So I'm trying to figure out how to improve my current situation.

[Matt Willard]

I'm in a lucky spot right now. I'll admit this up front. Mom's still willing to give me room and board, and I've got high-speed internet at my command. The stipulation? I can only stay here to finish my assosciate's degree in...computer stuff.

The problem? I don't want to finish it. Why? Because, two-three years ago when I signed up for this, I didn't have a clue as to what I really, truly wanted to do with my life. I was just boppin' around after high school.

Now? Now I know for sure. I've definitely gotten stronger over these last few years. I've figured out my passion-entertaining others. I've figured out my current medium-the written word. I'm way more productive and organized than ever before-I dedicate seven to eight hours of my time every day working on my goals. My current professional goal is to build a profitable blog, and I'm working every day on it. This week I'm researching directories to submit to, as well as bloggers in my niche. I also spend time commenting on other blogs as well as on related forums, to build my credibility.

But still, the situation is not where I would like it. Namely, no money coming in. I'll tell you now that I've tried a few tasks on and off to start earning some regular income. I tried looking for a simple job, but not only wasn't I fully committed, but I had limiting beliefs about my ability to find one, and so it was never really effective. I've also done a few freelance writing assignments on the side, but as I found that it was overcoming my time and distracting me from my goal, I pushed it aside.

See, I'm into simplicity and focus. I've got only two goals I'm focusing on this year, and I want to make sure I complete them. But I'm on a time limit. At the end of March next year, assuming things go fairly standard, I'll graduate. But the degree will be useless, in effect-college serves as a distraction from my goal for me, so I've been mostly coasting as much as I can in order to devote time to my work. So, basically, I really doubt my ability to get an IT job using it.

So I'm not really sure what to do here. I figure I need a way to earn some consistent cash on the side, but in a way that won't overtake my current efforts. Because, well, let's face it-my IT skills are horrible.

Any help would really be appreciated. Let me know if there's anything you want to know that I haven't really covered here-I'm kinda writing off the top of my head, and I probably forgot something.

[Pepete]

if your IT skills are horrible and you are so stuck with this . why dont you find yourself another easier job?

your passion is entertaining others but do others feel entertained by you?

i wanted to be a rock star too , but life is what it is ...

i dont know , try and do some street comedy or pubs , but try...

and over all always THINK OF SOMETHING NEW....

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Pepete

if your IT skills are horrible and you are so stuck with this . why dont you find yourself another easier job?

your passion is entertaining others but do others feel entertained by you?

i wanted to be a rock star too , but life is what it is ...

i dont know , try and do some street comedy or pubs , but try...

and over all always THINK OF SOMETHING NEW....

I also have to mention that transportation is a big issue right now. I can't drive all that well right now. I figured I'd concentrate on the money scenario right now before worrying about that.

[Pepete]

people with talent in his profession always triumph .

i saw in berlin a street comic that was great , really funny and original . and he
brought a big deal of money just working 2 hours .

but obviously for this you got to have it .

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Pepete

people with talent in his profession always triumph .

i saw in berlin a street comic that was great , really funny and original . and he
brought a big deal of money just working 2 hours .

but obviously for this you got to have it .

Yeah, that's true. I think I've got it, to a fair degree, but I just have to adapt for my unique situation.

[RT Wolf]

That's a tricky but common one. The problem you seem to be facing is "I need money for living expenses". Pretty common one. You've identified some constraints ("I would rather be focused on one thing if possible, and not working in IT if possible").

Your goal is to build a profitable business, not just a successful blog, keep that in mind. I don't see any monetization on your blog. What's your plan for making money from your website? Basic goal-achievement stuff applies here: what is your goal EXACTLY? How will you get there? what specific actions are you going to take today to do that?

If you don't have a plan or strategy, start by reading all the blog entries of Steve Pavlina on the topic. I dunno what your traffic is like, but I can tell you this: your writing, by and large is good enough. It could be tightened up a bit more, a bit more focused but it's pretty much as good as anything I've seen on other comedy websites like somethingawful.com or cracked.com. Consider getting involved in those websites or others, try to get them to publish something you've written. Might help getting traffic.

In terms of monetization: you could try ads, perhaps with adsense. You could try selling those old games or related things. Like selling power ranger toys. Or become an affiliate with someone who does (dunno if somin like amazon or clickbank sells that that sorta stuff). Anyhoo, you need some sort of a plan. You'll wanna spend time learning how to make money from websites, too, the various options that are available and how to go about them. This may not be as fun as writing (although it is for me, mostly), but writing only gets you a good blog, not a profitable business.

My suggestion? Find yourself a simple enough part-time job to pay the bills. If you've got IT background, then it'll be a bit easier to find a job that pays enough per hour so that you can work fewer hours to make enough money to live on. 15-20 hours a week isn't too much and hopefully will not distract you from your main task. Further, it may even provide a nice break. Mine certainly does. Try to go for something that's mostly mindless.

You had to take four years of schooling to learn and improve enough to be able to make money in IT, you're not necessarily going to learn enough to run a successful online business(s) overnight. So consider it a bit like this: for the next little while, you're going to get better at both the writing side and also the business side of your business. While you educate yourself, you need to find ways to pay for yourself and for your education, just like iwth school. You can do with part-time jobs or what have you.

BTW, I'm not convinced talent is something you either have or your don't, or that it's static. I think it can expand and change and grow. Never stop improving your writing, or your business-skills.

[Matt Willard]

Well, RT, I just started the blog in March, and since I don't have a lot of content or traffic yet, I'm definitely not monetizing at the moment. I do have plans in place to gain traffic and monetize my website, but it's gonna take time. I've realized that, due to my tendency to write long, in-depth articles, I need to rely on leveraging successful bloggers and webmasters to get my stuff out there more quickly. For example, this week I've researched directories to submit to, and tomorrow I'm going to work on searching for bloggers in the areas I cover so I can open up some communication with them. Plus, since I've got a fairly popular YouTube profile, I definitely plan to leverage that as well.

As for the part-time job, there's really a host of issues there. Most of them are psychological. My IT background is crap. There's no way in hell I can use it to get a decent IT job-the concept of trying to use my weak IT skills to prove I have what it takes for even a low-level IT job offsets me. Writing, editing...those are my big strengths. I can prove those easily. I feel confident in that department. The other major issue involves transporation-as I've said before, I can't really drive, and after a few problematic incidents, there's no way in hell that I'm learning without going to a proper driving class. Money first, then driving.

[SimonaRich]

Just continue with your blog and if you provide good content sooner or later it will bring in money.

That is the best advice I have ever been given by a blogger. If you continue to create good content for long enough, you will eventually succeed, it cannot possibly be any other way. And it turned out to be absolute truth for me.

[Matt Willard]

That's definitely the plan, Simona. I'm just also brainstorming at the moment what else I could do on the side for some cash.

[Chris Cade]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

That's definitely the plan, Simona. I'm just also brainstorming at the moment what else I could do on the side for some cash.

Here's a thought... not sure it'll work out, but it's a stab in the dark.

Start freelancing and taking jobs that apply specifically to what you want to learn / research. For example, accept a freelance job submitting a website to directories - then you have the list and experience so you can do it yourself.

Another thing to consider is - can you work on creating any information products? If so, that's a brilliant way to monetize - because as you build your following, the trust and likability that you build will make selling your products that much easier.

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Chris Cade

Here's a thought... not sure it'll work out, but it's a stab in the dark.

Start freelancing and taking jobs that apply specifically to what you want to learn / research. For example, accept a freelance job submitting a website to directories - then you have the list and experience so you can do it yourself.

Another thing to consider is - can you work on creating any information products? If so, that's a brilliant way to monetize - because as you build your following, the trust and likability that you build will make selling your products that much easier.

Well, my blog's based mostly around humor, so banging out an ebook wouldn't be as productive. Unless I get some brilliant idea that would work as an ebook.

As for freelancing, I've been considering moonlighting as opposed to the full-fledged freelancing I was pursuing earlier. It'd have to be one-shot assignments I can do fairly quickly as opposed to the long-term stuff I got into. But I do like that idea.

[Chris Cade]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

Well, my blog's based mostly around humor, so banging out an ebook wouldn't be as productive. Unless I get some brilliant idea that would work as an ebook.

Open your mind and stop with the limited thinking. I said information products (not ebooks).

If people like the humor on your site and you have a following, why not make some audios that people can pop in their mp3 player on the way to work?

Or consider videos of some sort. Maybe it's you doing some sort of standup, maybe you're telling a funny story... maybe you outsource somebody else to animate some of your humor, then you sell the video.

Those are just a few ideas of products that aren't ebooks.

Maybe you can create a humor system... "How to be Funny In 10 Days or Less - Guaranteed!" and then use a combination of video, audio, and ebook components to help bring out a person's natural humor.

Those are just a few ideas... hopefully to spur your own creativity to think without the box.

[Matt Willard]

Hey, those are some great ideas, Chris! I'll be sure to remember them, and hopefully undo limited thinking to come up with more.

[SimonaRich]

Or you can make a series or cartoons about robots, they are extremely easy to make with Windows Movie Maker and then you can post some on youtube, if they become popular you will know that you can monetize on that.

This is the example (very funny, but some may find insulting, so it is up to you to watch

YouTube - An Atheist Meets God

Or this one:

YouTube - Free Will - "God Style" PART 2

Enjoy!

[RT Wolf]

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The Definitive Guide to the Abundance Mindset - What is Value? | Mind-Manual

[floslib]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

As for the part-time job, there's really a host of issues there. Most of them are psychological. My IT background is crap. There's no way in hell I can use it to get a decent IT job-the concept of trying to use my weak IT skills to prove I have what it takes for even a low-level IT job offsets me. Writing, editing...those are my big strengths. I can prove those easily. I feel confident in that department. The other major issue involves transporation-as I've said before, I can't really drive, and after a few problematic incidents, there's no way in hell that I'm learning without going to a proper driving class. Money first, then driving.

You might want to look into the IT job anyway. There's a study that shows a large percentage of people who have jobs requiring highly technical degrees feel as though they don't have what it takes, and were just lucky to land the job they have. It's actually more common for people to feel like their peers are way above them then to feel like they're on par with their peers in those fields. So, even if you don't feel up to the task, there's a very good chance that if you earn your degree, you will be. I can't find the link right now, but if I do later, I'll post it, unless someone else beats me to it.

Edit: Naturally, I mean for side income until you have your business up and running, unless you decide you like IT once you have the job.

[Matt Willard]

@RTWolf: Any money I've earned so far has basically been spent on stupid stuff so far. But, now that I'm trying to formulate an alternate plan here, I realize more than ever that I need to start saving up. As for expenses, I dunno, since I'm not in my own place yet. No need to calculate them yet, either, since first I want to see how much I can make per month as a moonlighter.

@floslib: My peers actually practice their skills. What have I been doing? Writing, of course :V If things get really bad and I gotta stick with the degree all the way through (which I'd prefer not to) I'll definitely try to use it for a IT job, though I have enough reason to believe that said job will be either crap or difficult to get.