For me, the dot com lifestyle unofficially started January 7, 2007 at The Tech Zone CES Kickoff Party. This party was hosted by John Chow. At this party, I met several other site owners and continued to build on these relationships and develop more after the show.
Shortly after the show, I came into contact with Bob and started talking to him on AIM. Bob also runs a tech site, ThinkComputers.org which does the same thing as my site, review computer / consumer electronics products. The only difference was that Bob was making a full time living from his site, where as I had been running my site pretty much as a hobby since 2001. I was a total noob when it came to making money online and thought stuff like that was a scam. Boy was I wrong!
Bob was a great mentor to me (and still is). He helped me get set up with TTZ Media which was my first serious attempt at making money from the site and showed me that you actually can make money online (and good money). I also continued to develop a good friendship with John and a few other tech site owners / bloggers. In the online world, it really is all about who you know and what you can do to help each other out.
Once the dot com bug had bitten me, I was infected! I made the decision to drop out of school in February of 2007 to try my hand at doing this full time. My situation was a bit unique based on my disability and what I am limited at doing physically, which I based some of my decision on. The other factors included being sick and tired of school and student loan debt… all working for a degree that I wasn’t going to be using anyway. No, thanks.
The Lifestyle
As I have said before, this was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was smart enough to keep detailed Excel records of everything when I first started this, so I have a clear view of how things are progressing. Besides the stray month or two, there has been a steady increase month after month.
As with any job, the most important aspect is that you must like your job. If not, it will be pure torture and nobody wants that. I was doing this for six years without pay simply because I loved it. Being able to do it and make money is just a perk.
Another great thing about the dot com lifestyle is being able to work on your own schedule. Me personally, I am NOT a morning person. I now have the freedom to get enough sleep and wake up at a time that I am comfortable with. No, this does not mean I sleep all day. I usually go to bed around 3-4 a.m and wake up around noon. This nets me about eight hours or so of sleep per night, which is average - I just shifted the sleep and wake times to my liking.
Not having a 9-5 traditional job also means I am free to go “have fun” at will. I am not trapped at “work” so I can go do things I enjoy like watching hockey games, going to Florida and just hanging out with friends. What makes things even better is that I can still do work using my laptop anywhere in the world that I have an internet connection. How many “real” jobs have that sort of flexibility?
So, What’s The Catch?
Honestly, there are no “catches”. You can be successful at making money online using several different outlets: tech sites, affiliate marketing, blogging, etc. But, the one misconception I think most people have is that it’s easy to do. Not true.
While I have never personally heard anyone say this to me, I do get the impression that some of my friends probably think I just sit around at home all day doing nothing and make money. Yeah, don’t we all wish it was that easy? The reality is, I do sit at home a lot, but I am constantly working. Whether it is testing products, writing reviews, answering emails, talking with sponsors, creating contests, updating the site layout / design… I am always thinking of ways to make the site better. I have worked my ass off since 2001 on the site and probably 10-fold since starting it full time. So the next time you think someone like John who makes 30 grand a month from blogging doesn’t work for it, think again!
Many things remain a constant, like continuing to try and find new ways to drive traffic to the site, toying with ad placement and different programs as well as attaining new and exciting products to review. Maintaining online friendships and also creating new ones is another priority for me.
Some of my goals for the immediate future include hiring a few additional reviewers to help with the workload and allow us to publish even more reviews. I’m also trying to help build up the forums and make them more active. Another idea I am working with is to start an entirely new venture here soon - more on that if / when it happens
1. Cats have instinct to use a litter box. Dogs go all over your carpet, on your bed, etc. if you don’t take them outside. Speaking of outside, I hope you don’t plan to use your backyard after your dog makes a giant poop field of it. If a cat goes outside, they are smart enough to bury it.
2. You don’t have to walk a cat.
3. Cats double as rodent killers.
4. Cats do well in small houses and apartments.
5. Cats are quiet. Dogs BARK BARK BARK! Someone comes up the driveway? BARK BARK BARK! Try to come in the house after hours without waking everyone? BARK BARK BARK!
6. Cats are independent. Dogs are sheepish animals that follow you around non-stop and bark / whine if you shut the door on them. Oh, and leave a dog alone for a day or two… have fun cleaning up that giant mess!
7. Cats don’t drool. How many times have you gone to someone’s house just to have some slobbery dog jump all over you. And the ridiculous dog owner just smiles and says inane things like “Oh, he likes you”. Slobber is so gross.
8. Cats are small enough to share a bed with. Any animal that comes close to weighing as much as I do, no thanks. I don’t want to be knocked around by a big dog.
9. Dogs smell. Cats bathe themselves and do a good job at it. If you want a fresh dog, be prepared to give it a bath frequently.
10. Dogs get angry. When is the last time you heard about a cat being put down for attacking / killing a child or an elderly person?
11. Dogs tear up all kinds of stuff. I’ve seen a dog rip a surround sound speaker off the wall and EAT IT! Not to mention they eat shoes and anything else they can get their mouth around (yes, cats can claw stuff, but you can get them declawed - problem solved).
I finally found some time a few weeks ago to get out and snap some “real” HDR photos.
The ones I have posted here on the blog previously were done by adjusting contrast from a single photo and thus, the results were sub-par. These new shots, however, were done taking three individual photos and combining them using Photomatix Pro.
Below are a few examples, but I decided not to post them all here simply because doing so at such low resolution really lowers the overall quality. You can see some “full size” examples by Clicking Here.
Last Sunday during Music Fest, we stopped in at Bigfoot Lodge for lunch. Bigfoot Lodge is located a few blocks from Beale Street in downtown Memphis, TN.
This was my first time at the Lodge and unfortunately, I had already eaten just a few hours before so I wasn’t hungry at all. Bigfoot Lodge is famous for their seven and a half pound Sasquatch burger - four pounds of fresh ground-chuck, two pounds of their handmade hamburger bun, and one and a half pounds of lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, and cheese…SEVEN AND A HALF POUNDS TOTAL.
If you can finish it all in under one hour, it’s free! This is very similar to the deal at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas that Josh tried (and failed at) back in 2007, were you are required to eat a 72 oz. and all the side items in under an hour.
You can check out the video below to see what everyone ordered at Bigfoot Lodge. I just wish I had been hungry, because that prime rib sandwich looked outstanding!
Social networking sites aren’t anything new, but some of the newer ones are just plain stupid. Example: Twitter.
For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is an “update” system for your life… yeah, how lame is that? The whole purpose of the site/service is to allow you to make continual updates throughout the day of everything you are doing. You just ate a hamburger? That’s great. Going shopping or mowing the lawn? Congrats. Going fishing or simply watching TV? Hope you have fun. News flash: I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES!
Umm… no, basic updates are not meaningful. Again, I don’t care that you are eating soup, running late to a meeting or partying. If you are running late to a meeting, the last thing you need to be doing is playing on your phone, updating your twitter. How about get in the car and drive to your meeting?! And, if you have enough free time to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing in their lives, well… that says a lot about what you are doing (or more so, NOT doing).
The only thing good about Twitter? It is a stalker’s dream come true.
Now, before you ask, I can already hear some people saying, “Well isn’t a blog essentially the same thing?”. No, not even close. Blog posts are meant to be informative and entertaining. I don’t publish posts unless there is some substance to it: humor, informative, educational, etc. I gain nothing by knowing you just washed your car.
Do you use Twitter? Surely I am not the only one that thinks this is one of the worst ideas ever…
I just saw this video over on John’s blog and got a kick out of it. I’m pro PC, but I love the PC vs. Mac commercials and this is a great parody of it!
Here is a video I put together a few minutes ago from the weekend. Please excuse my horrible video editing skills / Windows Movie Maker - such a terrible program! Does anyone know of a good video editing program that is free?
I spent some time today going through all of the photos I took at Music Fest. I was not allowed to bring my real camera since its considered “professional” because it has a detachable lens (lame), so I had to settle with the CG6 and thus, didn’t take near as many photos as I normally do.
Myself, Astrid and Kiwi in the back of the Mini.
It was a little chilly after the bad weather Friday night, but not too bad.
You can’t go to Music Fest without eating something! Astrid was having a burger here, and we shared some Corky’s BBQ Nachos during Seether.
I made sure to get Sarah plenty drunk! Hey, we needed entertainment between sets!
Another beer, imagine that!
Astrid, Sarah, Adam and Kiwi.
Rockin’ out!
Give someone in Memphis a black marker, this is what you get.
During Finger Eleven…
During Disturbed, which was totally awesome!
Speaking of, here is another clip from their performance…
The three-day long event that is Music Fest is now in the record books. I brought along my Sanyo CG6 Camcorder this year so I could get some photos and video clips to share with everyone. I am still in the process of sorting through all of the media, but for now, here is a quick clip of Disturbed playing Down With The Sickness…
