September 2008 MeDirected

Economic Downturn and the Lowly Startup

Image by robertodevido via Flickr

I know I’m not alone when I say that the recent economic crisis has hurt my pocketbook. My business ventures are actually proving to be immune to the downturn but my stock investments have taken a big hit. These are what I’m counting on to open my facility in 2-3 months so this has left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth. No, it’s not going to prevent me from doing anything but it means I have to be that much smarter about how I use my startup funds. These funds WERE one of my major assets as I had invested all of my money from the sale of my home in Baton Rouge in to the stock market and I had actually done VERY well. Despite the big crash, I’m still up quite a bit but I took a big hit….one that I wasn’t really expecting to have to deal with. I’ll watch with interest tonight’s first Presidential debate but as a small business owner, it would seem the winner is pretty clear on who has the best economic plan.

aside 23 Sep

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Well, so much for dropping the full time job to concentrate on my dissertation. My plate is officially too full once again. For goodness sake’s I can’t even follow my own advice. I haven’t written more than a paragraph on my dissertation in the last week (although I did finish the stats!) because I’ve been consumed with remastering HPC’s Baseball DVD series, writing a Rhodes Scholar letter of recommendation for an old friend of mine, trying to finish enough of a book I’m writing so I can send it to the editors, managing my 4 websites and 3 trillion social networking profiles (part of business marketing plan!), going to weddings (3 in the last month!), putting together the necessary information to give to Coaches Choice so they can finish the edits on HPC’s Olympic Trials Clinic DVDs, making out training plans for clients and HPC Elite Team members, preparing the shot put videos from Olympic Trials to be sent off for digitizing (THANK GOD I don’t digitize it myself anymore), and trying to be a good father and husband.

Rhode to Success

aside 22 Sep

Getting Things Done

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re anything like me, the two sticking points of a project are getting started and getting finished. I know, I know, you’re probably saying “what’s left? that’s everything!” it’s not my intention to be witty here. What I mean to say is that the hardest parts of any project are taking the leap to start the project and to finish the last 5% of any project that I’ve started. Here’s 2 quick things that I find myself TRYING to do so I can at least minimize these firewalls to progress.

If you’re in a productivity jam, throw quality control out the window so you can get the ball rolling. Too many times, I find myself not doing something because I’m not in the mood / groove to get it perfect. When I just start mind mapping and get something done, it’s easier to start making some progress towards the finish line.
If the end result of a project is dependent on someone or something else, make sure you get your part of the project to them as soon as possible so THEY (or it) can do the work they need to do and you can get back to doing other things. I personally deal with this one all the time with projects that I either farm out or seek the help of others (DVD production, video digitization for biomechanical analysis, text editing) or things that are computer (but not personal work) intensive (video encoding and encryption, DVD burning, video uploading to video sites like Vimeo and YouTube).
Try not to take on too many tasks. I’m probably the worst person in the world about this but it’s made me realize that it can hurt as much as it can help. When you overload yourself too much, it’s not good for your health and it makes it difficult to complete what you’ve already got on your plate.

aside 15 Sep

Experiencing Power Outages

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday afternoon, the electricity to my home (and thus my home office) blew out. TOTALLY. No electric whatsoever. The neutral wire leading in to the house was bad and it caused one of the two other lines to carry too much voltage. It ended up causing 3 mini-fires in the house. We lost a digital converter box for our TV, our Windows PC started on fire (although remarkably the hard drive is ok), and our wirelss router stopped working.

On Saturday, we got the electricity back up and working by rewiring the 3 faulty wires coming to the house and I replaced the wireless router and the digital cable box. Not 12 hours later though, did unprecedented wind storms roll through Central and Southeast Ohio. I was actually in Columbus for the day at the zoo with my daughter when the windstorms hit. It was unbelievable. It was actually comparable to what I saw when Hurricane Katrina was going on. The winds got up to 70mph, trees were thrown everywhere and power was out for the 80 mile drive from Columbus back to my home. And when I walked in the door…no power. Again. This time it meant that I wouldn’t be able to send out the training plans that I send out every Sunday to a handful of clients and HPC Elite athletes. So today, I drove in to my favorite Athens coffee shop hoping that they’d have power…and they did.

Although I’ve gone much longer stretches of time without electricity, it was either not as big of a deal or I had alternative options (like driving in to LSU where they have their own power plant on campus). Now, I’m in the unique situation that 90% of my business is done via the web. This requires both a working computer and an internet connection. Both of which require electricity.

Ike Comes to Ohio

aside 10 Sep

Forgetting my Freedom

The last 3 or 4 days I spent the majority of my day planted behind my Macs. More so than usual. Probably 14 hours or so a day. It’s easy to do now that my work consists of writing my dissertation and managing what is essentially a consulting company, that at the present time, does 99% of its business online, over the phone, or via selling products.

While I was getting a bunch done it struck me yesterday that I need to get outside more. Then this morning my wife said ‘you were up too late last night…you’re spending too much time in front of the computer.’ Then it struck me…I’ve now got the freedom to do what I want when I want but I had spent the last 3-4 days working more than I had when I was concurrently working at West Point and running HPC. Time to make some changes.

aside 8 Sep

My Old Job

Image via Wikipedia

Job Title: Assistant Track and Field Coach/2 Positions

Location: United States Military Academy

Job Description:The U.S. Military Academy, an NCAA Division I Institution and member of the Patriot League, the ECAC, and the IC4A, seeks applicants for the position of Assistant Track and Field Coach.

The Assistant Track and Field Coaches is responsible for providing assistance to the Head Coach in assigned areas of the Intercollegiate Track and Field program inclusive of both Men’s and Women’s Teams. Duties include, but are not limited to: planning, designing, and implementing a yearly training program for sprints, relays, and pole vaulting include multi events and administrative duties, with an extensive background in collegiate recruiting, evaluating and recruiting qualified cadet-athletes to the Academy whose athletic and personal skills make them highly competitive in the Patriot League, the ECAC, the IC4A, and nationally, and whose academic ability gives them the potential to be successful in the academic and military program; organizing and implementing recruiting visits, home visits, and recruiting trips, assisting the Head Coach in monitoring the academic progress and general well being of the cadet athletes; being knowledgeable about and adhering to NCAA rules specifically related to recruitment assisting with meet management; and other duties assigned by the Head Coach.

Review of applications will begin immediately; however, the positions will remain open to applications until the jobs are filled.

Salary: Commensurate with experience and qualifications.

The Academy and the Army Athletic Association are Equal Opportunity Employers.

To apply, please send resume, cover letter and 3 references to: Ms. Barbara McMillen, Bldg 639 Howard Road, West Point, NY 10996 or by e-mail to Barbara.McMillen@usma.edu.

About Army Athletic Association

LOCATION: The United States Military Academy is located in the scenic and historic Hudson River Highlands (one hour north of New York City). Since 1802, the nation’s oldest service academy has resided at the historic site of the nation’s oldest military post in continuous operation. The Academy has occupied an important place in American history since its founding.

NOTES: 2 openings

West Point Going Gender Neutral

aside 6 Sep

Creating Passive Revenue Streams

Image representing Amazon.com as depicted in C...

Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

My company sold a record number of DVDs and books last month. While we’re certainly no where near Blockbuster territory this type of news is always good news. I’ve been focusing much of my non-dissertation writing time over the past month on setting up passive streams of income as I see this as a good base of stable income that has the potential to at least partially replace my former “real” job’s salary. Also, it kinda fits with what I can do right now since I haven’t opened a facility to train people yet.

Right now, I’m bringing in a little under 20% of my old salary position’s monthly paycheck through sales of my books and DVDs. While that’s certainly not a sustainable income by itself, it definitely helps and it supplements what I’m making with speaking engagements, paid research, independent consultation work and private coaching.

The fact that last month saw the highest sales of books and DVDs is great because it means my increased attempts at marketing and opening new streams of passive income worked. In addition to the DVDs and book sales, I’ve also been more proactive about increasing ad and other revenue from ELITETRACK. While the revenue generated by this is still a paltry 3% of my previous salaried income, the brightspot is that it more than doubled in one month thanks to some efforts I’ve made on the site.

So far my experiments at building passive income has worked. Here’s what I did, some things have worked some things have yet to pan out:

I created a new website, AthleticLab, to sell our products. In it’s first month we haven’t made a sale but it hasn’t cost anything other than the time to set the site up. My aim is to make this site product oriented and HPC be service oriented.
I placed our DVDs on Amazon.com for sale and ensured that I was offering for the lowest price. So far we’ve made 1 sale.
I did a 2 week ad campaign for ELITETRACK, HPCsport, and AthleticLab on Google Adsense in an attempt to garner more visitors. It’s tough to track how much this increased sales but through Google analytics I was able to tell that it increased traffic to the sites slightly. I stopped this after 2 weeks but I’ll likely start it back up again after some research in to using keywords effectively.
I added Amazon associate sales items on to ELITETRACK…so far this has only generated a couple bucks.
I made some major changes to ELITETRACK to improve the user experience. This was a fairly large time investment but hopefully it will pay dividends.
I increased both the quantity and quality of my participation on ELITETRACK. While this is something I’d do anyhow now that I have the time, I can now legitimately tell my wife that I’m not just wasting time by doing it….I’m working! The time I spend on the site increases exposure for the company, increases traffic to all three sites (which has the possibility of boosting ad revenue on ELITETRACK and sales on the other 2 sites), and defining myself as an expert in the field. It also gives me an opportunity to give back to a sport that has given me so much.
Finished the first draft of a book I’m writing. It is now ready to go to the editors and I’m hoping this will be another item to add to my passive income stream.

So that’s it. I’m not making anywhere near what I was at my previous salaried position but it’s working out ok because I’ve drastically reduced my cost of living by making a temporary move to Southeastern Ohio from NY and making some lifestyle changes. The brightspot, and the thing I’m hoping to continue, is the upward trend in passive income as it means my efforts are working.

The thing I want to wrap up with is that what you can probably see is that passive income really isn’t all that passive. At least not right off the bat. I’ve learned you have to make a concerted effort to expose your product, define your ‘brand’, and create as many avenues as possible for revenue to come in (since even the smallest amounts add up over time).

aside 3 Sep

Waking Up

Image via Wikipedia

Today I was awakened by my daughter kindly bringing my cold blackberry and placing it on my bare chest. I had left it out in the living room and she must have thought that I needed it while I was sleeping. How kind! It’s not unusual for her to wake me up these days. Not in a crying fit like I hear many infants do, but more with sweet (but nonsensical) words. We usually wake up together. This is a luxury I’ve only been afforded by the fact that I can now operate on my schedule and don’t have to wake up (or go to sleep) at any set time. Before I started freelancing / running HPC full time, I counted on the not-so subtle sounds of my alarm. Needless to say, it wasn’t always the most refreshing wake up call. I don’t need much sleep, but I tend to be just as sensitive as the next guy to sleep cycles and the precise timing of being wrestled from them. That’s why a new product by Phillips caught my eye. It is called the Wake Up Light and it wakes you up using a light that simulates sunrise by gradually increasing in intensity; you set it to begin thirty minutes before you want to get up so that it doesn’t jolt you awake at the last minute. The Wake Up Light can also simulate nature sounds like singing birds and babbling brooks for extra effect. Light is the means I’ve found most useful for regulating wake-sleep cycles and ensuring that you wake up feeling fresh instead of groggy. Right now (actually before I used my daughter), I have an alarm clock that uses increasing volume. It’s ok but I still wake up groggy about a third of the time. I might have to give this clock from Phillips a shot. I know some of my readers have similar issues with sleep so let me know if you have used it or similar products.

aside 2 Sep

Labor Day

Image via Wikipedia

Today’s Labor Day. The day most Americans consider to be the last day of summer. The last holiday before school gets started in earnest. The day when people take their farewell to warm weather, bbqs and bikinis. For most, tomorrow is a return to a job they hate. For me though, I get to do something I love. And while I had a GREAT weekend (got to go to a nice wedding, hiked to the peak of Seneca Rocks at Monongahela National Forest, and met up with my sister) I’ve kinda been on vacation for the last 3 months. Let me rephrase….While I’ve been working, I’ve been doing so on my time which makes working seem a lot less like working even if you end up doing more of it. What really put this in to perspective for me was when I heard my father-in-law say how much he was dreading going back to work (he’s a school teacher). With this in mind, it really reinforced how blessed I am to be doing what I want to do even if it is a risky financial decision. Find something you love, make sure you’re good at it, and pursue it with passion. If you do that, there’s no way you’ll regret it…I hope.