Don’t Let Anybody Tell You That You Can’t
June 26th, 2008
If you are going to create and implement meaningful, proactive projects then there are going to be many ‘naysayers’ along the way.
Don’t listen to them.
In fact turn around and head in the opposite direction. There are people out there who believe in you. Who want you to succeed and can even help you to get started.
We all have self-doubt to contend with so adding negative people into the mix can stop you, or worse, they can add to your frustration and cause you to give up in anger.
You have the power in you. In fact, you (we!) can change the world.
It is easy to become cynical and negative. Sometimes we have to change ourselves before we can change the world, but it can be done.
What is it that you want to do? You CAN do it. I believe in you.
What a nice surprise to be featured in Islands Magazine this month in their “Ten Best Islands to Live On” article. Almost exactly one year ago Terrie and I purchased the Palmetto Guesthouse after living overseas for many years.
We are both originally from Massachusetts and we had the dream of owning our own business for many years and finally saw that goal come to fruition with the purchase of the Palmetto here on Culebra.
Our travels have taken us to Europe, Central and South America, the South Pacific, and of course, the Caribbean.
Are you an entrepreneur? Or do you long to take the leap and become one?
A disclaimer: I have only been at this for a year and realize I still have a TREMENDOUS amount to learn! Especially as I am now working on a new and completely different project and I feel like I am starting anew all over again. I offer up this post with the hope that others might share their experiences as well and we can all learn.
Some background info…
Almost exactly one year ago today a lifelong dream of mine to become a small business owner and entrepreneur was realized. Don’t get me wrong, I hold no misconceptions and I certainly do realize that I did not create a Microsoft like software dynasty, a dynamic online shoe business, or seek venture capital for a bio tech firm.
But, for me, jumping head first into small business ownership was a personal and financial risk taken and a goal heartily pursued and accomplished!
39 Things I Have Learned As I Prepare to Turn 40
May 26th, 2008
How old are you? What are some of the life experiences that you have been through and what have YOU learned?
I don’t turn 40 for another month and half but while I was out running yesterday I started to think about all of the stuff that I have witnessed, learned, and been exposed to during my thirty nine years.
There are many people out there who are far more sage than I ever will be! However, one thing I really enjoy is to hear about, and learn from, what other people have experienced. As I head towards forty I thought I would just jot down some of what I have learned.
Please note, the ideas expressed below are purely my own and are not meant to offend in any way, but they are a reflection of what I have observed during the reality of my life thus far.
- You can’t remove an arrow from someone’s head in the middle of the rainforest with a pair of Swiss army knife tweezers.
- If you don’t believe in yourself chances are nobody else will either.
- No matter what you do or how nice you are some people are NOT going to like you and that’s okay.
So you STILL Want to be a Travel Writer? Part Two of My Interview With New York Times Freelancer Cindy Price
May 24th, 2008
Yesterday I ran part one of my interview with Cindy Price who is a freelance travel writer for the New York Times. Below is the second installment.
What has been your most dramatic travel experience? What has been your most “creative” meal while on the road?
That’s a tough call. For sheer drama, probably going to Rome for three weeks when I was 19. I grew up in a family of six in Jacksonville, Florida, so we couldn’t exactly foot six airline tickets. Most of our travel had to be by car. We took a lot of trips to Orlando, chilled on the People Mover, then beat it home.
So Rome blew my mind. I don’t know what I expected – I was a sheltered American kid. I think I thought all the women would be squat and walking around with pots on their shoulders like those old Sicilian renderings you see at Olive Garden.
So you want to be a Freelance Travel Writer? Interview With New York Times Freelancer Cindy Price (part 1)
May 22nd, 2008
Editor’s note: I know that a lot of people who like to travel also aspire to write about their travels as a freelance writer. After Cindy Price, freelance travel writer with the New York Times, contacted me for some information about Culebra, I thought, “it would be really good to get her insider’s point of view on what it is really like to work as a travel writer…” So here is part 1 of a two part interview that I conducted with Cindy.
image source: screen grab cindyprice.net
How did you get into freelance writing?
Well. I desperately wanted to be a novelist, but could not manage to actually finish a novel. Or even a short story for that matter. But I loved to write, and so I got an internship at a magazine. Soon after, I started to publish but it took a long time for me to go fulltime as a freelancer. I’m not terrifically ambitious, either – so every once in a while I have to kind of give myself a kick to produce more work. More importantly, I do other writing projects on the side, which pay more. I’m not above doing odd jobs if they pop up. You have to hustle a bit, but the payoff is not having to go into an office. I read somewhere recently that freelance writers are like the migrant workers of the media world, which made me laugh. It’s possible to make a living doing this, but most of us have other sources of income.
Let me ask again – Does passion guarantee a successful venture?
NO! But, passion, combined with vision, hard work, and tenacity can certainly help to ensure that your project or venture will continue beyond the “thought” stage.
image source: marioragona
When I originally started the make money online challenge I was quite excited to see if I could earn some additional “passive” income online, which would help to increase my capacity to continue pursuing personal freedom and designing my life. Though I was passionate about my self-imposed challenge I think I was lacking motivation in certain areas.
So, ultimately I have failed with my goal and plan because I have not taken any action towards monetizing my site or creating new niche sites.
Today I made the STUPID mistake of thinking that I could remove my primary Google Analytics email address and update it with an address that I use more frequently. Guess again! I wound up accidentally deleting a YEAR’S worth of traffic data that I don’t think I can get back. :(
Back to square one! No more Analytic’s highs or lows for the time being…
What Happened?
For well over a year I have been using Google Analytics with no problems. However, the primary email address that the account had was one that I never use and the secondary email was my standard Yahoo account, which I always use. Trying to standardize things, I re-activated a different Google email address that more closely matches my Yahoo one in name (i.e. mark_w_hayward) and I was going to make that the primary. However, STUPIDLY, I assumed that if I deleted the primary address that I would still be able to access all of my Google accounts with the secondary Yahoo address that was available…Well, I learned that hard way that if you delete the primary address all of your data is GONE!
And I did not want anyone else to run into this problem.
I can no longer log into my Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, or Google Documents. Man I am pissed at myself!
Matt Cutts, or anyone from Google Analytics, are you out there? Is there anyway I can retrieve all of that traffic data that has been lost?