Make money online
Archive for May, 2008
Are you poor? You can whine or do something about it!
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008This 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.
Orthodontics-Today.com
Friday, May 9th, 2008Yes, 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.
How to start your own web hosting business
Friday, May 9th, 2008
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? (more…)
Meeting the bloggers in your area: the advantages
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008I 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?
