Logos

Just having some fun with GIMP and Paint.NET. I highly recommend both by the way. They are free and make sense for non-design people like me.

Now, that's not to say any of the below are award-winning designs. They barely pass as sketches. Nevertheless, I've gotta ask...


Which one do you like?

Google Ad Revolution

What would happen if you started a movement where every time every person in the movement saw a Google AdSense ad - they clicked it?

Would some crazy revolution happen where site owners (and Google) would get insanely rich? Would advertisers actually get an ROI on their skyrocketed ad expenses?

The Future of Content

I just found myself uploading 2007 Alumni Advisor content to a couple of free online article hubs I found on Google.

www.articledashboard.com
www.freeforallarticles.com

My primary incentive here (aside from the intrinsic philanthropic knowledge-spreading motivator which of course is always present) is simply to drive a couple of extra hits to www.thealumniadvisor.com and increase awareness of the publication/website. Leaving these articles free to be used and re-used for any and all purposes like VIVA paper towels and my gym bag from high school.

Nothing directly monetary, whatsoever.

We have seen lately a (what I believe might be a hint at a HUGE) trend towards donation-driven content (see Radiohead's In Rainbows post-success interview with Wired or the Steal This Film project and it's latest Part II release). TorrentSpy just released information saying that the average donation given to see Steal This Film... $15!!! (source: Mashable.com)

This screams that quality, niche content - when reaching the right audience, is worth a premium to its consumers. Or at least it's worth SOMETHING!




+ FUTURE OF CONTENT =








I just started cooking up a new idea about two hours ago to help many other content providers out there (bloggers, indie film makers, upcoming bands, aspiring authors) to achieve financial success by following their passions and getting paid for it - by you, me, and anyone else that wants to help that individual keep offering their content to the world. I'll keep you posted.

What other ways are there to help content providers make money that I haven't heard of yet?

A New Year

Well... looking back at 2007 I see, among many other things, that I underestimated how difficult it is for a budding entrepreneur to maintain a blog. Let an improvement in this regard be the first of many '08 resolutions to which I will adhere.

Today was an exciting day. Despite some unlucky events of late (not one but TWO fender benders on my PARKED car and a visit from a klepto neighbor on New Year's Eve...), I can't help but feel a bit lucky today. After only a few brief weeks of good-natured negotiations, we have officially agreed on the terms of our first acquisition. I'll keep it anonymous for now until we close on the deal (on the off-chance that someone actually reads this).

It feels good to have successfully avoided heavy use of legal counsel. We may regret that decision down the road, but my instinct tells me the notion of keeping business matters between business people is generally a good idea. Time will tell.

2 more weeks to close on Alumni Advisor sales. We've got a ways to go before break-even (yikes!). But I can't remember too many times in my life where I wasn't cutting it close for something important, and things have pretty much worked themselves out.

Trip to the DMV tomorrow to get a new driver's license. (A Minnesota DL... I thought the license plates were bad enough! Although I learned today that legally after 60 days of living in MN it's against the law to not have a MN DL, so I guess it's about time, eh?)

My latest addictions include: video podcasts (particularly TED conference videos), Orange Box, His Dark Materials trilogy, and business plan revisions. I can smell playoff football on the horizon. And I can see a Favre/Brady Super Bowl gun-slinger duel in the distance. And a new membership to the neighborhood Y will mean a welcome addition to the daily routine. Form good habits, become their slave.

Nick meets with a banker from Bremer tomorrow to discuss bplans and projections for '09 and beyond. Fun stuff!

Week ended 11/04

If there was one word to describe how I'm feeling about our progress, it would be... "anxious." Last week was packed with big decisions, lots of sales calls, and yet ANOTHER opportunity knocked on our door. A great one in fact. Some tasks took a slight backseat, but I suppose that comes with the territory when all business hours are spent selling to the Fortune 1000.

Last week marked the second week that Nick and I put on full-steam Sales hats, for both Long Drive and the Advisor. This upcoming week has some MAJOR follow-up calls to be made: Taylormade Adidas, Marriott, DirecTV, Sirius, BOSE, and Coca Cola - to name a few. I'm also a call away from getting a meeting with Kinetic in NYC to pitch our stuff to all their account reps. I can't wait to tell Tony the good news.

We put the DTRA on hold for a year - an outcome with which I am very pleased. The limited time we spend on the DTRA will be time well-spent: handling one-off tasks, selling a sponsorship here or there, and attending some board meetings. This will give us a chance to get our hands dirty and intimately connect with some folks in the racing world. Plus we'll have no risk, an entire year of brainstorming for DTRA growth plans, and we'll get to see how the DTRA team does in their fourth year (without paying for any add'l tracks business).

Meeting up with the U Guide boys tomorrow to discuss the sale of their company. We'll have much more of an update on this topic next week. Once we find the golden solution to local ad sales at campuses nationwide, it seems to me that we're home-free.


Last week's goal: 8 hours in the office = 6 hours of phone time.
--- Passed with flying colors. Now we just gotta maintain the pace.

This week's goal: redefine PT. Old definition - "personal time" New definition - "productive time".
---This doesn't mean the end-all of free time, it means only spending time on activities with purpose. Going for a run instead of watching TV, reading instead of playing poker, or learning something from someone as opposed to shootin the shit.