Any project like starting a new business, buying a new home or perhaps building a boat always starts with a plan.
That plan maybe detailed, scripted out precisely on a spreadsheet or word document or just scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet or maybe just in the planners head. Whatever we want to call it it is a plan.
Of course, the more research that is done the more chances you have at succeeding regardless of who you are and what you are doing.
But one thing we all have to bear in mind is plans have to be flexible. There is no way that you can take in all aspects and project all scenarios in advance. If we were all to remain rigid then all of our plans are set to fail. I like to call it evolution. I believe all plans evolve, passively or otherwise, and it is he who makes the best of the opportunities during the evolution that will be the most successful.
One of those opportunities has been our on line diary. It is a small opportunity but none the less it is one and it is generating enough income to pay for the site and any add on software I need but I want it to get better.
I started using a very static site with no dynamic content and I was paying through the nose for it. Every photo I uploaded I think cost something like 40p. As you can imagine, I like to snap piccy's because it tells a story or sets a scene far better than my limited ability can do in words.
So with the help of Craig McGinty the author of This French Life and now a successful full time Blogger I set up this site on Typepad. Not to make my fortune but to tell our tale and have some fun. It has become a hobby so I never find it a chore.
But, and there is always a but!, how do you mix your writing and content to suit all of your audience?
The immediate objective of Perigord Vacance is to ultimately tempt you to take your holiday with us. Secondly, it hopefully provides some helpful tips and advice for potential restorers who are planning or in the middle of doing the same.
My blog has also told the story of the evolution of how our plans has changed. Quite involuntary but it has. The view is, if you are able to remain flexible then there is in my view every chance of success in what you are trying to achieve.
There is a lot of evidence of this when I talk to different people who are engaged in the same as us. They arrived with their purse of money an idea of what they want and where they want to live. A picture in their mind of the property, the view, the scale and the cost.
The end result can be very different indeed and if you are willing to 'go with the flow' then you are far better equipped for success.
The last 'hat' I wear as author of this blog, trying passively, to make some money to pay the sites expenses. Like so many bloggers around the globe I have inserted Google Adsense code into my site which when clicks generates an income. I am not allowed to say how much I make as it will breach Google's TOC but safe to say it is starting to total up.
I started have started experimenting with Google picture adverts at the base of each post. Not necessarily a permanent thing because I do not want my audience to be put off by commercialism because I try to retain an informal nature to what I write about.
Never the less, I have noticed the daily average income has doubled. It is too early to say if this is a pattern that can continue but something that has taken me by surprise.
There are websites around the world that generate over $100,000 for the author. One in particular is Ask the Builder. Just by writing advisory pieces on all subjects relating to building and DIY the click through rate on Google is such that the author is getting paid whilst he is mowing the lawn, visiting the supermarket or watching television.
With this in mind I have started Landscape Juice. I have by no means created enough content to bring in enough income to live on but in time and with regular writing I hope to make some decent pocket money and enjoy doing it too.
If you are interested in Blogging for business then its worth checking out Craig's sites. In the meantime, have a look at this site that Craig emailed to me to look at. Its basic but good.
