Prioritizing, Optimizing, focusing, marketing

Prioritize to optimize

Over the past month, I’ve found myself consumed in the Online Poker Circuit.  In addition to the Poker Pub, I find myself tasked with building maintaining the entire Online Poker Circuit website.  A few months earlier, I knew absolutely nothing about HTML.  Actually, that’s not accurate, I knew very little about web page design.  The Rayz site had “little brother” to assist in the design phase.  This time around, I’m a 1 man show.

I found myself scrambling around the Internet in search of HTML guides, researching the application of CSS, trying to figure out how to import my entire poker blog, while additionally still trying to figure out how I can 301 the old Poker Pub.  Did I mention marketing yet?  I didn’t think I did.  Nor did I mention keyword focus, a linking strategy, or anything of those sorts.

I guess it wouldn’t too be bad if it was just one poker project I undertook.  One could argue that the multiple projects thing is my own personal choice – to which I totally agree.  In addition to the Online Poker Circuit website, I’m currently working on two poker projects, one of which is huge that I won’t be ready to reveal for a few weeks or so.

I find myself consumed, sometimes even drowning.  My priorities are scattered at best.  I don’t like the fact that I have focus issues at the moment.  I get up in the morning, I think I know what direction I’m going for that day, and by 7am, I find myself going way off the grid.  The “off the grid” work is useful, it just was not what the plan of the day called for – and its driving me nuts.  I need to channel that focus, I need to prioritize.  I run optimally when I have focus, a set of working priorities.  I can still adjust when I have to (i.e. – going off the grid and getting sidetracked momentarily).  I truly believe, with as full as the plate is, I have to commit myself to a set list of priorities to optimize my efforts as a poker webmaster.  As of now, I have none of that.  Here’s what I need to do:

Construct a database for the big “poker project.” This is yet another “I know nothing about…”  Totally unfamilliar territory, in which I’ve been putting off.  It NEEDS done.  The “death star” cannot achieve “fully operational” status without this database in place.

Organize all poker pages to have a logical and targeted flow.  I’m on the inside, and even I can see that there’s little logic behind the organization of my websites.  Part of this is the learning curve, another is because this site is a reincarnation of sorts for the Rayz site, which was tremendously unfocused.

Optimize all poker pages to have central themes.  I find myself targeting too many things with too few pages.  I need to scale back and narrow my focus on any given page.  If I need to change the page’s focus, I would be best served making a new page, as opposed to undergoing a topic change mid page.  To assist me in this, I think I’ll be better able to focus my themes if I make a slight adjustment to the website menu.  That way I can go with a theme, sub-theme tactic that will help me both optimize and focus.

Develop and implement an effective overall marketing strategy.  This surely should have came first.  I am totally absent a marketing strategy, let alone an effective strategy.  I’m currently all over the place, and to me it shows.  I’ve done my best to ignore this fact and to compensate.  There’s no avoiding it and no compensation will help matters.  Developing and executing upon a smart marketing strategy ASAP is of paramount importance to my success. I need to work regularly on my marketing plan, though it would help if I first define said plan.  Each day, I need to have tasks, goals, and measure the results – while being brutally honest with myself in said measurements.  I need to be able to evaluate, adjust, and rework my plan on the fly.  I can’t do any of that without having a plan in place.

I haven’t even mentioned carving out time to play poker, which I’ve grossly failed to do.  I could count on one hand the number of poker sessions I’ve put in over the past month.  This coming from someone who was averaging 45+ hours a week of poker play.

I find myself getting busier and busier by the day.  In writing on this topic, I’m forcing myself to take a good hard look at my direction, in hopes that the bell will sound, and I’ll pull it together.  I need to set a priority list, and stick to it.  I need to achieve focus now…  if I don’t get my act together here, I’m dead in the water…  Comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.