Archive for 5 CFT Challenge
5 CFT Challenge – Session 5 and Wrap Up
Posted by: | CommentsFinally arrived at the last block of the 5 CFT Challenge:
1. Do some by hand backlinking from authority blogs, forums and sites
Started with the Market Samurai competition module to do this. It wasn’t particularly successful in terms of finding sites to create links on – only managed 2 and one of those is waiting for moderation, but it did give me a better idea of the competition. I.E. I could see that a number of the top 10 sites are obviously owned by the same person due to the interlinking and that a major part of their strategy is buying links.
I also used the Market Samurai promotion module, looking specifically at the non gov/edu blogs but wasn’t able to get any links there.
Since I’m still testing this site and market I’m not sure if I will keep doing this at this phase of the process. I might wait until the site is a bit more established. I’ll try it a couple more times though and see what it’s like in other markets.
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So, my total for the 5 CFT Challenge is 8 CFT blocks which, in my case, equals 6 hours.
Not bad for a first attempt!
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I lost a bit of momentum by having my mind on the outsourcing project but there’s always going to be something else going on so I just better get used to it.
I’m going to rearrange the tasks a bit for my next attempt and will use the articles/posts a bit differently. Stay tuned for the next challenge.
5 CFT Challenge – Blocks 3 and 4
Posted by: | CommentsMy report on critical focus time – Blocks 3 and 4 of Ed Dale’s 5 CFT Challenge . . .
1. Edit article written previously for spinning and add to Article Marketing Automation (AMA)
Oops! Forgot to finish this when tackling the CFT 2 session. Got distracted by the blasted plug-ins. Took a full session to finish the writing. I know, I know. Not fast enough.
I need to work on drastically lowering my standards for writing these initial pieces and for the level of spinning since the spinning and submission to AMA took another full CFT.
2. Set up Google Reader to monitor niche
Didn’t do this as I’m not familiar with it and didn’t want to spend the time at this point. There’s plenty of information about my market available to keep me busy writing for a while.
3. Draft an article to spin and submit to AMA next week
Hmmm. Not sure how I managed it but I’ve already done this. The only explanation is I’ve been so distracted by my general life and internet marketing overwhelm and the steep learning curve of my outsourcing project that I didn’t notice I’d completed something. I’m not complaining though because I’m now all set to move onto CFT block 5 and I can mark on my calendar to spin and submit this article to AMA in a week’s time.
Running Total so far – 7 CFT blocks.
Enjoyment rating – good. I’ve done more than I thought I had. Yippee!
5 CFT Challenge – Critical Focus Time Session 2
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s how I got on with CFT session 2 of Ed Dale’s 5 CFT Challenge:
1.Write draft article suitable for spinning for article directories
Started this while I was waiting for the blog, plug-ins and theme to load.
2. Create blog
The blog is uploaded. As are plug-ins and a theme.
I don’t like the theme I’ve chosen but I’m going to stick with it as I hear Ed Dale’s voice ringing in my ears “don’t be fussy – you don’t have the time”.
I didn’t have time to change plug-in settings or set up categories. In fact it took another CFT block to get this done and then some!
3. Set up and Add Google Analytics
4. Edit earlier draft post and upload to blog
5. Do basic bookmarking of post for indexing purposes
Done. All together this took another 3 blocks of CFT.
So, the running total so far is 5 CT blocks.
Enjoyment rating – medium. Bit frustrated with myself for taking so long over plug-in settings but need to remember this is a learning process!
Onwards and upwards 
5 CFT Challenge – Critical Focus Time Block 1
Posted by: | CommentsHere are the components of Critical Focus Time Block 1 of Ed Dales’s 5 CFT Challenge, and my experience of actually doing it.
1. Pick Market
2 Find a keyword that works
3. Pick some category keywords
I did these 3 fairly easily within the 45 mins, since I’d already done some Market Samauri research for other projects that I hadn’t used.
I found Ed Dale’s words REALLY helped keep me on track, e.g.
“When you’re not sure just run with it”.
“You’re just following a process. Don’t go overboard thinking about this stuff”.
“The action point is really, really simple:
- Think up a fresh topic
- Don’t get your knickers in a twist
- Just pick something and
- GET THE SITE UP!
GO AND MAKE MISTAKES AND GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM
4. Register a Domain Name
This is where it all began to unravel. As my thirteen old son would say . . . “Fail”!
I ran out of time for this and ended up playing around with options whilst watching TV. It was midnight before I knew it and I still hadn’t found a good enough domain.
Moral of the story – don’t attempt this without the clock ticking in the background. It’s just too easy to allow time to expand.
I ended up shifting this task into CFT 2 and ended up going for a domain that I found whilst I was trawling in front of the TV, so all that extra time wasn’t completely wasted after all. Not necessary though. The domain doesn’t meet the visitor numbers criteria but I didn’t want to spend any more time on it. But I’m not happy about it.
5. Write classic beginner draft for first blog post
Again, I found it very hard to follow instructions here, to just whack out some content. In the end I spent what remained of this CFT block, after registering the domain, completing this task.
So the running total so far is 2 CFT blocks. And my enjoyment rating is high.
The 5 CFT Challenge
Posted by: | CommentsLast 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.
