Andrew da Silva

Since I'll be off to university in September, I won't have my great paying job anymore. Hopefully I can get some sort of transfer to a TD Waterhouse branch nearby as a clerk or something.

As an alternative, I want to tackle a dream of mine: monetizing a blog. I keep reading about people making 3000$ a month off AdSense and other various services. Why couldn't I achieve the same?

If you remember the "Psychology of Hope", to set a goal, you need planning and flexibility.

The Plan

Build the content

Since I love politics and life development, these will be the focus - niche - of my blog.

From time to time, I'll probably rant about personal issues I'm facing on the streets or with the news.

As a sidebar feature, I'll be rating albums I listen to daily so visitors can discover or revisit great artists.

Attract and retain visitors

Thorough the years, I've changed the design of my website a lot... read "too much".

Current theme has potential, hopefully I can tune it to my liking.

Placing advertisements where visitors won't get fooled into clicking them while making them visible.

CrazyEgg is a great service to pin point flaws in your layout and move popular blocks to high visibility location.

Another big plus would be to learn how to write attractive posts!

Attract advertisers and sales

Being a fan of user interface design, LukeW is a guy I follow closely and drink his teachings.

Therefore, everything is designed from a user stand-point: content is king, advertisements are extras.

While they're on the sideline, properly related advertisements can deliver great leads for sellers.

Today I signed up for AdSense, Amazon, Feedburner and Technorati. All of which can drive sells.

The Timeframe

As a goal, I'ld like to make at least 20$ a month for September. That would pay the web hosting fees.

By the beginning of 2009, I'ld be thrilled to raise 250$ monthly, and 500$ by July 2009 - a year from now.

For the long run objective, 1500$ monthly wouldn't be too shabby. Since I'll be in school at least until 2011, that amount would cover all my expenses!

Now as stated above, I'll need to be flexible, even if I went soft on the milestones. Any bloggers out there making a buck out of their blog have tips or don'ts? =)

Of course this is a journey. I will keep posting about the steps I've taken or changes made to this site.

As part of the restructuring and updating of my blog, I'll be revising all past posts and rewriting most of them since they are only lists without much text. They were meant to be more detailed and that what I'll do this week!

Hopefully this will bring more activity and spark ideas of new articles to write.

I've also changed the theme to Glenn Wolsey's Red Three - ported to Habari - which is currently used on his blog. The color palette will change this week also.

Thanks to all who participate either by subscribing to the feed or by commenting!

While on a camping trip at Baskatong, I had the chance to watch people's behaviors. As most camping trips, a lot of conversations happen and stories are told one after another.

Back a couple of months, I read a post on the art of story telling. Well, this weekend a relative of mine kept getting interrupted or ignored as he told his stories throughout the meetings.

• Don't beat around the bush.
  Like taking a minute to think of the specific date the event occurred.
• At a point, stop talking over people to be the star.
  When people turn away to talk to other people, it means you're getting obnoxious.

Since I am not a master at telling people their flaws or problems, let's hope this one goes smooth. I'll keep you posted!

Disclaimer: I am not that great of a story teller, but am working on it!

Watch it now →

This weekend I had the chance to listen to a bunch of lectures from various universities, and in the upcoming days, I'll try to point out my "take home notes" while providing the iTunes link for y'all!

First up is "The Changing Rules of Journalism" by Bob Cauthorn at UC Berkeley. He talks about the death of paper media and why most web versions of newspaper suck. These are the notes I took from that presentation, from a design POV.

Best Practices

Show newer or different content from the paper version

LCN is a local news station, their website show the same content as seen on TV.

CNN on the other hand lists newer or different content.

Paper version should be more succinct

Local newspapers love to make multiple-pages investigations, you need to read the 5-8 pages to finally get the conclusion or the good stuff.

Offer a lot of content

LCN offers the latest 5 news and 5 popular news, then it's good luck finding more.

CNN offers at least 20 news on the first fold of it's website, now that's news!

Reference Newspaper Websites

According to Bob Cauthorn, the following websites or newspapers should be references on how to present news:

• The Guardian
• The Times India
• The Wallstreet Journal

Final Word

A comment Bob Cauthorn makes during is presentation is that journalists shouldn't have blogs to comment news. Personally I couldn't agree more, what new content do they bring beside demagogy and disinformation or spinning of the news?

The only exception I can think of is Anderson Cooper because it is not heavily advertised on CNN's front page and his posts are actual stories - news - rather than comments.

How about you guys, what's your favorite news source?

I've taken some notes of Anil Menon's presentation at Duke University. They will be further explained later, just wanted to save an online copy.

- Work on your current job, not the next one.
- What will you do for success? (define)
- Know your weaknesses. (list them)
- Know when to not take a decision. (delay)
- Innovation != security (21:00)
- Diversify your skills (accept assignments, join associations, study)
- Pick your opportunities (ask your mentor for advices)
- What is your commitment level to this company?
- Under 5 years experience, technical skills matter.
- After 5 years experience, social skills matter.
- Create a context where people will want to work with you. (25:00)
- Questions to ask your new boss on first day. (26:00)
- Why not engage? (27:00)
- Know how to ask good questions.
- See 39:00
- See 44:00
- See 53:00

Watch it now!

Think you know everything.

If you were just promoted to Production Manager, you may feel you know everything about production. Even if that were true, and it isn't, you sure don't know everything about the most important part of your new job, managing people. Listen to the people around you. Ask for their input when appropriate. Keep an open mind.

Show everyone who's in charge.

Trust me, everyone in your group knows who the new manager is. You don't have to make a big show about being "the boss". You do, however, have to demonstrate that, as the boss, you are making a positive difference.

Change everything.

Don't re-invent the wheel. Just because the way something is done isn't the way you would do it, it isn't necessarily wrong. Learn the difference between "different" and "wrong".

Be afraid to do anything.

Maybe you didn't ask for the promotion. Maybe you are not sure you can do the job. Don't let that keep you from doing the job the best you can. Upper management wouldn't have put you into the job if they didn't have confidence that you could handle it.

Don't take time to get to know your people.

Maybe you worked alongside these people for years. That doesn't mean you know them. Learn what makes them excited, how to motivate them, what they fear or worry about. Get to know them as individuals, because that's the only way you can effectively manage them. Your people are what will make or break you in your quest to be a good manager. Give them your attention and time.

Don't waste time with your boss.

Since he/she just promoted you, surely he/she understands how busy you are and won't need any of your time, right? Wrong. Your job, just like it was before you became a manager, is to help your boss. Make sure to budget time to meet with him/her to both give information and to receive guidance and training.

Don't worry about problems or problem employees.

You can no longer avoid problems or hope they will work themselves out. When something comes up, it is your job to figure out the best solution and get it done. That doesn't mean you can't ask for other's input or assistance, but it does mean you are the person who has to see it gets taken care of.

Don't let yourself be human.

Just because you are the boss doesn't mean you can be human, that you can't laugh, or show emotion, or make an occassional mistake.

Don't protect your people.

The people in your group will be under pressure from every direction. Other departments may want to blame you for failed interfaces. Your boss may want to dump all the unpleasant jobs on your department. HR may decide the job classifications in your area are overpaid. It's your job to stand up for your people and make sure they are treated as fairly as possible. They will return the loyalty.

Avoid responsibility for anything.

Like it or not, as the manager you are responsible for everything that happens in your group, whether you did it, or knew about it, or not. Anything anyone in your group does, or doesn't do, reflects on you. You have to build the communications so there are no surprises, but also be prepared to shoulder the responsibility. It goes hand-in-hand with the authority.

Source: About.com

Reading health and zen blogs, I've come to realize a lot of the information is doubled or split into multiple posts. Also, my perspective is they focus too much on GTD systems and fail to provide concrete tips on how to improve your morale and counter procrastination.

Therefore, this post will focus on things I've started doing to counter my biggest weakness, procrastination.

Thanks to Leo Babauta for his Handbook for Life, the tips are taken from the book, but I'll explain each based on personal experience.

- Learn to say no.
- Limit your communications.
- Limit your media consumption.
- Purge your stuff.
- Edit closets and drawers.
- Simplify your wardrobe.
- Simplify your computing life.
- Eat slowly.
- Drive slowly.
- Be present. (turn off cellphones, IM, emails when talking to someone)
- Eat healthy.
- Exercise.
- Single-task.
- Learn to do nothing.
- Simplify your news consumption. (feeds)
- Carry less stuff. (keychains, cards, gum, etc.)
- Simplify your financial life.
- Become an early riser.
- Be friendly.
- Be helpful.
- Be courteous in traffic.
- Overcome prejudice.
- Don't control others.
- Listen to others.
- Send yourself a reminder. (like this site)
- Accept criticism.
- Groom yourself.
- Dress nicely.
- Think positive, music helps.
- Speak slowly.
- Stand tall.
- Set small goals and achieve them.
- Smile.
- Volunteer.
- Get off coffee.
- Don't do drugs.
- Wear lenses rather than glasses.
- Take everything less seriously.
- Decrease or put a stop to negative relationships.
- Hang out with non-stressed people.
- Watch something funny.
- Take a bath or shower.
- Eat a proper breakfast.
- Be early 5-10 minutes to meetings, etc.
- Delegate and outsource, ask for help.
- Be proactive (be the first to volunteer).
- Go to public school, private school is not worth the money.
- Think for yourself, stop believing those YouTube videos!
- Always improve, do not be stagnant in your life, especially in your career.
- Be accountable to people, always come through with your promises.
- Start small.
- Have an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
- Be curious and not afraid to experiment.
- Know what you want.
- Build a social network.
- Be passionate about what you do.
- Be persistent and patient.

Sources:
Get Rich Slowly
LifeHack
Positivity Blog
Zen Habits

Daily checklist: Things to do every day.
- Make myself smile and laugh at least once;
- Have high energy (gym, diet);
- Learn something new unrelated to my current interests (read the news, blogs).

Career: What do I want in my career?
- Financial stability;
- Challenging, interesting and involved work;
- Make a difference;
- Have fun and enjoyment;
- Contact with people (not be stuck in a back room or cubicle);
- Valorize competitive spirit;
- As less bureaucracy as possible.

Mottos:
- Be the first to volunteer to do the hard work;
- Be the first to volunteer to do the new work;
- Do the work better than anyone has ever done it;
- Know what makes a business succeed;
- Always be ahead of your time, reacting is not succeeding;
- Be a team player, but be the best in the team;
- Hire people that are smart and that could do your job (it will motivate and keep you ahead);
- Be mobile, available to travel/move;
- Make your boss look good (it will not make you a kiss-butt);
- Be honest;
- When you succeed, credit your teammates;
- When you fail, take the whole blame;
- Be ethical, people you disrespect will remember you 20 years from now;
- Take chances, say yes to new opportunities;
- Manage life, do not try to control it;
- When leading, make sure if you leave, the project won't die.