I was watching an episode from Monk last night (I know, it’s a geeky series) and there was something that really made me think … a new motto: “Leap and a net will appear“.

It does sound like those “self help books” that most of the time don’t say anything, just mix some ideas all over again in the hope someone will take them seriously. The change is in us all and most do have some reasons for being as they are. It’s a good idea to try and inspire people to have faith in their own strength and this is one of the merits of such books.

Let’s get back to the “leap and a net will appear” idea. It’s so nicely said and so difficult to make happen. What are we supposed to do? Just leave everything behind? Try something totally new no matter the costs? Do and then think? ‘Come what may’?

I was never this type of a person, even if I did have my share of “leaps”. Right now I am working in 2 areas I never dreamt I’d get, ignoring all the schooling and even my previous dreams, because, once you find a way, it’s a pity to not take it just because it’s something different from what you’ve prepared for.

Three of the most important “leaps” I made are related to current jobs and .. a car.

10 years ago I was a high-school graduate. Have been studying a lot to be a kindergarten teacher, had tens of practice hours and was gifted. Still, after finishing and preparing for college, I almost gave my folks a heart attack. I wanted to work in the media, have been dreaming about this for 4 years already.

We had to take an exam to be able to get hired in the kindergarten or primary school. I never went to get tested, since I knew I’d get a good result and I’d have to consider this career too. Imagine my family’s happiness. I wanted to ‘leap’ into the radio business, but I was unsure. Then, one day, I heard a new radio was going to open in town. I was 20 at that time and this was the lower limit for them (age wise). I just went to hear the requirements and the interview and voice tests date.

It was a huge step. Didn’t want to expect anything, just went there, got all the info, got back for the interview, the test and then .. I got the job. It’s been almost 10 years and my first huge leap was a success.

The second big move in my life was getting my small web design firm. It’s a HUGE step, especially when you’re not rich and there are lots of “ifs” and “buts” along the way. My first site was made in 2002 (march) and after some weeks I got hooked. It’s an addiction if you want to call it like this. Each moment I am awake I have ideas, strategies, feelings related to the Internet and my creations.

For some years I just kept it to a “hobby” level, even if it was clear to me this is again something I’d do for the rest of my life. But getting to the business stage is risky, there’s money to spend and problems to expect. I WAS SCARED.

Just toyed with the dream for years. Saying  “I am thinking about getting my own firm this year”. Yes, I have been saying this for at least 4 years. And then it hit me. “If I don’t do ANYTHING, I’ll just have this as a new year’s resolution each year and get to be 80 and still not the owner of my small web design firm.

The big move came pretty fast after I started WORKING on this idea. First I started asking people around: I have coleagues at the radio station who also own small companies and drove them insane with all the questioning. In some weeks I knew ALL I need: how much money, what kind of accountant services, any hidden fees, legal issues, EVERYTHING.

Since I was still short of some money, I saved for 2-3 months and then contacted an accountant, paid, signed, went to the bank for the firm account, did some more signing and then .. I had my firm. It wasn’t hard and I could have done it 4 years ago.

We now get on an even more personal level, as I’ll tell you about the latest big leap: my car. I had a thing for the new Opel Corsa (a good car for me as a woman, it’s fast, looks amazing .. doh, I am a designer in the end, I care about this .. doesn’t cost THAT much as compared to other bigger brands and in the end it’s my dream car). I know people go crazy over Mercedes or Ferrari, but I know my limits and dream to something I could afford. So this was the car I was dreaming of day and night. I was short of money (again) so the only way to have it as fast as possible was to pay for a part of the price and then on monthly rates.

Sure, lots of contradictory information and stories. Half an year passed and I was still thinking about it. One day I just had enough with all the “fairy-tales”. I just went to the company selling them in my city and got all the info: pricing, optionals and their price, rates and all the information.

Got back to the dealer in few days with all the paperwork done, the funds were transferred from my account to theirs, I signed 10000 times for all kinds of things and in few days I was driving my dream car.

As I said: I don’t leap too often and I understand why some people won’t make the next step. It’s risky, it’s changing our lives, it’s something that scares us. I was able to still “leap” after having my small set of “rules” and maybe they’ll help you too:

• you’ll never leap unless you know all you need. Instead of just day-dreaming get all the details. Once you know what it takes, the leap is easier
• after knowing everything prepare all the things you need. You have already planned (step 1) andknow can focus on each of your steps
• think well, but don’t overthink. I won’t be able to understand people who think about something for months/years. Life is too short. You need minutes (or seconds in some cases). Just get the info and make a pro/con list. THEN decide and forget about any coming back.
• once you decided to “leap” DO ALL YOU CAN do succeed. And never ever look back. Even if it’s hard, don’t despair and don’t regret. You thought about it. You made a decision, don’t regret it. Again, life’s too short to fill it with regrets.

This leap can mean a change in your career (a new workplace or maybe your own firm), a new area you might develop your skills in .. everything. As long as you are not reckless, there is no reason to not try it. Even if you fail, you have lept. And this means experience and a dream you tried to achieve.

How many times did you “leap”?

I have been running forums for 6 years now. Started as a totally “noob” admin and made my way by learning all I could about forum scripts, modding the skins, adding plugins etc. I made mistakes and was able to learn a lot at the same time. Never wanted to depend on anyone, never knew how to sum up my “courage” and bug others to assist. All the “do it yourself” thing was good in my case .. from a brand new web designer with no knowledge (not knowing where to add some Java script code in the page for instance, or create a banner in Photoshop) I got to owning over 30 sites and having a small web design firm. And, at the same time, found out that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I am not saying all these to brag (yet again), just to get something straight. As much as I didn’t like asking all people to do my job, I dislike people who come and bust into my private life EXPECTING me to do their work.

My main webmaster forum is up for almost 4 years. It’s a small and friendly community, with some amazing members and some kids who are an inspiration. 4 Years ago I was one of the few crazy admins to let 13 year old kids run my community (as moderators). Sure, they don’t have too much access to the real stuff (I never let another admin), but still, if they wanted to do damage, they could.

No, they didn’t do anything wrong, in fact they are still the pillars of the community and have grown into amazing young men. At 13 they were already coding in PHP, something I still don’t since I don’t have the time or willingness to learn this. I was always amazed seeing kids get so serious in such heavy business and by themselves. These kids were resourceful, wanted to learn all they could and all day long they’d buzz with I don’t know what code or SQL command.

From them I learnt a valuable lesson: DO IT YOURSELF while also look for guidance. My community taught me to not be ashamed to ask for tips when I get stuck, because in the end it’s a community, but never be too lazy to apply the knowledge myself. NO ONE is willing to do your work and it shouldn’t be like this. I would go and ask them for guidance, then try on my own, get stuck again, ask again and repeat till I was able to solve this. Everytime I put my mind into something I was able to solve it. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Some time ago, the biggest issue I met as a forum admin, was trying to merge 2 forus. My women forums “ate” a smaller one and I really wanted to make the 2 run as one. Even if there were 2 forums running on the same script (phpBB 2.0), they were modded differently (I had installed tens of plugins, as I usually do) and there were some HUGE issues.

I worked for an entire week. Trying to merge, even to fix the faulty code I was able to get from the official forums. Took me more than 100 hours of serious work, database deletion, re-population, making mistakes, deleting again and so on. It was the first time in my life I thought “OK, now this is somethign I won’t be able to do”. And still I wanted to do it. And guess what .. after 1 week and way too much cursing, I was able to integrate the second forums and welcome my new members.

Never did I think about letting others do my job. Sure, if I wanted, I could pay and have it done. But asking someone to do this for me FOR FREE was never an option for me.

Because I know how busy I am and how much it makes me angry seeing people sit on their b..tt and expecting me to do their work. I am always available for some hints, I can google together with you (maybe I get some better results), I can guide you as much as I can, but I will never do your job.

It amazes me how fast people think it’s OK to let others work for them. Or take anything for granted. I started a promotion on my Romanian webmaster forums (I give 5 hosting/domain accounts based on points received by posting) and was shocked to receive messages from people .. something like this:

Hello dojo. I need a domain. Can you please give it to me? I don’t want to lose time posting, I just need it fast.

Yeah, sure, you have to post some messages and even this is too hard for you. Why not take the shortcut? Why bother make any effort at all, when you can get it for free (or at  least think you can get it?)

There are still people coming and asking for me or others to install a script, install a plugin, why not even create a unique skin for it? They won’t put any effort into their site, but expect to earn at least as much as Chow does for other people’s work. No, it never occurs them to pay for the job, they are just expecting someone else to work.

I know we’re speedy. I know people want to start earning money from their sites the day before yesterday if possible, no one things about tomorrow. No one wants to pay for anything, but they all expect any problems to be solved by others, who should be as stupid as to do this.

All I was able to accomplish and all I can still manage to succeed in needed WORK. My own working hours, sleepless nights and reading thousands of articles, tutorials and tips. I tried to solve issues, asked for hints and then got back to the drawing board. Nothing comes free, nothing comes without work. Everything you do and learn will be useful one day. Maybe this is why I never cheated at any exams. I tried to learn and take them, never relied on others to do my papers, never relied on them to “whisper” something during the exams.

There is a fine line I think. One needs to also get over one’s pride and know when to ask for help (I try to), but also be ready to apply all the knowledge and solve the issues. Unless you are paying someone big bucks to design a site or implement a script, you could as well try to do these yourself.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

My main motto is another one (wherever you go, go with all your heart), but I think this one is also a good one. Try and fail, and learn from your mistakes. It will make you a better web designer, a better forum manager, a better person. We all make fun sometimes about the “do it yourself” slogan Nike made popular. Sure, we think about many things (even sex related), there are bumper stickers mocking a this. The main idea is to just grab the bull by the horns and start solving your problems. See what’s not working, ask for hints and then try again.

I think it’s a way of life. And once you learn how to NOT depend on anyone, you’ll be free. And success will follow.

Whenever people talk about business they talk about a business plan. Where you put down on paper all your expectations, the budget and how you think your business will grow. And most of the time you stick by it. Time passes and from being almost broke you start earning. A little at first, and then more each month.

Sure, you have that budget, but there are so many nice things you’d like to purchase (internet related, we’re not talking that Mercedes you have your eyes on .. or even that car, it’s still money spent), so many scripts/designs/hosting/advertising campaigns you think you need.

As I have mentioned before we do need to spend money to be able to also earn something, this is how business works, but sometimes we might get into another problem, spending too much.

I started very low too. 6 years ago spending 10 USD for a domain or 3 for a monthly hosting was impossible. I just didn’t have the money for my hobby, so I had to work on free everything. Some years passed and I started spending money. I wasn’t earning too much, but there were already few Adsense checks and I could dream of my future online empire.

As the revenue started to increse, so my ideas. I would search for a very cheap or even free script to run forums/directories/auction sites etc., now I have no problems with spending 180 USD on a vBulletin or 100 USD for a Wordpress skin I really liked.

And it’s NOT OK.

I do overspend. It’s true that all these scripts do help a lot and after some months those sites will get a nice PR and traffic and would earn me money. I invest in them and will collect revenue in just few months. But still sometimes I realize I could go slower. Focus on what I already have (an over 30 site network) and improve content/advertising options etc. and also find ways to monetize better) and keep my spending to a minimum.

As we speak I have ideas for 3 more sites. This would mean at least 400 USD on scripts, but right now I said NO. I will try to set a budget (was never good with planning) and try to have few months with minimum expenses (domain renewals and hosting only) and try to increase the profit. Otherwise I might hinder my growth just because I am a shopping maniac.

How do you handle this? Do you have such a problem?

This article, just like many others in this topic, states the OBVIOUS. Why am I wasting time telling you something you already know? Maybe because some of my readers still don’t “get” it. They still run after “freebies” thinking this is the way to be successful. Sure, less expenses mean bigger profits, but what if these freebies actually keep you from getting a good profit?

I started my first site in March 2006. I wasn’t willing to spend money, in fact I didn’t have money to spend on a “hobby”. The site was placed on a free host and I started working on it, doing my best to keep myself from anything that would require money. My problem was that Paypal wasn’t available in Romania either and paying abroad was really a pain.

The next 3 sites were also made on free hosting, with free scripts and more work from my part. I was getting so involved in them and they started to take off. I can’t say they started making money though, since the Adsense payments were so small it would take me half an year for the famous 100 USD check.

And then it hit me. I was limited. My free hosting meant no domain, this meant less chances to brand the sites. There were some free domains available (.tk), but I knew that it was not a good extension for a serious site. And my sites were serious. In 2005 I made my FIRST domain purchase and moved the main site (back then) to the domain. June 13 was the day I realized that FREE is good, but FREE is not always the BEST.

I kept on working with free scripts and tried to make the most out of them. In 2006 my Women Forums were elected “PhpBB of the Year” on the reputable phpBBhacks.com. A lot of work was put into it, but I proved I was able to manage a free script and really take it to the next level.

The Webmaster Forums were still on phpBB and more members complained such a script (even if modded and skinned to a great result) wasn’t “professional” enough for this topic. I knew that myself, so I managed to pay for my first vBulletin script.

More sites followed. Right now, the Dojo Design network consists of more than 30 sites. Some bigger, some very small, some inactive now or buzzing with posts and members. They all required investments (hosting, domains, scripts in some cases, skins for blogs etc.) Even if I do spend money on them (at least 200 USD/month) the profit has increased dramatically over the last 6 months. The earnings were small in the beginning, but now, as the sites grow and some get a good traffic and PR, they increase each month. The investments are now less than 20% of the earnings and this offers me the chance to make a pretty decent profit from them and also be able to grow them some more by re-investing some of the money.

I have friends telling me that I should stop reinvesting and just focus getting as much as possible from them. Still some of the money spent in my sites are important for their development. Stopping my reinvestments would mean hindering their growth and this would result in a smaller profit in the end. As long as the budget is carefully kept under control and the sites make more money each month, then it’s all just a good business.

What kind of investments does your site need? A domain name is mandatory, such as a good hosting account. Sure, this is the smallest investment possible, but together with your talent and hard work these would ensure a good growth and future profit.

Don’t be scared of this. Don’t be too cheap to keep your site from getting the minimum it needs to start well. A 10 USD (even cheaper) domain name and 3-4 USD/month for the hosting are the smallest investment you NEED to make in order to secure some future profits.

With under 50 USD/year your site will have a good domain name and a decent hosting account with all the things you need. No one said you have to buy expensive scripts (unless you need them for the site) or a fancy skin. You can manage the design on your own (if your design budget is too low) and you’d be able to make it work from the first moment. If you need a special script though (it’s not a blog for instance or anything that can rely on a good free script), then prepare to make the investment from the first moment. Most of the time script conversion leaves you with 404 errors, database problems and it can be hectic for you and your visitors.

The moment you start an online project with the idea of getting some revenue in the future, make sure you know all the details and are ready to invest. Not much at first, but the least you need so that your site would have a decent start. It really takes money (even small investments) to be able to think about money.

As you can see here, I haven’t updated the blog in more than 4 weeks now. Apologies to those who came here to find something new and saw the same article for such long time

All this time I worked. Had some client sites to finish (still have), worked on some of the sites in the network, wrote some articles in my other blogs. I would like to say I took a long break, but it wasn’t the case. Still I thought about this the only day I really ignored ALL work and had fun.

Yes, I wasted one day and now I feel I accomplished so much just by not working.

It’s weird I know: how can I say I had a 24 hour break from all my web related work and still I feel I gained so much?

Some years ago I trained in Karate. It wasn’t something serious since I was on a fulltime job at a radio station, 24 year old female. So no competition for me. Still I trained like a maniac, because I loved each minute. 4 “classes” a week, each 2-3 hour long. I was in the best shape of my life and the technique got better each day.

And then .. I reached a plateau.

I trained so much I wasn’t good anymore, my muscles were sore (even if I was in that awesome shape), I kinda disliked this and that, would go through the Kihon sessions with no passion etc. I was overburnt and sick of all, even if I still loved all the training. And then I took some time off.

It was the winter vacation, we all went to a moutain resort or stayed at home. No Karate for 3 weeks. In the first days I felt like an addict who’s not getting his dose, but after a week it was all better. My blisters healed, my muscles weren’t as tense as before, I got my passion back.

We met again in the dojo and I was a new person. My technique was perfect, I was full of energy and the class was amazing. I missed it so much, I was rested and had my full strength again.

Getting back to our jobs as web developers, we do get this exhaustion, even if we don’t see it. And most of the time this “muscle soreness” hits us exactly when we should work more and better. The moment projects pile up and clients are tough with the deadlines, we break down. How could we take a day off when we know there is so much to work?

Simple. Just do it. Wake up that morning (weekend is better, since clients are also resting) and just go to get some tan, go to visit your city, meet with friends etc. Just IGNORE anything web related, don’t even open the computer if possible. As much as you think the world will come to an end, don’t worry, nothing will get destroyed, no one will die just because you took a day off.

This is what I did this saturday. Got a friend to come to the pool with me, we spent 5 hours in the sun, swimming and chatting like women do. Then I got back, took my car again, another closer friend and we hit the town. Drank some soda, chatted some more and then  met my boyfriend. I refused to touch my laptop, so I finished the night with some TV (Discovery Channel).

The next day I woke up with a HUGE “need” to work. I turned on my computer and checked to see if the world was still as we know it. All was OK. My network was there, the 4 reseller accounts were OK, the payment from some of the advertising companies was issued. I was fresh now and started working.

At the end of the day I realized I haven’t lost anything with my one day break. I worked better since I wasn’t that tired and covered easily for the 24 hours of inactivity.

When was the last time you took a break?

Few days ago one of my favourite Romanian bloggers decided to quit his job and pursue professional blogging. Full time job. He is already getting a nice revenue from this projects and it was just a smart move (even if a tad courageous as he also mentioned). His only concern was that he might think again to get a “real job” since most of his friends and relatives are shocked to see his new career, even if he does make money.

GET A REAL JOB!

No, really.

What’s a real job anyway? I kinda heard this too for the last 10 years. I finished highschool and instead of starting to work in the class as a kindergarted teacher, I decided the pay is too small and this is not what I want to do with my life. So I got a radio DJ job. Yeah, a “real” job indeed.

While my friends would get up at 7 in the morning to start the work at 8 and come back at 4 (our “nine to five is an hour earlier), I was getting up at 9, started the show at 10 and got back at 2. 4 hour work-day, triple the salary. Wasn’t this a real job? Why? Because I didn’t work for 8 hours? I didn’t work in shifts? In a factory?

Most of the time I would feel like I don’t have a real job since it’s indeed special. I can’t say I work a lot, especially now, since I have done this for many years. I am able to start talking about anything in seconds and get my “cool” no matter what happens on air. I am doing my “mixing” too, so I have my show in my hands so to say.

And still, even if it’s relaxing and I am pretty fast in my work, it’s a job. It requires something the people who tell me to get a real job don’t have: a good voice, excellent English pronounciation, self-esteem, humour, music knowledge etc. Whenever some of my friends would make fun of me, I’d also invite them to do my job. If it’s that simple why don’t they do it? Ah, they can’t .. Just as I thought. The radio DJ business is not for anyone.

And now, we get back to us, “weirdos” who sleep late at night and can’t wake up in the morning if their life depended on this. Yes, we wake up at 12, dizzy and oblivious of anything happening to us, we think in hex, pixels, divs and keywords, we spend hours typing, searching, designing. We earn a decent living and we do enojoy it. And of course, for most “normal” people, we are not having a “real” job.

Some years ago I was a bit ashamed too. For being a “strange” person, for not being able to have a normal life and a job like all my friends and family members. And still, after some thinking, I realized my job is real and there is nothing we should be ashamed of. Because we are specialists and we work a lot each day. Here are some of the things that make my web development job a real one in my eyes:

• 9 to 5? Sometimes I have 9 to 12 (midnight). Even if I don’t go to a regular job 8 hours a day, my working day sometimes is more than 16 hours. Any developer knows that when a deadline approaches, we lose sleep so that we solve it all. And when we should be relaxed, we have so many projects that would require us to have a 25 hours day and work 48 hours of it. Just because I don’t go to a regular office for hours, doesn’t mean I sleep my life.
• salary .. in the end that’s what makes a job. We all earn money. Advertising revenue, hosting, web design and programming, content creation etc. Even if this doesn’t sound like “real money”, it’s a pay for a good service. This money is real and we can live off our firms/projects. In my case I have the other “unreal” job (radio DJ) and believe me the salary is very real there too
• we don’t play on our computers, even if the “regular” people think this. The fact we seem to get lost in god knows what article for hours or caress that mouse as if it was the love of our life doesn’t make this less real. No, we don’t build houses, we don’t cure cancer, we don’t even clean the halls. We use our hands and brains to solve problems, to keep clients happy, to provide advertising ideas and solutions. The fact our services are different, doesn’t make them a joke. Our checks and bank accounts prove that at least our clients don’t think it’s a game.
• no, not anyone can do this. In many times, when I got some looks for being successful in an area others just couldn’t survive and getting judged for “having it so easy”, I’d just reply: OK, ya’ think you can do this? What’s stopping you? You think my radio DJ job is a joke and I am getting paid for nothing? Cool, come and do my show. Open the microphone and SAY ONE DECENT SENTENCE without choking with emotion, without being schocked you are on air. Sure you’re almost wetting your pants. I’ve done this for MONTHS till I was able for the first time to just not think about an entire city listening to me and laughing when I say a stupid thing. Because I do make mistakes and all my audience knows it and laughs about it. Does this seem easy? No, it’s not. I have nightmares about my radio job, even if in 10 years no one made a huge fuss of any of my mistakes.

  I’ve also had a coleague tell me “how easy it’s for you. You get a wage value for a site, you’re so lucky.” What does stop him? Doesn’t he also have a brain? Doesn’t he also have fingers and eyes? Why is he struggling to make the ends meet each month when he could earn so much? Ah, he can’t do my “job”. He can’t learn HTML, Photoshop is just a word to him, even after 20 hours of explanations I’d be forced to let him go without him being able to understand that a code in HTML makes the page look like this and act like this etc.

Everytime someone invites you to get a real job, just let them know what you are doing here online is a JOB. And a good one. You have to study all the time, as if you were a doctor. Sure, you’re not saving lives, but the trends change so fast, you can never be too sure you haven’t missed the “train”. You spend tens of hours in a week looking at code, searching for the best keyword, trying to make that green-blue skin look good for your client’s site, creating yet another interesting article.

The blogger I mentioned has quite a talent when it comes to writing. He’s already secured an audience for his blog and the site grows nicely. He’s got talent, he’s hard working, he lost hundreds of hours refining that blog, changing skins, placing the ads for the best CTR. He does have a very real job and seems pretty good with what he does.

I stopped caring about my neighbours opinion for a long time or any other people who think I am a “loser”. I go to the radio at 4 (when others get back) and stay there till 8 since I have an evening show. I work half a km far from home. Then I get back and work on my sites. The mornings I spend sleeping or meeting with my clients. I have a “pregnant lady schedule” as my BF likes to joke. I do earn as much as he does and this is done withouth spending 14 hours as a civil engineer, building blocks in the cold snow or hot summer days. I stay indoors, I take my laptop with me and work, I can taka a break whenever I want, I can shop and then lose the night finishing a project. If we do the sums I also have 10-14 hours of work daily, even if this doesn’t “show”.

Instead of being “ashamed” we don’t fit in any social pattern, I’d say we should be proud. Proud that we can earn a decent living with a relaxed schedule, proud we are so smart to understand all this web related “mambo-jambo”, that we are successful in our projects, we have pleased clients, people who read our articles and enjoy them, advertising systems paying us for links and banners. It’s not a normal job, but it is REAL. At least that’s how I feel it.

This article will be more personal than others, so please bear with me.

I am poor. I live in a poor country and my teen age years were hard and ugly. My family (father and his parents) would barely make the ends meet each month and they made huge efforts to keep me fed and in school. In my family being a good student was the only thing the kid had to do and they were very strict about this. They knew that only studying hard I would have the chance to maybe have a better life. A good job maybe and money in the future. Not huge riches, but at least a decent living.

We couldn’t afford too many things back then. I recall I used to wear the same pair of jeans for 2-3 years, I had very few pairs of shoes, mainly casual-sport ones (since they lasted longer and I could wear them anywhere). Shopping for clothes was always unpleasant: I had to be careful since I knew the next chance to get something new would be in 3-4 months the soonest.

The moment I finished school, I went to a radio station and started working as a DJ. For a total beginner and a “kid” compared to others, the first year was horrible. I used to work for 8-10 hours on the air (can’t understand how I made it) so that I can show them I am of some value. I wanted to learn all I could about music and in 6 months I became one of the best from there, even if I was a paria  months ago.

I worked through college too, happy to be able to earn something to help my family and also pay for my studies. The wage was pretty small, but it was already better than before.

After some time I decided it’s a good idea to get a second job. I was still on the radio and would earn twice the money at an advertising firm. I was the one to do most of the work there and this helped me learn more about running a business.

One year passed and I was ready to move on. A new radio station opened in my city and I went there. The wage was quite good (as much as both previous jobs would pay me together). So, I was once again on a better deal.

It was clear to me that working for others is a good deal, but the best deal for me at least would be to manage my own business. I saved some money and 1 year ago I started my own small web business. As I mentioned in another article: it’s a small venture, but I earn quite well. I work all day long, all weekends, I am again tired all the time, but it does look pretty nice.

In my case the only way to fight poverty was to just look for something to do. Something to bring me money. A bad job at first (since I was a beginner with no experience), then more experience, better jobs, maybe 2 at the same time or a job and a business as I have now. My financial numbers look pretty nice now. I earn enough now to be able to pay for my new car, for any food I feel like eating, I can now buy clothes when I see something nice and even save some more. I can also take care of my grandma and father and try to make them forget: “we can’t afford this now”. Well, we can now afford good meals and even some home-improvements. And we can visit our relatives or just drive outside the city in our nice car.

I was never interested in mentioning about my poverty. When we were really poor, I felt ashamed about this. It never occurred to me to whine about this. I didn’t want people to know I have no money, even if it was obvious.

I have coleagues and friends who like to boast about their financial problems. Some are indeed in dire straights, others just like getting the attention. They like others to feel sorry for them, it seems like this gives them a weird pleasure.

Such people don’t think about HOW to change this, they are content with their situation and accept their fate. And it’s so wrong. The best thing we can do is just work more, cut expenses, try to understand where do we go wrong and try to think about solutions. Just whining and contemplating a bad situation won’t solve this. Sure, realizing you have a problem solves half of it (at least that’s what some say), but half is not ALL.

I know so many people who fight for a better life. I even read some blogs about this and I have a huge admiration for them. They don’t “brag” with their poverty, they do something about it.

For my coleagues (some just can’t adjust to my new situation) I had one word: “WORK! You see me earn some more than before? What’s stopping you? Try to see what you are good at and make money from it”.

It’s not a shame to work, it’s a shame to just whine and expect miracles. Sometimes we make our luck. Or at least we help with it.

Yes, another site.

I have braces. Well, not the “classic” type anymore (wore Damon braces for 7 months on my lateral teeth), but Invisalign (those plastic buggers you put on your teeth and expect them to get straight

I have done a lot of reading all these months, came up with a site for the Romanian orthodontics patients and now I started a blog like site about Orthodontics for the international public. It’s called Orthodontics Today (cheesy, I know) and I’ll write there articles about this topic. And my own experience too.

Didn’t get to do too much styling .. made some changes in the theme and now I am submitting to social networks. Let’s hope someone will find my articles useful.

Even if most people will tell you “it’s an oversaturated business, don’t bother anymore”, let’s try for a second to plan such business. Even if there are so many web hosting firms around and so many services to chose from, why not try it? It’s a tough niche, but with some work and dedication you might make it really work. I have thought about this possible business too and, even if I just sell hosting to my web design clients and not work on this as a standalone business, there were some ideas that crossed my mind. I won’t be a hosting provider only because it’s not my dream niche, but allow me to offer some advice and maybe some hints I have thought about all these months.

What can I bring new in this business? Read the rest of this entry »

I have the huge luck of living in one of the biggest cities in Romania, Timisoara. Officially we have a population of half a million people (still we are getting close to 1 million with all the ones who have no legal forms in Timisoara). Not a huge city for the coutries that have bigger ones than we do, but pretty “dense” when it comes to people on the web and even bloggers.

Even if I don’t quite like getting out to meet strangers, I tried to leave the loner attitude aside and be more social. And I really haven’t got ANY reason to regret this.

I don’t go to web conferences. Most of the time these cost quite a lot and again most of the time there are only some general issues being discussed, things I can learn easily from articles and tutorials, for FREE and in my own time and speed. Most conferences are led by people who haven’t done too much to impress me and who can’t offer me some real solutions for the money I have to pay. So, no, I don’t believe in such “events”.

Still the local bloggers meeting is something else. We had a well known blogger make the arrangements, we have all been contacted and invited to the pub. It’s a small pub in Timisoara and the only “obligation” we had was to come there and be able to pay for our coffee or beer. Or natural orange juice or whatever we’d drink or eat. It’s just like getting out with a friend, less costly and more informal. God it was a blast.

Sure, we didn’t know each others by real name. I had to present myself as “Ramona Iftode” and then, seeing their faces (it was clear the name didn’t say anything to them), I had to add “I’m dojo, from dojoblog.info”. “Ah, it’s you, so nice to see you” was the response and I suddenly realized people DO read me and they do know me. At least they know that mean woman who’s writing on the Romanian blog.

The great thing about this meeting was that we were able to see the person BEHIND the blog. Most of the time we have a small picture on the blog and few words about ourselves. Imagine the thrill of getting to know that “picture” and talk personally to that “presentation”. Some people found me to be quite chatty and funny, others were more quiet and maybe weren’t too impressed. It’s absolutely normal: I also had people who really impressed me and some I wasn’t able to know that well and love from the first time we met.

The costs were very very small as compared to those famous web conferences. I drank some hot chocolate and an oranje juice, others “killed” the beers and others just fed their caffeine addiction. Some smoked and we all talked. We changed places at the tables (we were 20-30 people there) so that we can chat with other people too, we exchanged links and business cards (the ones who are also firm owners or just had the time to create some cards), and we even planned some projects together.

Right now we are working on creating a non-profit organization for bloggers. We’ll try to promote blogging in high-schools and show the students there all the advantages of a nice blog. Many bloggers are 16-20 year olds, why not be able to offer them more information and some official help? Blogging can be something wonderful for a teen-ager, we can help them and guide them as much as we can.

We have also discussed about a magazine I’d like to start and after chatting a little about this project, the most proeminent blogger in my city declared he’s 100% by my side and he’d help me as much as he could. Now this is really a great result after just 2-3 hours of chatting.

Our first “encounter” was so successful and we had such a nice time with all those strangers that we decided to meet monthly. On the last sunday, each month, we meet in a pub or outside for a barbecue since it’s so nice and warm outside. We have exchanged links, got to know some great people, some even befriended and started meeting outside our events.

This really made me think about the power of local bloggers and the fact many don’t realize all the opportunities. I see many people willing to drive hundreds of miles to God knows what conference, but they never thought about meeting other people from their own town/city who share same ideas and dreams. Sure, those huge conferences do have a point, you get to know the “biggies” in your area, but why not try to meet the local bloggers too? Sometimes you get better results from partnerships with smaller bloggers than with one huge one. Because some of these bloggers, just like you, might become big too. And it would be great to get your name out there, as much as you can.

So … have you ever been into such a meeting? How does the local blogger community look like in your own city?