Hi, this is a long overdue daily update on the Mona Lisa Million Project
Where have I been?
I’ve been painting.
Not a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa, but the walls and woodwork of my home.
I hadn’t intended to take an extended break from this project or indeed the online world, it just happened that way.
The decorating was prompted by my imminent return to work. (I still haven’t got a date but it won’t be too far down the line.) I wanted to get my house in order before I return and whilst I had the opportunity to get the paint brushes out, I took it. There’s more painting to be done but I’m well underway now.
The time away from the online stuff has given me the opportunity to refresh my thinking and cultivate a new plan for the future.
I’m glad to say that The Mona Lisa Million Project is still part of my future but to be honest that was never really in doubt.
My plan for this project for right now is to temporarily close the doors on new additions to the Mona Lisa and concentrate on those sites already on the picture.
Once I feel that I’ve done the early adopters proud, I’ll consider offering sections for sponsorship again.
What is the Mona Lisa Million Project?
The aim of the project is to create something worth talking about. To that end the goal of the the Mona Lisa Million Project is to raise a cool One Million Dollars! That’s pretty spectacular in its own right but it’s even more remarkable because 25% of the income will be donated to good causes every month.
How will the money be raised? Well, that’s also worth talking about because the money will be raised by selling the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa, to people who want some absolutely cracking promotion for their website or online business.
This is a unique project offering real value to sponsors. It’s not just ownership of a piece of the Mona Lisa, it’s also the in-post mentions as I update the progress of the project on the blog along with the opportunity to have a featured post dedicated solely to you, your site, service or product. Find out how to get your site on the Mona Lisa!
MONA LISA MILLION STATS
Total Sections: 956
Active : 47
Reserved: 9
Available: 900
Needed to reach $1,000,000: $999,998
Hey! you gotta start somewhere!
Donated to good causes so far: $0 
It’s early days yet!! Hang on in there 
Top Sponsor: $1.04 but the sponsor hasn’t yet taken up the option – GRID REF: R4/20 SITE: N/A TWITTER: N/A FACEBOOK: N/A
Most Sections Owned (By Site): N/A (yet)
Most voted for page: Feature not yet available
AVAILABILITY ON THE MONA LISA
As mentioned above I’ll release sections for sponsorship again once I’ve caught up with getting the existing sponsors featured properly. Stay tuned for further updates.
JUST ADDED TO THE MONA LISA
There are some newly added sites to mention but as I’ve only just jumped back into this after taking a break I need to write them up properly and give them the attention they deserve.
OTHER RECENT ADDITIONS
C’est la Vie – a 20-something, geocaching cat lover, living in South Africa.
What Will Julia Do Next? – A retired headteacher who proudly declares that she’s “Retired but not retiring”
Mona Lisa Missing – The Truth about Vincenzo Peruggia and the Unthinkable Theft of the Mona Lisa
Vegemitevix – A Kiwi expat in the UK licking the Vegemite off life’s fingers
Richard M Potter – Writer, musician, husband, father, and very grateful adopted son of God.
Fluttering Butterflies – 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Greysqrl – Stunning photography
The Bump Wear Project – There’s more to maternity clothing
Bringing Up Charlie – Another year in the life of a stay at home dad
The Fantasy Decorator – …if money were no object
Cherished By Me – A chocoholic single mother of five children
EarlyQuip – Baby Changing Station and Baby Changing Table Suppliers
Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous – for a gift less ordinary
Mummy’s Busy World, By Me, Little M – all things relating to bilingual and expat families
TODAY’S FEATURED POSTS
There’s no featured post today, but just so you know, everyone with a site on the Mona Lisa is encouraged to submit a dedicated post to showcase themselves their site and their business. It could be a ‘guest post’ relevant to their niche or special interest, it could be their bio, it could be a sales pitch for their product or service, it could be pretty much whatever they want it to be.
I fully accept that this ‘featured post’ option has been problematic for some, and to try and solve it I said I’d create a questionnaire and send it out. And I STILL haven’t done it. Forgive me, I hadn’t expected to be taking an extended break and frankly I’m a little embarrassed about sending it now, but I’ll gird my loins, bite the bullet and send it out.
LINK LOVE
I didn’t bring you any new sites today so I thought I’d bring you some randomly selected posts from existing sites. I’ll do this for a while and see how it works out. I’ve called it ‘Link Love’ purely because I can’t think of a better title. Feel free to help me out.
A Shortcut To Feeling Rich and Happy
Parent blogging comes of age: Three go to Bangladesh
GOOD CAUSES
Clearly until I start to sell the sections of the Mona Lisa there’s no income to share with good causes, but that will change, and in this part of the daily update I’ll be inviting you to nominate and vote for which cause you would like to see benefit from this project each month. I’ll bring you news of poll results and news of how the donations are being used.
WHO’S SAYING WHAT?
I love this. I nearly missed it though. As I clicked away from the site I had a nagging feeling I needed to return. When I clicked back I saw that the header image for Rainy Day contained a quote attributed to me! And the beauty of it is Lynn really is One of the funnest bloggers on the face of the planet.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Like it or not big numbers hold sway with people, and whilst it would be nice to pretend I don’t care whether I have one or one thousand subscribers, it’s not true, I do care. I care because numbers are important to the success of this project. The more social proof people see, the more likely they are to subscribe because they instantly feel there’s something worth subscribing to. And there’s the point… I wouldn’t ask you to do this if there wasn’t something worth subscribing to.
Perhaps you can help by subscribing or asking a friend to subscribe. All help greatly appreciated.
Help me build the subscriber count – Subscribe via RSS or Email and get updates automatically.
THANK YOU
Thank you to those of you who’ve taken the time to email me recently. I owe many of you a reply but I wanted you to know I haven’t been deliberately avoiding you. I’ll start playing catch up today.
SHARE IT
The more you share this site and the blog, the more people will come and see what we’re up to.
They’ll see the great sites on the Mona Lisa, they’ll see the the sites in the sidebars, they’ll see what you have to say in the comments section and they’ll more than likely follow the links back to your sites.
It would be particularly helpful if you could Stumble, Digg or Tweet but there are a range of sharing options below for your convenience.
Thanks for reading
Dave
