The newsletter

EDIT: The original full size newsletter took a very long time to download. I have replaced it with a much smaller version that takes up about 5% of the space the original did. It's still somewhat slow, but it is certainly better than before. ML
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I know you're just dying to find out about the newsletter I've been working on. How could you not be? It's such a fascinating subject. Well, wonder no more. Here is the current draft of the project that has been taking up so much of my computer time.

If, for some reason, you want to see the full size pdf's, you can click on the image.

That's it for today. I promised my son Dov that I would play Monopoly with him and he's been waiting very patiently.

ML

Creating a newsletter

You might think that I'm posting less because I am spending less time on the computer. I assure you that is not the case. I am spending at least as much time at the computer as before, but instead of my usual surfing, reading and game playing, I'm putting together a newsletter.

I agreed to do it as a small job to earn a little money. I figured I have lots of experience with word-processing and photo-editing programs, and I'm good with computers, so it shouldn't be too difficult to learn how to put together a newsletter.

Boy was I wrong. Apparently there is a whole type (genre?) of software called desktop publishing, and it bears somewhat less resemblance to word-processing and photo-editing software than I would have guessed. I thought that I'd have to spend an hour or two getting up to speed, but it's taken a whole lot longer, substantially lowering the amount of money I am earning per hour. Luckily, I have a fair bit of free time these days.

I have found some excellent free (yay!) resources that have been extremely helpful. The first was Scribus open source desktop publishing software. I can't compare it to the big commercial programs that cost $600 - $700, but it seems to me to be extremely powerful software. The second resource is about.com's guide to desktop publishing. It is quite extensive, with tons of tips, guides, how-to's, tutorials, suggestions and links. I know that the newsletter I create will be significantly better as a direct result of the time I spent reviewing their information.

So there you have it. Yet again, I am learning a great deal. Plus it's fun.

And so the journey continues........

ML

Blogs can be inspiring

My brother Jaime has now created his own blog. His is less of a money making experiment and more of a travelblog, which lends itself to more of a consistent theme. Check it out for yourself: The Himalayas and India, February-March 2007: Planning, Packing, Blogging.

So what's next for Pursuing Success? Again with the decisions. Some areas I could work on:

• Migrate this site to my own domain;


• Learn more html, xhtml, css, etc.;


• Establish a theme/topic that will make people want to come back, such as:
  
  
  
  • Useful tips;
  
  
  • Humour/entertainment;
  
  
  • Guidelines;
  
  
  • Computer help for laypeople; or
    
  
  
  • Personal Development; or
    
  
  
• Improve the site's design.

It is the theme/topic that is definitely the most important to develop, because there is no sense in creating a blog if no one is going to read it. Of course, it's no coincidence that it is also the hardest part. All of the other steps involve simple research and learning. Establishing a successful theme or topic requires creativity.

So, which one of these steps will I take next? Will my next step even be one of these? Stay tuned to find out.

Thanks for dropping by,

ML

I bought my own domain

I bought my own domain on Friday. I could not believe it, but www.pursuingsuccess.com was available. I had thought that I'd have to work hard and try many domains before finding one that I could use, but I got it on my first try. Go figure.

I reviewed a number of sites comparing different hosts. I particularly favor the ones that include user reviews. After some research, I chose to register it and host it with 1&1 Internet Inc. It costs only $1.50/month and it includes domain name registration, 5 GB of web space, 500 email accounts, 250 GB monthly transfer volume and 1&1 webmail. I'm pretty pleased so far.

I had a harder time choosing software such as an html editor and an ftp (file transfer protocol) program. They weren't hard to find, but there are so many. I spent some time at one of my favorite software and electronics resources - CNET.com. I finally settled on a couple of the more highly recommended freeware programs, AceHTML and Core FTP. I have found both of them to be quite effective and user-friendly. I expect that the paid versions have more to offer, but I'm hardly even using the functions available to me on the free ones so far. I suppose I will become more interested in them as I develop some experience and skill.

Every day is something new.

ML

VISION Statement

I've been interested in personal development for a long time. I've watched "The Secret" a couple of times and I have used visioning as an effective tool.

A friend sent me a link to this video about using a video to create a vision statement several months ago, but I didn't look at it until today. All I can say is:

WOW!

I have got to do this. It looks incredible. Whether or not you believe in the Law Of Attraction, how can you not get benefit out of doing this?

What about you? Any interest in trying this?

ML

Advertising

Welcome to day two of Pursuing Success.

So many things to work on. Today, I have chosen to implement the advertising. My object is to generate income through this blog, so it makes sense to me to set up at least some revenue source before working on getting people to come to the site, and then come back again, and again, and again.....

I registered with Google AdSense yesterday. Unlike other Google services I've used, I had to wait for it to be reviewed and approved before I could use it. The website said it would take up to seven days, but I heard back from them in less than twenty-four hours. As you can see, I have two different types of Google Ads on the page.

Now get this. I am forbidden to encourage people to click on some ads and I am encouraged to try to get people to click on other ones.

The ad for Firefox with Google Toolbar is called a "referral". There were several products and services that I could promote, and I chose that one because I actually use it myself and believe it is a much better product that Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you haven't made the switch, I encourage you to try it. And that's not just because I will get paid (a very little bit) for every person who follows the link and installs the software.

The other ad in the white box is called "AdSense for Content". Those are ads that Google selects and tries to match products or services with the content of my blog to increase the likelihood of people clicking on the link. I am not allowed to encourage you to click on any AdSense for Content ads. So, of course, I won't.

So, I spent time today finishing the AdSense registration and setting up the ads, but there are all sorts of optimization options that I have not yet had time to read through. There are tips on placement and colour schemes. There are things called "channels". I don't know what they do yet, but apparently they help to optimize the choice of ads to go on different web pages. There are different types of ads that I have not reviewed yet.

I guess I'm treating this like any other writing assignment I've had. First, just get something down. It doesn't have to be great, just get it down. Then edit, edit, edit. And then maybe edit some more. The unusual part is that it is all in public.

So it's another small step forward. Tomorrow? Optimize ads? Learn about keywords? Work on the colour scheme? layout? Learn what else I can do with html?

Ah, decisions, decisions. Until tomorrow,


ML