United States Archives - Monetization Magic

Steve Jobs’ Lessons

An American visionary has left us. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Steve, I did study him throughout my career.

It’s ok to start a business in the garage. In the mid-1970s, small computers were just beginning to be manufactured as kits sold by mail order through the magazine, Popular Electronics. The country was fully in the throws of the Watergate scandal, an oil crisis, high unemployment and inflation while exiting the Vietnam war.

It is observed that during times of high unemployment that Americans become very creative and spur the economy by what they create. As a result, companies such as Hewlett-Packard grew out of World War II, Apple and Microsoft grew out of the 1970s. They didn’t wait for their government to bail them out.

You can be successful even if you drop out of college. He quit going to his regular classes 6 months after beginning college. It took him another 18 months to finally officially drop out of college. During that time he decided to drop into classes that interested him. One of those classes was a calligraphy class which he thoroughly enjoyed and led to the original fonts that Apple used which set them apart from the personal computer.

Pursue your passion. Steve enjoyed creating things beginning with the Apple I which grew from his garage. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976.

The Apple I, Apple's first product, was sold as an assembled circuit board and lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case. The owner of this unit added a keyboard and a wooden case.

A rolling stone gathers no moss. Although the Apple I was somewhat of a success, they didn’t stop there. The Apple II was introduced on April 16, 1977 and introduced an open architecture and color graphics. Not all of Apple’s products were a success; however, those that weren’t often became the embryo for a later product that was a resounding success. The lesson learned here is that even if you do something initially that is not a success, use that to create something even better.

Produce quality products. While Apple Computers early products , based on a superior hardware platform, did not contain the “basic features” such as the keyboard, monitor and a case, what they did produce was a quality product. During the early years of microcomputers, there was no such thing as a basic feature set. Everything was sold as separate parts.

Pick your niche. Apple Computer sold their systems primarily to the school systems with proprietary software which did not work on a regular personal computer. Their price point was often double of what a personal computer would run. They focused on the user experience. They continually reinvented themselves largely due to Steve’s vision.

Use your setbacks as the launch pad for something really great. Jobs delegated even his CEO duties to a business man so that he could spend time creating. That same business man relieved Jobs of his job in the company that he founded. The setback allowed him the time to reflect and discover that he really did have a passion for what he did. Although he felt like a failure, he went on to create two other companies within the same year. One company known as Next, Inc. may have very been the first time that someone facing adversity publicly simply said “Next” and moved forward. The innovative object-oriented Nextstep operating system and development environment were highly influential. NeXT also developed WebObjects, one of the first enterprise web application frameworks. WebObjects never became very popular because of its initial high price of $50,000 but remains a prominent early example of a web server based on dynamic page generation rather than static content. The other company was born from an even bigger idea as he bought George Lucas’ computer-graphics division in 1986. This company was called Pixar, and the path to a pair of “Toy Story” friends was laid. Although Steve Jobs created Pixar, he always considered it to be a hobby.

Apple acquired NeXT in 1996. The main purpose of the acquisition was to use NeXTSTEP as a foundation to replace the dated Mac OS.

Leverage. Although Jobs did not receive any monetary rewards when Apple purchased NeXT, that didn’t stop him. He returned Apple to profitability. Using his experience with Apple, NeXT and Pixar, he went on to create wonderful consumer electronics such as the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

Be the best…and let others know it. What Steve knew was what his products were and what the competition offered. He knew the pros and cons of both sides of the fence. He used his knowledge of both to portray his products in a positive light. He knew when something was not up to his standard and he would directly inform his employees of the lack when he saw it (usually by firing them on the spot). He believed in himself and let others know about it.

While Steve Jobs was definitely a visionary and many are extolling great things about him due to his recent passing, he wasn’t always sunshine and roses to be around. He was a multifaceted perfectionist who definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer. He was known to reduce people to tears. He could be both charming and brutal sometimes in the same sentence. There is currently no one like Steve Jobs in his market and I strongly doubt we will ever see another like him. He is a legend and has left us with an awesome legacy.

Social Networks Used for Surveillance

By SoftwareGirl

Are social networking being used for surveillance? In a word…yes. Is it legal? Yes it is. Anything that you put online is basically public information especially with Google! In the EULA for Google it very plainly states that it becomes the owner of that information.

In an article published today on MSNBC, it states that governments are pushing for the social networks to collect more information than they need for their own business purposes.

So what exactly can be collected? Any time to place data on the internet, your IP address and location can be obtained. The information that you place out there can be obtained along with the time that it was posted. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, Facebook’s new “Read” edge coupled with other technology gives the ability to see what you are doing online and serve up user specific information that it’s technology believes you would be most interested in. You don’t even have to click on a “like” button for this to take place. That sounds rather innocent on the surface doesn’t it. In order for this ability to take place, what you are doing has to be recorded in a database somewhere so that it can be queried to come up with future information to serve you. When you opt in to use the application, it begins to provide this individual content while collecting the data in order to provide the content.

While I believe that Google and Facebook are just attempting to provide a better quality experience for internet users, I also know that data can be used in many different ways. As it points out in the MSNBC article, many governments and law enforcement are obtaining the information for their own purposes. According to the article, “Soghoian estimates that U.S. Internet and telecoms companies may receive about 300,000 such requests in connection with law enforcement each year — but public information is scarce.” The influx of requests are so taxing that “Every decent-sized U.S. telecoms and Internet company has a team that does nothing but respond to requests for information,” Soghoian told Reuters in an interview.

What can you do about this? Basically, don’t post things on the internet that you wouldn’t be proud for your mom or grandmother to see. As you’re reading information, ensure that you are doing so responsibly. Most folks won’t have any issues with this; however, you need to be aware that where you go and what you do is being recorded in a database somewhere to be used at a later date. When you are opting into applications, make sure you are aware of how that information can be used. You don’t have to develop a phobia about it. Just be aware of what you are doing when logged into the internet. Ensure that others using your equipment are equally as responsible. The bottom line is to assume that what you put out on the internet is not private. After all, the internet is a public network.

Heat Wave Kills Electronics

By SoftwareGirl

Do what you can over the next several weeks to keep as cool as possible! That goes for your electronics too. As the heat wave in the US continues to move East and get even hotter, remember to keep your electronics out of the heat and do not leave them in your vehicle. That includes your GPS device, cell phone, laptops, all your electronics. The excessive heat can warp the circuit boards, keyboards, and the screens.

Leaving electronics in the trunk of your vehicle will expose your equipment to temperatures in excess of 115 degrees. If you find yourself out with your electronics, just take them with you. It’s much less hassle than having to repair or replace and reprogram everything.

If you have sprinkler system or alarm system circuitry in your garage and the temperatures are creeping over 110 degrees, it’s time to think about moving a fan into the garage to attempt to cool things down there too.

Venturing out to the pool to keep cool? Don’t leave your iPad or laptop on a metal table as that will cause issues as well. It’s best to keep the electronics inside where it is much cooler. Think cool thoughts everyone and we’ll get through this!

5 Simple Ways to Create More Money Now

By SoftwareGirl

If you’ve been to the grocery store recently, it is no doubt that you have noticed the cost of groceries rising. In terms of your budget, you can either cut expenses or increase your income. This particular downturn in the economy has been around for quite a while. What can you do when you’ve already cut your budget to the bone and beyond?

Basically you need to create new income right now. A 2010 survey by the Conference Research Group revealed that as many as 55 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their current jobs. You could go out and get another job you hate and try to weave your life around that or you could create something with what you already have to bring in additional money while keeping your sanity. If you’re going to expend the effort, you might as well create something that you love, right? Obviously, we can’t just print money like the government does, so what can you do? You have expertise and interests that are your gifts to mankind. It is your duty to share those gifts with your fellow man! You will be amazed at what happens and how enriched your life becomes when you share your gifts.

1. Start your own blog about your passion. Starting a blog about your passion is very easy to do. There are many resources out on the internet including a FREE 7-Day eCourse on this very website. If you are passionate about a subject, chances are you know a great deal about it. Because you know a great deal about it, you won’t be struggling to find content to write for your blog and the time you invest will be pleasurable. This is an activity that can be performed any where you have an internet connection. When you use Google Adsense and visitors to your blog click on your links, you make money! Just concentrate on providing great value to your readers and the money will come.

2. Teach a class about your passion. Sharing your information and expertise about your topic is great and it’s even better when you meet other people with similar interests. The best way to do this is to teach a class about your topic. You will not only meet folks with similar interests but you will meet those who are looking for solutions to problems that are related to your topic. Take the time to speak with your new students and find out about them. Find out why they attending your class and ask them how you can be of assistance to them. Provided that you are not selling anything at your initial class, you will find many restaurants with meeting rooms who are willing to provide you with meeting space free of charge.

3. Offer services that surround your passion. Once you have had the opportunity to mingle with your students, you will have a good idea of what their needs are surrounding your passion. You can then either create services to solve their problems or find someone who already provides that service and you can negotiate a deal to be paid for putting their service in front of your students. When the students pay for the service, you get paid. You’ve saved the service provider money on advertising and you’ve helped to solve your students problems. By doing this, you have created value for all the people involved including yourself!

4. Sell products affiliated with your passion. You can also either create products that your readers and students want or you can find them and make them aware of the products. Once again, you will want to create an affiliate relationship with the vendor prior to introducing the product to your reader/student so that you can be paid when they purchase the product.

5. Write an e-book pertaining to your passion. Because you are so passionate about your topic and you have created hungry readers with your blog, you can easily write an electronic book or e-book to further education your audience on your topic of choice. Once the eBook is written, you can sell it on your blog for another influx of money. You might even consider creating a workbook that could be used as a complementary part of your classes.

Hopefully, this gets your creative juices flowing about how to begin to create avenues of income surrounding your passion. Creating value for your readers is your number one priority! As the old adage says, build it and they will come. You can be paid handsomely for solving problems for other people. The first step begins with your 7-Day eCourse. It’s free so sign up today!