[ ! ] The Sugarbuzz Project

So now that 2008 is over, I suppose I need some ‘resolutions’ for this year that I’ll most likely break. Well, here goes.

1. I plan to focus more on freelance work. I have managed to get two regular customers, and I’ve noticed that I’m able to make a lot more money when I do freelance work than any of my other methods. I guess I will be focusing on this as my main source of online income. Hey, since the first of January, I’ve already made almost a hundred bucks. Only fifteen cents of that income has been non-freelance. It’s definitely worth it to me to hit this angle hard. Whenever I’m writing content for other people, I’m generally earning between 15 and 25 bucks per hour. Too bad I can’t do this full time…yet.

2. I may slack off on paid posts. That was my main income source in 2008, and it was great, mostly thanks to PayPerPost keeping me well stocked with jobs. The problem was that I believe it was affecting my page rank (dropping this site from PR3 to PR2…which isn’t terrible, but I want it to recover eventually). I will still do a few, but I may just hang back a bit on it.

3. I will most likely cut out all of the PTC sites that I use, with a couple exceptions. I’m not really serious about them, and even though I thought that Pay2Surf was a great site (and still have hope for them), I requested a payout well over 90 days ago, and have yet to get any response. I don’t want to say they are a bad site, and I’m reserving judgement for the time. I know they have had massive growth, and I don’t  think they will dissappear any time soon, but I don’t want to wait forever. Oh, and it’s also been mentioned in their forums that negative posts on member’s blogs about the site will get members banned. Hmm…I don’t consider this a negative post at all, in fact I hope the site does very well. Unfortunately, there are concerns, since most PTC sites are scams. I doubt P2S is a scam, honestly, but it does sound like I’ll be waiting indefinitely.

4. I would love to have more free time to work on content for this site. Perhaps I will try to make that happen. There is a small chance that I will be getting a laptop soon, so I’ll be able to work from, er, work. That means I will be able to not only work more on this site (and my other blogs), but I’ll also be able to do more freelance work and make bigger bucks.

5. I’ve set up a mailing list feature on this site. Use it. I don’t have any intention of using it all the time, only every now and then when I either need to communicate something with my readers or have a super awesome deal for someone. No, I’m not a super affiliate, so I won’t be cramming offers down your throats.

6. I have gained a ton of Twitter followers in the past couple of weeks. By the end of 2009, I’d like to be over the 1000 follower mark.

7. Unfortunately, my RSS subscribers have not followed the same path as my Twitter hoards. I’d like to have at least 150 RSS subscribers by the end of 2009.

8. Money. I’d like to make lots of it. Last year, I set a goal of $500 which I proceded to decimate just past the halfway through the year mark. This year, considering how I’m only four days in and have made almost $100, I’m going to double that goal. This year I would like to earn a minimum of $1000 online.

9. On the business end of things, this year I would like to do a couple of things. First, I want to learn more about running this more as a serious business and less as a monetized hobby. I already keep track of all of my online income for tax purposes, but I want to take this more serious than that. This year, I need to get a real business model put together and learn how to run this thing the right way.

10. My personal goals are pretty straight forward. I would like to get back to college and take a few classes online. Eventually, I would like to get a degree in accounting. My goal is to try to get started back in school this year. Also, I want to get my personal finances on track where my ‘real job’ does just a bit more than just vanish. It’s going to take a ton of effort, but I’m hoping that becoming a penny-nazi will pay off. Also, I would like to work on my music. I just got a new guitar, and making some extra cash will help me get some fun gear for it. Maybe I can even play a couple of gigs for even more spending money. Yeah, that would be sweet. And last but not least, I would like to be a better husband and parent. I’ve got plenty of flaws in my oh-so-distorted personality, and I’d like to get past a few at least to the point that I can be what I need to be for my family. Also, I’m pretty sure that I need to spend more time taking care of my spiritual life. Alas, the most important things tend to get the most neglect.

OK, that last point was a bunch of points put together, but I wanted to streamline the personal goals. Not to mention, a top ten list works better than a top 13.7 list. Right?

So, readers and bloggers, what are your goals for 2009?