The 5 CFT Challenge
ByLast week Ed Dale challenged his motorees to research, build and initially promote a website, with an eye to selling it 3 to 6 months down the road. No big deal you may be thinking but the twist is that this has to be done within the space of 5 Critical Focus Time sessions.
At first sight this may seem like Ed has joined the “get rick quick/throw it against the wall and see what sticks” brigade but there’s some masterful cunning behind his plan.
Apparently, many of us have been moaning about life in the grind (well, there’s a surprise) so this is one way to add a bit of variety away from our core sites, thus helping us stay motivated.
Secondly, it gives those mentorees who are in full-time jobs, with time for only 1 CFT a day, something to get going quickly on.
Also, it gives us more opportunities to fail in the field and make useful mistakes rather than over thinking things.
But, most importantly, it gives us practice and training at taking action, which will ultimately lead to success.
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So, count me in.
I love the idea of making things happen fast. It’s way too easy for me to get hung up on the details and then stall. With this challenge the focus is on the race against the clock rather than on the end result. More of a “can I get it all done in the space of a CFT block?” rather than “can I get it done exactly right?”.
So “how long is a CFT block?”. Well, Ed works in 30 minute blocks – 25 minutes on and 5 off – but I prefer 1 hour blocks with 45 minutes on and 15 off so that’s what I’ll be sticking with.
Here’s how the challenge breaks down:
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CFT 1
1. Pick Market
2. Find a keyword that works
3. Pick some category keywords
4. Register domain name
5. Write classic beginner draft for first blog post
CFT 2
1. Write draft article suitable for spinning for article directories
2. Create blog
3. Add analytics
4. Edit earlier draft post and upload to blog
5. Do basic bookmarking of post for indexing purposes
CFT 3/4
1. Edit article written previously for spinning and add to Article Marketing Automation (AMA)
2. Set up Google Reader to monitor niche
3. Draft an article to spin and submit to AMA next week
CFT 5
1. Do some by hand backlinking from authority blogs, forums and sites
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Therafter, spin and submit one article per theme keyword, per week until you are ready to sell or develop the site.
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So, that’s it.
Sounds fun to me. I’ll write posts about my progress and add the links here for those who want to follow on. And, if anyone wants to give it ago themselves please leave a comment and let us know how it’s going. Or, if you need a bit of help getting started you can ask your questions here too.
Related posts:
I managed to put up four websites at the weekend using this process
That’s impressive! Personally, I was enjoying the Brighton festival and a barbecue on the beach this weekend
That’s good too, except for the stones on the beach. But I have a goal this weekend to actually get some sand between my toes.
By the way one of the sites is now number 7 in Google out of 275000 million competing pages. I like that
I would like that too!
No beach for me this weekend. At least not today. Need to make a screencast tutorial for new outsource worker who starts on Monday. Never done it before so dragging my feet.
Wonder if replying to comments counts as CFT. Hmmmmm . . .
Replying to comments counts as procrastination big time when you know you should be doing something else
Sounds good. Are you doing these 1 hour chunks each on a single day or how are you planning to spread them out? I am lucky if I have 1 uninterrupted hour per day!
Good luck on your plan! Post your results please!
I’m trying to limit myself to a 1 hour chunk on this each day as I have lots of other stuff I need to be doing in my CFTs. Also, I’m finding that making myself stop keeps me hungry for more which, since I’m easily demotivated, is a good thing for me.
I will definitely be posting my results so keep watching or, subscribe to the email updates.
You can definitely do it with an hour a day though. Give it a go and let us know how you get on.
Gillian
Just started my first 5 CFT website this morning, so interesting to read this. I had the entire 30DC process down to 6 hours, so good to shave that time in half.
Blimey! The whole 30DC process in 6 hours. That’s great.
I’m definitely not going to do it in 5 sessions on this first site. Setting up the plug-ins took a block all on it’s own. But it’s great fun and helps deal with my perfectionism and procrastination tendencies.
Let us know how you get on with your 5 CFT website.
Cheers
Gillian
David got it down to 6 hours by composing a mail saying “do this outsource person”
That only took two mins of course but he had to drink coffee for 5 hours and fifty eight minutes before remembering to press send.
Ha, ha, ha. Sounds a good strategy to me!
This is a great way to chunk critical activities down to work-able blocks. I have wanted to start my second 30DC site but have been putting it off. My first site has actually made a little money but if it would have been Ed’s site I am sure he would have axed it months ago.
I will be following your progress. Best of luck.
Hi Albert
Don’t just follow my progress. Make some of your own!
How about getting your second site up in 5 CFTs? Just do one CFT a day and then you’ll find it less tiring/challenging/daunting/scary/boring – whatever adjective it is you use that keeps you stuck.
Don’t get hung up on getting the steps right – just race the clock.
Let us know how you get on.
Best Wishes
Gillian
[...] Dale tweeted a link to a blog post about the 5 CFT Challenge a few days ago, so I thought I’d add my own [...]