My goal update for month three.

My Goal Update

August 29^th, 2014

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Intro:

It's the time of the month to post an update on my goal. This month is a special month for me, only because it's month 3. My goals traditionally are set up by month milestones: 3 months, then 6, then 1 year, 3 years, and 5. This project is to become something special. This project requires the ideas and skills I've picked up, but I'm going to learn something new. That's why I love this stuff. I like to think that one day I'll be someone that has tried a bit of everything. Jack of all trades, master of some. Enough of that, have I actually done anything this month or the last three months?

Accomplishments:

Looking back at my first three posts, they're pretty dismal. The very first one that announces my intention to bring this cause back only gives 2 goals:

• 62 shares of the cause - Not Done.
• Put the description page back on the site - Done

The next post was made on the road and mentions making a Facebook page, which also been finished.  You can follow it here. The 3rd post rambles on, outlining my neuroses about funding animal shelters in Russia, then ends with 2 vague goals: Keep reassuring myself it's a good idea, and figure out advertising. I need to clean up my act on this stuff.

I have ads up on the site. 30% of the revenue made will go to the cause. For every $100 dollars, $30 will go towards the cause. I'm gonna be truthful here, I need the rest. BUT, I'm working on getting other forms of income coming in to help out this cause. These are freelance projects and they are way too young at the moment to actually help. At the 1 year marker, there should be a huge significant change though. At the moment, I'm still playing with the placements of the ads so people will actually, you know, CLICK them.

I have actually completed a post on Animal Rights. It's here, and it's a start. It is just an outline of some of the ideas that bug me as I start to get into the literature and ideas. Also, there is a a new shelter going up on the outside of Moscow. Facebook is here, website to donate is here, and my post is here.

Surprisingly enough, that post I did last month helped. So often it's easy to go into a new idea and new goal, then the brain gets in the way with ideas on why it won't work or why people won't support me. With actual work put into this project, good documentation, and real milestone goals, I should see progress by the 6 month mark.

My page views are up. I'm getting all sorts of spam, but when I post to IWSG, this update, and Google +, I see real numbers go up. And sometimes the people keep coming back for more! That always feels good. With my page views up, an emphasis on quality of posts, better viability for the cause, and the new share links, it should help spread the word of the cause.

I got more done in the last three months than I expected. Something to proud of. I think right now I can honestly say that this project has started back up, and it's time to set honest, concrete milestones to meet, and not just vague ideas.

For the Future:

The original goal was raise $20,000 dollars to distribute between animal shelters in Moscow. This is still a big milestone goal. To reach something like that in 1 year, I need to raise $200 a month.

• Milestone 1 is raise $645. With this money, it can become a non-profit, and can offer real benefits to donators, like tax breaks and such.
• Milestone 2 is make $200 a month. Better visibility for the Cause is a must. Patron is under consideration at this point. That brings a new set of goals to be considered, though.
• Milestone 3 needs to be better advertising for myself and this cause. So, an ad needs to be made, and distributed.
• Milestone 4 is creating and finishing a blog hop. I'm working on an idea for one, as it becomes more concrete, more details will be posted.

I just need to start talking to more people. I haven't been able to get out much to do this, but now this project is going, I have something to direct people to. There is my vague goal for the month. Let's raise a glass and hope that the next three months will be productive as well.