Darren Singleton » General

Focus

Darren — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:30:05 +0000

Since returning from holiday on the 16th of May my focus on my online ventures has been all over the place. I haven’t been updating any of my various blogs/websites and I have been sporadically checking Twitter and interacting with a couple of people via email.

Since starting this blog on June 26th 2008, I have been losing and regaining focus on this and my other projects all of the time. My commitment has been awful and I really want to start making something of the time I have been spending online trying to build my reputation.

Blog Statistics

As this blog is approaching it’s two year birthday I am looking back at what has been achieved.

105 Posts
368 Comments
7,090 Visits
15,185 Pageviews
00:02:08 Avg. Time on Site

Looking at the stats above I am very disappointed in myself. It is obvious that the last two years haven’t shown an ounce of success for me in blogging.

Time for Focus

If I am going to succeed in blogging, I need to set my mind on a particular task. Have clearly defined goals in mind and work towards them at full force. On the anniversary of DarrenSingleton.com (June 26th), a new blog will be launched – 365 Days of Blogging. I am giving myself a full year to develop a blog and achieve much more than this blog has ever done.

The updates won’t be as sporadic, aiming for a minimum of four new posts a week. Leading up to the start date I will be preparing the blog template and getting content prepared for the launch.

This is a personal project, but I will need your help. If anybody would be willing to Tweet out to their followers or post a blog post about this project it would be greatly appreciated and I’m sure we could work out some form of compensation.

The End

By Wednesday 25th May 2011 I am hoping to have a mildly successful blog that puts the above statistics to shame. I will ensure that the first post on 365daysofblogging.com outlines these goals in more detail and I will also update here as a reminder of the project starting.

Thanks for your support here on DarrenSingleton.com – this isn’t the end of this blog, just the start of something new and exciting for me.

This post has originally been published on Darren Singleton .com. Darren Singleton is a Blogger, Webmaster and Internet Entrepreneur posting about his experiences of making money online on a daily basis.

Focus

ProBlogger the Book – 2nd edition

Darren — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:30:12 +0000

Mr. ProBlogger himself, Darren Rowse, along with Chris Garrett have released an updated version of their 2008 printed book “ProBlogger – Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income”. I purchased the original book and found it to be very informative; written to the same high standard that Darren Rowse writes for his blog, the information is presented in an easily digestible format with each chapter running seamlessly into the next.

It has been two years since the first edition of this book was released, and in terms of development, a lot has happened in the blogging world.

Straight from the horses mouth, here is a list of the changes and additions that make this book worth buying, even if you own the 1st edition:

New examples, screenshots, updates of new tools, a few deletions of references to old tools, an update to our stories in the intro etc.
we’ve removed a chapter on blog networks – things have changed a lot in this space and many networks are not hiring any more or have changed their models significantly.
Chris has added a significant chapter on social media and how it impacts and can be used by bloggers
I have added a case study chapter that goes through the first 4 years of my main blog – Digital Photography School. I work through how I launched it, what I focused upon in years 1-2 and then in years 3-4, how I monetize it and share the secrets to how I drive significant traffic and income through email newsletters, social media etc.
Bonuses – we’re offering anyone who buys the book a series of bonuses (some interviews with successful bloggers, some extra teaching etc)

The book is available to purchase now from Amazon and I have included links below to both the US and UK stores for your convenience.

Amazon UK - Amazon US

No related posts.

Personal Goals for 2010

Darren — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Following on from my post about my goals from 2009, I have put a lot of thought and time into deciding what I want to achieve from the next 365 days. I have listed three goals specifically related to my online endeavours and three that are much more personal.

1. Increase Twitter Followers to 500
The only goal that was achieved during 2009 was increasing my Twitter followers to 200. Continuing this trend, my goals for 2010 is to increase this by 250% and achieve 500 followers over the year.

2. Post Regularly to Gifts4Men
The main focus of my attention during 2010 will be my gifts for men blog. The first goal in relation to Gifts4Men will be to post five new articles a week showcasing different products. Upon calculating the number of weekdays during 2010, this would require 261 new posts over the year.

3. Develop three blogs/websites with passive income streams
With only a limited number of hours in a day, developing passive income from multiple sources can be the easiest way to generate an income online. The goal would require the websites to earn revenue with little further involvement from myself. The development of these websites/blogs will be discussed in much more detail as they are in progress.

4. Save for Own Home
Back in August 2009 I posted about the fact that I was moving out of the family home. The purchase of this house actually fell through, but moving out is something I still want to do. My goal is to amass £10,000 in a savings account during 2010 to cover the cost of a deposit and any associated fees with purchasing your first home. For this to happen, I need to reign in my expenditure greatly; eating food that has been prepared by myself rather than at a restaurant, stop purchasing domain names (as mentioned in my random facts post) and just generally tighten my purse strings.

5. Greatly Improve my Fitness Levels
Over the past few years I have slowly gained weight and although I have attempted to shed a few pounds, my weight always rises again. Using a great service called Skinnyr, I am able to chart my weight progress and display it on a graph. You can set goals and over time it is possible to see your monthly averages and how well you are progressing. I don’t have a specific weight loss goal, it is more of a visual rather than statistical thing for me. On January 1st I will be taking a photograph to use as a comparison throughout the rest of the year.

6. Broaden my Film Watching
I am a big fan of films. The main problem I find is that I have missed out on so many that were released prior to the past ten years. Throughout 2010, I hope to make my way through the IMDB Top 250 along with watching many films recommended to me by others. My goal is to watch 150+ movies throughout 2010 which would average approximately 3 films per week.

If you have set any goals for 2010, I would appreciate you letting me know in the comments. This blog is going to have some improvements made during January to make it much more personal and be much more focused towards my goals and how I can achieve them.

Revisiting Goals from 2009

Darren — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:52:09 +0000

At the start of 2009 I listed a set of goals that I wished to achieve during the course of the year. The four goals were easily defined as the following:

1. Post at least once per day
2. Earn £2009 (GBP) from this blog for the year
3. Write one guest post each month
4. Reach 200 Twitter followers

With each of the above goals, I went into a little more detail about them, how they would be achieved and how they would benefit both myself and this website. Below is my explanation of how well these goals were met and an explanation of what went right and what went wrong.

1. Post at least once per day – Failed
Looking back, I should have realised that this was not achievable. Including this post, there have been a total of 55 posts, 310 less than I had planned to achieve. I am not too concerned by this although the amount of posts ~~could~~ should have been much higher, I always try and post when I feel I have something worthy of posting.

2. Earn £2009 (GBP) from this blog for the year – Failed
Nowhere close. It’s more like £29 and at the moment I don’t have the exact figures. Early in January I will be able to post a full report on revenue for the blog and the other projects that I am working on.

3. Write on guest post each month – Failed
I managed a total of two guest posts, one of which was aimed at bringing traffic to my male gifts website. I let the ball drop on this one early in the year, but the importance of guest posting is something I believe in and I would like to encourage anybody interested to take a look at Blog Synergy – a community where you can trade guest posts with other members in a simple, easy-to-use system.

For the people who are waiting for guest posts, you will have them early in the new year. Each one has been planned out and I will start writing them shortly.

4. Reach 200 Twitter followers – Achieved
This is the only goal that I actually achieved during 2009. My current follower count stands at 261. I have slowly increased my Twitter followers by being active and providing links to resources that I believe my followers would be interested in.

2009 Summary

Throughout 2009 I have let my mind wander on too many different projects, spending days working on something for it to never be completed. Throughout December my mindset has changed and I have been more focused on producing content for websites that have the potential to go places. I want 2010 to be successful and, as I progress into the new year, this blog will be my record of what goes right, what goes wrong and how well I am achieving my new set of goals. My goals for 2010 will be posted on New Years eve, which means, starting January 1st 2010 I will have my sights set on other things and a successful year in the process.

What goals have you set? Do you set goals? Do you think a year is too long of a period when working online? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Free Bottle Cap Social Media Icon Set

Darren — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:00:52 +0000

One thing I noticed on this blog, is that I am not actively encouraging people to use social bookmarking through my individual blog posts. Adding small icons to your blog posts can act as a reminder to your visitors that they can share your post with others with the click of a button. For the ten or twenty minutes that it can take to add these custom icons to your blog theme, it is well worth the time if people start to promote your content for you.

SixRevisions have just released a brand new icon set that would look perfect on any grunge or vintage blog theme and best of all, they have been released under the Creative Commons License.

The Creative Commons license requires you to “attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor”. Our attribution specification: you don’t need to attribute the work to us (though you’re more then welcome to, and we will definitely appreciate it).

This is a stunning icon set and it can be downloaded for free from this link.

As for this blog, the grunge textures of the Old Bottle Crowns Icon Set won’t suit the theme so I am currently on the hunt for some complimentary buttons to add to the bottom of each post. Your suggestions are more than welcome!

Finding Motivation

Darren — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:15:43 +0000

As can be seen from the lack of posts to this blog, my motivation has once again dropped off the face of the planet. All of my websites/blogs have ground to a stand-still over the last month whilst I have done absolutely nothing online!

I have no real explanation for this. There are several things happening in my life at the moment that are being dealt with, one of which is that I am no longer moving out.

Earning money online is something that I have wanted to achieve for a long time and (although I mknew this at the start) I am beginning to realise more and more, that without a lot of hard work and attention being invested into each and every one of them – this is never going to happen.

The first step for me is deciding which projects to invest my time into. Looking at my GoDaddy account, I currently own 59 domain names and I have a further 3 being held at Moniker. I will be making a follow-up post discussing my decision with these projects but I know for a fact that both this blog and Gifts4Men will be my main focus for the next few weeks/months.

Offline, I have begun to attend the gym regularly as well as playing squash and football with my friends. In the last three weeks I have managed to lose 10lbs by performing this regular exercise and eating a little more healthier. Seeing improvements in my body, no matter how small, has motivated me to attend the gym more and makes me feel better about myself. I am hoping that I can push this motivation across to my online ventures by making small, steady improvements that will allow me to see results and improve upon them over time.

Have you ever suffered from lack of motivation? How did you solve it? Let me know in the comments.

Inspirational Video

Darren — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:35:27 +0000

I’ve had a very lazy weekend, saving money is hard work but it is saving the wallet and bank balance so I’m happy!

One thing that has really caught my attention is a video whereby Tony Robbins discusses the power that you have within yourself to succeed. Watching this video is highly recommended to anybody who is trying to make more money/improve their lives and if you do watch the video, you will need no further explanation from myself.

Watch the video here!

I’d like to thank David Risley for directing me to this video. I would also like to encourage you to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the video.

Your Life in Pictures

Darren — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:05:14 +0000

A lot of media attention has been paid towards Facebook and Twitter, especially over the past siz months. One website that has been greatly overlooked is DailyBooth.

Loosely based on the Picture a Day for 4 Years concept, DailyBooth encourages its users to take pictures of themselves. Unlike Twitter which is purely text-based, DailyBooth allows the use of pictures and text in an innovative way, that is becoming more and more popular each day.

I have currently only added four pictures (view them here), but I am about to add another and plan to update this image each and every day. Once you have submitted a picture (either via your webcam or a standard image upload) people are able to leave picture and text comments, and obviously, you can do the same on theirs.

If you have a DailyBooth account, please follow me – if you haven’t got a DailyBooth account, signup now and get in on a website that is sure to be the next craze (then follow me)! Let me know your thoughts on DailyBooth in the comments section below!