#fpmscavhunt

I just posted this in the comments of the blog post, but want to share it here as well - http://www.firepolemarketing.com/scavenger-hunt-2014-winners/

I'm in shock - literally shaking for a solid 10 minutes after reading the announcement. I feel so deeply honored and in awe.

I'd like to share a crazy story. I read the email about the scavenger hunt and I am in LOVE with things like this - hunts, games, challenges - YES. (For an ex-boyfriend's birthday, I've even hidden presents around his house and yard and gave him written riddles so he had to find each one.)

But, after I read the email + announcement post, a thought came over me... "I'm going to win." It wasn't a let's go do this sort of a thing. It was like it had already been written.

Obviously, a very strange way to start out on this adventure, but I signed up and day one I tackled a little over 100 points. Throughout the hunt, I methodically and consistently kept making my way through the challenges.

When I started to see the other players completing ALL of the initial challenges I began to think - wow, am I crazy?! But, I kept planning out how I was going to finish all of the challenges and doing the best I could.

When the bonus challenges were announced starting with points given to those who came up with the challenges and I didn't get any of the extra points, my heart sank. I thought, "I. am. crazy. There is no way I can win this thing now." And almost quit right then.

I took some time, came back and thought about what I would need to do to pull through. There was a tiny possibility that if the magical stars aligned I could still win. So the last few days, I gave it my all. The last hour before the video submission I was sending my video link via Facebook, email, text, looking for forums that might be interested in it. I knew that challenge was key.

4 pm yesterday, that was it. I had worked my bums off the last few weeks, but now it was out of my control. The remaining social media strategy challenge would be decided upon by the Firepole Marketing team and there was absolutely nothing more I could do.

8:30 this morning I started to check around. Clicking the link to this post, I scrolled through (heart pounding fiercely out of my chest, verging on heart attack rates) barely able to read.... until... "Living Quirky". My name? ... Living Quirky ... MY NAME!!??!?!???!?

Full on shaking took over.

I had no idea what to do.

My mind was max capacity and entirely empty all at the same time.

My body felt like it had been electrified.

The following 10 minutes were a blur and then I grabbed my phone to call my mom. Haha.

I don't even really know how to respond to this. It feels so surreal. I know it's just a fun marketing scavenger hunt, but it was fundamentally important to me for so many other reasons.

I didn't know who to email first. Bhoomi, Megan, post on Facebook, post here. What do I even say? I didn't want to say a generic "congratulations to all - great effort". I feel something more deep and profound than that.

It's not just about winning. It's about following through. Seeing something and taking consistent action towards achieving it. Reaching out for help, to collaborate, to inspire, to challenge others, to challenge yourself. Going far beyond what you thought was possible.

It's about all of those things, but the reason I shared my story is because it's about believing in something. Even when tangible signs appear as though it's impossible.

It's about listening to that crazy voice that just knew.

This was a whirlwind with severe highs and lows of which I am still processing, but the overwhelming feeling right now is of pure gratitude. It can sound very cliché, but thank you.

Thank you Firepole Marketing.

Thank you to all of the other players.

Thank you to everyone who helped me the last few weeks.

And, thank you to that little voice. Right now, I really feel like the little engine that could.

With all my heart,

Christina

That's it,  still a few bits that I will tackle at my leisure for the fun of it.

Actually all of it has been immence fun!  I've met some great people, been challenged to pull all my best stuff out and face the things I really wouldnt normally have done so thankyou Firepole Marketing and everyone else who joined in  I am sure we will be seeing eachother again very soon!

This is one of the most difficult decisions anyone building a business has to tackle.  At what point do you hand over some of your work or duties to an assistant (virtual or otherwise).  The decision has been made slightly easier wth the rise of the "virtual assistant", they are people who are independant contractors who you comunicate with online and they don't even need to be in the same country as you, never mind office.  There is no doubt though, as soon as you make the decision to hire someone you do make yourself responsible in some small measure to their continued well being and financial security.

For me, the decision is very difficult because I have always been self-employed I have never employed anyone, I have an accountant who does the books anually but I have tended to do everything else myself. Writing, graphics, design work, programming etc as well as the filing (well stacking anyway!).  This has probably held me back in the past and I now realise that I could probably have built a much more secure future from an early stage if I has spread the load and spent a bit more time out winning new contracts rather than actally putting the graft in at the keyboard.

Turning over a ne leaf now I think for me the trigger point should be that if I can land enough secure work to hypothicate about 30 percent of the turnover to employing virtual assistance I will do it.  There should be very little extra overhead involve in hiring a virtual assistant so the margin on this can be tighter than would be normal in businesses employing inhouse staff.  It does rely though on being able to see a good 9 months ahead and sometimes that is very difficult.

This heading, which could potentially be a post on my blog would attract a lot of search traffic because of the huge number of seaches for the terms Wordpress SEO and plugins. It would also provide relevant keyword content and search relevancy for anyone searching for SEO Guide, Wordpress Guide and plugin guide.  It would be an "Ultimate Guide" type post which always promises great value for reading time.  The short and desciptive title would encourage social media sharing and I would also ensure that an arresting and appropriate featured image was set to so that images would appear automatically in applications like feedly, twitter, facebook,G+ linkedin and pintrest. 

I would also ensure that the text contained plenty of calls to action in the form of comments to encourage engagement and social sharing.

I havent got enough keyword base searh traffic yet so I have dug into the Elevensestime.Blogspot.com site, the principle keywords are blueberrry cake!  One of our members posted a bluberry cake recipe a few years ago.  According to the Blogspot stats this post is by far the most popular on the site and the image above shows why! :)

Network referals

Google Analytics for the MartinSocially.com domain - early days! The most frequent referer is the domain name itself which probably indicates that the vast majority of traffic is via word of mouth or cutting and pasting the actual address  - I have had seven hits from facebook recently which probably coincides with my pleas for hunters to have a look!