Plans for the future…
The last post that I wrote was me brain-dumping my thoughts on what project to do next. I was unsure of what to do with Spy Review, and what I could do with my time… particularly with growing my investments. After a lot of thought, my ideas are starting to form.
I’ve learnt to not worry about too far into the future. I’ve learnt to think about what I need now, and then to have vague plans for the future. These vague plans take the form of goals that I want to achieve at some stage in my life.
Something that’s an issue now is that I’m not 100% happy with my day-job. I think its because I just dislike working for others. I want to be my own boss. That in mind, I’ve started making plans to achieving that, and doing so within 2-5 years. i.e. within that time, have my own businesses that provide me with a salary sufficient to live from and leave my day job.
As a result, I’ve set up a new site called Power Dosh that’s going to chronicle my journey, and everything I learn before, up to and during my ventures. JagoHarry.co.uk will remain to be about me, rather than my business interests.
Wish me luck!
Moving on - so what next?
I’m starting to reach my limit when it comes to websites now. Admittedly the recent Google rape of Spy Review from a Google Page Rank of 5 to 0 has been an influence. Although I personally don’t place much value in Google Page Rank, many others do, which affects the potential sale value of Spy Review.
I had been toying with the idea of selling Spy Review for a while, but the progressive changes from PR5 to PR4 to PR3 to PR0 was beyond what I deserved. Spy Review did have some paid links (as the drop in page rank is supposedly based on), but I added nofollow attributes to all sitewide links before the latest drop from PR3 to PR0. Google have not even given me a hint to why the sudden drop either.
That aside, Spy Review does have a solid income each month from Google Adsense, and continues to have solid search engine rankings in the top search engines for the most popular spy related terms. However, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find the time and motivation to write high quality articles for the site. I’d prefer to sell it on whilst it still makes money and I can get some value from it.
If I do sell my portfolio of websites, it then begs the question, “what next?”. I’ve enjoyed having the extra cash from running the sites. But I’ve often resented the amount of time I’ve need to dedicate to them to actually make them profitable. You can’t just make a website and hope it brings in cash… it needs active work and promotion.
I haven’t felt particularly ‘fulfilled’ from running the sites either. Sure the money is useful, but money isn’t everything. If it wasn’t for the extra cash that I’ve had through my sites, I simply would not have been able to afford my own place, nor afford the DIY costs needed to spruce it up. At the end of the day, I achieved my target of getting my own place. Now that my interest is weakening, it appears to be a good time to move on to something else.
The temptation to have a complete break from webby stuff is a strong one. Just sell on, take a break, and see what else takes my fancy!
First Aid Training with British Red Cross
For a new work role, I’m on a First Aid Training course this week to get a certificate for First Aid at Work. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been on a first aid course, but its starting to come back to me.
It’s a 4 day course, but in 2 days I’ve already done CPR, the recovery position and many bandages several times over. Sure, the idea is to ingrain the concepts deeply in our minds, but its getting rather tiresome to doing CPR so often.
With the high degree of practical content, and oodles of time to practice, I imagine that everyone will pass the assessment at the end of the week. Although there are a couple of nervous people in the class who might struggle a bit. It is interesting though, and its a great alternative to the day job!
Update: I passed!
Waltzing Waters - on the Isle of Wight
At the weekend, Annie and I went to the Isle of Wight. Apart from getting sunburn on Saturday and then soaked to the bone on the Sunday, it was a fantastic weekend.
On the Friday evening we went to see Waltzing Waters in Ryde, which is a show of water fountains dancing to music! It’s basically an insane version of a sound-to-light system. A little too large for me to have one installed at home though…
We also had a visit to the Isle of Wight Zoo to see a few big cats and some of my family (monkeys in case you wondered). We stayed in a fantastic B&B in Sandown, treated to great service, fried breakfasts, and chocy bars too!
We also played crazy golf, spent a few pennies in the amusements, and sat in a freezing cold cinema where half of the seating area was flooded! My first visit to the Isle of Wight? An adventure.