Quests - Archived

Depository for completed and deleted Quests:

Quest 1: CarpeDM Photo competition

Mission 1: Get canvas printers on board for the main prize - complete

+1 Networking

Mission 2: Get charity on board - complete

+1 Networking

Course Plotting: Waypoint set: decided on business structure: She will be self employed, all consequences will be to deal with as they come, I have set all the worries aside, am aware of all challenges and will deal with them as we go. I have set the waypoint and now for the mission: bonus mission 2: register as Self Employed - complete

Bonus mission 2: Small Facebook competition done together with a friend's local Facebook group to drive some local traffic to our fan page and increase our visibility. 

Mission 3: Get 5 schools on board, but speak to all school Headmasters indicated by the charity - current, but will start after 5th September when schools reopen after summer break.

22 sep 10: On Hold  

17 oct 10: deleted as impractical

Bonus mission 1: involve the local gallery to display the images taken by participants.

8th September: In progress 

17 oct 10: deleted because the poll showed people chose to display photos online only

Bonus Mission 3: involve the youth organisation in our town using known contacts. Do it by Friday 3rd September.

8th September: That deadline has not been reached, but it was reached today. It's still in progress, but contact has been made.

13th September: The local YMCA is on board! Mission complete!

Mission 4: 22 sep 10: Organise a group of young people to run the competition. They would effectively take all aspects of the competition under their management. To start with, contact the group leader of a recommended group.

26 sep 10: cancelling this bit due to increasing complexity.

Mission 5: Create a poster / flyer design or delegate it. Deleted after creating the blog

Mission 6: Create blog for the photo comp. Complete

Mission 7: Promote, promote, promote - cancelled

Quest 1 closed:

• due to a realisation here
• due to lack of interest proven with testing on Facebook

Epic Win: I want 5 people to submit a photo and donate money to the local charity. Before Christmas this year!

Superseded: participants, their school friends and parents visit the _________ gallery to view all photographs on display printed by our partner printers, there are reporters from the local media, officials from Woking Hospice, etc. The winner is announced and awarded with their prizes, the Hospice gets a big cheque handed whilst the reporters take pictures throughout the event. We get interviewed and introduce ourselves and create our image in the process. Our status and visibility in the town and county increases dramatically bringing visitors to our website and customers through our doors. The income from these customers is twice as much as we need to supplement my normal work income which gives us a positive outlook to the future. Our Facebook fan base increases which allows us to run our own little competitions, promotions and otherwise engage with our fan base.

Added 04 Sep 2010:

I'm doing this because it feels awesome to get to know new people and to bring them together to work on one great cause. The Hospice is non profit and can only work if people like me support it. They pay they great full time staff to look after people who already know they are at the end of their journey. It is sad, it's imperative these people get the best and the Hospice can do it, but it costs a lot to run.

Challenge 1: Learn to create a business UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I've never done it properly before, how long will it take me to identify a viable business idea?

What do I want to learn? Tim Ferriss method of creating a product and selling it

What is it? A series of tasks that allow anyone to create a business

Why am I procrastinating? They seem unexciting or difficult at the same time because I've never done it before and my brain freezes trying to gather it all at once AND pressure myself to start making money NOW.

Why do I want to learn this? I have been going round in circles for a few years now and I have finally became aware of this. I have been a fan of Tim's book; have watched interviews with him, read his blog and frequent his forum, but have NEVER implemented (or at least tried) his tips and recommendations.

I promise to thoroughly follow the layout of his method and see if what I learn will allow me to progress.

What are my assumptions:

• why do I need magazines, can't I find same info on forums, ebay, etc? My assumption is that it would be a terrible waste of time. This is also supported by the statement that Tim puts later int he book that if he'd be doing it again he'd use something faster to market than magazines: newspapers, websites etc.
• got the point of creating business status - this is scary, as it again implies doing it in the long term - what if I want to create many businesses in my life? Will I be labeled and won't be able to reposition myself? Perhaps limiting myself to using another expert might help. Dan Pink comes to mind with his many books about the works of other people.

Mission 0: Pick an affordably reachable niche

• task 1: Make a list of groups I was, am or may have been a part of according to guidelines in the book
• task 2: Which of these niches have their own magazines; choose ones according to guidelines in the book

Mission 1: Brainstorm Products - preferably information products

• task 3: pick two markets I am the most familiar with that have their own magazines with full page advertising that costs less than $5000. There should be no fewer than 15000 readers
• task 4: choose one of the three options:
• create content myself, often via paraphrasing and combining points from several books on the topic
• re-purpose the content that is in the public domain and not subject to copyright protection
• licence content or compensate an expert to help create content. Fees can be one-time and paid up front or royalty based (5-10% net revenue, for example)
• task 5: Use the following questions to brainstorm potential how to or informational products that can be sold to my markets using my expertise or borrowed expertise
• how can I tailor a general skill to my market (a skill that can be applied by more people than my market only) or add to what is being sold successfully in target magazines (think narrow and deep)
• what skills am I interested in that me and others in my markets would be willing to pay to learn? Become an expert in this skill for myself and then create a product to teach the same. 
• Ties to the above question too: What experts could I interview to create a sellable audio CD? These people need not be the best, just better than most. Offer them a digital master copy to do or sell as they like and /or offer small upfront or ongoing royalty payment. Record to PC and send to a transcription service.
• Do I have a failure to success story that could be turned into a how-to product for others? Consider problems overcome in the past - private or professional 

Mission 2: ADD LATER