2023 Summer Challenge

This summer, NAIWE is challenging you and your fellow NAIWE members to be the best version of yourselves. You may personalize this challenge to fit your needs and summer goals. Choose a book to read that you classify as a self-help book even though its genre is far from that. Choose a project that has been nagging at you but will also produce great reward upon completion. And finish the challenge by spending some quality time with our experts learning how they mastered creating multiple steams of income. Throughout the challenge, be true to yourself and your goals!

There are three parts to this challenge:

Read one book that will stretch your mind and inspire your creative spirit. The 2023 Summer Challenge is a great way for you to catch up on those business reads that have been piling up.
Finish one project that’s been nagging at you for longer than you care to admit. This is not so much about the length of time to complete the project as it is about finishing what you started. (For some motivational tips, listen to NAIWE’s Productivity Expert Meggin McIntosh’s teleclass on How to Complete Your Projects, Especially the Ones that Have Been Bugging You.)
Brainstorm a new project that will bring you an additional stream of income, then take the first step to make it happen. NAIWE is willing to be your partner and advocate to bounce ideas off of.

Your participation in the 2023 Summer Challenge will include the following steps:

Write a blog post about what you plan to read, and ask others for their opinions of your choice of books. Also, post about what you plan to do to meet the challenge.
Leave a comment on the NAIWE blog post with your URL so that others who take the challenge can cheer you on as well.
After you read your book selection, leave a comment on the NAIWE blog post with the name and author of the book and your takeaway from this book so others will know if they should read this book.
As you finish your one nagging project, leave a comment on the NAIWE blog post (to come in August) about your accomplishment and how it made you feel.
As you brainstorm your new project, leave a comment on the NAIWE blog post (to come in September) and we will help you with some ideas.

We will cheer you on throughout the summer. By doing the above steps, you should see an increase in traffic to your NAIWE website! Your visitors will be able to see how you are working to better yourself and reach your goals, and this may encourage them to strive to better themselves and to want to work with you!

One hardworking person who has completed all of the steps of the 2023 Summer Challenge will win access to an on-demand training of their choice!

Of course, NAIWE has a few suggestions for books to read, but we’d love to hear your recommendations. We also suggest that you check out the books written by the members of NAIWE’s Board of Experts. Their books make good reads, and you have easy access to the authors! So if you haven’t read our experts’ books, now might be the right time!

Books to Build Your Thinking and Business Skills

The Well-Fed Self-Publisher by Peter Bowerman
The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman
The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers by Shel Horowitz
No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy

Books to Strengthen Your Craft

Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins by Theodore M. Bernstein
Putting Your Passion Into Print by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry
The Copyeditor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
On Writing by Stephen King
On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Projects You May Want to Tackle

Update all your social media profiles.
Add content to your website and blog. (This will help you show up higher in search engine results for your field or genre.)
List your business on Google Local so you’ll show up at the top of search results for your specialty.
Finish a book or article that’s been on the back burner.
Put together a class you could teach to introduce others to your area of expertise.
That annoying, nagging thing you just need to get done!

Ideas for Additional Streams of Income

Compile all your notes on your subject of expertise, blog posts on this topic, and post them on your site, also offering the complete item for sale as an e-book. (Listen to NAIWE’s Blog-to-Book Expert Nina Amir teleclass How to Blog Your Way to a Book Deal to learn how to do it.)
Add Google AdSense to your personal website and blog.
Query a new magazine market.
Create a tips booklet and offer it to prospective clients or sell it on your website. (Listen to NAIWE’s Booklets Expert Paulette Ensign teleclass How to Write One Booklet and Leverage It Many Times to learn how to do it.)

There are many more ways to increase your income, and extra income streams can add up to additional security.

NAIWE is here to facilitate and help you succeed. Please feel free to reach out to us for assistance.