The Blog of Laura Clough

In my last post I mentioned that we were putting our house on the market and would be moving into a tiny house once our current house sells.

Why on earth would we move our family of four from 2300 square feet of luxury into a house of 1100 sq ft which is less than half the size.

In a word…

Simplification.

We have lived in our dream house now for nearly 7 years.  It’s great.  It has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a big kitchen.  It’s perfect.

We can totally afford it.  We have a tenant in a detached in-law suite behind the garage who pays a big chunk of our mortgage.

So what is it?

I guess the question is ‘do we need all this space?’ and we are thinking that the answer is ‘no’.   We don’t.

We have several rooms that we never use.  We have closets that are full of stuff that we don’t really need.  We have to paint the house every 5 -7 years and that takes either time or money.  We have to clean it, we have to maintain it.   We have to maintain all the stuff inside of it.

Yes, that’s what home ownership is all about.

But, it doesn’t have to take up so much of our time.  If we cut the size of our house in half, it accomplishes several things.

One, we have half as much house to keep up.

Two, we have to get rid of at least half of our stuff, and will free up more time and energy by not having all this stuff around.

Three, we will not spend as much money on the house.  The mortgage payment will be lower and the maintenance will cost less.

Four, we will probably leave the house more.  The kids are getting to an age where they will be doing more and more activities and we will be out and about more anyway.  It will be nice to know that we aren’t sacrificing time that we need to spend maintaining the house, and will be able to enjoy living instead.

More life, less house.  That’s what we are thinking.

We may be crazy and we may get there and realize it is just too small.  But I kind of doubt it.  I think it’s going to be great and we are going to love the freedom that will come with it.

Right now we are in the midst of demolishing the old 50s kitchen.  If it’s going to be a tiny house, I at least need it to be functional.  I’ll post some before and after pictures in the next post.

Yikes, the last 6 months have flown by.    Much has been accomplished in this short amount of time.  I will recap my goals for the year with where I am at today and see how I did, and what I still have to do before the rest of the year slips by.

Career

It’s going well.  I love my job and I love the people that I work with.  We successfully moved into a new office space in January, which I helped to get built out.   I am getting more organized and I am finding more ways to add value.

I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far.

Health/Fitness

I’m very pleased with the progress that I’ve made here.   I’ve been working out seriously 3 to 5 times a week.  I’ve been alternating a seriously kick-your-butt class at the YMCA called GRUNT with running.    It has already had a serious impact on my body and my fitness level.

My running speed is improving.  I was 6 minutes faster in this year’s Seadogs 5K than last year.    That’ s better than expected.

Oh, and I’ve lost 20 pounds so far this year.

Affiliate Marketing

Still plugging along here.  I’ve created one content rich site so far this year (3 is my goal).  I still need to carve out more time for this but based on the next list item, I don’t imagine that will happen until the fall.

Home

We have spent the last month in a full out decluttering/house fixing up sprint.  We purchased a new house this month, a fixer-upper of course, so we needed to get our house on the market.    The new house is half the size of our current house so we have to purge!

We managed to clear out at least 7 SUV-loads full of miscellaneous crap to Goodwill in the last month.  I cannot describe how amazing it feels to get rid of stuff.  I thought I was doing a decent job all along of de-cluttering, but I was not.   I was fooling myself.  Only in the last few weeks have I gotten serious.   I am showing no mercy with my possessions.  If I don’t use them daily or at most weekly, they are going.   I am not allowing things to remain “just in case” I may need them “someday”.  It is all going.   The house looks amazing and it is so easy to keep neat and clean.

The next house, we have dubbed the “tiny house”.  It will be a real challenge to live in 1100 square feet but I think it will be really fun.   We will only bring furniture and possessions that have a designated place to live.  If they don’t have a spot, they aren’t coming with us.

Why are we moving into a tiny house?  I’ll post about that next time.

At the end of the year, it’s always nice to look back and see what has been accomplished, what hasn’t and to reflect on what has been learned.

Career

I started the year knowing that I was miserable at the company I worked for and that I needed to make a change.   I knew there was a potential opportunity somewhere in the murky unknown future to work for my friends but when it could happen was a great unknown.

I’m not one to sit back and wait for things to happen,  so it was a very difficult situation for me.  I found myself agitated with the lack of control I had over my life.  So I halfheartedly looked for a new job.  I even went on an interview.  But I knew even in the middle of interviewing that my heart wasn’t in it, and that I wanted to work for my friends.

I couldn’t stand to not be in control of my destiny, to wait for something to happen.  It was very difficult time for me.  Eventually, and this is the weird part, I surrendered to the universe and trusted that it would happen if I just had faith and relaxed.

And it did.  I went on vacation for two weeks and I had this unshakable image in my head that I would be giving my notice on the day I got back from vacation.  This seemed illogical to me and I didn’t know how it would happen but once again I decided to trust and surrender.

The Sunday night before I went back to work, my friends came over and offered me a job.  I gave my notice the next day, my first day back from vacation.  I’ve been there 4 months now and am ridiculously happy.

Lesson learned:  Tell the universe what you want.   Be very clear about what you want and have some faith that it will happen.  Let go of trying to control the situation.

Goals for 2010: Be the best Project Manager I can be.  Become more organized, develop new processes, become LEED Certified.

Health/Fitness

My goal for the year was to run the Beach to Beacon 10K, and lose a little weight and gain a little fitness in the process.

I did run the Beach to Beacon 10K in August and also the Trail to Ale 10K in September.  I ran several 5K races as well.  So far this year I have run 193 miles and I’ve lost about 15 pounds.

Lesson Learned: Having a fitness goal gives me a reason to go to the gym, or to go for a run.  Knowing that I was going to run a competitive race like the B2B really kept me motivated all year.

Goals for 2010: Run the Maine Half-Marathon (21K) in October.  I will have plenty of time to train and it will give me a goal that will last most of the year.  Also, I plan to increase my year’s mileage to 500 miles.  I want to get faster – I’d like to average 11 minute miles in the half-marathon.  And finally, I’d like to lose the last few pounds before I turn 4-0 in June.

Affiliate Marketing

I didn’t have a goal for the year other than to learn all that I could.  I love AM and I am doing pretty well for how little time I spend on it.  I love the unlimited scalability of it.  I love waking up in the morning and seeing sales that have come in when I’m asleep.  I love averaging 300% ROI and knowing full well that I can do better.

Lesson Learned: After playing around with CPA for half the year, I don’t feel okay about it and won’t continue to put effort into it.  I will concentrate my efforts on products that I would buy, that have real value.  I have yet to see a CPA product that didn’t feel scammy to me.

Goal for 2010: Dedicate more time to AM in general.  Fully develop three new content-rich websites in areas that interest me which have multiple monetization avenues.  I already have two sites planned out and ready to implement.   I will spend more time on link building and article writing.

Home

Our ongoing quest to declutter and simplify has been going well this year.  We have gotten rid of all the baby stuff and a huge amount of books and miscellaneous dreck.   The house is looking great.

Another ongoing goal is to fix up the house.  There’s nothing wrong with our house, but it is 210 years old, so it always needs something.  We’re trying to get it to that perfect state with all upgrades completed so if we find another dream house further up the coast we’ll be ready.  It’s hard to think about selling our house though because it is so wonderful, but we do love fixer-uppers and we do dream of moving to Damariscotta.    However, we both love our jobs so our goal isn’t to move this year.  It’s just to have the house in “sale-ready” condition…just in case.

Lesson Learned: Decluttering and simplifiying creates an awesome environment.  What also comes from simplifying life is a lack of want.  We don’t need or want stuff anymore.  If we do need anything we tend to purchase it at a resale shop so we can give it back to Goodwill when we are done with it.

Goal for 2010: Get rid of more stuff, continue updating the house, keep on enjoying life in a very old house with a great soul.

I always feel better after writing and/or saying my goals out loud.  Once they are “out there” I cannot take them back and I feel accountable.  Even if people forget, I don’t forget that I told them.  Also, I’m a huge believer in asking the Universe for what you want, because the Universe will conspire to give it to you.  Goals are part of that process.   And, as my friend Hollywood knows…Goals Work.
What are your goals?  Use the comment section to put yours in writing and send them out to the Universe!

Running was never my thing. I remember when I was in high school in the mid-eighties that we had to run 3 miles in order to pass Junior year gym class.  I did it, but  I hated every second of it.  I didn’t run again for years.

Then when I moved up to Maine in my early 30’s, I took another stab at it.  My husband (a runner) and I did some 5Ks together.  I didn’t take them very seriously.   My last one of this era I had to walk because I was  pregnant.  I took another 5 years off from the sport, raised my babies to toddler-hood and didn’t think much about running.

This year I surprised myself by adding “Run a 10K” to my life’s to-do list.  Where did that come from?

Then I surprised myself even more by rallying my husband (who had run it twice before), his family and our friends to run the Beach to Beacon 10K this year.

The race was on August 1st and it was amazing.

I had technically been training for this since January.   We did have a rough two month stretch in March-April when we were all sick.  My husband even had a bout with pneumonia.

August 1st came up quickly.  I was shocked at how fast it arrived.  When we started this adventure on treadmills at the YMCA in January, I thought we had all the time in the world.

I don’t think this incredibly wet Spring and Summer helped any either.  There were weeks where there were only one or maybe two days that it didn’t rain.   But still I progressed, gradually increasing my distance.  I had never really ran more that 2 miles without stopping before.  But I found myself doing 2.5, then 3, then 4.5.  I am not fast, these are slow miles, but I did them one after the other.

The Monday before the race my husband and I did a trial 10K run.  I finished despite it being a very hot and humid day.  We celebrated with brunch at Bintliff’s.  They didn’t seem to mind that we were dripping with sweat!   I was ready.  The weather wasn’t going to be worse than that – so I knew I’d be fine.

At this point I liked running okay.  I hated the first mile, but I usually had a smile on my face walking back to the car.  I still didn’t think of myself as a runner.

I’m pretty sure running produces the same chemical or hormone that is produced immediately following childbirth. I remember clearly my husband giving me the “are you kidding me” look when following 12 hours of labor and an hour and a half of my son’s head being stuck, I announced “I’d do that again!”. And I did.

Up until the race, I still didn’t enjoy running. However, during the Beach to Beacon, something changed.  I changed.  I became a runner.

I’m not sure when it happened exactly.

It could have been when running past a group of spectators that were blasting music through a professional sound system, a bunch of us started clapping along to the music when running past.

It could have been when running through town, turning the corner onto Shore Road, with hundreds of people lined up on both sides of the street, when I realized I was grinning from ear to ear and actually enjoying this. And I was doing something that all those people watching were not doing.

Or it might have been when I saw the finish line and knew I had something left. I began to sprint and passed a half dozen people before crossing the line. Then kicking myself for leaving that much extra in the tank and vowing to run sub-60 minutes next year.

For the rest of the day, and the days that have followed, I have a sense of peace and contentment that I don’t remember ever having had before.

And I do know one thing…. I’ll do it again.

This past weekend we took the kids to DEW Animal Kingdom in Mount Vernon, Maine.   DEW is an interesting place.  It’s a refuge for unwanted domestic, exotic and wild (D.E.W) animals in the middle-of-nowhere in Maine.

Started by Bob Miner, a Vietnam vet who found a way back from reclusiveness through the animals, DEW has built up quite a menagerie of creatures.

When you first enter the park, you are presented with the normal animal park assortment of barnyard creatures such as sheep and goats.

My daughter made fast friends with one older looking goat.

First she gave him a big hug.

Then she went in for the kiss.

After passing by some bears, kangaroos and wallabys (wallabi?), I spotted this handsome fella.

In my opinion, the Hyena was the scariest animal in the park.  Bob told us that they can run at speeds up to 18 MPH which they can sustain for an hour.  There’s no out running these guys.  And just look at the way this hyena thinks that my son = Lunch.

Hyena Staredown

Man that’s creepy.  Here’s a video that shows Bob feeding the Hyena while it whines (laughs) and devours huge chunks of meat without stopping to chew.

Here’s another video of Bob and one of his tigers.  He is missing an eye but can still catch birds for a snack.

If you ever find yourself near Augusta, Maine, DEW Animal Kingdom is definitely worth checking out.

On Saturday, June 13th, the town of Damariscotta, Maine was invaded by Pirates.

The town was well defended by cannons and armed militia men.

However, the Pirate ships would not turn back.  And the Pirate invasion could not be stopped.

The town was looted….to benefit the Lincoln County Family Holiday Wishes organization.    I was impressed by the event.  It seemed that the entire town was dressed up.  I even spotted a Pirate Dog.

And the costumes were not of poor quality, these were theatrical costumes, not the Wal-Mart Halloween variety.

A great event, for a great cause,  in a great town.  If you want to see amazing photos of the event, click here and here.

I had my first massive success this month as an affiliate marketer.  I launched a campaign for Mike Dillard’s Traffic Formula 2.0.   Mike re-released his hit MLM Traffic Formula program at the beginning of June.  When I got the email announcing the launch, I thought about promoting it.  I knew it was a great product and I knew it worked.

But, when I got an email about an affiliate contest for the launch, I knew I had to participate.  And I knew I could get conversions.

Yes, I tried to use the first place prize (Some expensive BMW) as motivation, knowing full well I couldn’t compete against the big boys.   And, I would have just sold the car anyway.

But just playing in the same sandbox with the big players was enough for me.  This time.

And I did extremely well.  It was a short window where the product was massively discounted.  I only had about a week to make as many sales as possible.  And make them I did.

I blew past my goal and did end up winning a prize for having over ten sales.   I had twelve.  And at a 40% commission, that’s a nice chunk of change for a few hours worth of work.

The morale of this story?

Reach a little higher.  Take action on your goals.  Believe.

If you want to make money with CPA offers, the first thing you have to do is join one or more CPA networks.

This step scares off a lot of people because you have to apply, you have to go through a phone interview, they will probably review your website if you have one, and then they decide whether or not to accept you.

This is not nearly as difficult as it seems.

I got in to Hydra and Tatto Media without any issue. Here’s how I did it. I used a referral link that I got from a forum.

Here is a referral link for Hydra that you can use:  http://network.hydranetwork.com/refer.php?id=41690

Here is a referral link for Tatto: http://www.tattomedia.com/affiliates/signup/2093

The reason I’m posting these links for you is that it is easier to get in the networks if you come in through a referral.

For Hydra, a few days after you submit your application they will call you. If you miss their call, call them back, press 1 for the Affiliate line.

When you speak with them you have to tell them that you will be using PPC as the source of traffic. If you don’t have a list or a website, that’s okay because you will be spending money on PPC and that is fine with them.

The questions they asked me were (my answers in parenthesis):
–How do you get your traffic? (PPC)
–How long have you been doing Affiliate Marketing? (9 months)
–How much do you spend each month? ($250-$300)
–What niches are currently working for you? (technology, health, real estate)
–What other networks are you working for? (Clickbank, CJ, Share-A-Sale)

Basically, they seem to want to know that you are a real person, that you have a plan on how you are going to do your marketing. If you have answers to these questions that are reasonable then you will be accepted.

Give it a try, you have nothing to lose.

Earlier this year I started writing down my top 100 Things to Do Before I Die list (the “Bucket” list). This is harder than it seems. I found myself staring at just a few items on a piece of paper and thinking “this is it, this is all I’ve got?”.

Where have my dreams gone?

But then over the next few weeks I relaxed into it and the ideas started flowing. As of today, I have about 62 items on the list. They include many travel destinations (Machu Picchu, the monasteries at Meteroa, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (thanks Dan!)) as well as things that I’ve already done but now want to do with my kids (swim with dolphins).

I am lucky that I’ve already done many things that would have been on this list (skydiving, living in a foreign country, backpacking around Europe) but that means I have to dig deep to come up with more things to do.

It’s been fun trying to push myself to add items to the list. My husband is writing his own list, too and it’s great when some of our items match (we both want to have a beer with Mike Rowe) And it’s also very cool when some don’t (an African safari?). We’ll both get to have even more adventures helping each other to check items off of our lists.

I was surprised by one item that I wrote down. Run a 10K. Until I wrote it down, I hadn’t realized that it was already on the list in my head. I’ve run 5K races but my conscious mind told me that 10K is just too far. But is it really?

So, last month I committed myself to run the Beach to Beacon this year. And despite the registration snafu that occurred, I was able to get a spot. I’m still hoping that the registration issues will be worked out and my husband and our friends will be able to run as well for team Colby Co.

I’ve been running consistently since the beginning of the year and I still have 4 1/2 months to train. I’ve been running on a treadmill, but starting today (supposed to be 55 degrees out!), I will run outside as much as possible. I’m hoping to do 3 1/2 miles outside today.

We have entered a new era.   The age of transparency.

The first post of the official blog of the Obama administration on WhiteHouse.gov listed 3 priorities:  Communication, Transparency and Participation.

And the expectations of the internet community have changed as well.

You can no longer hide who you are on the internet and expect that people will respect you and buy from you.

You can pretend to be a guru.  But not many people will fall for it.  You will be found out.

However, if you are yourself and let yourself come through, you will find people that really connect with you.   You will build relationships built on common interests not on you trying to sell them something.

Perry Belcher spilled his guts on this YouTube video.   Why should he hide his past when anyone with access to Google could “dig it up” anyway.   He now has over 22,000 followers on Twitter… coincidence?

Come clean.  Own your life.  Be yourself.