BoyCheese

Terms of Service on your site

2010-03-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

My dog walking directory is set up. I went to the 2nd Annual Dog Fair in San Diego, California. Shared my dog walking ideas with other dog friendly people and received great feed back. One of the pieces of advice was to add zip codes to the dog walking directory for customer to use to search.

Another thing I found after replicating the add a Dog Walker process is that the dog walker information requested either redundant or unnecessary. So I am going through it and adding more dog walker specific information. Dog Walker city, state, and zip code (in a pull down menu to keep the database clean) as well as allowing either a logo or picture but not both (too much information on my server which may slow it down).

Additionally on the bottom of the add a Dog Walker entry form lists a Terms of Service link. I am not a lawyer, and for the most part believe them to be unnecessary. I am sure many of you are going to disagree with me, but I think anyone who has an hourly bill rate at 10x what the average American gets paid is overkill. So I am searching for a quick and simple Terms of Service just to cover myself.

Here is a great Terms of Service article, but more specifically the comments are great. Will keep you posted on what type of terms a dog walker directory needs.

Joomla Joomla Everywhere!

2010-02-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

I have been developing internet site, dog walking directory, since August 2009 using Joomla as my CMS (Content Management System). Having a background in budgets and finance, and most recently a construction project manager developing a website, particularly in Joomla is new to me.

A friend has been assisting me in using SOBI2, business directory plug in for Joomla, for my dog walking directory. Let's just say that SOBI2 and Joomla isn't plug and play ready. Both Joomla and SOBI2 take some tweaking and playing with and time to get up and running. That said both are great tools to use if you are building a internet directory.

After another couple hours of work yesterday, Kendall has SOBI2 running without my dog walking directory looking busy and so the SEO and navigation works well! So the work for today is to clean up my menus in Joomla and figure out how to customers can pay for advertisement.

Visitors will search the dog walking directory based on city or neighborhood. This feature makes it the most comprehensive dog walking directory on the internet. All other sites only give dog walkers the ability to advertise at the city level. Most people search in their local neighborhoods for a dog walker.

I will keep you posted on Joomla, SOBI2, dog walkers, and finding how to add payments to my site.

Following Bliss

2009-01-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

"The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" is following along with the direction I have been taken the past several months.

Following Bliss.

2008-12-05T15:22:00.001-08:00

My picture of the National Archives is included on Schmap! http://ping.fm/YDsoe

I have enjoyed taking pictures for years but never found them useful from a small business or micro business until now.

2008-11-15T08:46:00.001-08:00

Went to a Zoomla developers group meeting. Great meeting Zoomla folks are very nice and passionate about what they do. Over 50 ppl at the Zoomla group, there is even a Zoomla social networking component that is free!

Recycling- Green Uses for your Clothes

2008-11-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

During my internet surfing and research I found a great website Earth 911. The site includes a search engine for finding local places to recycle your old stuff.

Because of my interest in construction project management, I found the following article of interest. Have you ever considered using your old blue jeans for home insulation? I never would have thought of using non-fiberglass insulation. Purportedly one of the uses for your old blue jeans is for housing insulation. Green construction materials are not only beneficial for the environment, but will also allow more flexibility in construction in the coming decade as the increased population requires additional natural resources.

Here is the article....

Blue Jeans Gone Green
by Ashley Schiller

It might be time to accept it: you are never going to fit into your old “skinny jeans” from freshman year of college. Toss those acai berries, love yourself as you are and get rid of those menacing pants!

We go through dozens of denims in a lifetime-whether we grow out of them or they become simply too worn to pass off as anything but part of a Halloween costume. What should you do with your old blues? Are they recyclable? You bet.

The rest of the article can be read here.

Life Map

2008-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I checked out several books from my local library. These books proportedly help with finding my passion and how to leverage this into a job. Reading these books have been enjoyable, but still have not lead to me my answer. Recently I have enrolled into a life coaching class and meeting with a life coach to help speed up the process and get me to my end game.

Here are a listing of the books I have been reading.

"Finding Your Perfect Work" by Paul and Sarah Edwards.
"How to Get a Job in Chicago" by Robert Sanborn and Susan Schwartz
"Go Put Your Strengths to Work" Marcus Buckingham
"Find Your Calling, Love Your Life" Martha Finney and Deborah Dasch

Take a look at one of these books they will help you find what you are passionate about.

Learning Guitar

2008-09-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

I just bought myself a Yamaha (solid spruce top) acoutic guitar and trying to teach myself to play. It has been 15 years since I played any music instrument and miss playing alot. My goal is to post each song I learn on Youtube.com and eventually to find a singer to accompany.

Animal Handling Class

2008-09-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today I have finished my final class at the Anti-Cruelty Society and can start volunteering. The class reiterated about reading cat and dog behavior, things like a wagging tail doesn't always mean "friendly". A stiff slow wag of the tail means the dog is aroused and to read the other signs to see is the dog could bite.

Anytime I get to take a class and learn I enjoy myself. Especially when it has to do with animals.

Free Music

2008-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know what kind of music you prefer, but my tastes run wide and deep. Classic rock with an edge gets. If you haven't seen "Across the Universe" you are definitely missing out on a great moviea and even better soundtrack!

Dana Fuchs plays a Janis Joplin type character in the movie, where she sings "Helter Skelter" made again popular in the past couple decades by U2. All I have to say is listen to this........ her voice is amazing, Chris Cornell and her would make beautiful music together.

This song is also great without all of the edgyness but still great.

First Concert in Years- Jay Brannan

2008-07-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

I LOVE live music but all these large venues turn me off 1)the cost for tickets 2) you barely can see the artist way down there on the stage. If you have been reading my blog you know I happened across Jay Brannen's music on Youtube a couple months ago. I have been entranced by his voice and honestly both through his music and the view of his own talent (wrongfully of course).

My friend Megan and I went to the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago to watch Jay Brannan. (To avoid the service charge call the theater directly, they are very nice) Originally I told her about the concert and asked if she wanted to go, but with moving and still looking for a job it fell off my radar. Luckily for me she reminded me about it, I called up for tickets, and she drove.

The theater where Jay Brannan was playing is located near the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. Upon walking to the theater Megan described the venue as very New York-like, and since she is connected with the talent scene there (they love her there!) I took her word for it. Hopefully she will soon record something on Youtube for you all to enjoy!

His live concert was SOOO much better than his youtube videos (which are really wonderful too!) Here is a recording made for/by Jay.

Have a listen and watch.

This is an except from his show in Chicago. Yes his personality is the same as on Youtube, please enjoy.

Out and About

2008-07-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Michigan Avenue- Trump International Tower and Hotel can be seen in the distance. This project has been going on for sometime but as you can see from the cranes, will be finished soon.

Millenium Park- "The Bean"

Spending all day inside searching for work isn't my idea of fun. I am much more efficient while involved with a team, so today I decided to take a little time out and go enjoy the day.

Millenium Park- Frank Gehry bandshell

My goal was to get to the Art Institute of Chicago but the free admissions for the summer are on Thursday and Friday nights after 5pm so I wandered around Millenium Park. Getting outside and taking pictures of things always clears my head and brings back my energy. Whether or not you have been to Chicago here are a few pictures of where I went and what I saw. Hope you enjoy!

Free Music Thursday!

2008-07-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday's are hard for some people who are just trying to make it to Friday and the weekend, for other people Thursday may be the start of their weekend, whatever the case and your situation free music, is just that free music.

So click on the Death Cab for Cutie video below to have a listen to your free music Thursday link.

I will try to connect you to free music every Thursday to get you thru, believe me I know how you feel.

Free Music!!

2008-07-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

If you are like me and get off on listening and finding new music, when someone or something connect me I really appreciate it.

They say that energy is never destroyed. This is very apparent when you listen to music. A great artist can transend time even their own mortality and still pass along their energy to you. I feel this and many of you may too. Sometimes music gives me goosebumps when it is that good.

So just to pass along some good karma here is one of my connections I pass onto you my readers. Listen to it, Link to it, Enjoy it, or not.

All Songs Considered from NPR

Or put it into your list of podcasts on iTunes and discover and listen to free music.

Associated with Associations

2008-07-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

So my job searching is going no where. I apply for jobs online or go through search agencies and come up with nothing. So my next goal is to find associates to get my name out there so people can see me in person and realize my talents through my actions instead of a piece of paper.

If anyone knows of associations (starting with free ones) that I should attend please let me know.

Serenity

2008-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

There are few places I feel calmed. The ocean is one of those places. Most of my life I have lived within 30 minutes of her. On a breezy afternoon I could smell her breath, feel her coolness envelope me, whispering that time does not exist just breath her in.

Only recently have I acknowledged her possession of me. Her power is captivating but something in our past reminds me to stay my distance although I enjoy feasting on her bounty and frolicking in her depths.

Do you feel her too? Are you draw to her?

Entreprenuership

2008-07-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

After doing some research on the job market I am thinking getting any job is a good idea and working on some business ideas on the side to generate some additional cash to invest.

I have many ideas that bounce around in my head, how is it that you hear of those people that develop great companies and sell them off out of an idea? What makes those people or their ideas any better than me or my own? Persistence? Experience? Insight? Intelligence?

Since moving to Chicago (from the west coast) I have been searching for that spark within myself. Searching for that 1 idea that would stick with me and ignite my interal fires. Only one of those ideas have stayed with me over these years, infact I shared this idea with a friend of my back home and he seemed to like it. I guess for me the problem always comes down to 1) will someone pay for it? 2) How will I know? I think this is the time to develop the product and share it with people and get their feedback.

If you have read my previous posts you know I developed a dog adoption guide and attempted to market it (but failed). Never once did I hand this out to people or share it face to face, which is one of the reasons I believed it failed.

So stay tuned for the announcement of my next project which has been brewing for a couple years now. I may share some pieces with you as they are developed to get your feedback.

Project Manager Gig

2008-06-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

So as an update to what has taken place in the my life since April 2007 to May 2008......... I was hired as a contract Construction Project Manager for a company (which will remain nameless). Needless to say I enjoyed this ALOT, more than any other of the 15 jobs I have had in my life. My role was the tenant rep for the company and to direct the architects, general contractor, and buidling managment. The space I was managing was an old loft like space, basically just a tenant improvement. This means we just built the inside space because the shell of the building (walls, ceilings, and floor was already there). Many lessons were learned on everyone's part. My own lesson was I REALLLY dig doing this and to quote the VP of the company I "exceeded expectations" which I guess means I must have a natural affinity for it.

The project came to an end and I was thereby declared "redundant" which is funny because I personally try not to do anything more than once.

Due to personal business I went back home for a while. While there I cleared my head and got some perspective about my jobless situation. Only time will tell if I can apply what I have learned.

More from Jay Brannan

2008-06-09T00:46:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling a little lost recently due to some personal circumstances. Where home is for me has been a bit confused in recently years. Jan Brannan's reminds me that home is not a place but a feeling, which comes through in his lyrics.

Music that Speaks to Me

2008-06-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

I ran across this artist by accident. I recommend that you all have a listen. His song "Housewife" is one of the most truthful songs I have heard in a long time.

Music breathes life into me and without it I am lifeless. All of you should find what moves you.

Dog Adoption Guide- New Pages

2007-05-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

I posted a few new pages to the Dog Adoption Guide in the search to get more traffic and help people learn about dogs. About the Dog Adoption Guide owner is one of the first pages I added.

One of the first steps after deciding to buy a dog or adopt a dog is picking a dog breed. A new link to dog breeds is posted on the Dog Adoption Guide.

One of the steps to adopting a dog is choosing a name. The Dog Adoption Guide to names is another additional page I included.

Pet health and dog health is always important. I have included a tip on checking your dog's temperature on the Dog Adoption Guide.

If you feel I have forgotten anything please send me an email at comments@dogadoptionguide.com. I look forward to providing valuable Dog Adoption Guide information.

New Business

2007-04-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

Recently I found a new business to get involved in. Some people may call is a J-O-B. Honestly, I am suprised at how much I enjoy it and they even pay me! Sssshhhhhh!! Don't tell because I really could use the money to pay off some bills.

I won't disclose the job, but those that know me personally know the company I am working for. In fact, a few of my closest friends even have bought one of the products the company sells.

What I wil tell you is I am learning that the job comes as second nature to me. Basically I am a construction project manager. The company is building out a 30,000 sq ft space and I am responsible to keep the company in the loop with the general contractor and push the general contractor to keep on schedule. It is a ton of coordination and insuring all the little pieces don't get dropped along the way.

On a side note, at a recent meeting I attend, an associate and I were speaking and exchanged ideas on how to develop and promote our respective websites more effectively. Her advice was received well by me, as I have worked on updating my DogAdoptionGuide.com site with a few more pages. Dog names, about me, pet safety, and dog names are the newest pages. Look for a few more in the coming day and in the next week look for a new index page to link everything thing together for better navigation.

Internet Marketing is back on the table for me and will continue to offer my suggestions on promoting your website.

Learning Learning Everywhere

2007-02-19T22:23:00.000-08:00

When I ventured down the road to find a way to make money 24 hours a day I didn't know where I was headed. A few months, thousands of hours, and several hundred dollars later............ and I am just a bit further from where I started.

Internet Marketing is VERY new to me compared to some of the veterans out there. They know who they are so I will not be putting forth any names. I entered into Internet Marketing hoping to make $1 a day of passive income. Since October 1, 2006 to today I have made $.86.

If I looked from the outside I would just laugh and say "how pathetic!" Even from the inside I really am disappointed in myself and my progress.

However, since the goal is to get failure out of the way as soon as possible, I will consider DogAdoptionGuide.com 1.0 a COMPLETE FAILURE!!

My goal thus: educate people about adopting a dog by selling them my dog adoption guide.
My results: # sold=zero, $ spent on advertising $180 plus hosting, web design costs, and misc other costs.

Keyword Density and SEO

2007-02-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

One of the keys for Internet Marketing is to get free traffic by using keywords.

Using too many of the same keyword or putting them too close in the same page (e.g. This keyword is the keyword that is on my keyword list so keyword is the basis of my keyword page) will get you introuble with the search engines.

Hints for good keyword density:
1) open Word
2) copy just the content of your page into Word
3) go to Tools on the toolbar and select Wordcount (this will give you the number of words)
4) go to Edit on the toolbar and select Replace
5) type in the word you want to Find and type the same word into Replace (this will tell you the number of times that word is being used on the page)
6) then use this formula to calculate your keyword density: Keyword density: keyword total (5 times on the page) on the page divided by total words (5 times in the page)= keyword density (5%)

hint*standard keyword density is between 3% to 5%

Another key to keyword optimization is to put at least 250 words on your page and not use more than 3 keyword phrases per page. Depending on what you are trying to do with your site, you may have a very large site after just trying to capture traffic for a dozen keyword phrases.

Internet Marketing Tools

2007-01-31T08:29:00.001-08:00

Reading a new blog today I found a Internet Marketing tool that should help myself and others keep their site's keywords high, but not too high.

Keyword Density Analyzer Tool. From doing analysis on my own site www.DogAdoptionGuide.com I discovered my keyword density did not match the keywords I am marketing my product to.

Using this keyword tool, I analyzed other pages for internet marketing. One that markets AdWords came up with this keyword density: Adwords (used 179 times on the page), adwords miracle (36 times), and google adwords (11 times).

Under the Webpage analysis the author used "search engine" which is a poisonous word. Additionally, the keyword tool suggested the page is too big.

Looking at a competing internet marketers site, I used the keyword tool. The keyword density for dog (46 times) dog adoption (26 times). Looks like I need to go back and do a rewrite of my page to include much much more of my keywords on the page!

Hint: incorporate your keywords list into your sales page. This will give you better organic search, which means you won't have to spend as much money to get traffic to your site!

Woke up to a Realization

2007-01-31T07:33:00.000-08:00

After about an hour or so of discussion before bed, I woke up with the realization in a few months from now I will be working for someone else again. It is with much pain and sadness, that I will need to spend a few hours each day trying to be whatever a prospective employer wants me to be instead of what I know I can be.

I do not look upon this change as failure so much as a lack of trying hard enough. It seems although I do spend several days working more than 12 hours a day, I do not feel I spend enough time on what matters go get my idea off the ground.

Honestly, this is my only the first venture of my own. For the past several years I have doodled business ideas during meetings, lunch, and in the middle of the night. Time and money were not the things that held me from moving forward with my ideas, although most people would say that is why they do not. The reason why is, 1) I had no idea how to do it 2) I was not willing to make the commitment 3) possibly I had a choice not to do it because I was making enough money everyday to put food on the table

I will never stop coming up with ideas, they bounce around in my head all day long even when I don't want them to. When I am employed it is all I can think about, what can I do, or make, or create, or design to keep from being trapped at this desk everyday for the rest of my life.

My frustration with myself grows on a daily basis, for some reason I just can't engage the same way other people do. I have always prided myself on being able to see things other people can't, but that really is not a quality that should be valued. The real value is being able to follow through with your idea, from cradle to grave. My idea is still in it's infancy, just barely crawling and I need to put it down.

Seeking Advice

2007-01-27T02:08:00.000-08:00

I sent an email off to Annette at AndrewandDaryl.com in hopes of soliciting her feedback. She works as an Internet Marketer. She recommended I make a few changes to my sales page, www.DogAdoptionGuide.com which I did, and hopefully she will provide some more feedback so I can convert more visitors to customers. For non Internet Marketing readers, when someone goes to your page, they are a visitor. When someone registers or buys they are customers.

My Ad Words are back up on Google to see what kind of numbers I pull in for the next couple of days. Hopefully, I can get some decent numbers. Additionally, I will be changing my site based on the feedback I receive from Annette, the Internet Marketer.

Fingers Crossed for some traffic

2007-01-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

www.DogAdoptionGuide.com, Dog Adoption Guide, or Dog-Adoption-Guide.com all of these are my sites and ideas. I updated the sales page on to market my Dog Adoption Guide. Included in the site is a place for people to register for a e-newsletter I will be sending out to people who are interested in dogs.

I put new ads on Google, in hopes of doing some split testing. For all of you non Internet Marketer people, that means I run two different ads to see which one pulls in the most traffic. The winning ad will get changed slightly and the winning original ad and the new ad will run. I will do this until my click thru rate is something over 5%. Again for all of you non Internet Market readers, click thru rate is the number of times your ad shows (when people search for a specific word or phrase in Google) divided by the number of times your ad is clicked on.

Internet Market standard is around 2% to 5%. Depending on the keyword I use, my rate is as high as %25, however, this is for very few searchs on a keyword.

Even Internet Marketers Need to Eat

2007-01-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

Like the headline reads, even in Internet marketing we get hungry. Sitting in front of the computer all day, writing and analyzing, really can build an appetite.

A friend of mine calls me a "food nerd". I know it is meant as a compliment because I prefer the great food, not just good food. Finding great food is harder than it sounds.

The first ingredient in great food is freshness, where I live that is nearly impossible to find even at $8 a pound. An example would be fresh ginger. Many of you reading are thinking fresh ginger when will I ever use that?

The second ingredient in great food is sharing. Great food always tastes better to have someone to share it with. Think about your favorite foods, do you enjoy them more by yourself or when you have someone to share them with?

The last ingredient in great food is a great recipe. Growing up my mom didn't use a recipe, she would open a box and add meat. As my experience with food grew, I learned there was a better and healthier way to prepare your food. Since I wasn't taught to cook, just to warm food up, I find using a recipe helps me to be successful in the kitchen. Most chefs don't use a recipe, however I prefer to use them, and am quite successful when I do.

This recipe is for my sister Heather. She also enjoys great food and I hope that she enjoys this recipe as much as I have. Here is the copykat recipe for PF Chang's Mongolian Beef I use.

Recipe Zaar receives decent traffic as purported by Alexa.com. If this recipe is any indication of the quality of their recipes, you may want to download several of them just.

Enjoy your day, and enjoy every meal!

New Marketing Plan

2007-01-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

I went to bed last night thinking about what I need to do to be a successful not as only an Internet Marketer but accountable to myself and my ideals.

With all that running around in my head, I awoke this morning at 4:30 a.m. to the little bear scratching me to tell me he would like to go outside. After our walk in the horrible cold, I lay down to fall asleep but my mind was still racing.

Over the past several hours I developed a new marketing plan to #1 help people understand the responsibility that goes along with agreeing to take care of a dog, or adopting a dog. #2 getting traffic to my site. #3 selling my Dog Adoption Guide, after all isn't that what Internet Marketing is all about? #4 developing more products in the dog niche.

Day 8- Dog Adoption Guide

2007-01-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I did not put my Google Ad Words up yet. And will not do so until my sales page is reworked.

I am not so sure this is going to work out, but what I do know is I can't go to work for someone ever again. Internet Marketing makes sense. Marketing makes sense. The past 15 years I have been working for other people trying to learn their business.

My degree is in Sociology, which is basically marketing. With all of my interest in the internet, why not Internet Marketing?

This will be my last post for a few days, until I can get my head straight and figure out a new sales page.

Day 7- Dog Adoption Guide

2007-01-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

It is Sunday and I haven't worked on the Dog Adoption Guide at all. While sitting waiting for my haircut this morning, I did read thru Brett McFall's site to get a new approach on my sales page. After the feedback from Annette from AndrewandDaryl.com.

BURPIES, is a sales page generating software, designed by Brett McFall for internet marketers. I purchased it just before Thanksgiving and designed my sales page in just 1 hour. I felt my sales page was sufficient, but that it just didn't inspire someone to buy. I understand now that the emotion was missing. And tomorrow I will have completed Round2 of my sales page.

Results for Day 7:
2 visits (me and I believe my buddy Rich)
Cost: $0

Day 6-

2007-01-13T22:52:00.000-08:00

Reworked the sales page a bit more. Tried to add in something to grab the customers based on what Brett McFall suggested.

The test page is still crap, but feel that it may grab customers more than the original. it is hard to tell what is draw in people until you post the site up. Will have to wait until Monday when the new sales page is posted.

Result Day 6:
3 visits (Los Angeles, Henderson, and Singapore)
Costs: $0

1 of these people were a return visitor. Don't know where the other people came from. Still working on understanding Google Analytics.

Launch Day 3 Internet Marketing Site

2007-01-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Dog Adoption Guide.... feeling really discouraged today! Did some research on how to get my site popular without spending so much money everyday.

After searching several sites, I wandered over to Darren Rowse's site Pro Blogger and read several of his suggesting specifically 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. I am really not interested in setting up a blog, and definately I can't wait 18 months to get some decent traffic, but I found his advise noteworthy and it made alot of sense.

Late tonight I sent an email off to Andrew and Daryl. I signed up for the mentorship program Daryl and Andrew have at AndrewandDaryl.com. Not sure if I was loosing customers with the entry sales page Dog Adoption Guide. Since Google Analytics allows me to track each and every page on my site, I am able to tell which pages people have visited and where they have left my site. Since my customers payment are taken care of by ClickBank, I can not track to see if my customers have even gotten to my payment page.

I am looking into using Google payment for a different option. Since I will be hosting the payment portion of my site. Not sure exactly what is going to be involved with putting together the Google Payment portion of Dog Adoption Guide.

Results for Day 3:
183 Visits
cost $40.12
$0.22 per visit
paying customers ZERO

Launch Day 2

2007-01-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

Many people are visiting my ad and my website, but not a single sale yet. I knew it wouldn't be easy but I thought I would at least sell 1 ebook.

Just to insure I wasn't missing something I listened to a past episode from Jay and Sterling at Internet Business Mastery #19. Their suggestion was to get my customers to sign up as the #1 reason for your website. My site was set up to sell e-books instead of creating a customer list.

I searched the internet to take a look at other internet marketers site to see what they have. A few sites I visited before were set up at Jay and Sterling suggested.

I shot an email off to a friend of mine that helped me secure my site to see the cost and how long it would take.

Feeling a bit discouraged and if I should be more patient or if I really am just that bad at this.

Results for Day 2:
153 visits
$30.97

Internet Marketing Launch Day

2007-01-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

Today I officially launched http://dogadoptionguide.com. After a few months of planning, reading, researching, and procrastinating I finally launched my site.

Google Adwords is a fantastic tool. The analytics portion gives you everything you could have ever wanted to know about the traffic and keywords. I've checked it no less than 100 times today. So I am a bit obsessed. Running Google Adwords is like sitting in the back of a cab, you never know how long it is going to take, if you are going to get there, and how much it is going to cost you.

Well, since Google Adwords allows you to set your daily budget, I set it to what I thought was a great limit only to raise it later in the day when my ad suddenly disappeared!!

Results for Day 1:
43 visits
55 page views
$10.88

Contract for Writer

2006-11-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

I posted up an ad for a writer to help complete my 19 page outline for a Dog Adoption e-book. After trying numerous times to develop my ideas from outline to a book, I decided the best thing would be to get some assistance.

My specifications for the book were pretty basic, 14 size font, 50 pages, follow the outline, conversational style of writing, and in English. A few Internet Marketing sites I read/listen to recommended www.RentACoder.com. The site is great! Not only can you post for writing assignments, you can also contract for code to be developed, whole websites, or just look what other people are posting and contracting for.

My tentative goal is to have the book completed by Thanksgiving. I will keep you posted on my process.

New Direction in Blogging

2006-11-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

Dearest Readers,

To catch all of you up on my activities since my last entry.....

As of October 1st, I have been working for myself. At the same time I have been taking an HTML class at DigitalBootcamp. Once I have put my portfolio together I will post a link for all of you to enjoy.

For the past 30 days I have been designing webpages (both through class and on my own for practice) as well a putting together a plan to start making some money. The hard part of working for yourself is accountability. You are the only worker and the only one to look to when things don't get done. The last 30 days has been my period of adjustment and planning.

I truely enjoy working from home everyday with the boys keeping me company. Over the next 30 days I will write one entry daily to let you know what has been going on.

Small Business Startup

2006-10-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

Slowly, ever so slowly learning about how to promote my Dog Adoption Guide. Internet Marketing is a fast growing way to market information products, anything from e-books to informational DVDs. www.Clickbank.com is one of the companies that host the payment processing for information products. Internet Marketers use the service to securely take care of the payment side of the business.

I still have some apprehension to whether or not this is going to work. Had a job in sales for only 3 weeks last year, because it just felt fake. Selling and marketing my own product seems easier, but getting customers without a big company name may prove to be significantly more difficult.

Book is in progress

2006-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

My book is off to a fast start! The first 3 initial chapters are drafted and I have reviewed them. not the best English, but clearly following the outline as well as adding a few ideas of her own! I am looking forward to reading the finalized book.

Been doing research on other sites that give information about Dog Adoption. Clearly I need to develop more of my site than just my sales page, still investigating on what topics people are interested in.

Home

2006-09-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Work is supposed to feel like home. Often at work I feel like an alien watching everyone in slow motion wondering to myself, "what am I doing here?" Most of my day is spent wondering why I got out of bed and off to a place that makes me feel so unconnected to my true self.

Home is a tree lined street, happy dogs walking around, and friendly smiling faces to greet you with a nod and a good morning. Home is not going into a unprofessional hole of an office where people eat out loud, talk about all the girls that they objectified last night, and the smell of urine permeates the air.

Jumping!

2006-08-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here I go! I am going to jump! My last day at work will be Sept 30th or before. My job is coming to an end and I will close another chapter on my life.

I have a few different decisions that I can make, either continue making a decent living in the same line of work (which honestly, does not make me passionate) or take a few classes and do something more creative.

My head tells me one thing and my heart tells me another. Somehow I always land on my feet, but jumping still gives me butterflies. The passion I have felt over the past few months has given me the strength to even get to the point of considering jumping.

I will keep all of you, my readers aprised of the situation as it unfolds. Good night.

Comments

2006-08-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your comments. Your comments are always welcomed and I appreciate that you find my blog valuable to you.

I will be revisiting your comments in the coming week. If you have any suggestions on topics you would like me to cover or revisit please let me know.

My readers are valuable to me and I am hear to help you.

Stress

2006-08-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

Everyone has stress. The things that stress me out is not being able to do the little things, breakfast everyday, getting my glasses fixed, getting my haircut, and spending a nice evening out with friends. Other people I know get stressed if they get less than 8 hours sleep, can't work out, get stuck in traffic, or can't watch a sunset.

What stresses you out? If you don't know what is stressing you out find out.

Here is how you get rid of your stress:
1) make a list of what stress you have
2) write down how much time it would take to accomplish them
3) think if anyone can help accomplish a few things off your list
4) start working on the little things to get them off your plate
5) break down your big items into smaller more manageable pieces

Feeling better? Feeling like you are back in control of your life?

Here is more on how to get rid of your stressors:
1) make a list of what de-stresses you
2) spend time each day just to do things for yourself (bubble bath, baking cookies, what ever it is that you love)
3) do something to help someone else everyweek

Here are just a few suggestions. If you have any other suggestions please post a comment or your thoughts. I will post them in my blog and give you acknowledgement for your idea.

Just one more thing that always works for me. BREATHE!!

Being Pushed

2006-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get to JUMP! but sometimes we are pushed. Being pushed when you know it is coming is much better than being pushed from behind and being suprised.

A push is just fate reminding you that keep moving. Maybe it was a good thing because you where staring too hard on your goal. Staring at your goal does nothing for you. To get to your goal you should move around, passion never lets you rest.

Passion keeps you up late and gets you up early, meaning you never have a chance to stare at your goal, instead you are moving towards it.

Recently I received a push, not a hard push, but enough to remind me I was too focused on my goal and not doing anything to make it happen. Pushes are good. Some people push themselves and some people need a push now and then. Personally, I need a mix of both.

Keep moving and don't take the pushes to heart but instead realize that it is time to move around and towards your goal.

Technorati

2006-08-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

Finding Inspiration

2006-08-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

Finding inspiration for me comes from different sources. Currently I am reading a book "What should I do with my life?" The book tells of stories of people who decided to find their true calling in their work, some found it some are still looking.

For me it is nice to know I am not the only who has decided to go on the journey. Not the only with more questions than answers. My friends have confidence that you are not alone out there. Your struggles are shared by other courageous souls.

Keep searching for your true self. Leave no stone unturned, chase down all of your dreams.

Someone asked me "what if it takes me 20 years for find out what I want to do when I grow up?" My answer was "be thankful it only took you 20 years for find out, some people look their whole lives and never find out."

Keep dreaming and JUMP! as soon as you can.

Work with Passion

2006-08-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend said to me, "If you hate your job so much, why don't you just get a new job?" Honestly, I wish it were that easy. I have had 3 different jobs in the past year, all different than each other all I had no passion for.

To me getting another job just because I am unhappy would be like going out to eat when you are hungry. You just start ordering food until you taste something you like. Seems silly huh? I COMPLETELY AGREE!

Finding a job you are passionate about is not something that is external, it must come from inside. Passion that is welling up inside, passion that has been brewing deep inside. Because it has been brewing deep inside is why it is so HOT! and why when it comes out you feel so warm and full of life.

Many people don't understand this passion, honestly it is not for you to describe. Your passion is for you to enjoy and roll around in.

Inspiration

2006-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

What inspires you? I get inspired by many things out in the world. A book that I am reading gives me goosebumps, "Why do I love these people," by Po Bronson. I recommend it to anyone who has ever faced difficulty with their families. Po tells the tale of many different Americans that have the same thing in common they did not give up in life. They did not give up on their families now matter what the situation.

Inspiration for me comes from not the magical or the mystical but the everyday occurences. The 83 year old lady that mediates and practices her judo in the park every morning. The father that even after a long day at work, takes time out to show his children they are special to him. That person who puts in 110% everyday even though the company does not acknowledge her or give her any kind of compensation, she does it because that is who she is.

Take the time to let your own passion inspire someone. Inspiration and hope is what keeps us striving towards ourselves. Share your hope with someone else today!

How do I jump?

2006-08-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

A few people have told me that it isnt easy to just JUMP. I know it isn't, but nothing in life that is worth doing is easy is it?

Steps to JUMP!
1) you must decide the life you are currently living does not work for you anymore
2) you must be able to picture yourself in your new life
3) you must have support from at least one other person who believes in who/what you want to become. without support this difficult transition will be even harder
4) your values and beliefs must align to who/what you will become
5) you must make the decision to JUMP!
5) just JUMP!

Everything in life has a way of working out, and you must believe in this for it to work. Things you truly need will come to you if you just ask for them. Believe in your self and the vision, passion, and your future.

JUMP!

2006-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite movie scenes is from "City of Angels." Seth (Nicolas Cage) is an angel that falls in love with Dr. Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan). Maggie is a mortal surgeon that believes in tangibles and has a hard time believing she is falling in love with an angel. Since Seth is an angel he cannot feel anything, cold, hunger, and being sleepy are mortal qualities. Seth is willing to give up being an angel for just one kiss from Maggie.

Seth is explaining how he feels about Maggie to Cassiel (Andre Braugher) a fellow angel and asking his advice on how to become mortal. Seth and Cassiel have heard of someone just doing it, just jumping. If you have never seen it, I recommend it to anyone that is thinking about doing something different or "jumping."

Most people settle for jobs they don't love and have distance thoughts about "jumping" into something they love. It worked for Seth and Maggie, and it can work for you. Seth never once regretted his choice to give up his former life.

Jumping is your choice! You have the power of choice. How long have you wanted to jump? Have you ever jumped before? How did it turn out? Things always have a way of working out so put together your "jumping" plan and just do it!

Searching for Passion

2006-08-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Over 300,000 people were searching for PASSION online last month. To me, that is a funny thing to look for online, however many of you did just that. Only 200 people searched for work passion last month, however 6000 people went searching for passion sex.

What does that mean? We want passion in our sex, but we are willing to forgo passion for work? We spend about at least 160 hours a month at work, thinking about work, getting ready for work, or getting to work. But we have sex about 100 times per year.

Why are we not looking for passion at work? I am not suggesting having sex at work, rather engaging in mentally and physically stimulating work. Maybe if we found passion with our work, we may end up finding more passion in everyother aspect of our lives.

What are you passionate about? An annonymous reader stated s/he sacrifices but said nothing of passion for his/her work, maybe the passion has not been found yet? Maybe like Nietzsche and the other Existentialists the passion is internal and not meant to share.

Dear readers I challenge you to find your passion! If you do not know what you are passionate about stop reading this minute and go out and look for your passion. Make a list of all the things you look forward to doing, or the things you would do everyday even without getting paid!

Leave your comments on what you have found on your search for you PASSION.

Passion

2006-08-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have spent all of my adult life working. I have been employed no fewer than 15 different times and learned many times over what I don't like to do. Funny thing that I have gotten paid for what I don't want to do, and when I find something I like to do no one is around to pay me.

I have spent all of my adult life looking for my passion as well. I have taken all kinds of classes, talked to people in all kinds of jobs but after a significant bit of time, realized my passion has been with me the whole time.

I have said this before, but will say it again, What is your passion? Is it with you too? Try to remember back to when you were a little boy/girl, what did you enjoy doing? What was it that you would do all the time and really look forward to? Can you remember? Do you still have something you look forward to doing everyday? How about after a hard day at work, what do you wish you were doing instead? Is that your passion?

Keep looking for your passion. It might just be right under you nose.

What will you sacrifice?

2006-07-18T08:27:00.001-07:00

I have been listening to way to many podcasts over the past several months. For me, it is a way to help research what I want to be when I grow up. It is amazing how much information you can listen to "between" life events. My ipod has emassed over 2GB of podcasts, which amounts so several hours of information.

My first podcast download was from Stanford. Since moving from California, I realize that there is no where else like it. People are healthy, the weather is great, and people have traveled and are truly open-minded. So naturally I found podcasts from Stanford on entrepreurship. I recommend listening to a few of them, I will have to admit I have listened to all of them at least twice. I am sort of a podcast junkie!

Tina Seeling, Executive Director, STVP, spoke in a seminar and one of the things she said was, "you can do it all, just not at the same time." So my question to you is, what will you sacrifice to do what you love?

Again, what will you sacrifice to do what you love? Anyone that has experienced love can tell you it makes you crazy. And anyone who has experienced passion for something will tell you it give you boundless energy. But since I am a realist, someone what is crazy with boundless energy is not always a good thing. We all need direction, or a roadmap to we can get to our destination.

What is your roadmap? Have you ever made one for yourself? If so what has it reveiled to you, and about you?

My own personal roadmap has been revised dozens of times and looking back at the original map, my original destination has changed. But one thing has held steady, I had to sacrifice to get there. Whether is be time or packing a lunch everyday to same money, sacrifices were made daily.

What have you already sacrificed to get where you are now? Would you make the sacrifice again? How would you do it differently next time?

What will you have to sacrifice to reach your destination? Is it TV time? Money? Sleep? We all know if we make only a minor correction in our steering, after time we end up in a completely different place. What minor changes will you make today to steer toward your future destination?

What is your future?

2006-07-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Where are you today? Are you happy? What 1 thing would you change today that would insure your happiness tomorrow?

As much as we all want immediate results, it takes time to get what we want. Even my mom had to spend many grueling hours in the kitchen to get her famous apple pie. Sitting around waiting for the pie to be ready, smelling the fresh sweet cinnamon fragrances from the kitchen were painful. But when I worked with my mom, doing the dishes or slicing the apples, the pie was ready faster and it tasted so much sweeter.

What is your apple pie? Are you going to just wait and hope that for it to be put down in front of you or are you going to make it happen?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2006-07-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

When posed with the question, "if you had to leave your job today, and find a different job, and I paid you the same amount of money you are currently making what would you want to do everyday? You can do anything in the world, regardless of location, experience and education. What would you want to do everyday?"

I only remember 1 person ever answering the question with "I don't know". Everyone else has a hard time wrapping their minds around getting paid for doing something you love or enjoy instead of something that pays the bills.

Every person on this planet has skills that only they possess. They have something that they are good at and love to do. What is yours?

Maybe you love licking stamps and placing them just perfectly in the corners of envelopes. Maybe you found your passion when helping your mom pay the bills many years ago, and it still drives you everyday. Some would say this passion is odd and you can never make money at it. My answer to you is WHY NOT? If you love something that much, the questions you need to ask yourself are 1) how do I do this more? and 2) how do I get paid to do this?

You have all heard of the people who play video games for a living. I have even heard of people playing a specific video game, getting a dozen different players at very high levels, and then selling their players to someone else, or even the stuff that they have aquired at the different levels in the game. To me that is odd, but for someone that is their passion and they found a way to monetize it.

The choice to do something you love is not for the weak at heart. I suggest is is much easier to just get a job that pays the bills, and drag yourself through life. Think about what your obituary will read, "she was a really nice person, but spent most of her time at a job that she really wasn't passionate about." I have read my fair share of obituaries and the people who lived with passion, their energy I picked up on reading their obituary even after they passed. I don't want fame, I just want to be remember as being helpful and having a passion for life.

So again I ask you what is your passion? What do you look forward to doing every day? When you are sitting in that long meeting, or day dreaming at work what is it about? Or even more simply what you do best at work? Party planner? Cake maker?

I have a great friend, actually she is my mentor, someone that helps me to find my own path. She wrote a book entitled "Work as a Heroic Journey." It is about how to experience greater meaning and joy in your work. Since 99% of the people I know have to go to work everyday, why not use that time to find your passion and provide greater meaning on a daily basis?

If you are passionate about something you know it, because you spend all your waking hours thinking about it or doing it. If you love doing it why not find a way to spend more time doing it? And get paid?

Where are you?

2006-07-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

Another day on my journey towards myself. I have lost many things in my life but nothing has been to hard to find as myself. Like your favorite shirt at the bottom of you laundry basket, sometimes you have to go thru alot of dirty laundry to find it.

Today I choose to go thru that dirty laundry because I need my favorite shirt back, the one that matches my eyes and makes you feel like you are invincible like superman. I need to find myself again, he has been on holiday for so long I forgot what he looks like.

Last night I saw him for an hour or so, but then lost him again as bedtime approached.

Have you ever played with silly putty as a child? Remember making an impression of the Sunday comics? Then taking the putty and stretching it out until the face was only somewhat recognizable but then showing it to someone else and asking them who it was, they had no idea? That is what if feels like to loose yourself, like you are all stretched out of shape and your face is unrecognizable.

So each day I spend thinking about who I am (inside) and picturing how it would be if the inside were represented on the outside. Sometimes it takes alot of time to get there, and sometimes you just have to go thru the motions until you find your reflection showing up (your reflection lets you know that you are getting closer to the real you).

Where have you found yourself? Have you ever found yourself somewhere you don't remember going? Send me your comments. Until next time, keep looking for yourself.

real estate real estate real estate real estate real estate real estate real estate real estate

Our Power of Choice

2006-07-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I went to New York City for the first time. It was such an amazing city, so much culture, and so many people. I was moved as much as if I had gone to Venice on holiday.

The highlight of the trip was the Statue of Liberty. To think that less than 100 years ago my great grandparents came to the United States in search of a new opportunity to start again. They saw Liberty just as I saw her, for the first time with all the wonderment of a child. All of us searching for a future better than our past.

My family has always pushed on trying to be better than they were. I know I have been blessed with the opportunities that my family has given me and the ones I have made for myself. Recently someone asked how did I do it? How did you get to where you are? How did you know? My answer was the same as it has ever been, I didn't have a choice, I just knew I wanted more and I knew the past would not hold me back so I pushed forward.

I challenge all of you, my readers to push forward regardless of you past. Decide today, this minute what your future will, and make it happen. We are all together on this, do not think of yourself as alone. We all have free will, the opportunity to change our life today, at this very minute, we just have to make a choice and do it.

What is it that you have always wanted to do? What have you always wanted to be when you grew up? And why haven't you done it? What has kept you clinging silently to your hope and dreams all these years? It is now time to take your dreams off the shelf, dust them off and share them with just 1 person who will support you in them. Tell that person that you have always wanted to sing in an opera, be a quarterback, make a child smile, tell your grandma that she means the world to you.

We all have the power to dream, and to achieve those dreams, we just have to decide what our future will be, and step out on that path.