Solar Dragons

Resurrection

2007-10-25T14:52:00.000-05:00

www.solardragons.net/wordpress

Cocoon

2007-07-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

A lot has been going on business-wise in the last 30+ days. Business has been like a roller coster and I think it's time for me to take a step back in order to re-educate myself about what my business plan is, what I want to do and how I want to do it. I recently bought some books to give me some brain storming ideas as well as a book on PHP. I think its time to dive into it. Better late than never. The books I picked up was just the shock I needed to get the creative juices flowing. Almost all the websites in the book I could create myself. I have to literally go back to the drawing board and start sketching out Solar Dragons 5.0. I went into my archives and realized how much I didn't include on the site. I'm going to really expand the portfolio section. After I figure out what to put up there, I'll give myself a deadline and work towards that. I'm debating on taking up new projects but some things are already in the air and I have to wait and see how things land.

Stupid Microsoft

2007-05-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

I met with Tip Top today. They had a few revisions for their site, which is fine because they are paying clients. My programmer is having problems with Tip Top's contact page because I used a windows server instead of a linux server. Stupid Microsoft.

On the upside, I called another client that wants Solar Dragons to do some freelance work for him to absorb his workload. He sent me some specs for a site. It seems simple enough and the deadline is good. We are meeting next monday to finalize everything.

Expansion

2007-05-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

I talked to a friend of mine a while ago about doing some work for me. He said he was busy enough with his job and would keep me in mind if he knew someone I could get with. Well he came through. He gave me the number and email to someone he used to work with, but now he does his own thing. He emails me what he needs and is looking for. Unfortunately, we played phone tag yesterday so I didn't talk to him yet. I'm going to call him later today.

On the upside, something is finally up for Tip Top Senior Services. There are still a lot of pages they want but it will take some time to get everything together. We were having difficulty with the contact pages but I think we're getting the bugs out.

Tempus Fugit

2007-04-17T08:58:00.000-05:00

I've been getting things together for Tip Top. A portion of my time has been focused there. The owner introduced me to his marketing guru. I was supposed to meet her yesterday but that meeting was canceled. Here's hoping I can reschedule as soon as possible.

In addition to that, I need to see what SEO work Diversified Marketing needs. I told them I wasn't available until April. Well, its April. So I'll call them today.

Tip Top should be up and running soon and we'll see where it goes from there. I hope the marketing can be put into effect soon.

Recap...

2007-03-09T10:56:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since the last post. Things are picking up with Tip Top Senior Services and American Classic. I have regular contact with Tip Top. We have a decent routine for communications. There were some pics I took for them to put on the site. So I bought a camera for that. They came out good dispite the fact that I took pictures of pictures. After that, I bought a 4 in 1 printer, fax, scanner, copier. We needed one anyway. I hope I can have Tip Top up and running before next week ends.

American Classic is doing decent too. I needed some info about the house listings and got that. I still have to talk to my copywriter and get the text from her for the site. I also need to talk to my programmer to get the contact page made.

I think I'll do some advertising after I get things situated. Maybe in April.

White Out

2007-02-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

I bought some more office supplies but still forgot some stuff. I would have went and bought them if the weather wasn't so bad. The visibility was horrible just looking out the window. I'd hate to be driving in it. It cleared up this morning so I might have to deal with it. I need to see Janet, Randy's assistant to get the pictures for his houses. I know I'm going to need my flash disk. There are too many pictures to have them emailed. She might be able to burn them on a CD. I'm still waiting for Jared's pictures. They might be in my PO box, I might be able to check today.

Jigsaw

2007-02-07T19:13:00.000-06:00

I found some old materials from a long time ago, when Isaac and I was making the comic. I remember us collecting addresses for different shops to call them and see if we could distribute in their shop. Fast forward to 10 yrs later, I.E. now, and I think the same idea is valid. I have a list of those same comic shops and a list of lawyers from when I had to pay a ticket. I'm thinking of getting a generic letter together for each group and mailing it to them.I can get some envelopes printed up pretty quick and go from there.

I also ran into Jared a couple of weekends ago. He was talking about his site again. This time I forgot to call him back, so he called me yesterday. We got everything squared away and his images are in the mail. So sometime this week I need to get his site up and running. I think if this goes as planned, he will be a good business reference.

I talked to American Classic Realty and Tip Top Senior Services yesterday too. Things are still on track with them.

I also found the paperwork that was telling me to how much it would cost to advertise my site/business on channel 3/4 for cable. No where near what I thought it would be. I've been hesitating on it because I thought it was too expensive. Since I can afford it, I might go ahead and do it before I redesign. It would go hand in hand with the letters I'd send out. Hmm... there's a thought.....

Power Struggle

2007-02-06T11:00:00.000-06:00

Recently when I check my site, the page rank is still zero. However, over the last couple of weeks the rank has been jumping from 2 to 0, back and forth. I don't know what's going on with the rank. I check page ranking websites and they say my rank is 2 through Google. When I check on my own, it's bouncing around.

I also found out that the links on the side of the blog doesn't register in search engines, only the links in the blog itself. So now I'm debating whether to link to my site in every blog. I also have to think about Hausman Homes, American Classic Realty and Tip Top Senior Services getting hits to their sties.

Super Bowl XLI

2007-02-04T23:43:00.000-06:00

OK. The Colts won. I'm from Chicago, so I didn't know who to root for. I really wanted to see the Bears defense vs. the Colts offense because I didn't know which was better. I got my answer. At least no matter who won, It was a historic moment for either coach. Aside from Rex messing up my day, I think it was a pretty good game.

Whew...!

2007-02-03T23:32:00.000-06:00

I've been working on www.randyhoyle.com and www.tiptopseniorservices.com this past week. I have to gather all the paper work together and get organized. I'm thinking about advertising soon but I need to know the best method to do so. In addition, when I do, when will the best time and I have to figure out my demographic. Plus I need to know my budget for the advertising. I dont want to spend a ton and get nothing in return. I might go the Google Adwords route, not sure. I also have to finish the redesign so I can get my link campaign together.

Bolt action and good aim too

2007-01-22T22:50:00.000-06:00

I got a lot done today. I went to the bank and saw a guy from ADP. He pitched me a pretty good deal about using them for payroll and handling taxes for employees. Then I remembered what Joel was telling me about a car dealership that he does business for. They aren't happy with the hosting provider (take a stab in the dark who hosts them) so I pitch them Solar Dragons services. Josh (the owner) jumped on board and told me he would call me back soon. I hope he does this week.

I went to the comic store and talked to the owner, Dan. He told me a week or so ago that he would get control of the store's website. The site needs help to say the least. I asked him if I could give him a list of suggestions and he was ok with that.

I called Randy and let him know I officially have www.randyhoyle.com for him. I also told him that we have to make the site soon so things can get moving. We're going to meet on Wednesday to get things hashed out. He said something about some templates but he still needs someone to service the site for him.

I have to call Eric about his site as well. The 'Coming Soon' is up but its time for everything else to get up and running.

Ohh... Right....

2007-01-16T15:12:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here wondering why I can't put up the 'Coming Soon' page for Tip Top Senior Services. So I call Go Daddy. They tell me that The domain name isn't going to the proper server. Until it does, I can't upload.

Ohhh... Right...

I've been sitting here racking my brain for the past week trying to figure out what's going on. I've been trying to set up some ad strategies for all my clients and redesigning my site to start a link campaign for myself. It was slipping my mind what to do. Well i'm glad that's out the way.

I've been thinking about Robert Morris though. I wonder if everything is going smooth with the newsletter. I haven't been in contact with them in a while. They told me they would contact me, so I'll just have to be patient. I got enough going on right now. I hope I have the site redesigned before they call.

2007-01-16T10:45:00.000-06:00

Material Enhancers

Demitri Martin is hilarious. He's like the next 'Seinfeld'. I saw the Comedy Central Stand Up a couple of nights ago and was crying for half an hour. I had to take a break from business and post this.

Brainstorm

2007-01-14T10:25:00.000-06:00

I was going through the competition in the area, checking out some of the sites that have been done. I remember people saying that they donate sites to different places. I was thinking in the back of my mind about Don Andreas. I wonder if I could donate a site to them and give them business cards with the new website on it. Then a tracker would tell me how many hits it gets and if people would go to my site from there.

An article I red was telling me about page rank and different subject in different areas may require different amout of backlinks to get a decent rating. So since I'm in northwest indiana, I think I would need a different amout of backlinks to get some page rank versus the people in Chicago.

I'm not sure when I would want to approach the owners of Don Andreas. Plus I'm still redesigning my site as well. I think I want to get things done with Tip Top Senior Services and American Classic as soon as possible so I can focus on my site. Then I might see if Don Andreas is up for going online.

Progress

2007-01-12T20:02:00.000-06:00

I was having trouble transfering Randy's site to a new hosting service but we got it straightened out. I should be in control of his site by the middle of next week. Meanwhile, I'm working on a 'Coming Soon' page for Tip Top Senior Services.

I found another way to advertise. They submit my site through a program and people can click on it. Once I reach so many hits, they disconnect me. I emailed them to find out if this was an automated progran to generate hits or are people really seeing my site and clicking on it. They emailed me back and showed me how to track the original IP address. That was pretty cool of them.

Well, back to work...

Genesis

2007-01-10T12:42:00.000-06:00

The last few days have been pretty busy. I met with Randy and let him know the domain name was being transfered. We discussed what he wanted to do after the redesign of his site was done. I hope I can convince him to get a link champaign going. He has good page rank but all his competitors have more backlinks and still a higher page rank.

I also met with a new client, Eric. He wants a site for seniors. I've started setting that up. I got the domain name, set up the hosting and his email. Over the next week or so, I'll show him some designs and get things set up.

I found out later that just the domain name was transfering. When that happens, his site at Doppler will stay with them and it will switch over to my hosting, which is empty. I have roughly 60 hrs to get something up there. I think I know what I'm going to do. I hope it works...

I'm going to call the local papers to start advertising in the classified section. I also am planning a redesign and then I will do a link champaign for myself.

So it begins...

Move Along

2007-01-04T09:52:00.000-06:00

Well the new year is in and things seem to be on the up and up. I got a call from a guy that wants two sites. I set an appointment for Monday at 9am. I'm also working for Randy, Vince's broker. He was hosting with Doppler but had conflicts with them, like everyone else does. Some time last week, his site wasn't up anymore. So I let him and Vince know what to do so I could take the site from Doppler and work for Randy. So far, so good. I started the transfer yesterday, so we'll see how it goes.

Vince and I were talking about having a giveaway on our sites. I think that can really drive traffic to the sites. I personally am shooting for a May/June redesign. I want to focus on educational prizes and really capitalize on the 'Back to School' craze that'll be going on. I also plan on having some package deals that will make things easier for clients to pick what they want/need. If there can be a continuous incoming of people for business, I don't think I'll get overwhelmed. I'm sure now that the holidays are over, things will settle down and it will be back to business as usual.

I'm still waiting for Robert Morris to contact me. I think they will have some decent business roll in. To be honest, I think the High Roller are in Chicago. However, now that I'm in NWI (Northwest Indiana), I want to take advantage of the fact that the businesses out here don't have good online representation. I hope I can get more NWI business before Robert Morris throws Chicago business my way. NWI really needs an online presence but doesn't want to pay Chicago prices.

I hope I can create a happy medium.

The Waiting Game

2006-12-26T09:52:00.000-06:00

With the holidays here, I'm sure it is slowing down work for a while. I submitted proposals to Andrea and I tweaking Vince's site now. When I'm done with Vince, he'll show Randy and we'll see where things with him go from there.

Things for Vince's site shouldn't be a problem. The amount of text he had was insane, so he decreased it and is making a packet for all the info. We talked about ways to promote the site, possibly through giveaways and contests. I think Solar Dragons can do the same.

The new year is about to roll around, so we'll see what 2007 brings...

It's Alive!!!

2006-12-20T10:39:00.000-06:00

Vince's site is finally up!! Hausmann Homes has a site. That took forever...

I met with Andrea on Monday. She likes the idea for the websites and gave me a demographic to aim for. In addition, she wants an update to her site as well. So I have to come up with package deals for her clients and a breakdown of what she needs.

Now that Vince's site is up, Randy will hop on board. Vince and I were talking about different ways to get people to our sites like givaways and drawings for various products. I got a lot of work to do.

Same Ol Thing

2006-12-13T09:10:00.000-06:00

I have a lot going on right now. I have to make sure I get as scheduled as possible.

Going to see Andrea on Monday.

Waiting to see when things go through with my picture at Robert Morris.

I'm trying to get addresses for businesses that I want to connect with together.

Almost finished with Vince's site. I looked yesterday and realized Randy's site isn't up anymore. So I'm trying to get Vince's site up today and see what's up with Randy.

Countdown...in 5

Man on Fire

2006-12-11T08:27:00.000-06:00

So far I have plenty of people that want to collaborate for projects. I've spent so much time advertising in different forums and going on craigslist, I haven't had time to finish Vince's site. I think I should this week for the simple fact that Vince knows people and he will advertise his own site.

I most definitely appreciate the dedication of the people I'm working with. We have a lot of good ideas that can be profitable hopefully. I spending today online. I just watched the cable go out, so I hope the internet is still cool.

Puzzle Pieces

2006-12-06T11:19:00.000-06:00

I'm back from Florida. That was a well needed vacation.

I've reconnected with people since I've been back. About 90% are still interested in either doing business with me or wanting my services. It seems like they are all making moves at the same time. Feast or Famine I guess. My main concern is that I know people that know people. I need to start developing my own business contacts. If someone falls of the face of the earth or goes into a coma, I'm stuck. I'm goning to have to sit and think of who I know and can I help them with what I have.

I talked to Angela from RMC and let her know I was back in town. I reestablished my desire to have my picture taken and would like to be in the newsletter. We set up the photo shoot for Thursday at 10.

I got a little business book from Epcot. That's where they have all the lands from around the world. I got the book from China. I'm going to start keeping notes for work in there. I noticed that I keep going online to look up contacts or looking for business cards, scraps of paper, etc. I figure if this is a real business, I have to act like it.

Talked to Vince about his site. I keep forgetting that Vince knows people who need websites. So I have to get his site done, hopefully by the end of the week. The basic design is done. I still have to opitmize the site and put the hidden counter on it. The counter from www.statcounter.com have really come in handy to keep track of how people are looking at my site. It even tells me if people got to my site through email I sent them.

I have to call Andrea up from DMS. She wants to meet with me about SEO work and web design. I heard that she needs someone that can do flash. I'm getting ready to get my haircut for the photo shoot, so I guess I'll be calling her in the car.

? + ? = Success...

2006-11-22T16:52:00.000-06:00

I went to craigslist anyway, even after I said I wouldn't. I don't want to miss any opportunities this week considering I'm going to be missing a week's worth while I'm in Florida. I got a more bites from craigslist than expected. I sent a few proposals out but let them know I was going out of town. Only time will tell how things work out.

I got Final Fantasy 3 and a DS the other day. It's easier than Final Fantasy 7,8,9 and 10... Well not easier than 10. 10 was horrible. It's been calming me down, kind of taking the edge off after a whole day of bounty hunting. I am however, going from staring at one screen to staring at another. I'm ruining my eyes, I know it. So It'll be time to get some glasses soon.

Talked to Keisha today. Passed her some freelance work I wasn't able to manage. I hope things work out. He's a nice guy.

I've been thinking about using my company to sponsor something. Most likely Vs system, the card game I play. I was thinking about the Little League teams that are sponsored buy local companies. I don't see why I can't do the same for VS system. One of the guys at the local card shop is 9th in the state. That might be a place to start recruiting people...

Just a thought...

2 steps forward

2006-11-20T11:01:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about my approach to getting business is slightly off. I think I need to focus my attention on business that need websites and don't know it. I came to that conclusion when I was searching craigslist.org. I was in the section for art/design and some of the projects were insane. People were looking for rocket scientist to create web pages instead of just getting one made and going from there. I went to a different section of craigslist and talked/emailed plenty of people who just want things as simple as possible. So I think I'm going to work from that angle; trying to contact doctors, layers, dentist, etc that need a way to advertise through the internet.

I'm going to Florida Friday, so I'm putting all my ducks in a row now to hit things hard when I get back.

A director at Robert Morris has been emailing me, which is good. I've been sending emails to the career counselor for weeks and nothing is happening. She might not even work there anymore. At any rate, they still want to take my picture for the newsletter and sign me up to speak about being an entrepreneur. Fine by me.

I'm about finished with Vince's site. I don't want to put it online until after I get back. That way I can track how it does, see if I can get some hits on it from various places, etc. Same thing I did with my site.

2006-11-14T10:55:00.000-06:00

Gary Jules - Mad World (Donnie Darko version)

This is how things are feeling right about now... Like I'm running in circles.

Hectic

2006-11-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

Its been a while, I know.

I've been getting calls and hits to the site through the forums

FEMA came and examined the house. The amount we should be getting wont pay for all the damage the water did. Not that we thought it would.

Haven't been able to contact the Library or RMC. I've been leaving messages and calling. Nothing.

The forums are working pretty good at getting attention to the site. I'm still working on Vince's site because we both had other projects come up.

I've been getting some decent connections with people and trying to get things rolling with them.

I've been getting calls from people who have seen the press release and my site online through searches. Optimization at its best! Thanks go to Matt for that one.

Becky's boss is supposed to hook us up with a G4. It's still in the air but I don't have any reason to see why things won't turn out good. She also told Becky she wants to meet with me about the SEO and flash work I do. Sounds good to me. I'll call tomorrow morning.

I need to just sit and get Vince's site done but so many things keep popping up. I finally talked to Godaddy and they helped me get through the options to link his site to dreamweaver. So when I am done I can FTP it up and that's it. I thought I was going to have to get Windows_FTP or some crap like that.

It Begins...

2006-10-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

I was in the paper on Sunday, just not the paper I thought. I was in the Hammond-Times not the Sun-Times. Which is fine. Any advertising is good at this point. The article was good and explained a lot about the business and what I do. My hit count for my page quadrupled for the last few days. I'm waiting to see when I will get a page count for my site. I've had over 2200 hits, so I'm definitely keeping track.

I sent a gift basket to Berman Industries finally. I didnt know how to address condolences and thanks for the job opportunity, so I just basically said thanks.

I finally started to go into the multitude of forums that I signed up for. I started getting hits from them almost instantly.

I'm debating on going to craigslist and submitting a listing for a salesman for the business. I would have to pay on commision. I don't think it would hurt.

I talked to Edith from Robert Morris. I showed her the online article and she told me I was appoved for the Robert Morris Newsletter. They want to interview me and take my picture for 'The Hall'. The RMC campus I went to is located in downtown Chicago, in an office building. There are three entrances. Two of them are located on the north and south ends of the building. My picture will be in the newsletter and the corridor to the entrances. The picture is usually up for a while. I have to make arraingments to take the picture. I think it'll be strange to see it up in the hallway.

When it rains...

2006-10-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

It's been over two weeks since I last blogged...

I've been trying to contact Grande Prairie Library.

I finally got my phone fixed. I had to get a new one. I hate that I had to get a new one but its a Treo 700 w. My last phone was a Treo 600, so it's an improvement.

I forget where I was going but I went past Don Andreas. They fixed the place up already. Guess it's time for me to pay a visit.

I had a headache two Tuesday/Wednesdays ago that literally kept me bedridden. I couldn't stand any light for almost a whole day. I talked to my parents about it and they said I probably need glasses. I used to wear them but when I ruined my best pair of contacts, no contacts fit right after that. So I stopped getting them. That was over 11 years ago. Time for some glasses. Since that headache, I can't look at the TV or computer for an extended amount of time. Which is really slowing up my work.

Some relatives of some friends moved here from New York. The wife is a web programmer and the husband is in networking. She came into the city with freelance gigs in tow. She doesn't however do design work and said she could pass some things my way.

Monday I get a call from the Chicago Sun-Times. This reporter wanted to do an interview on me for Solar Dragons. So we talked for 20 minutes about how the business got started, what I do and how I do it. It really caught me off guard but I hope I did OK. They are coming tomorrow to take a picture of me working to put me in the paper! I still can't believe it. Because of that, I talked to Jared and Vince about getting their sites up. Things have been busy with all of us but I owe them so I have to come through. I don't want business to pick up and leave them in the dust. So I told my press release agent and she was happy about that. She said that she never has been in the Sun-Times before. So she is going to use that press to get me in the local papers so I can get more business in this area.

I also want to send Robert Berman a belated condolence for losing his sister and dad. A friend of the family's died last week. The funeral was friday.

I don't really know what to feel about the newspaper deal. I'm really trying to make sure all the business paperwork is in order. I guess seeing is believing.

Move Along

2006-09-19T23:49:00.000-05:00

So I'm finally back from the trip. Joel's father-in-law is Derek Franklin. He was more down to earth than expected. The whole family is hilarious. I'm glad for Joel. Derek gave me a flash book he wrote for Action Script. I really need to learn Action Script. I'll have to put it in the schedule.

I called the Library. They were busy. I told them to check the email and that it explains what's been going on since my phone was still messed up at the time.

I got a haircut and talked to my barber. Her and her fellow barber/business partner are looking for a new location. I gave them business cards and let them know what Solar Dragons does.

My phone came today. It took forever to get it turned on and I still have to link the Hot-Sync with the new software.

My press release went out today. I IM'ed my agent and we cut a decent deal. I told her I want the release to go national. I can track incoming links to my site, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Back on Track

2006-09-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

The past few days have been crazy. I went away for my anniversary. While on the way to the hotel, my phone started going crazy. After we come back, the phone was still broke, so we went to the Verizon dealer. It was closed. I called Verizon when I got home and they wanted me to do a hard reset but It would erase all my info on my phone. So I had to Hot Sync the phone to the laptop, which I hate, to save my info. Did the hot sync work? Of course not. So now I have to get another phone.

Meanwhile, the basement flooded yesterday with over a foot of water. It took 30 minutes for the basement to fill that high. Our mailbox was almost covered the water in the street was so high. Fortunately, it drained as fast as it came once the rain stopped. Then there was the massive clean up.

Meanwhile, the library hasn't called me. I emailed them before I left. On the other hand, I don't know if they called because my phone is messed up. I still have to finish Vince's website and get back on track with the blogs. I think I might have bit off more than I can chew with them. I think I have to find a better way to advertise them other than just putting them in signatures in my posts for forums.

I still have to make some cold calls and drive to some small businesses. I still have to get my phone fixed.

Guess its back to work.

Countdown

2006-09-08T08:53:00.000-05:00

With the press release done, I'm preparing myself for whatever business may come. I have to make sure things are organized for whenever a paper picks it up. Becky was saying that you don't know when some newspaper will pick it up. I hope they do. A lot is riding on me getting this out. I'm going away for my anniversary and Joel is having his reception in Bloomington next week. I'll probably send the press release out after that. When I get back on Monday, I have to finish the library and Vince's site. I hope the library calls me back so we can get things done. I want those blogs to go up as soon as possible.

I talked to Jared and thanked him for the hook up. I was telling him that he needs to get his site up and running so there is some way for people to see his work. I hope we can collaborate on a project or two, with him drawing and me coloring. I received a lot of business cards recently. I'm going to have to go through them and just cold call about websites.

I've been thinking about what Vince and I were talking about as far as an online classified section. I think the main problem would be getting the ranking up. I'll look into it in a couple of weeks. Haven't talked to Matt in a while. I wonder how things are going. He said they moved to a new building in crown point.

Blogs so far seem like the way to go for getting yourself in Google. Yahoo never hassled me about getting in their index. Google takes forever. But when I mention something in my blog, I pop up in Google. For example: The name 'Solar Dragons' isn't common. So I don't expect to see it a lot. But 'Solar' and 'Dragon' are common. Every D&D game, Final Fantasy and any other role playing game that has a dragon in it shows up before my site does on Google. Ditto for 'Solar'. There's moves from Dragon Ball Z with the term 'Solar' in it. Other RPG games in addition to fuel discussion mention 'Solar'. So it takes forever to actually find my site in Google, if its even in there. As soon as I mention something in my blog though, I'm in Google. Just like that. So now I'm debating how to advertise my blogs so I can be in Google under a variety of topics. Since I'm always feeding a blog, it would seem faster than making a webpage and waiting forever.

Again, more research is needed. Guess I'll get started Monday.

Whirlwind

2006-09-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

My Grandfather went in the hospital yesterday. He's ok though. That kind of slowed me down work wise.

I still have to finish Vince's site. I remember when we were talking about blogs. He was saying that pro bloggers post several times a day. I think next week I'm going to create one blog that talks about everything I see in the news.

Meanwhile I still need to get mass content going for the rest of my blogs. I signed up with over 40 forums, but I need to make sure that I have content for the blogs before I use those in my signature.

I also have the library's site to finish. I'll probably do that today. I set the blogs and the email up. Found some great deals for the vs system cards. Now I just have to make sure I'm in the schedule to teach them. In addition, I think they want me to teach the kids how to color. That gets expensive per kid. I don't know if they can afford it.

I got my press release done finally. She emailed it to me. I like it. It gets straight to the point and explains what the business does. I told her that I need an official writer for releases because I'm putting package deals together. She accepted. So that's one less thing to worry about.

I'm going way for my 1st anniversary this weekend. It'll be good to get away for a while. I'm going to be out of town next weekend too. So I might not do the press release until after that. Becky said that it might take a while for the release to get picked up. I'd hate for someone to call me while I'm out of town.

I also put Google search bars on some of my site. I want to put ads on the site but I don't know where to put them without it looking tacky. I might redesign the site again. Next time I do, I'll think ahead about the ads.

I hate working on the weekends

2006-09-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

I went to the Grande Prairie Library on Friday. I was there for 6 hrs finding out what was needed. The section I’m redesigning online is for early to mid teens. So I recommended using blogs to keep there interest. Plus, libraries aren’t known to have a lot of money. So I’m going to put Google ads on the various blogs for the kids. Here’s hoping the gamble pays off. Fortunately, they want a lot of blogs. I figure kids are going to click the ads and that’s one way to produce residual income for the company.

The library has several connections to different news stations. When the remodel has been done and the blogs are up and running, they will send out a press release. I’m going to donate some Vs System cards and buy new starter decks just for the kids. I’m sure that will help my company look well. In addition to that, they want to hire me to teach the kids how to play Vs System and how to color. So my one library gig might turn into three. I have to call Jared and thank him for the hook up.

On Saturday I went to one of my old gaming stores in Chicago. I ran into some people I used to play cards with. We talked about the latest cards for Vs System. One of the guys is opening his own barber shop. So I gave him some business cards. Then I talked to the owner. I know him pretty good. I told him about my business, making websites and promoting them. He said his site is under construction. I let him know Solar Dragons could do it in two weeks. He said he’ll keep me in mind when it’s time to launch the site.

I finally got to sit and work on the computer Sunday. I signed up to a lot of different forums to make sure I can put the appropriate blogs and sites in the signatures of my posts. I need to make sure I get organized too. Went with Vince to Joel’s and talked about window washing for a minute. We’ll see how things go with that.

I’m about to finish up working on Vince’s site. I’ve been debating putting Google ads on my own site. I have had it up for a few weeks. I notice the most hits come to the site between Tuesday and Thursday. Whenever I get my press release done, I’ll make sure it goes out on those days. Holidays throw things off as well. I’m going to take a look at more websites to see if Google ads or a search bar will be appropriate for the site.

Call me butter…

2006-08-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

Today was a long one. I fooled around with the XML or XHTML code in the Blogger template. I submitted all the blogs to Dmoz.org and Yahoo. The Adsense has already scanned the blogs and are displaying the correct information. I’m wondering how many times I have to mention a certain thing (like XML or XHTML) in order for ads with those program languages to pop up. Adsense automatically keeps track of the hits my blog gets and clicks to each ad. I also went to Wikipedia.org and tried to submit something for Solar Dragons. They won’t let you promote a company. So I had to search out specific topics and put my blogs in there.

This blog is for the show ’24’. Google’s blog informed me about TV blogs. They said that your clicks on the blog will dip off when the show is doing reruns but things pick back up during the regular season. Well ‘24’ starts in January, so I started it now to have content ready by January.

Four Star Ball

This blog is for Dragon Ball Z. Even though the series is over, it is still a popular search item through Google. I figured since I’ve seen all the episodes, obsessed about all the characters and know generally everything about it, might as well blog about it. I think this blog is in my favor as well. While searching for various blogs for DBZ, I noticed that people’s attention to their blogs fell off when the season ended on Toonami. That was over a year ago. So I figure I might as well capitalize on that.

My Vs System Life

I haven’t found too many blogs for this tcg/ccg. I know a lot of forums that discuss the game. They of course have their own ad system on them. In my signatures I have my blog for when I play the game, how well I do, what new deck ideas I have, etc. Since the game is based off comic heroes, I noticed the ads are usually for comics and comic related items, not tcg/ccg sites. I’ll have to word things different.

Force Eye View

This one is about Star Wars. I’ve seen the movies more times than I can count. All my family watches Star Wars and can relate to it. I know the extended universe through different novels and video games I’ve read and played. When searching out Star Wars blogs, they fall under the same syndrome as DBZ did. After Episode 3, the blogs trail off. One blog had the Google ads just how I want them. I tinkered with the code for house to no avail.

Two Cards a Day

This is another Vs system blog giving my personal thoughts to two cards every day, Monday through Friday. I’m going to start the blog on Monday but I have already started writing content for it. Once again, I have my blog in my signature on various forums. I think this blog is better because of the specific nature to say ‘Vs System’ a lot in it. The ads get the idea and people are more likely to click on one.

I learned a lot from writing these blogs: Not to be too wordy on the blogs. Anything more than 3 paragraphs is too much. Have a point, say it and close funny if possible.

I have to go to the Grande Prairie Library tomorrow. Here’s hoping something good will come out of it.

Reverse Engineering

2006-08-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

I spent the whole day trying to crack the code for Blogger. I had to go line by line, change something, and then click preview to see what happened. I should get an XML book to help figure this stuff out. I’m picking it up fast for someone that doesn’t know XML. The Google Adsense code was easy to work with. I finally have my blogs up. I guess they are the way I want. I can always change the templates but that erases the Adsense code. Of course I’d have to put it back in and then Google would have to come and rescan the pages…

On second thought, is Google revisiting my sight several times a month really that bad? At any rate, I don’t want to waste precious time changing templates when I need to be working on content.

Speaking of content, I saw Vince yesterday. We talked about some changes he wants to his site and to the logo. We also talked about the Google Adsense and that he needs to get his blog started.

Jared called me today while I was working on the XML code. He told me about a library that wants to redesign a section of their website. We also talked about getting some comics started. I have entire universes in my head just waiting to get out. I told him if I did jump on board, I’d just write, not draw. He was cool with that. I also told him about where to go for grants and the small business administration that helps people out with new businesses.

So I called the library and talked to a lady about everything. We talked about how the site looks too lame and she wants to spruce it up for the proper age group. She wants to meet Friday and talk about it. I had some really good ideas about the site off the bat but we’ll get into detail on Friday.

I decreased the amount of blogs I had at first. I think I was biting off more than I could chew. Tomorrow I’ll fool with the code some more, do Vince’s corrections and start writing the content for the blogs.

What The…

2006-08-29T16:47:00.000-05:00

The past few days I was locked out of my Blogger account. Google bought out Blogger and is telling everyone to move their accounts over to Google for better protection and all that. I thought I had moved the accounts over and something happened to them. So I spent a good portion of last week trying to figure out what was going on. I went to a lot of forums that were saying don’t switch. Google however is saying that everyone will switch whether they want to or not. So I figured out what the problem was and logged back in. So for now, I’m not switching.

I was exploring the world of Google Adsense while I was at it. I think that I can use blogs to make money like everyone else. So I started several blogs and got a Google Adsense account. I finally figured out how to edit the templates and what happens? Blogger is on the fritz. I spent all day yesterday organizing all the blogs, got the Adsense account and what happens? Blogger hiccups. Big time.

I saw Joel Saturday and gave him some business cards. He works for a company that is around auto dealerships a lot. He was telling me that they always want websites and to give him some business cards. Not a problem now. I’m going to make sure that I keep some on me at all times.

I think I’m really upset by how much I learned about Adsense and the testimonials I’ve read. I’m rearing to go so it can be something else to put under my hat and them this happens. Geez.

Heads - Up

2006-08-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not writing last night a la Doogie Howser. It was late and I was tired. At any rate, I went to RMC yesterday. Finally got something accomplished there! The advisor was in business and understood everything I'm trying to do for Solar Dragons. She is going to suggest I be one of the success stories in the Newsletter they send out to various companies. She was also telling me about all the people that call her who are lawyers and accountants that want a website. She would usually transfer them to someone else. Now she'll just tell them to call me. In addition to that, RMC has a database that alumni and students are in. They have a file with their resume and career goals in it. In turn, we get access to all the jobs that RMC has on file. Sweet! I can just go through, select the ones I want to call and see if their company needs a website. She gave me all this stuff to read as well, about small businesses in America, in Chicago, etc.

On the train their and back, I rode with Vince because he had to go downtown. We were bouncing a lot of ideas around. Talked about classified ads for our area, pro bloggers and stuff. I thought about the blogging a lot. I started several new blogs that I will most likely write in starting Monday. I'm going to get in contact with Google about putting ads on the sites and see how things go from there.

My wife's uncle died and the funeral is today, so that respectably cut into my time for work.

I got another heads up about Carl calling for SEO. We'll see. Peoples checks were bouncing before I left. I don't see that changing anytime soon, so I cant trust any amount of money he might throw my way for the simple fact that he might not pay. If I work, I better get paid. Period. If I cant trust you to pay me, why are we even talking about it, you know?

I got another heads up that can save me a ton of money. I found out about going online and filling out the forms with the government to get my business license. That was a good looking out since some other people were charging 500$ to do it. Since I am going to be saving all that money, I think I should just pay for a Press Release and go from there.

Learn from the greats...

2006-08-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

I remember different shows where the people write in their journal before they go to bed. On 'Run's House' , Doogie Howser and all that jazz, they write after the day is up. So thats what I'm going to do.

I hit craigslist like I said before. I have to go to RMC tomorrow. I still have to find out what's going on with the press release for my site. I thought this is what would happen. You try to get a deal on a product, in this case, free is a pretty good deal, but the product takes forever to get here. Becky's friend may be really good for Press Releases but whats the point if they never get out. Roughly 2 weeks have gone by without a Press Release. I could have just coughed up the loot and got it done. I debating if thats what I'm going to do. I think I'll see what RMC is going to tell me and then figure some things out from there.

I talked to Vince about his site. We are going to Joel's reception in about a month and want all our stuff in order regarding the website, logos and business cards. So when we go down to Bloomington IN, we can dish cards out. Joel's father in law is Derek Franklin, so I hope I can meet him and get a couple of heads up about the online business. I'm sure he has a lot to say after all the books he's written about the web design field.

Time to regroup

2006-08-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

I hate being sick. It throws off everything. I thought that I would be able to get back into the swing of things after comming from the covention I had to go to out of town. As soon as I got back, I was sick in the bed. I forced myself to go outside wednesday. That might not have been the smartest move. I basically did nothing. Finally finished KOTOR 2. I didnt know I was that close to the end until I saw Joel's game. Picked up St. Elsewhere and some movies while I was out.

Ran into Jared at the convention. He introduced me to a friend of his that draws. He told me at the convention he was going to call on Wednesday. He was supposed to call last week. Didnt happen.

I didnt get a chance to tak to Ian or Vince about their sites, even though I saw them. Ian got engaged this past weekend, so I dont know when he'll have time to do anything. Two fridays ago I talked to this guy in St. Charles about his site. He was supposed to call back. He didn't. I was emailing a guy in Michigan about his site. He wants someone to promote his artwork and to call him back. I forgot because I was sick. I would rather seo the site and try to get a link campaign going. I'm not an actual salesman.

My business cards came yesterday. They look great! The coating and card stock is perfect. I coughed up the extra to get the corners rounded. That was worth it. So now I've been hitting craigslist like a madman. In addtion to sites about starting a business in Indiana. I'm debating if I want to do this on my own or go to a company and pay them to do all the paperwork. Vince was explaining to me the process he went though. I understand the beneifts of paying pros to do it, whereas that money could have went to some form of advertising for me...

I'm going to have to think about it for a while.

Am I Crazy? Possibly....

2006-08-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

The weekend trip was rough but worth it. I have a new book to read. Came back sick. My throat is killing me worse than yesterday. Speaking of yesterday...

I wake up yesterday and catch a glimpse of "Crazy" by Cee Lo and Danger Mouse, or Gnarls Barkley, which ever you prefer. Anyway, the whole video is The Rorschach Test. That is a creative video. Definitely inspiring. Here's the main site:

www.gnarlsbarkley.com

I spent all of yesterday tweaking the site. I'll be promoting me as much as possible this week. I'll work on Vince's site starting next week. A friend of Becky's is going to send out a press release for me. Hope that gets the ball rolling as far as business is concerned. I'm still expecting a call from that guy about his site. In addition to that, I got a call about some SEO work. Carl is supposed to call me about comming to work for him. He didn't call yet and its Tuesday morning. Maybe he got someone else or is just having Matt do it...

Now I'm torn. I want to work for me. I don't know if that's in my best interest. RMC might have a job off the bat. If I take it, it most likely wont be freelance and will suck up a lot of my time along with not paying decent. Ditto for Carl. If he calls...

I sent an email out to everyone I know that has an email addy. Then I called Berman Industries. Found out that the lady I used to work for a while ago died and so did her father. That was deep. I think I'm going to send Mr. Berman some flowers as a belated 'Sorry for your loss' type deal. I couldn't stand her but I wouldn't wish death on anyone. She had a lot of issues back then in '95/'96 when I was there. Geez that sucks. I wonder if she changed at all as far as personality is concerned. Death definetely stifles growth...

"If you kill em, they wont learn nuthin." - Riddler

I'll just stick to the plan of promoting myself and go from there.

ITS ALIVE!!!!

2006-08-10T08:05:00.000-05:00

Finally! Finally the site is up. All the links work. I got out the bugs and SEO'd it to boot. I replied to the lady from RMC and Shai Coggins. I'm getting a list together for all the people on my phone and email to contact. I emailed my parents, Matt, Vince and Tracee my site to critique it. Plus Becky is going to look over it too. I started my link campaign and realized I dont have a link page... like a moron. Anyway, I'll get on it as soon as I come back from out of town.

Day of Reckoning

2006-08-09T08:40:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy finishing my site, I haven't had time to write anything. Shai Coggins gave me a comment (which was pretty cool of her :) ) but I haven't thanked her because I want her to see the new site. I quit Monday. I think I could do better freelance. Plus I don't appreciate the shady dealings going on that could adversely affect me. I only have to put my portfolio page together and upload the site and I'm done. So I guess the big question is: Will I do better freelance or should I have stayed and taken crap plus be under paid. I left Carl a gift. I got Modern Mirror #1 in Google. That right there should show there's no hard feelings but he'll probably sue me for some crap anyway.

The lady from Robert Morris College called me back. She let me know what I needed to bring next week. I'm supposed to meet her Wednesday. I got an email from her. I'll email my site when I finish.

I didn't call Mr. Knowls because the site isn't up. I'll call him after I'm done.

I was looking at Berman Industries website.I used to work there many many moons ago (about 11 yrs). My boss snapped on me and when she went to lunch, I walked out. I'm was cool with everyone else because they saw it happen. They knew how she was and didn't blame me. They really need a website. Might try to see what's up with them.

I'm going out of town Thursday - Monday. After that I can finish up Vince's site. The mexican restaurant wants to wait on a website. I'll call them in about 3 months. I have to find every single business card I have to make sure I call/email everyone I know about my website. That's that for now. Time to get back to work.

Wrap it up

2006-08-04T11:43:00.000-05:00

Talked to Matt yesterday. Told him this is it for me. I just cant see the benefits to staying here. Matt has taught me a ton but the environment is depleting me. I'm glad I got a recharge being around Hutch as far as design goes. Aside from that, I have to do my own thing. So I told Matt I'm out of here when all the interns leave. He said I'll be all right, I have a good head on my shoulders and stuff. We were talking about what will happen when the interns leave and how we have to keep in contact for freelance stuff. Keisha came in work snapping. I mentioned it in passing to Matt, he asked her about it and then she starts on me about it. I usually would be combative but look where we are... I cant even blame her because this place breeds dissention and malice. I was cool with her when we were in the other room, just me, her and Sasha. Now that everyone is herded into the same room (minus Matt and Carl) there is going to be more of a tendency to rub each other the wong way. I hate that crap. Its like being in a mosh pit; you HAVE to butt heads just because you're in close proximity. No other reason is needed. I talked to Matt after I left. He said everything is cool.

Yesterday I checked in with the mexican restaurant. I got there while they were busy. I didnt have the car, so my father in law came and got me from work. I thought he got my message but he didnt. So I tooke him home and came back in our car. The guy that runs the joint was already gone. I talked to his brother. I showed his brother their business card and that they have the same logo on their card that is on another restaurant down the street. I asked him, "Do you think you can stick out to pull in business if they look like you?" He agreed they couldn't stand out and to come today to show to his brother. Vince is going to give me a ride.

On my way back from there, I went down Conkey. I remember taking that way and seeing a lot of businesses. I stopped by a couple of sign places and a printery. I asked for various things. Stuff me and Vince talked about as far as advertising our businesses goes. I dropped my web address at those places too. I doubt anything will happen but I'm just warming up before I hit the white pages.

I also call Rober Morris College. The art advisor is leaving (as usual) and transferred me to the new lady. Her voice mail said she'd only in on wed. It's already thurs. So I most likely have to wait to meet up with her in a couple of weeks. Im going out of town next thurs to sun. Whatever Carl has to say about work, I hope he doesn't catch me out of town. I wont be answering numbers I dont know.

I've been up since 4:45 am writing content for my site. I have to call Mr. Noels and see about his business. I also have to get ready to go to Don Andreas (the mexican place). We'll see how it goes.

Non-Stop

2006-08-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

Man, so much has been going on in the last week.

Thursday 7/27:
Matt runs somethings by me that might be decent. I appreciate him telling me. He could have hogged things for himself but he said that its better for the 2 of us to work on it versus him running with it. My dad always said when he was a consultant, "Don't be afraid to ask for help."

Friday 7/28:
Met with Vince and hashed out some things for his site. We also talked about starting a window washing company. He had talked to our friend Joel, who broke down the whole business; how to start it, where clients are, everything. So Vince asked him a while ago was he going to do it. He said no because he was getting married and all that stuff was going on. Well now he's married and Vince brought it back up. We were talking business until 2 a.m. I think its a great idea that everyone can benefit from.

Saturday 7/29:
I started working on my web page design. I worked for 14 hrs. I haven't had that much dedication to work since Isaac was around. I really think Solar Dragons can take off. There's a need and I can fill it. My brain was fried by the end of the day.

Sunday 7/30:
Vince and I went to our friend Tracee's house. People were comming to cool out a bit but me and Vince got there early enough to talk business with her. She has a degree in marketing and a Got Junk franchise. She was telling us about what colors to use and how to attract people to our sites. Most of what she said is the same things I've been trying to explain to Vince. Since its his site, I wasn't pushing the issue. Then she comes and says how we need to stand out in our fields so people can take notice. Now Vince and I have to basically start from scratch so that it will be worth our time making the site. I finally can let loose like I want and throw this conservative crap out the window. It's just time to be more creative.

She also brought up a point about my company's name. She said Solar Dragons denotes power, sun and fire and that is what my site should do. Dominate. I never thought of it that way. I let her know that it was just Isaac's nickname and my nickname put together. She said run with it. So that was cool. I got a lot of good feedback from her.

Monday 7/31:
I designed a completely new page in 2 hrs before I went to work... or whatever you call it. Then I just did research on SEO all day. I found 15 job listings in craigslist.org just for SEO. I googled "professional bloggers" and there are people out there that get paid just to do blogs all day. This one lady's site is actually pretty good.

Tuesday 8/1:
I was thinking about what Tracee said and all the SEO crap I have to do AND the seo crap I do at work... or whatever and its cramming my brain. I go get some food from this mexican place. I remeber one of the women that work there saying how business was slow. So I thought, "What the hey, might as well ask them if they need a site." Sure as shooting they were interested. I talked to Leo and Andy, the guys that own the place. They said they were going to fix up the place and then advertise. I told them that everything is digital and you want/need customers now. He agreed. He talked about a restaurant on the corner and how the owners keep changing. He said that business is supposed to be comming into the area but instead its leaving. While I'm talking near the back of the place, some people I know walk in. I'm not facing them but I can see them. They come in and stand there for a second. I wanted to go see them but I didn't want to stop talking to Andy. Next thing you know, they walked right out. I don't know why but they did. Had I been over there and they pulled that, I would have looked bad. In addition to that, I would have stopped a business meeting to do what? Escort them out? I'll bring it up the next time I see them. I had a business card on me from Sunday when I saw Tracee so I wrote www.solardragons.net on the card (its an old card) and he said he would think about it. I think things will work out. I dont think he has a lot of money but thats fine. Solar Dragons can show off some design skill and SEO to help advertise. I'm really working on my credibility right now.

It's August 1. I'm supposed to start getting paid. Nothing was said about it. I'm not really sweating it because I didnt do anything but research anyway. Matt showed me some mistakes I make in the coding for Modernmirrors.com. I got the site #2 in google under NWI mirror designers or something like that. Except the business is located in Mokena. LOL. While he ribbing me about it, Carl walks in. He's trying to get in on the joke but flipped it completely on its ear. So Matt explained what was so funny and he sarcastically/seriously called me a "dumb sh*t". I'm already not looking his way because, quite frankly, I dont respect him. Period. So when he said that, I started thinking, "That's one..." I don't get paid as it is. So why should I start to take this crap? I used to work at UPS, Under Paid Slaves, and they didn't cuss at me. Phyllis didn't cuss at me when I was making serious loot hobnobbing with senators and whatnot. No way am I gonna sit here and take crap for free. We'll see what the deal is next week because that's when everyone leaves. I might be with them...

Clock is ticking

2006-07-25T16:36:00.000-05:00

Talked to Vince about his site yesterday. We talked for about 5 hrs getting things straight with the design, pricing, logos, etc. He bought his site name: www.hausmannhomes.com Here's hoping Randy will jump on the bandwagon after he sees how good Vince's site will be. He gave me an example using smithrothchild.com as far as how he wanted his site to look. Simple enough for me. I like the site. Clean and neat. Just like Vince, ironically enough.

Went to 'work'. Keisha, Sasha and Bryan are still saying they are leaving in Aug. So I had to start cutting some deals with people. Keisha agreed to do some forms for me if I design her site. Hutch is really digging into the flash books. I think he's better than me with the flash, so I'll definitely keep him in mind. August 8 is the day the trio is leaving. If I say, it'll be me, Hutch, Matt and Carl. That doesn't sound too appealing. I left early to get some designing done for me and Vince.

I talked to Ian today about his new job. He says they gather info for anything. Then they can give you the info in digital form or print out. That could come in handy. I text him today saying I could design his site for free and help him get some cards for really cheap. One of Vince's tenants has a business making business cards. The cards are pretty cool. They are made with some sort of plastic instead of regular card stock. He has some good deals on his site. Ian said he's down for it. He might as well be. No need wasting good talent. He's still trying to break into the Logo design and card design field.

I started my content writing today. I'm going to break down the definition of each service we, as solardragons would offer. Then I'm going to use the 6 'w's for explanation, Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Here's hoping I can give enough info to inform consumers about our services and at competitive prices. If this works out with Vince and Randy, I might be able to kick Doppler to the curb sooner than I expect.

Time will tell.

Another day another... oh yeah. Nevermind.

2006-07-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

So I get to work around 10am. Bryan and Matt are talking about link campaigns. I thought we were outsourcing our link campaign and Matt said we have to do it 1st. He was saying what if someone screws up that we outsourced to, who's responsible? We are. Which is a good point. So he wants us to do the link campaigns and then outsource later. Bryan leaves and me and Matt are talking. He asks if I wanna go to Florida to train the salesmen so they can sell the SEO packages we put together. I told him I hadnt planned on being around that long. He asks why and I told him about Randy and Vince and some other freelance people that were lined up. Then he's like, "What about after that work is done? What are you gonna do?" Another good point by Matt. So I need to stay here to see where things are gonna go. He told me that Carl wanted to wait until August to start paying me. Which is right around the corner.

He mentioned the other SEO guy that was here before me and how he screwed up stuff. I told him to pass me the extra work so I could fix things and start to get these people ranked. He said some of them are #1 in Google, just under crappy keyword searches. Who knows? We'll see how that goes. I have some people that are ranked either #1 or are on the 1st page for certain search keywords. I've been keeping track of them. I need to put comment tags in there so I can go to people and show them what I did. I also need to call them on a regular basis and try to get some SEO references for if/when I leave...

I'm still debating about the freelance gigs though. Mr. Noels business alone could have me set. Plus Vince was talking about different ways for us to get his site up and running. In addition to that, I have to get my site redesigned. I've been working on the design and Vince will help with the content.

A lot of people are leaving Doppler in a few weeks so I might wanna ride that out but Matt has a point. I need a consistent gig. Period. With the SEO thing up my sleeve, I'm thinking about calling Robert Morris and setting up and appointment to see them and find out whats cracking in chitown.

Speaking of SEO, I finished SEO work on JC Builders, Modern Mirrors and some tax site Carl popped up and wanted done. Then had the nerve to want it on the 1st page of the search engines. I look at the site... and there's no content! It's just a form saying fill this out if you want to be updated about taxes! And we just told him last week and the week before about Google 'sandboxing' all new sites for around 6 months! Geez... Whatever...

This weekend is gonna be superbusy figuring all this out...

Another day...

2006-07-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

So I get to work yesterday and the nets down... Great. I was all set to SEO jcbuilders and modern mirrors since I started them yesterday. So we bacically sat around doing nuthin, just politicing about what we're gonna go after we leave this joint. One of the designers, Josh, was fired, so now Hutch is the only designer. Man I feel sorry for him. Not that we are super busy. Just the fact that any site after today that comes in and people dont like, its gonna be Carl down his throat. This company has the potential to make a ton of money. Carl is just running it into the ground... Anyway, I stopped being anti-social and went into the main room with everyone else. My room was turned into a storage room, so Keisha and Sasha didnt have any room to stay. I did though. Yay for me... So I spent the day making sure that these guys can trust me if/when I jump ship.

I went to the Noels house after work. They live way out in the boondocks. He showed me what he does. He sells candles, rents rug shampooers, redecorates places, just some of everything. He had offered me a job but told me honestly that I might make more money staying in my own field. That's cool. He didn't have to say anything. Nuthin personal, just business, y'know? So I was explaining what my job is as far as web design and fortunatly I have Matt now, so I throw out some web proggramming stuff. He says if he did have a website that he'd need someone to manage it and do the usual upkeep. Man that sounds like a plan. He talked about ppl that work for him get health insurance too. I told him I had some freelance gigs in the air and I dont know when things would land or if they would. So we agreed to talk in a couple of weeks to see what happens on my end.

Me and Vince agreed on meeting at least a couple of times a week. He has a new job with some insurance ppl. Right now he's only working 1 day a week for 2 months, then the job goes full-time and some.

You Got Served

2006-07-19T04:58:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting here at my non-paying 'job' when a sheriff walks in and gives Matt some papers and tells him, "You've been served". Matt passes them right to Carl. I'm starting to think my decision to leave this joint is the right one. On the other hand, there's still SEO work I could be doing. I mean, if I leave, I'm working on my site and Vince's, I guess. If I tough it out, there is potential for more work, therefore I can prove I'm good enough to pay as an SEO. I just don't wanna waste time, y'know? I hate wasting time. I got a family now. This isn't like when I was working with Phyllis and living at home with no bills. It's time for action. I guess the question is: What action?

Maybe I should rearrange my schedule here so I can fix my site and Vince's, plus all the stuff thats been going on. I'm gonna have to think on it. I have to prioritize so that everything can get done smoothly and in decent fashion.