November 11, 2019 · 6:46 am

Failing at Your Own Business–Online Summit Presenter

I know you are probably thinking “Give it a rest already” the Work Freedom summit is OVER. But, to be true to form, I must write and share my latest epic income-generating disaster. 

If you’ll remember, I participated in the Work Freedom Summit a few weeks back. I spoke about publishing eBooks, something I know a bit about. Of course, I could have also presented information on freelance content writing, teaching ESL online, affiliate marketing, creating online courses, blogging, overcoming insurmountable obstacles, and finding your passion. However, when the hosts got around to my application, apparently everything had been taken but the eBooks topic, so it was a take it or leave it situation.

So let’s talk about the interview first. I thought it went ok, until I went to share my slides. Just before the call, I had been practicing and forgotten to reset the slides, so I began with the end in mind or something. Being flustered, it took me a few minutes to even figure out why the slide I was looking at wasn’t the title slide. To make matters worse, instead of typing 1 and hitting enter to return to the title slide, I SCROLLED through them backwards looking in panic for the title slide. 

Then there was that oversight on my part about the link to the handy worksheet I had prepared. I was supposed to send the host a copy of that document erroneously believing that it would be included in the bonus section or at the very least, a pdf link after my bio. Nope. It appeared absolutely NOWHERE because I FORGOT to send it!

So today, feel free to download this document about the steps on How to Turn Your Blog into a Book (which is an upcoming eBook).

Another issue that I’m sure was all in my head was that I sort of felt like the kid sister in this whole experience. You know, the one mom said you HAD to let tag along but you really didn’t want to because somehow I was left off the initial contact list and missed the first few communicants from the presenters. Then I was supposed to get an email to check my profile page but didn’t so had to ask the host about it. But it all worked out.

I was able to attend a few of the sessions during the summit and listed those in a previous post. I just wanted to make a commentary on the communication styles of the presenters here.

With one notable exception, the women presenters participated in a dialogue with the host and the men expounded their thoughts at the host. I know that’s not really a new observation on the differences between male and female communication styles, but seeing it in these back to back sessions really brought it home to me. The communication styles also influenced how I, as a female observer, absorbed the information presented. I was more interested in, hence felt like I learned more from, the dialogue rather than the pontificating, naturally. 

I also noticed that not one of the presenters in the sessions I attended used slides! WHAT? I thought that conducting my session as a class would be the most natural way to provide the information to viewers and as a consequence, spent some time on slide creation. ALL of the presenters were just talking heads, no additional graphics, nothing in the background to spark creative interaction, NOTHING! They might as well have been podcasts (which I also recently did for that first time and you can find that here.)

Now for the nitty gritty. It would have been nice to have received some monetary compensation for my time and effort in promoting, but as no one signed up for the paid version of the Work Freedom Summit via my affiliate link, I earned a big fat goose egg. I’m not as disappointed as you might think, since I went into this as a learning experience rather than expecting to make the big bucks, but still….

Those are the negatives. There were some positives about this experience, however.

First, I learned that I could do this! Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that participating in a video summit was something way beyond my comfort zone? Well, it was, but I did it anyway. And it wasn’t so bad. Neither was sharing a graphic with MY picture on it all over social media. I mean, it wasn’t my favorite thing in the world to do, but I did it!

I also picked up a few useful tidbits from the presentations that I am planning on implementing beginning in the new year. So my time spent in viewing wasn’t wasted at all. (And neither will yours be if you choose to get the lifetime access pass now available. Wink Wink, Nudge nudge) 

Lastly, the summit deadline made me get on the stick and finish the publishing course I’ve been working on. It’s live. You can see it here: Book It: Everything You Need to Know to Publish Your Book on Amazon.

I’m looking for Beta Testers for the course before I make a big deal over it. If you, or anyone you know is brave enough to self-publish or has already self-published, I’d love for you to give me feedback on the material I’ve provided in this course. Please contact me with the form below.

All in all, my first summit presenter experience was a mixed bag of tricks. But I can say, I’ve been there, done that, and it’s time to move on to another venture. 

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November 8, 2019 · 6:11 am

Sometimes I feel like a motherless colt—

In order to bring the vehicles and licenses up to speed, we needed more cash. So one of the horses had to go. It was a toss-up between Lady and Cookie but my husband was leaning more towards Cookie because Red and Lady are best buddies. 

The chicken feather guy made an offer for Cookie. As soon as I heard that, I vetoed the idea. Absolutely not. I’ve seen how malnourished his animals were. My husband said that no matter whom we sold Cookie to, she might be mistreated. I pointed out that with the chicken feather guy is was 100% sure. So no deal. 

I think the chicken feather guy wanted Cookie because there is a distinct possibility she is pregnant with his stallion’s colt. Odds are Lady is also pregnant, which means if we didn’t sell one or both of the mares, we’d have 5 horses next summer. We don’t have space for the animals we have now, let alone FIVE horses. 

Then an interested party in the next village over offered 5 goats in exchange for Cookie. I again vetoed that deal. We don’t have room for the 10 goats we have now, much less 5 more. And we need cash for the vehicle permits. Did my husband think we could just take a goat down to the office and settle up? No, not happening.

Finally, one of La Yacata guys offered $300 USD for Cookie. We knew the guy, we knew where Cookie would be stabled, and we knew she’d be fine. Since my husband paid $10,000 pesos for a pregnant Cookie earlier in the year, it was a substantial loss. Of course, we kept Red who in a year or so will be valued quite a bit, so it might work out in the end. Maybe. 

I also vetoed the payment being in U.S. dollars since then we’d have to run around and try to get the best exchange rate, wasting valuable time. So, the guy went and had his money exchanged himself. At 18 pesos per dollar, my husband received $5,400 pesos. A fabulous deal on a perfectly good mare for the other guy. Not so much for us. 

The money was surely burning a hole in my husband’s pocket because he went immediately to the Honda distributor to order some parts for his motorcycle. They ought to be here next week. 

We also went to ask about the cost of all the paperwork we need to do for my new Kymco, his Honda and Butch the truck. It’s going to cost a pretty penny. But first, I need to renew my license to have the Kymco put in my name. 

So back to Red. The first night he was extremely upset. He couldn’t be put in with Lady because he’d try to nurse and she wasn’t having any of that. So being all alone in his stall upset him. When we opened the door the next morning, he ran over to Lady’s stall. She reassured him with nose kisses and gentle mane grooming. He calmed right down.

But when the herd went out for the morning foraging, he became agitated again and ran around for a while. He eventually gave up the search for his mother and settled by Lady to graze.

The second night was easier. Papa Chivo went out several times in the night to make sure he had enough feed, which kept his agitation to a minimal. 

That afternoon, however, there was the rooster incident. When my son went out to check the water supply for the animals, the rooster, FuzzyFoot was lying on the ground in Red’s stall dying. He had me come out and as we watched FuzzyFoot died. 

Certain that my husband would blame the dogs, we tried to figure out what had happened. It’s possible Red kicked the rooster or maybe laid down on him by accident. We were sure that it hadn’t been any of the dogs since there were no bite marks, scattered feathers or blood.

When my husband got home just a few minutes later, we gave him the news. He thinks the rooster may have eaten a scorpion and thankfully agreed it wasn’t the dogs. Of course, now we need a new rooster to greet the morn’ and encourage the egg-laying.

Our dogs really disliked FuzzyFoot. When he would crow, all three dogs would set about howling in perfect harmony or at least what they believed to be harmony. So now that he’s gone, the mornings are quite peaceful.

Red carried on for another two nights, but then seemed resigned to his fate. As long as he can check in with Lady and has a full barrica (barrel) of feed, he’s ok. We’ll just have to wait and see if Lady presents with a foal next year, which will again put a strain on our animal living quarters. By then, Red will be a young stallion. 

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Would you like more fun animal stories?

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November 6, 2019 · 6:27 am

My moto

Last week I took possession of a new-to-me Kymco People 2006 scooter. You may not have realized that I have been moto-less for nearly a year after I flew over a tope at high speed (or what I consider high speed) and the undercarriage of my last moto cracked down the middle.

Nor may you be aware that this is my THIRD moto since moving to Mexico in comparison to my husband’s first. The first moto fell to pieces after I was hit from behind by the meat truck while going to a class one Saturday morning. I was fine but I had a fit of the vapors, which is understandable once you realize that it was about 10 days after my mother-in-law died as a result of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident with a police vehicle. 

Anyway, I am a moto owner again finally! To reward myself, I ordered this helmet because safety is important. 

The Kymco has a few issues, but relatively minor ones. The gas gauge and speedometer aren’t working. The horn fuse was burnt out. A quick fuse change and it’s fine now though. I haven’t figured out how to open the glove compartment yet. But it runs like a dream!

Of course, I can’t zoop about town just yet. While I was on vacation, my Mexican driver’s license expired. So I’ll need to renew that. Plus I still have to get a license plate, which may be an issue since the owner won’t be back in Mexico until January. (I bought it from his dad with his permission.)

Overall, I’m quite pleased with my purchase. When I set out to find a moto earlier this year, I was floored with the prices. A decent moto these days costs MORE than a 7 x 20-meter lot in La Yacata. And if I had a choice of buying a new moto at that price or getting another lot, well, more land it is. 

When the owner’s dad made the verbal agreement with my husband to sell me the moto, he apparently had no idea how much a new moto costs either. It seems his wife called him a few choice names when they went to buy a replacement moto. But because I had already paid more than half of the purchase price, he agreed to honor the deal.

Anyway, the next step into my return to road freedom is to renew my license, but that will have to wait until the next paycheck. 

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