Sizzling Summertime Musings

Nope, I’m not going to talk about the weather. There is nothing that I can add to the conversation that will make you feel cooler…just be thankful for air-conditioning!

I will, however, chat about making the most of your summer months, a time of the year where we tend to want to operate at a different pace although that doesn’t always mean we have fewer gigs on our plate. I’m very grateful that my workload is full, but I’m just as grateful that I can adjust my schedule when needed.

Summer Schedule

One thing I am not doing this summer is reading…books, that is. I’ve never been one to read much outside as the sunlight just hurts my eyes. And, with the need to be more flexible I’m concentrating on research projects that can be started well in advance of when an article is due. Still deadline driven, but not deadline consumed.

To give myself some flexibility, I have chosen to do the following this summer:

New Customers — Generally, I am not taking on new customers except for press releases through my new site, PRBeam.com. Even then, I had to turn one potential client down whose deadline clashed with other work I had pending. I expect to crank this end of my business up eventually, but not until after Labor Day.

My Websites — Balancing what customers need with what I manage on my own can be a challenge. That is one reason why I’m selling Auto Trends, as I plan to consolidate my work to a handful of sites. When it comes to who pays me, client work prevails. That means my work here will be mostly hit or miss until I get the rest of my stuff in order.

Flexible Schedule — Generally, I avoid evening work and working on weekends. Sunday is out: church and family time, but on some Saturday mornings I find it beneficial to write ahead in order to allow me to stop early some days or start later on other days.

Social Collaboration — I’m still using StumbleUpon and Twitter, but have cut back on using those social networking sites for now. I’m finding that the return on time investment doesn’t justify using these sites at least right now. I’m also limiting the number of guest articles I’m writing, but still accepting a few across my blog network. Again, this activity will ramp up after Labor Day.

How about you? Are you doing things differently this summer or are you maintaining the status quo?

Auto Trends? Yeah, That One is For Sale.

Vroom! Vroom!

I’ve used this blog as a place to announce the sale of some of my other websites and blogs down through the years, therefore I won’t be making an exception for Auto Trends, one of my two car blogs.

I launched Auto Trends in April 2008 in part as a way to feed traffic to my flagship car site, The Auto Writer. I expected to keep the site for about a year and then place it on the market. The economy was so bad in 2009 that I never entertained that thought seriously. Until now.

Regularly Updated

Auto Trends is updated by me 2-3 times per week and contains unique content including car reviews, technology, automotive gadgets and, of course, lots of speculation on my part. I like the site a lot, but I’m willing to part with it if someone meets my $8000 floor. I think it could fetch far more than that, but I’ll let it go for that amount. You can track the bid on Flippa, Sitepoint’s website marketing vehicle.

I have built and sold at least ten websites over the past eight years and know how the process works. I’m getting the usual tire kickers but I am not supplying detailed financial information except to people who really want to buy the site. That means if you want those details, you already have an established track record for buying and selling websites.

Right Match

Auto Trends would be an excellent fit for a media company looking to expand their portfolio–is that a hint or what?

In any case, the auction continues through the end of this month or when the website sells. I’m not in a position to “have to sell” Auto Trends, but then if the right offer was made, I’d be more than happy to let it go.