So I meant to update on Tuesday, but completely forgot. I'm slacking.
Tuesday's payment was $60 for four articles.
Today's payment was $135 for nine articles. So I exceeded my goal by $45. I had a few articles queued up that JUST missed the cutoff, so those will be getting paid next today.
My progress for today is:
Three articles under review,
Five approved that will be getting paid on Tuesday.
If the three under review get approved by Sunday, they will also get paid on Tuesday, giving me a $120 payment, and only $30, or two articles, more til my goal. Sweet, huh?
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Demand Studios Progress, Week 1, Part 1
I'm going to start my DS weekly goals on Friday, since that was when I received my first payment. As I mentioned in my previous post, the payment schedule breaks down like this:
Articles approved by 11:59 PM PST (2:59 AM EST) Sunday will be paid on Tuesday.
Articles approved by 11:59 PM PST (2:59 AM EST) Wednesday will be paid on Friday.
Here is my progress so far:
Four $15 articles accepted = $60 - These will definitely get paid on Tuesday.
Five $15 articles under Copy Editor review = $75 - Pending rewrites and/or approval, these may or may not make the 2:59 EST cutoff, but will definitely get paid on Friday.
So I just need one more $15 article to make my $150 goal. That's in three days of writing!
Friday - Four articles
Saturday - Four articles (technically two were written after midnight Sunday, but I'm counting it as Saturday because I hadn't gone to sleep yet)
Sunday - One article (so far)
It's looking like four articles a day is good for me right now. It may get harder when I go back to school, but now it's pretty easy. I've been having some trouble finding good titles today, but I'm going to take a break and maybe give it another shot later. I think if I want to expand this goal to $300 a week, I will either have to write five or six a day, or write earlier on Wednesday to make the 2:59 AM cutoff.
And because I don't want people to think DS is a scam (and as motivation to keep writing), here are my earnings for the year so far (click on the picture to view it full-size):
So there you have it! This is how I will be funding my trip to L.A. and paying for my textbooks!
P.S. I know this is supposed to be a spiritual blog, but I think there is a link between spirituality and money, whether good or bad. I've been very stressed out about bills and not having a job that it has made it hard for me to focus on my spirituality and trust my insight like I would if I had no financial concerns. Who knows, maybe the money I save from these articles will help fund my trip to Sedona, AZ, one of the spiritual centers of the world!
Articles approved by 11:59 PM PST (2:59 AM EST) Sunday will be paid on Tuesday.
Articles approved by 11:59 PM PST (2:59 AM EST) Wednesday will be paid on Friday.
Here is my progress so far:
Four $15 articles accepted = $60 - These will definitely get paid on Tuesday.
Five $15 articles under Copy Editor review = $75 - Pending rewrites and/or approval, these may or may not make the 2:59 EST cutoff, but will definitely get paid on Friday.
So I just need one more $15 article to make my $150 goal. That's in three days of writing!
Friday - Four articles
Saturday - Four articles (technically two were written after midnight Sunday, but I'm counting it as Saturday because I hadn't gone to sleep yet)
Sunday - One article (so far)
It's looking like four articles a day is good for me right now. It may get harder when I go back to school, but now it's pretty easy. I've been having some trouble finding good titles today, but I'm going to take a break and maybe give it another shot later. I think if I want to expand this goal to $300 a week, I will either have to write five or six a day, or write earlier on Wednesday to make the 2:59 AM cutoff.
And because I don't want people to think DS is a scam (and as motivation to keep writing), here are my earnings for the year so far (click on the picture to view it full-size):
So there you have it! This is how I will be funding my trip to L.A. and paying for my textbooks!
P.S. I know this is supposed to be a spiritual blog, but I think there is a link between spirituality and money, whether good or bad. I've been very stressed out about bills and not having a job that it has made it hard for me to focus on my spirituality and trust my insight like I would if I had no financial concerns. Who knows, maybe the money I save from these articles will help fund my trip to Sedona, AZ, one of the spiritual centers of the world!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Setting Goals
I've learned the hard way that it is easier to achieve something by setting a goal instead of jumping in with no plan. When I decided earlier this week that I was going to start writing articles for Demand Studios again, my initial goal was to get $150-$200 by July 24, which is tomorrow. What I didn't take into account was 1) There is a cutoff for when to receive payments on either Tuesday or Friday and 2) I wasn't pushing myself hard enough to complete the 10-15 articles required to reach that goal.
So now I have to wonder if it's easier to set daily, weekly, or monthly goals. Do I set general goals (i.e. I want to make $500 by the time I go back to school) or specific goals (i.e. I want to make enough money to be able to pay my phone bill for the next two months)? Obviously if I set a daily goal of at least $100, my weekly goal would be $500-$700 (if I write on the weekends), which would make my monthly goal $2,000-$2,800. That's practically a full-time job, and if I could pull that off, I wouldn't worry so much about finding a real job! But I think setting a weekly goal of $500 or more is more realistic than setting a daily goal of $100, for the simple fact that I go out during the day and come back late at night, and probably won't want to bang out 6 articles after waking up or before I go to sleep.
I just received $60 for four articles, the first two which were written on Tuesday, and the second which were written on Wednesday. So I was $90 short of my goal, unless I want to get technical and say, "Well, I didn't mean it had to be in my account by the 24th, I just want the articles approved for payment by then." This would allow me to make up that $90 by tomorrow, but it would mean getting six articles approved by then! This is actually entirely doable, as I have two under review right now, and could easily knock out four more if I gave myself a late deadline.
In light of everything that I need to do (pay bills, buy textbooks, and save money to go to L.A.), I think I am better off setting weekly goals. But it gets a little tricky, since the payments are twice a week. Anything I write between Thursday and Sunday at 11:59 PST will get paid out on Tuesday. Anything I write between Monday and Wednesday at 11:59 PST will get paid out on Friday. I think the best thing for me to do is set a cumulative goal, instead of a biweekly goal, which I think will put a lot more pressure on me. That way if I don't reach my goal for Tuesday's payment, I have a few days to make up for it.
Taking into account the two articles that I have pending right now, I'd say 10-20 $15 articles is pretty reasonable. That would net me $150 on the low end, $300 on the high end by next Friday, with the potential for more if I can push myself to knock out more than 20 articles. I think it's possible. No, I know it's possible! Hopefully, I'll remember to update as the week progresses. Wish me luck!
For tips on setting your own writing goals, check out these sites:
Setting Effective Writing Goals
Setting Your Writing Goals
Here's some shameless self-promotion to one of my articles about goal setting:
Achieve Your Goals with a Wish Jar: Setting and Achieving Goals, Wishes Creatively
So now I have to wonder if it's easier to set daily, weekly, or monthly goals. Do I set general goals (i.e. I want to make $500 by the time I go back to school) or specific goals (i.e. I want to make enough money to be able to pay my phone bill for the next two months)? Obviously if I set a daily goal of at least $100, my weekly goal would be $500-$700 (if I write on the weekends), which would make my monthly goal $2,000-$2,800. That's practically a full-time job, and if I could pull that off, I wouldn't worry so much about finding a real job! But I think setting a weekly goal of $500 or more is more realistic than setting a daily goal of $100, for the simple fact that I go out during the day and come back late at night, and probably won't want to bang out 6 articles after waking up or before I go to sleep.
I just received $60 for four articles, the first two which were written on Tuesday, and the second which were written on Wednesday. So I was $90 short of my goal, unless I want to get technical and say, "Well, I didn't mean it had to be in my account by the 24th, I just want the articles approved for payment by then." This would allow me to make up that $90 by tomorrow, but it would mean getting six articles approved by then! This is actually entirely doable, as I have two under review right now, and could easily knock out four more if I gave myself a late deadline.
In light of everything that I need to do (pay bills, buy textbooks, and save money to go to L.A.), I think I am better off setting weekly goals. But it gets a little tricky, since the payments are twice a week. Anything I write between Thursday and Sunday at 11:59 PST will get paid out on Tuesday. Anything I write between Monday and Wednesday at 11:59 PST will get paid out on Friday. I think the best thing for me to do is set a cumulative goal, instead of a biweekly goal, which I think will put a lot more pressure on me. That way if I don't reach my goal for Tuesday's payment, I have a few days to make up for it.
Taking into account the two articles that I have pending right now, I'd say 10-20 $15 articles is pretty reasonable. That would net me $150 on the low end, $300 on the high end by next Friday, with the potential for more if I can push myself to knock out more than 20 articles. I think it's possible. No, I know it's possible! Hopefully, I'll remember to update as the week progresses. Wish me luck!
For tips on setting your own writing goals, check out these sites:
Setting Effective Writing Goals
Setting Your Writing Goals
Here's some shameless self-promotion to one of my articles about goal setting:
Achieve Your Goals with a Wish Jar: Setting and Achieving Goals, Wishes Creatively
A Lesson in Gratitude, Part 1
I need to start writing more. For real.
My summer is a little more than halfway gone, and there is about a month until I go back to school. Compared to last summer, minus still being unemployed, I'd have to say that it has been a good couple of months so far. Why? Well:
I've been hanging out with good friends on a semi-regular basis. Last summer, I saw my high school friends maybe five or six times the whole three months I was home. This summer, I hang out with one of my good friends almost every Wednesday. I have dinner dates with another friend at her place at least once a month, sometimes twice. Yesterday I had dinner with two of the girls from my usual circle, and I'm sure another dinner will be planned soon.
I've been to a lounge in Cambridge for open mics and poetry slams three times, went to the MFA once, went to the beach twice (albeit I didn't swim, but whatever), and I'm going to a cocktail party next week. I went to a wedding in Connecticut with my sister last month, I'm (hopefully) going to a Maroon 5 concert next month, and might even have my roommate come visit me for a couple of days. So yeah, this summer is so much better than last summer.
But of course, I'm still unhappy.
I never realized how much I hate not working. This is the second summer I haven't had a job, and it's a little frustrating. It's not that I haven't been looking, because I have been. I was looking for internships and jobs in both fields I am studying (journalism and English) and had zero luck. That was a huge disappointment. I still have NNL (if you follow me on Twitter, you've probably heard me mention them more times than you care to count), but I don't get paid for that! I've recently started writing for Demand Studios again, and since I have so much free time, I really could make a decent amount of money with them. Enough to pay my phone bill, save some money to go to L.A. for my cousin's wedding in September, and pay for textbooks.
The funny thing is, I can't see myself having a traditional job. I guess growing up in this digital age, I just can't see myself doing office work or working in a corporate setting for the rest of my life. It's so contrary to who I am. Even though I haven't done much traveling, I know that I would love to visit other countries, or even the other side of THIS country. I love all things technology related, for the most part, I'm fascinated by complementary and alternative medicine, and I am a full supporter of tattoos and tattoo acceptance in the workplace. I know full well that my decision to get one on my wrist could possibly kill a lot of job prospects, but I was fortunate enough to work in a restaurant that was incredibly supportive of body art. I guess that spoiled me a little bit.
The point of this post - I keep getting depressed about what I don't have (a job, money) that I rarely stop to be grateful for the things I do have (great friends, the ability to work on my own schedule, and express myself for spoken word.) Yes, things could be better, but they could be worse. And that's just fine with me.
My summer is a little more than halfway gone, and there is about a month until I go back to school. Compared to last summer, minus still being unemployed, I'd have to say that it has been a good couple of months so far. Why? Well:
I've been hanging out with good friends on a semi-regular basis. Last summer, I saw my high school friends maybe five or six times the whole three months I was home. This summer, I hang out with one of my good friends almost every Wednesday. I have dinner dates with another friend at her place at least once a month, sometimes twice. Yesterday I had dinner with two of the girls from my usual circle, and I'm sure another dinner will be planned soon.
I've been to a lounge in Cambridge for open mics and poetry slams three times, went to the MFA once, went to the beach twice (albeit I didn't swim, but whatever), and I'm going to a cocktail party next week. I went to a wedding in Connecticut with my sister last month, I'm (hopefully) going to a Maroon 5 concert next month, and might even have my roommate come visit me for a couple of days. So yeah, this summer is so much better than last summer.
But of course, I'm still unhappy.
I never realized how much I hate not working. This is the second summer I haven't had a job, and it's a little frustrating. It's not that I haven't been looking, because I have been. I was looking for internships and jobs in both fields I am studying (journalism and English) and had zero luck. That was a huge disappointment. I still have NNL (if you follow me on Twitter, you've probably heard me mention them more times than you care to count), but I don't get paid for that! I've recently started writing for Demand Studios again, and since I have so much free time, I really could make a decent amount of money with them. Enough to pay my phone bill, save some money to go to L.A. for my cousin's wedding in September, and pay for textbooks.
The funny thing is, I can't see myself having a traditional job. I guess growing up in this digital age, I just can't see myself doing office work or working in a corporate setting for the rest of my life. It's so contrary to who I am. Even though I haven't done much traveling, I know that I would love to visit other countries, or even the other side of THIS country. I love all things technology related, for the most part, I'm fascinated by complementary and alternative medicine, and I am a full supporter of tattoos and tattoo acceptance in the workplace. I know full well that my decision to get one on my wrist could possibly kill a lot of job prospects, but I was fortunate enough to work in a restaurant that was incredibly supportive of body art. I guess that spoiled me a little bit.
The point of this post - I keep getting depressed about what I don't have (a job, money) that I rarely stop to be grateful for the things I do have (great friends, the ability to work on my own schedule, and express myself for spoken word.) Yes, things could be better, but they could be worse. And that's just fine with me.
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