The Thirty Day Challenge and How it Affected my Decision to Quit my Job
I had never heard of the Thirty Day Challenge until I read about it on a blog at the end of July. This is understandable as it is a yearly event running during a month in the summer and 2007 has been it’s 3rd year so for the previous two years I was busy with University.
What is the Thirty Day Challenge?
In a nutshell, the 30DC is a month long course for internet marketing newbies looking to make their first $10 online. Obviously this fitted in exactly with what I wanted to do and it came at a great time for me. I had never heard of the guys behind it like Ed Dale and Dan Raine, but why would I? I was a little skeptical at first but I respected the blog I had heard about it from so I signed up.
Let me tell you, it’s been a whirlwind. The first few days were slow going and there was a lot of hype about what we were going to learn. Much of the information covered in the first few days was stuff I was familiar with so I was itching to move forward. By the end of the first week I was learning new techniques and really getting into it. I was working on it through my lunchtimes and rushing home from work at 5.30pm on the dot. I’ve even been skipping the gym oops!
What is all the Fuss About?
Now that we’re nearing the end of the challenge its easier for me to explain just what it’s all about. Basically the idea is to find a small market (your niche) that has some traffic and customers that are willing to spend money. You develop and product and sell it to them. Okay millions of people do this on a daily basis so what’s the big deal?
The 30DC taught us techniques that allowed us to find a market, create content in that niche, get that content ranked in google and test the market all in the space of a few days. Using traditional IM it could take months to get good rankings in Google with a new site which means a lot of time and a lot of waiting around which would all be for nothing if the market turned out to be a poor one.
It’s the sheer speed of the process which is the biggest attraction for me. I could literally explore and test a new niche every single week (and that’s exactly what I intend to do). Within a couple of months surely I’m bound to have turned up a good one? Well I hope so anyway.
How is the 30DC Related to my Job?
I’ve known I wanted to quit for months, I really decided that I would back in June and it all became a question of when. There was a lot more that I’ve got out of the 30DC than just the training though:
- I’ve been introduced to Facebook and I have made a TON of friends through the challenge. I did know about Facebook before but it seemed a bit of a geeky waste of time. I didn’t see it’s value, now I do.
- I have got to know many people through the challenge that really seem to be on the same wavelength as me and I think that surrounding yourself with like minded people is essential in any endeavour.
- It convinced me that people really do make money online in legitimate ways and that I can do it too. I already new this because I have done it before but now I had even more confirmation.
- I became so excited by the whole thing, that I was reminded just what enthusiam is all about. In the drudgery of my day job I had forgotten what it’s like to absolutely love your work! My desire to qui just became stronger than ever.
It’s the last point really that did it for me. As the challenge went on I got more and more into it. I became a frequent contributor to the forums and every day there are people adding me as a friend on Facebook and following my Twitter profile. This has never happened to me before. I was loving what we were doing and feeling like I was really part of a community.
But…
So far I have failed the challenge, oh dear! This does not bode well for me. Every day more and more challengers are making their first sale and winning the challenge but so far for me, $0, zip, nada! Does this discourage me? No. To see other people succeed shows me that it is possible. This process has been all about finding a good market and throwing away the bad ones. I’ve just picked bad ones so far. So I am not deterred (a little scared maybe!) but still determined.
And the thing is, now that I have resigned, I really have no choice but to continue. And if I persist day after day, how can I possibly fail?
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Stumble it!
Allan Cockerill
August 29, 2007
Failed the challenge? Certainly not!
The challenge is about stretching ourselves, and learning! The exciting thing is that you got to know stacks of people from around the world, and to me, that’s where we’ve all suceeded!
We’ve seen and experienced enough to know that the system works, so now it’s onward and upward! (And back to the gym!)
All the best!