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Jan 6, 2011

Creative Spark

Scratching my Head
The entire holiday season, I was scratching my head on what to do with my wealth building efforts. The markets still remained unmoved with all the 5 websites I developed, and I was still broke. Usually, my Aha Moment intervenes. But not this time. I was thinking, "Where is this unseen hand that blazes a path for me in times of uncertainty?". The hardest part was not knowing what to do next.

Options
I had a few options:

go to the freelance websites and compete on contracts based on price alone. I've done this before and I felt a downward pressure to dumb-down my work to remain competitive. I was just watching American Chopper and saw how these guys were impassioned to hand-build choppers to exact specifications with full attention to detail. How would they like to compete with the Chinese Honda clones that come off an assembly line in some obscure warehouse? It just doesn't do it for me.
go back to teaching. I taught web design in UP before. I can do that in Silliman University.
do adventure tours. There are a few outfitting/tour groups who could use an outdoor guy like me. Better yet, I'll put up my own.
hold yoga classes. This is perhaps the last recourse. I don't want to make money off yoga. I've only done free classes before and I'd like to keep it free.

They are all viable, but nothing really called out. I was looking for that creative spark to get me going again.

The Aha Moment
I tried to remain productive by reading up on Google Analytics and brushing up on my french. Then the Aha Moment just hit me (like it always does). Even if I'm broke, I should incur these expenses and do the following to make my sites take off:

get a domain name and webhost - not piggyback on TheLoneRider site. It would be more professional to do it that way. Holding back on the expense like I have for the longest time for reasons of preserving whatever cash I had at hand was to question the benevolence of this generous universe.
get a fulltime internet connection and phone line. Piggybacking on the public library's unreliable free wifi is frustrationg and unproductive.
consolidate my directory site and my 2 real estate websites into one comprehensive site that's scalable to accommodate listings across the country. Consolidation also saves me money by having only one domain name for everything.
pursue a real estate license...not just read up on the internet. If I want to learn real estate, I have to go the whole 9 yards.
go door-to-door on the business establishments and meet the owners. I can't be arrogant and say things can be done online. The local culture dictates that clients shake hands and have coffee with the person they're dealing with.

At last, my long awaited Aha Moment finally arrived. Now, I can roll up my sleeves again and get back to work. This direction pretty much prescribes work for the next few months.

--- TheLoneRider