Well, since I haven't blogged in about 9 months I've got some catching up to do. M5Media is coming along and the community around here is finally starting to realize freelancers and small operations are the way to go. (after getting burned by big companies who charge a hundred bucks an hour and in turn hire recent college grads who have no idea what they are doing to do the work :).

I'm making the somewhat painful switchover to pure css layouts... gotta kick the table habit! Also working on some web applications for photo studios and another one for a realty company. Currently drawing inspiration from Will Weyer at Wiretree. The guys knows his stuff!

On a less boring note just booked my tickets to Aruba! Fun in the sun starts January 5th...
- posted by mark @ 2:03 PM (1) comments

 
well...I've decided. I've decided that this whole blog thing is just too much to keep up to date on a regular basis. I'm going to make this thing a "very big event" thing and a "travel log". The things of my ordinary day-to-day life are just not interesting enough for the world at large to read about. There are enough boring, outdated websites out there to look at it, why clutter the web with another one? (or at least that's how I see it).

Got a few trips planned for this summer though and a few projects for m5media in the works. If it's newsworthy and related to me, you'll find it here.

till then...
- posted by mark @ 7:30 PM (0) comments

 
hey Tanya,

thanks for reading what I have to say.

I have a lot to say about nothing don't I?

lol
- posted by mark @ 7:48 PM (1) comments

 
wow, have I been delinquent, too many late nights trying to do stuff for clients and other people. It's altogether too late to post, but I'm beyond tired so I'm wondering.

What do I do?

Not much to report, got the server up and running for the busines, upgraded a few sites, and am trying to get myself to Brazil next summer.

Gotta run, I'm starting to feel tired now...
- posted by mark @ 11:06 PM (0) comments

 
Just got back from the Lutsen Ski area, went up there for a few days with some of my old buddies. Had a blast, drank too much and didn't sleep enough! First day was good weather, the second there was a freezing rainstorm which sounds like it would suck but actually was kinda fun.

There was fog rolling in on the mountain and we spent the last few runs not being able to see more than 50 feet in front of us! Added to the excitement a bit, then we warmed up in the bar and met some interesting people and ended up going to their room in the chalet after the bar.

Well, got to get back to work, if you want to see the latest site I'm working on check out Walters Photography Studio it's almost done!
- posted by mark @ 11:42 AM (0) comments

 
Wow, time does fly, it's definately a long time since I wrote, sorry.

Okay, the news is that there is a lot of news. The little voter thing that I wrote had a bug in it and was not recording votes correctly, by the time I figured this out it was probably too late to capture the votes.

Anyways, the decision has been made, I did not go to Florida, I decided that the window of opportunity was too short and that I would be missing out on more permanent opportunities here.

I'm now working on a deal to get my business really rolling. No longer am I going to be working for MMI, but now they will be referring me clients and I will be working for myself. This, plus I will be getting other referrals from a local tax consulting firm and also a local NPO (non-profit organization), plus I have another friend who is starting a marketing company and wants to send me clients. Of course this is all theoretical so we will have to see but the opportunity is definately there.

Anywho, the weather is definately getting cold up here, it was 4(Fahrenheit) yesterday. That part about Minnesota sucks but I am planning a big ski trip right after christmas as some friends are coming up from "down south" (north carolina) for the break.

Talk to you all soon,
m
- posted by mark @ 8:09 PM (0) comments

 
Well... we have quite a dilemna today.

I am at a crossroads in life and I need your help (ha).

I have several job offers and don't know which one to take, I have one week to decide... Someone (thanks Nichole) has given me some good advice, make a pros and cons list. So I've done so and put it up for all of you to see...
I've created a little voting program for my dilemna, the link is below the explanations.

// The Options

Option #1: Go to school for insurance adjusting in Texas (a 3 week course) and then fly down to Florida, follow some guy around for a couple weeks, hope the devastation is worse than expected, and work purely on commission with no guarantees. I know this doesn't sound great, but the guys are making $7,000 a week... a risk, but I could make a ton of money.

Pros:

• Make a ton of moolah


• It will be quite an adventure


• If it doesn't work, I'll be ready for the next natural disaster

Cons:

• No guarantees


• The school is a 3 week time investment and a $3000 monetary investment


• Don't know how long work will be available


• Living in a hotel doesn't particularily appeal to me

Option #2: Take a more stable form of employment with a local entrepeneur who will help me grow my own business. He gives me an office and use of his secretary and phone, in return for me fixing his website and being his "web consultant", and he gets a 20% cut of any referrals he gives me. Possibilities in the future include moving into management and overseeing the internet division that he plans to build.

Pros:

• Less Risky and more Stable


• Get to build my own business, which I love!


• I get health insurance!


• Could make some decent money, but not for awhile till it gets rolling


• Get to learn about running a business, for better or for worse

Cons:

• No Guarantees (that seems to be a reccurring theme)


• Will probably take some venture capital, which means a small business loan

Option #3: Reduce my hours at my current job, switching from an hourly employee to a kind of hybrid employee/contractor type thing, work mostly on commission, and put in less hours at the other place building my own business. A more steady paycheck yes, but less time for developing my own business.

Pros:

• This is the most "safe"


• Allows me the freedom to see "what works"

Cons:

• Ties me into both jobs


• Don't know if one boss will like it too much

Option #4:
Continue to work for someone else for a crappy hourly wage and no benefits (just kidding, this isn't really one of the options).
Pros:

• There are none ; )

Cons:

• Lots of down time to work on stuff


• Will still be renting a room and driving an old car 20 years from now...

So there you have it everyone, vote on this post and let me know what you think I should do!

VOTE HERE
-m



- posted by mark @ 2:17 PM (0) comments