditional system, that I'd need to deal with #failure more often. In fact, I specifically incorporated failure into my new system in order to deal with it more often. I know that learning to handle failure with grace is going to make me a badass entrepreneur who builds incredibly successful businesses.

But it's still hard 🙄

Most of us – myself included – have #emotional responses to failure. We think things like What mistake did I make? and How come I didn't see this coming. If we're not careful, that kind of thought process can turn into destructive thoughts like I can't do anything and I'm absolute worst – neither of which are remotely true.

So, this weekend, I'm focused on doing a few things (aside from continuing to work my ass off)

😞 Accept my failure because I didn't meet this week's conditional
😭 Process all that emotional stuff without getting negative
🤨 Shift my mindset and get into problem solving mode
🤔 Identify at least 5 things I can do to ensure I meet my conditional next week
🤓 Start on those 5 things as soon as I finish up my client work

#backtowork

tl;dr This week is a failure, a concept I know I need to get better at processing, so I can get back to working hard. So, I'm trying to shift my mindset to problem-solving mode and start thinking ahead to next week.

Author Bree Weber Published 6/22/2018, 2:28:49 PM Permalink

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I've changed everything

I've been feeling for a while that my system for monitoring my progress on #minigoals and #conditionals was not quite robust enough. I've complained about it a few times like when I said it was forcing me to choose between money and fame from as far back as April.

So, it's been a long time coming, but I did it! I have a new conditional system.

There are a couple really big changes. Probably the biggest two are:

🚫 There is no more engagement conditional
🚫 There is no more popularity conditional

Say what!!!

Yup! I just celebrated my 3 month anniversary as a #contentwriter! #Popularity and #engagement are no longer my focus. I need to scale this #pilotidea into a full-blown business. What does that entail?

Well, first of all, like literally every other successful business on the planet, I need to earn a profit.

There is no second of all.

Everything else that we #entrepreneurs focus on like branding, marketing, networking, productivity, sales funnels, pipelines, etc. is just strategies and channels that we are using in the hopes that it will bring in revenue that exceeds our expenses and taxes. So, yeah, #profit.

The other big change I've introduced is a Piggy Bank 🐷

So, it's no longer about #success or #failure, because I've just spent 12 weeks proving that I can not only succeed every single week, but grow tremendously (minimum 50% #growth every week!).

Instead, every time I exceed my #minimummonetary, I add that excess amount into my Piggy Bank. If I don't meet my minimum monetary, I subtract the difference (between my goal and what I actually earned) from my #PiggyBank balance.

It works just like a profit and loss statement. As long as I have bank in my bank, I continue to push forward and grow this business. If my #bankbalance goes negative, I re-roll with a new pilot idea.

Yup, scary as hell!.

But it also reflects the reality we all live in. If you #invest in yourself, build a #business, and turn a profit, great! But if you take all the same steps and go broke or into debt, you close up shop and move on.

I'm also piggy-backing Bonus Bucks onto the Piggy Bank (get it? 😂)

When I exceed my minimum monetary by more 10%, I pay myself a bonus of 10% of that excess called Bonus Bucks. If the next week, I exceed by 20%, then the #BonusBucks are equal to 20% of that excess. Every week, the Bonus % increases for as long as I'm on a streak. Miss a week, and reset.

Bonus Bucks help me to increase my Piggy Bank when I'm doing really well and help me offset the weeks (or months 😔) that are slow. Or, ya know, if I just want to take a vacation. I can use my Piggy Bank balance as a buffer.

I'm really excited about this change and to see what happens this week! 😬

tl;dr I changed my entire conditionals system. I've dropped engagement and popularity altogether. It's all about monetary for business success, which is why I brought in Piggy Bank (to track how I can surpass my goals) and Bonus Bucks for doing really well. It's not about success or failure each week. Now, it's all about keeping my bank balance in the green.

Author Bree Weber Published 6/11/2018, 10:37:10 PM Permalink

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This week has been a 5-day long failure.

The good kind... I hope.

Despite my constant paralyzing fear of #failure, Pig Pilots is helping/forcing me to embrace failure. Each #pilotidea only has a single week to show promise, which means I need to fail fast, and explore as many approaches as possible.

So far, as a #contentwriter, I've tested and dropped the following platforms:

Reddit
Twitter
WittyPen
IZEA
UpWork
LinkedIn
People Per Hour

They either didn't provide engagement, straight up lied to me (yes, I'm still bitter, WittyPen!), or the timeline to get moving is longer than the known shelf life of this pilot idea.

And, of course, the process of pitching to magazines, online publications, and blog-based websites moves quite slowly. Maybe I'll hear back in 3 weeks and be delighted to write the article I pitched this week, but maybe I'll be on to something completely different. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've got just 3 days left to get 500 #PigPoints™ (in a single category) with any of these platforms:

There's a problem with all of these though.

I don't have any control over what happens next. All of these platforms allow only the client to contact the writer, if and when, they have a project that would be a good fit.

You probably already know, I do not like not having control. 😩

Plus only one of these platforms – Fiverr – has any metric for popularity and engagement. These platforms are first and foremost, tools to find paying gigs. So, my options at this point are:

Drive all traffic to Fiverr to build up popularity and engagement
Badger my network for a paying gig
Twiddle my thumbs and wait for something to happen
Just start writing whatever and wherever the fuck I want

Clearly, 3 is a trick answer. Putting all my eggs in 1 basket is pretty contrary to the Pig Pilots concept. And I've never been one to enjoy spamming the internet. This really leaves #writing. This is a pretty core part of being a content writer, anyway. #solutions 🎊🙌🎉

Regardless of project or platform, getting other people's eyes on my work is my goal. I'm confident in my writing and the value I provide as a content writer. So, I'll be on Reddit, Twitter, Medium, and wherever else, #writingmyheartout.

tl;dr This has been a fail fast kind of week, but time is running out. If I don't find an approach that works, it'll be on to the next pilot idea!

Author Bree Weber Published 3/23/2018, 11:01:32 AM Permalink

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