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Archive for August, 2008
Leap and a net will appear …
Thursday, August 21st, 2008I 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”?
What happened to the “do it yourself” idea?
Sunday, August 17th, 2008I 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.
Keep an eye on that budget!
Thursday, August 7th, 2008Whenever 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?
