Chronicles of Myra

GLO-BUS Strategy Game Book

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:15:00 +0000

If you are playing GLO-BUS Strategy game, I invite you to check out my new book titled, "GLO-BUS: Building a Killer Strategy." If you are a student interested in purchasing the book at a discounted price, it is available on Kindle and Nook Books for $9.99. If you would like to purchase a hard-copy of my book, visit https://www.createspace.com/3631693 and use coupon code NTN95WL3 to get $6 off your purchase.

Chucka Stone Designs: Featured Member of Team EcoEtsy - Herban | Luxe

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:24:00 +0000

Chucka Stone Designs: Featured Member of Team EcoEtsy - Herban | Luxe

It's always a pleasant surprise when you find out that another blogger has featured you. In this case my pleasant surprise came from Chucka Stone Designs.

Now it's always interesting to me when someone with great talent offers a flattering gesture such as a blog feature for me. I've never considered crafting makeup to be an artistic thing. But, do a search for Chucka Stones and you'll see what real art is. Yes, Chucka has an Etsy shop offering some cute OOAK artwork pieces and decorative treatment, but check out Chucka's real website for a true taste of talent. Chucka's real canvas are residential and commercial locations where she specializes in "Stone, brick, stripes, and all multi-faceted faux finishes using glazes and plasters." Now that's talent!

The Help

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Last year, I feel in love with a book by Katherine Stockett titled, "The Help". I was so enamored with the book that I offered it up as a gift to several family members over the Christmas holiday. Around January 2011, I discovered that my favorite book would be a movie. I waited for months it. I made my aunt to commit to see it with me when it premiered in movie theaters.

"The Help" movie premiered last night and as promised my Aunt Nydia and my cousin, Nina both went with me to see the movie. When we arrived at the theater, it was already more than half filled. We made our way to center seats which thrilled me. One thing that struck me was the population and the divide in the movie theater. There were rows of white women and rows of black women, very few rows were mixed. Being Hispanics, my little group doesn't fit in either category of black or white, we just blended.

There was a group of women who arrived to discover that they would have to separate and would not be able to sit together. Two made their way to seats way up at the top of the theater and while the other two played musical chairs between the 4 handicap seats located one row below where I was sitting. I watched them move from one set of two seats to the other. In their game of musical chairs they noticed that the row of black women below me had a few scattered seats open between them and asked if they would not mind scooting down a few seats so they could sit together in a row seat.

The women grumbled. The oldest of the black women in an authoritative voice told the younger women who were at the ends to just scoot down and let the women sit. As they obliged, one of the two white women whipped a bulk pack of MM's out of her bag and proceeded to go up and down the isle of women who had just scooted for her, offering them packages of MM's as what appeared to be a piece offering.

I found this dynamic incredible. It also turned out that the oldest woman in the isle of women sitting in front of me, had been a housemaid herself in the south in the 1960s. She could have been a character in Katherine Stockett's book, The Help, as the book is about Housemaids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's. Ironic.

Anyway, The movie was great, the audience laughed out loud and suffered moments of strained silence. Katherine Stockett's book touched on a subject which many of today's youth have no real idea. It brought home the pain and the struggles of blacks in the south during times of segregation. The movie did the book justice, it was able to capture the absurdity of racial divide, the courage of a few who wanted change, and the bonds of friendship.

If you have been on the fence about seeing the movie, I highly recommend it. I'll be going a second time. http://www.thehelpmovie.com/us/

My First Book - PUBLISHED!

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 11:00:00 +0000

It's OFFICIAL! I'm Published!

I have spent the last two months working on my first book. I compiled it over a weekend but it took weeks of editing and revising the content before it was publishable. I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out the book cover as well. A lot of hard work, but it was all worth it. It's 6:40 am and I'm writing a blog post to share my excitement. I had been waiting all night to receive word that book was ready and this morning I just had to check bright and early.

This is an exiting milestone and I'm glad I can share it with you all. My book is titled, "GLO-BUS: Building a Killer Strategy." It is a very targeted book, I decided I needed to tackle a very narrow niche with my first book and then I'd work my way up the niches with other books.

If you don't know, GLO-BUS is a business strategy game played by college students as part of their coursework. There are several fortune 100 and 500 companies that also engage in a healthy game of GLO-BUS. When I played the game, I blogged about it here on Chronicles of Myra. The book is a compilation of class notes, personal insights, blogposts and team papers. It is currently available on it's on webpage and will be available on Amazon.com within the next week or so.

My First Book - Published!

My First Book - GLO-BUS: Building a Killer Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:19:00 +0000

I haven't written a post in a while, I've been busy getting my first book published. So since I've submitted my final edit, I thought I'd share the title and a bit about the process.

Since this was my very first book, I decided to target a niche: Students who are going to play GLO-BUS, the business strategy game. I figured my first book should have a captive audience. Check out the book cover and title info in the picture below.

I was able to piece the book together in a weekend, that was a little over a month ago. I already had tons of content in the form of my personal student notes, my team papers, blogposts and the Glo-Bus Participant Guide. I wasn't sure I would have enough content for a book, but 87 pages later VIOLA! I have a book.

In the past, I've shared that things happen in 3 steps in my mind, in the case of writing my first book, the steps seemed easy:

Step 1: Write the Book
Step 2: Get it Published
Step 3: See it sell

It's not that I think it will all happen very quickly, I just believe that when you keep it simple it becomes less overwhelming. The editing portion of writing the book was killer. It went through at least 5 revisions. Deciding on a cover also took over two weeks, but with the help of a great friend, Holly Danger, my cover is absolutely beautiful.

My book will be available on Amazon.com the first week of August, which is really exciting. Library of Congress will be receiving two copies and I'll be sending some lucky business strategy professors a copy of my book as well. I'll also make copies of my book available here on my blog and will also be giving away a copy or two.

Linkapalooza - Share Your Shop, Blog or Giveaway Link

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:15:00 +0000

Hey everyone! So since it's already 4th of July weekend in my world. I thought I'd open up my blog to all my readers with a linkapalooza. If you have an Online Shop, Blog or are hosting a Giveaway, submit your link below, let see how many submissions I can get.

***There was a problem with the Linky widget but it's been fixed so submit away****

How Parenting Is Like The Art of Origami

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:37:00 +0000

Last night my girls and I were watching Super Nanny. This show kills be because the parents suck and then they whine about how bad their kids are. Kids are kids and they will act and react however we as parents allow them to.

I'm a mom to three girls ages 22, 18 & 11. I have a really good relationship with my girls, they share things that are going on in their lives with me and we honestly enjoy spending time together. As a parent, my biggest accomplishment is the simple fact that I didn't damage my girls to the point where they would be incapable of facing the world, or yet worse be a menace to themselves and/or society.

Created by Eric Joisel from a single sheet

In watching the show, there was a little girl who literally was abusing her mom by slapping her, kicking her, bossing her, pulling her, etc. My girls sat their in disbelief. My youngest made the comment, "oh no, if I did that I'd be afraid of what mommy would do".

So I asked my girls to give me their take on me as a parent. They started with my most infamous idle threat I tend to make - me with pursed face, index finger in the air and a in a stern voice saying, "I will beat you!" They chuckled at this because I have never followed through with the threat. In fact, I'm against spanking.

Yes, little ones could use a pop in the butt ever now and then when you need to get their attention and make sure they know you mean business, but spanking is on a total different level.

So, I asked my girls what they thought were some of my more effective parenting methods aka things they hated. They really disliked the black garbage bags. As punishment in two occasions, I cleared their rooms out leaving only their beds and dressers. I took black garbage bags, put all their toys into the bags and put the bags in the garage. I then put the similar looking black garbage bags filled with garbage on the sidewalk. They freaked out both time. Whatever the issue was, it never happened again.

They also dislike when I give them the silent treatment. I refuse to have a conversation with them if they are in the middle of a tantrum. When they were younger I would leave the room and go about my business. They would follow me, make sure I was looking and then continue the tantrum. If they looked up and noticed that I had left again, they would wander until they found me and continue on until they figured out it wasn't going to work.

I think the one that got them the most was time out in the bathroom. I'd sit them on the toilet seat and walk out. There's nothing fun to do in the bathroom except play with water but they wouldn't dare open the water to play for fear that I would hear the running water.

Now I have to warn I've been a bit unconventional as well. I shared a story of one of my most effective actions with them:

When my oldest was about 3, she would throw tantrums in the car. It never failed. I would tell her that if she didn't stop I would take her out of my car and she would not be able to ride with me anymore. The third time I had to make this threat, I had just arrived in front of my grandparents house. My grandfather was in the garage at the end of the driveway sitting in his chair. I stopped my car, took her out of the car in her carseat, put her in the driveway then I jumped in my car and drove around the block. I left her in a tantrum. When I drove back around, I parked that the beginning of the street and walked to my grandparent's house. I look at her in her car seat and asked her is she was done. She responded with a "yes, mommy" after that she never had another tantrum in my car.

I'm a far cry from being a "tiger mom", in fact I think that "tiger moms" are a joke. If you are pushing your kids making them miserable I guarantee you are probably miserable yourself. Pushing and encouraging your kids are two different things. When you have a 10 year old that is stressed about because they are being pushed to hard, they eventually reach a break point.

On the other extreme, I'm not a permissive or uninvolved parent. Kids need guidance and they need rules. It's our responsibility to mentor, coach and parent them.

To me, parenting is like the Art of Origami. Our kids enter this word as a flat, clean sheet of paper waiting to be molded. Everyday parents fold, twist, stretch, squash, and reshape our kids until they either become our greatest masterpiece or a confusing mess we have no clue how to fix.

each created from one sheet

As parents we can royally screw up our kids. Granted as our kids grow older and are exposed to the world, the influences of the outside world could be greater than our own. It's important we give them a foundation on which to work from.

origamidragon.co.cc created from one sheet

I am both a parent and a friend to my kids. You don't have to be one or the other, you CAN be both to your child. You just have to find a balance and make sure your kids know you mean business when it comes down to it. I've also learned throughout their years, that you really can't sweat the small stuff because most of the time it's the small stuff that will drive us to drink.

I also tend to be a bit laid back. Kids will do things to try and get a reaction from you. Your reaction is the key to your kids behavior. So if you spend your time ranting and raving over spilled milk, you're just wasting your energy and they will continue to push your buttons. Let me give you an example:

When my two oldest girls were little about 5 & 2, they decided that my hallway wall would make a beautiful canvas for their artistic creations. They used beautiful colored crayons to draw a large head with small eyes, a few letters and what something that looked like an alien.

When I came upon the drawing, I was a bit taken aback. They had two easels in that worked perfectly well. Then I started thinking, it was my fault after all that they drew on my walls, I should have been watching them better instead of reading my book.
So, I called them out to the hallway. Now kids are funny because they know when they are in trouble - they inched towards me heads down. My two year old whose mind worked like she was much older exclaimed, "she did it" while pointing at her sister. I didn't have to ask them who wrote on the walls, I already knew. Instead I asked them why they picked that wall and not a wall in their own room, to which they replied that the hallway wall was longer.

I explained that WE would now have to figure out how to get the crayon off the wall and that they would need to help me. We worked for about an hour scrubbing the wall that night I touched up the wall with some paint. The next day we drove to a craft store and I stocked up on art paper on a roll. I cover the wall in art paper at their level and told them that they were only to create art on the paper. We never had an issue after that. I even found my two year old trying to paper the wall on the opposite site so she wouldn't have to share with her sister who had just declared herself boss of the wall.

I think that my point is, there is no such thing as a perfect parent. We are all just guessing. You can read as many parenting books as you want but there's nothing compared to actually taking the time to understand your kids. I believe that building a strong relationship with them is more important than trying to compete with your friends who spend time bragging about their kids achievements. Most of the time these are the very same people whose kids are holy terrors.

Google Analytics, Blogger and a Guy Called Andy

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Ha! After my last post, Why Content is King! I decided I should try and figure out how to add Google Analytics to my blogger blog. So I did what I always do when I need to research how-to do something web-based, I Googled.

Seek and ye shall find! I came across a post by Andy Wibbles (wonder if it's pronounced like "weebles" you know "weebles wobble but they don't all down" that'd be awesome), "How to Add Google Analytics to Your Blogger Blog". I have a gripe with Google, it shouldn't be that hard to add Google Analytics to a blogger blog which by the way is Google software. Had it not been for Andy's post, I wouldn't have figured it out. Thank you Mr. Andy.

Now I know how to get my Google Analytics code block but figuring out how to add it to my blogger blog - geez, NOT EASY! If you have a Wordpress blog (which I do), all you do is enter your UA-XXXXXX code to a section in your admin panel and be done with it. Even adding Google Analytics to my Etsy Shop is a piece of cake. I think someone over at Google thought it would be funny to confuse the heck out of bloggers who use their site. Mission Accomplished!

If you are suffering from the same affliction I had with Google Analytics and Blogger, then just jump over to Andy's site and check out his easy-to-follow-instructions.

Again, Thank Andy! You the Man!

Why Content is King!

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 20:02:00 +0000

Over the past year or so I've been writing for a few blogs. I am a co-editor on the EcoEtsy blog where i write business tips which under the pseudo-name herbanluxe, I've been writing on my own personal blog dedicated to eLearning and Technology and here on Chronicles of Myra (formerly Chicky Lounge).

A few days ago, I became very aware of one blaring fact, only one of the blogs really makes me money. I admit, I blog for the fun of it. I think it's funny that I can sit here and spew out whatever is a hot button of the day for me and all of you will sit and read it intently. Makes me seem a bit more interesting than I actually am (not!).

Anyways, I was checking out my Google Analytics for which is setup to track traffic for my Etsy shop and my elearning blog (I don't have Chronicles of Myra setup because for the life of my I can't seem to figure it out, it's like the portion of my brain that could intuitively figure out how to track my blogger blog went dead) and I noticed an interesting detail. My Etsy Shop doesn't get quite as much traffic as my elearning blog and in the sales department my blog is blowing my Etsy shop out of the water. Go Figure!

Turns out I'm getting 6x more traffic going to my blog than to my Etsy Shop AND people spend more time on my blog than in my Shop. My bounce rate is 3.08% on my blog compare to 73.17% for my Shop. For those of you who don't know what "bounce rate" is - it's the percentage (%) of people who visit a site and leave without clicking any other pages on the site. In other words, they click, they land and they leave - they don't hang around to see what else you got. You want your bounce rate to be at least below 50% with a bounce rate of 35% being really good. Mine is 3.08% - holla!

To top it off 72.01% of the traffic to my elearning blog is organic compared to 13.82 for my Etsy Shop. Organic traffic is traffic that is generated through unpaid search engine listing. Now I have to confess, the reason this is so intriguing is because I haven't done any SEO optimization on any of my sites - it's too much work, I just wanna write. I get emails everyday from people asking me to pay them a couple hundred bucks to have the optimize my sites. I think not - I'm not that motivated.

My elearning blog makes me an average of $250 bucks a week without any effort. I don't have ads on my blog and I haven't submitted my blog to any lists. What I did do on my elearning blog was hit a specific market - elearning and technology. I have some affiliate listings in my resources and tools and also offer some products on my blog but I give my readers the ability to make their own as well.

The latest craze is my Nook Color to Android Tablet with a CM7 microSD card. My girls got me a Nook Color for Mother's Day which I rooted within less than a week (I can't help myself). I then set it back to factory settings and used a method to turn my Nook Color into an Android Tablet but that would allow me to switch between using my Nook as a tablet or eReader. I started writing posts on what I was doing.

Over the past month, I've been writing posts on how to create your own microSD card and some tips and tricks when I received a few emails from people offering to pay me to make their SD cards. So I started offering pre-configured SD cards on my blog. Each time I write a post about the Nook Color to Android Tablet I add my PayPal "Buy Now" button at the very end. My readers have the option of creating their own using my free instructions or buying a pre-configured SD card I create for them.

You know what they say, "Content is King!" Whoever said that wasn't kidding. Now if I can only figure out how to track traffic for my blogger blog via Google Analytics I'll be golden.

Extreme Couponing

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:47:00 +0000

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I flicked on the the TV and TLC's Extreme Couponing was on (side note: when you can't sleep this isn't a good show to watch - I was wired). If you haven't watched the show, Extreme Couponing is a show about Type A grocery shoppers who really think it's a sport, they set out with coupons in hand to buy ridiculous amounts of groceries and pay only $5.

I had watched the show in awe, I admit, once before. Here were a bunch of people after my own heart. I like being "frugal" and they give new meaning to the word. In my own head, I thought being frugal was like only having six of the interchangeable outfits and 4 pairs of shoes or buying all your stuff at Goodwill even though you could afford the more expensive stuff. These Extreme Couponers had taken "frugal" to another level all together.

As I watched the show my mind started reeling - I COULD BECOME AN EXTREME COUPONER. I could solve world hunger OR I could help a few locals who may be going through tough times OR I could stock the shelves of my local family shelter. OMG! I could make a difference with groceries.

I had a United States of Tara's Alice moment. I imagined myself at my local Stop n' Shop with my gaggle of kids, pushing carts overflowing with groceries, with a box of coupons in the seat of my cart. We would be a spectacle at checkout, my $5,000 in groceries would make grannies shake in their shoes. As the coupons begin ringing, the suspense would be intense as everyone watched my grocery bill go down with each swipe of a coupon. My final grocery bill would only be $4.32. The grocery store would be filled with cheers and people would be handing me flowers and trying to shake my hands as I gracefully exit the store.

Can you tell I haven't really slept much? So I woke up this morning with one goal in mind, I'm going to learn how to coupon. I mean really, it can't be that hard. I've remember trying the Grocery Game a few times, doing groceries spending $150 and getting $50 off with just coupons you would have thought I had won the lottery had you seen me at the grocery store checkout. I didn't stick with it because the site was a bit overwhelming and after working a full day and dealing with my 3 girls that last thing I could do was concentrate.

I started googling and discovered there are a lot of sites out there offering couponing tips. My favorite so far is Southern Savers, makes me wish I was back down south instead of up here in gloomy Connecticut. I like the site because it got right to the point on their home page explaining the sales cycle with an example, then jumping right into explaining how to use coupons with another example, following that up with how to get organized and finally offering a cool diagram on how to put it all together.

Here's the deal with couponing, you have to change your way of thinking first. Most of us make a list of the things we need (at least I do) and then we hit the store. If we have a few coupons we plan on using them but in my case it requires I remember to take the coupons with me in the first place. Extreme Couponers think very differently. They make a list of the things they use the most and then go on the war path.

I found another site, Fabulessly Frugal, which had some awesome advice on Stockpiling. Basically, you are to make a list of the top 20 things you use most frequently, things you tend to use alot and find yourself buying on a regular basis. Then we need to create a personal price point for each item on our lists. I wonder if FREE is a price point. Then we are to search for coupons for these items on our list. Thankfully, all the sites I've visited all say the same, just because you have a coupon doesn't mean you have to use it right away, one should wait to get the best deal and the best bang for our coupons.

Southern Savers tells us to start small and work our way up. So, since today is Sunday I'll start by making my list then I'll pick-up the newspaper and go around my neighborhood stealing (borrowing) or begging for coupon inserts. This is Connecticut so I guess I should wear my bulletproof vest while I'm out scavenging (joking people!).

How Much Do Our Decisions Really Cost Us?

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:06:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how much your decisions really cost you? I don't mean cost in the way we normally think about it - I mean in $$. What would happen if we all decided attach a price tag ($$) to our decision?

Let's have some fun and look at a few examples:

I'll assume that at one time or another you've tortured your soul by watching an episode of bridezilla. We see a bunch of spoiled, bitchy, brides making demands and having tantrums. The men they are about to marry may sit there an shake their heads. I can almost see their thoughts, "what am I getting myself into?"

If we were to run down the aisle just before the priest ask, "do you ...." and yelled, "wait, do you know how much this marriage is going to cost you?", we'd probably get our ass-kicked by a crazy bridezilla who is incapable of thinking rationally. BUT, the groom may stand there and ask you, "how much?" The answer is, about $6,000 to 12,000 a year and on top of that you'll probably be divorced in two years.

Do you think that groom would suddenly see the error of his way and turn around and run like hell? Probably not, but he is now aware of the cost of his decision.

How about obsessive parenting? What is the cost? and more interestingly yet, what is the expected return?

Obsessive parenting can cost any where between $6,000 and $50,000 a year. This is adding up the costs of all those activities: music lessons, tutoring, sports, etc. throw in the cost of gas and your time. Yes, I said your time. Most obsessive parents don't really enjoy driving their whining kids all over God's creation and the kids usually don't enjoy the activities as much as the parents do. So, since time is money you have to account for the cost of your own time.

Now here's the kicker, studies have shown that there is no correlation between the number of activities your kids are involved in, the foods, they eat and the pricey schools they attend to the amount of money or level of success they will achieve as adults. Which means that your return on investment is less than zero (0). Another study showed that kids who had a good relationship with their parents were more successful. So you level of success lies in how loved you were as a child and the amount of affection your parents showed you.

So as I move you down through life's path, now you are of retirement age and your costs just get bigger. So you got married at a cost of $6K - $12K a year, had kids at a cost of $50K a year, but only contributed 3% to your 401K when you were 35 and did not think it was important to purchase a term life insurance policy or long-term care policy.

Now you are old & cranky without enough money to care for yourself and if you were an obsessive parent will more than likely end up in a nursing home at a cost of $140K a year. So you're now old, cranky, & broke and will probably be mistreated in the nursing home.

Based on this information, our decisions are quite expensive. So next time you are getting to make a decision, try adding a $$ value to it and see if you are more likely to make that deicion.

BLOGGERS NOTE:

The cost of not saving enough or waiting to save for your retirement has the highest cost. Let's say you waited to til you were 35 to begin investing yourself. You would need to save $422 a month in order to be able to retire comfortably. Had you began savings at the age of 25, you would have only had to save $158 a month. Your decision to wait cost you $32,400. If you wait til you're 45 to begin investing in yourself, your monthly cost would rise to $1,317 a month and the decision would have a cost of $278,160.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Unusual Ways to Make Money

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:25:00 +0000

My 11 year old, Bels, has become obsessed with tryingto find ways to make money. Her sisters, Jeana 22 and Steph 18, both have jobs and earn a nice little chunk of change for themselves and Bels is feeling a bit left out. She informed me that she has a list of items that she would like to purchase but knows that I will not purchase them for her {she may be right}.

She tried making a list of chores with corresponding rates she would charge me, but her plan fell short on day 2 when she began to slack. One night over dinner the girls came up with a list of ways you can earn money quick. Here it goes:

Unusual Ways to Raise Money for Your Business

Babysit a few kids over the summer {summer camp is expensive, you would be a healthy alternative. Not sure how Bels would do this one as she will be in summer camp all summer}
Offer a carpooling service where you pick people up at their homes, drive them to work, pick them up in the afternoon and take them home {I'd pay for this service in a heartbeat especially if it was door to door service}
Offer a grocery service for elderly and busy people in your neighborhood - they give you their list and money, you do their groceries and deliver to their home. Turn yourself into an extreme couponer and you my have a way of getting rich quick too.
Offer to walk neighbor's dogs twice a day once in the morning once in the evening - {she should start with our own dog}
Offer a wake-up call service - it's something you just have to do once a day and could be decent money especially if you're an early bird.
Get a paper route - this is not just a job for a kid on a bike anymore.
Be a personal motivator - now this is thinking out of the box. Image having your own personal cheerleader, especially when you are feeling down in the dumps.
Offer a laundry service friends and family - charge by the load not the pound.
Yard cleaning service - mowing lawns, pulling weeds, cleaning up the garbage {now they're thinking}
Be a Proxy - I have to say this is one of my favorite ideas! As a Proxy, one of my kids would go to work for you while you sit at home. The will inform you're boss that you are working from home and that because it is required that a physical body be at your desk - they will be filing in for you. If you are needed your boss can give them a message which they would then make sure they pass on to you. If they actually worked - I'd give them half my salary.

So there you go, 10 Unusual Ways to Make Money. The list actually contained 25 ways, these just happened to be the best of breed.

Mission Accomplished

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:40:00 +0000

Yesterday I shared my Goal-itis with you all. I'm on a mission to get a book published, but getting a book published requires that I actually write about something first. I had narrowed my options down to 3 topics and had mentioned that the one that survived would be the one published.

It took a few days to narrow down the topic but, We have a winner! My first book is actually on a topic that the masses will find super boring but will set MBA hearts a flutter - especially if they have to play the Glo-bus Business Strategy Game. As I worked through my topics, I had an a-ha moment. I had set a goal to write a book in a weekend but every topic I tried would make me suddenly fall into a writing coma. Then as I was checking out my blog's stats, I saw a trend. At the beginning of every semester my posts on the Glo-Bus Business Strategy Game get a couple thousand pageviews. So I figured, why not write about that?

I pulled all my old notes, team papers, and other materials I had saved in my dropbox and guess what? I had enough material for a book. I had to tweak it, organize it, and put it into some logic a order. I was on the verge of tears last night because I thought it would be a piece of cake and wanted to have it done before my bedtime (which by the way is 10 pm - after that I turn into an ogre). But, in good 'ole college spirit, I pulled an almost all-nighter and got 'er done. Found out I'm getting too old for this but - Woo!!

As exhausted as I was today, I managed to get my book out to be proofread and edited. I also created a my bookcover, as I will be self-publishing this baby so I have something else to write about, and I'm working on fine tuning my "About the Author". I say fine-tuning because I don't know what the heck to write about myself - especially in the 3rd person. It's like writing your own obituary.

I plan on publishing my book in paperback format and e-book format and will be doing something fun once I have a few copies in hand. So stay tuned and wish me luck.

Goal-itis

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Last week, I shared that I have set a goal to become a Published Author and because I know that in order to achieve a goal I have to take action, I started writing. I am starting to truly believe that I'm a glutton for punishment.

Setting a goal to become a Published Author wasn't enough. I also set a goal to try and achieve it by TODAY! My goal was to have my book written, uploaded, and submitted to my Createspace.com account TODAY! I've been writing my little heart out since Thursday, but my sticktoitiveness failed me yesterday.

I planned on writing all day yesterday hoping to have almost all of the book written, but then I began lollygagging. I had to get some Etsy shop orders packaged and shipped, I forgot I had an appointment at the Bobbi Brown counter (something I do to keep up on trends), then I putzed around a bit more wrote a blog post and I don't even remember what else I did. By the time it was all said and done, it was almost 10 p.m.

I did start to write for a bit while watching Ghost Adventures - I'm waiting for them to show me a real ghost.Today, is Sunday and I was up early and have been writing all morning. I'm taking a bit of a break to write this post (you would think I'd do something else - like eat). So far I have 50 pages written - impressive no? Not really, my book is in 6 x 9 format at 11 point text with images. Turns out you can really write a book with little to no content - hmmm.

Not sure, I'll get my book completed today but I'm not giving up. I've set my mind to finish writing the content by tonight and having it proof-read tomorrow, an essential step since I'm the typo queen and then uploading and submitting it no later than Wednesday. So keep your fingers crossed for me and send all your good vibes my way.

Time Really is Money

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:15:00 +0000

If I were to offer you a penny a day that double each day for 30 days or one million dollars, which would you choose?

I've asked this question to different groups and the majority of the time the answer I get is - "The million bucks, duh". We all kinda know what a million dollars looks like and what it can get us.

Here's the dealio though, if you chose the One Million Dollars, you just short-changed yourself. Here's why, there's this little something called "compound interest."

Time is your friend when it comes to money, throw compound interest in to the mix you have a magic formula. So, if you choose the penny a day at the end of:

Week 1, you would have $0.64, not that all impressive.
Week 2, you would have $81.92.
Week 3, you'd have $10,485.76 (not bad),
at the end of the 30 days you would have a whopping $10,737,418.24. WooHoo!

Compound interest is like dieting. You don't see immediate results but over time the pounds lost add up.

Let me share a story. My friend had heard that I do some financial planning and had some questions. She had opened a $2,000, 2 year CD with an introductory 6% interest but wasn't sure she had made the right decision. She was hoping to double her money in a short period of time. This is one of the reasons people invest in items such as CDs.

Turns out the 6% introductory interest rate was only for the first 6 months, after that she would only earn 1/2 %. Really?!? Yup! This means that after:

after 6 month, her money would earn $59.13 in interest,
after a year and half she would only earn $15.46 total
at the end of 2 years her $2000 would have grown to $2074.59.

She was a bit bummed by this. So then I introduced her to the "rule of 72." The rule basically gives you a way to figure out the number of years it would take to double your money at a certain interest rate. Here's the formula:

Interest Rate divide by 72 = # years

So let's say her interest rate was guaranteed at 6%. She could divide 6% by 72 to find out that she would need 12 years at that rate to double her money. At the current .5% it would take 144 years. Depressing right?

I suggested she increase her 401K contribution as her employer was matching at 50% and look into investing her $2,000 into a mutual fund or ETF (exchange-traded funds).

Keep in mind that everyone has a different goal when it comes to money, so what works for one person may not work for another. There are a lot of people out there who don't have a clue about how money works. Don't be misguided by your banks or financial planners. Make sure that you end up with an investment program that fits your needs and goals.

For all you chicas out there, there's a great site called, Learnvest.com that can help you become financially savvy.

Growing Up Latina

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Las Comadrea

Last night I attended a "Las Comadres" meetup with my cousin, Jennifer, an informal get-together where Latina women gather to network and share with each other. The weather didn't look like it was going to cooperate, by 7:15, we found out that it was still on and we headed out.

We had a blast! It's funny how we can gather with people we hardly know or don't know at all and can immediately build a bond based on a unifying trait. Last night we were unified just by the simple fact that everyone in attendance was - Latina.

As part of the ritual of Las Comadres, the actual session started with each comadre introducing herself to the group, sharing what she did for a living, kids, family, accomplishments and origin. Plus we had a fun question we each had to answer.

Angie, one of the comadres, shared that she grew up in Mexico City, Mexico. Her mom was an American and her dad was Mexican. English was the language spoken in her home and she felt that she was looked upon as the kid with the liberal American mom, even though her mom was really a devout catholic. To look at Angie, you would not have thought her to be Mexican at all, but when she spoke Spanish she had a beautiful eloquence that made you do a double-take. She is also a doctor who trained in Mexico City but is unable to practice here in the states. I found myself intrigued by her story. She shared that growing up in Mexico City, she never felt like she really fit in.

Her story hit a nerve, as I've always had this similar feeling. I was born in Bridgeport, CT and attended my first 4 years of school in the States. My paternal grandparents who were ever present in my life spoke no English so, Spanish was the language spoken in our home.

When I was 9 my mother moved my brother and I with her to Puerto Rico. When I started school in Puerto Rico, I was known as the "Americanita" {little American}. Things had changed for me culturally - life in Puerto Rico was very different than life in Connecticut. By the time I was in high school, I had tons of friends and did good in school, but was still the "Americanita".

I remember being back in the states attending College and having people ask me, "if you're from Puerto Rico, why don't you speak English with a Spanish accent?" and "Do you dream in English or in Spanish?", I even had people refer to me as the "little Puerto Rican girl." I found it odd that in Puerto Rico I was the "Americanita" and in the states I was, the "little Puerto Rican girl". I soon discovered that even to the Nuyoricans I was "the little Puerto Rican Girl from the Island" which meant that I sat in a sorta cultural limbo not fitting in well in either locations.

Now I know I don't seem to fit the portrait of the ideal Puerto Rican woman, but it doesn't make me any less Puerto Rican. As I took a step back to evaluate my ethnic identity, I saw two very different sides. My friends in Puerto Rico and my Nuyorican friends were very different from each other as well. Not only did both groups see me differently, they see each other as different - not really fully accepting of one another. I wasn't the only black sheep. Both groups were just as different as I was, so I decided, that I would not be defined by my ethnicity - I would define myself by my character.

So there you have me - I'm just Myra. I am a hard-worker, a philanthropist, a big dream and I am a Latina.

Strategic Default - Walking Away From Your Mortgage

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:08:00 +0000

I was reading an article on CNN Money today on what they are calling, "Foreclosure Squatters", people who are not making payments on their mortgages and who are awaiting foreclosure. The article includes stories of people who have not made mortgage payments in the past 1 - 5 years. Yes, 5 years.

According to the article, "Nationwide, it takes an average of 565 days to foreclose on borrowers in default from their first missed payments to the final auction" - that's almost to 2 years. In New York, it's even longer - 800 days and Florida is 807 days or a little over 2 years and two months.

Throw the whole Robo-signing problem into the mix and it complicates the matter even more making this an "arroz con culo". For those of you who haven't heard of Robo-siging, it's not when Robo-cop comes and wrecks havoc, it's when loan servicing companies start signing foreclosure documents in mass without even reading them, sometimes even with forged signatures because the lazy ass executives just want to cash the checks and gather the gifts that will roll in for their fast processing - yet another lewd and lascivious act on behalf of the banking world. Forget that dumb-ass Senator Wiener showing is small, shriveled wwi via twitter, this Robo-signing crap is worse. {And by the way, I think Chow of The Hangover had a bigger one.}

Robo-signing results in a whole slew of legal problems that can many times work out in favor of the homeowners who are being foreclosed on allowing them to stay in their homes longer or indefinitely without paying.

As a homeowner myself, I've begun to wonder what would happen if I could no longer made my mortgage payments. In a past post I shared the down-side of owning a home and I wasn't kidding, especially in this economy. What would happen if I just walked away from my mortgage because I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. I mean, let's face it, technically I'm still renting as I don't own my house out-right the bank does.

Turns out that aside from the people who are no longer able to afford their mortgage payments because they have really bad mortgage loans, {you know the type that caused the demise of our economic infrastructure, the kind that cause all hell to break loose on Wall Street and the kind that resulted in the government bailing out banks with taxpayer money - you catch my drift} there's a whole new group of people who are just walking away from their mortgages. Dead serious.

This new group of people aren't deadbeats and are not part of the group of millions who have been affected by the deceit of the bank. These people are you're average people who CAN afford their mortgages, but are walking away because the value of their properties has dropped drastically. These people are practicing something called, Strategic Default or voluntary foreclosure. They are deciding to walk away, even though they can afford their mortgage payments and their reasons vary - some very logic and some a little off the wall, but for the most part I'm with them.

There's even a website http://www.youwalkaway.com, that will help homeowners decide if Strategic Default is the answer and for a fee will educate and hold your hand, so-to-say, through the process. I played around with a calculator they have on their site which helps you see if it's worth walking away and renting instead. I would save a whopping $585 a month if I returned to renting. What the heck is up with that? Total insanity.

With all the reforms that the government is trying to implement, I wouldn't be shocked if the government made home-ownership close to impossible. Bring in the Draconians!

As I read the article, I started wondering, "what would happen if every homeowner walked away from their mortgage?"

This is where we're headed!

All this housing market crap and recession bull really makes a girl want to ditch conventionality - I'm a gonna switch from the US Dollar {which is dead anyway we all just using plastic with no real financial backing anyway} to BitCoin, buy an old RV, get all stuff on the black market and live as a nomad with my kids.

The Secrets of Success Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:53:00 +0000

For year, I have been listening to people complain about their situations. Doesn't matter who they are: family, friends, acquaintances, and even people I don't know, it's always to same old song and dance. Makes me feel like pulling out a tiny violin to play background music as they whine.

It's not a matter of me being cold-hearted or anything like that. It's just that I get tired of hearing people blame their circumstance on others. I've heard the cliches like, "my mother didn't pay me enough attention; I didn't have the advantages other kids had; my dad use to tell me I would amount to nothing." I've also heard a bunch of other sob stories, like: "If I only had a better job, If someone would just give me an opportunity, I have kids, I need to ask my husband, etc, etc."

Most of the people who have come into my life are like the walking dead. They spend their time waiting for things to happen for them or to them. This freaks me out a bit because of the old saying, "tell me who you're friends are and I'll tell you who you are." We are defined by the company we keep. Bad vibes spread like wild fires, they are infectious, contagious and worse than the evil-eye.

There's such a thing as "self-fulfilling prophecies". If you walk around worrying that you won't have enough money to pay your bills, guess what, you won't have enough money to pay your bills - you made the prediction, no one else.

If you spend your days worried that you're gonna lose your job, then guess what will happen eventually, you my friend will lose your job - you made the prediction, no one else.

If you worry that you will fail to achieve a goal you set, then guess what, you will most definitely fail - you made the predication, no one else.

It's a pattern that we develop. Every time you worry about something, you put all your energy into that worry and eventually it becomes reality. There are no number of "dream boards" that you can create that will change your life. You can create a dream board with as many pictures as you want representing the things you want to have and want to achieve - it ain't gonna work. Why? Because you have already built your own mental roadblocks.

If you decided to start a dream board today and you spent hours sifting through magazines looking for images that represented all the things you wanted and once you're finished you put the dream board away and go back to living life exactly as you have been - guess what your dream board becomes just another collage.

Here's why - because you went back to living life exactly as you have been.

Today my friends, I am going to reveal to you the Secret of Success. We're all good at daydreaming and some have created some killer dream boards that would put my little dream list to shame, but in order to reach our goals we must first know the Secret of Success.

So are you ready? Here it goes.

The Secrets of Success:

1. Take responsibility for your own life. You are the masterpiece of your own creation. Stop blaming others for your failures. Stop the Excuses. When something fails, it's because of you. If you succeed at something, it's because of you. Once you start taking responsibility for both your successes and your failures, you will set yourself free.

2. TAKE ACTION! Once you have taken responsibility, you are ready to take action. Ditch the dream board and just DO IT! Most people are immobilized by fear and worry. Feat of failure and worrying what others will say or think. I mean really who cares what other people think - most people in your life don't want you to succeed or are afraid that if you fail you will be embarrassed or ridiculed.

Listen, If you want to get a higher paying job you need to figure out what steps you need to take to get that job and get the higher pay. If you want to earn $10K a month, figure out what you have to do to, take the bull by the horn, and just DO IT. Make it happen. Wishful thinking will get you nowhere fast - that's guaranteed.

Bucket List: I Want to Get Published

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Last weekend I decided I wanted to become a "PUBLISHED"Author. You know like get a book published and have people read all the interesting stuff I have to say. I know what you may be thinking, "How is that different than your blog?" My answer to you, "it's not the same."

James Altucher told me that the book publishing industry is dying {via his blog of course}. So, before they actually kick the bucket, I want to get an actual book published. I mean, I'm almost an expert in the book industry, just check out my book list on Good Reads. I've read over a hundred book in different genra, which constitutes a form of research. I've read really great books, like "The Help" by Katherine Stockett and have suffered through really bad books, like "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard, just on principle {I spent the money I'm gonna read it}.

Choosing a topic for my first book has been quite a challenge. I don't really think myself an expert on any one topic and I don't want to fake my way through. I have extensive experience in starting a business, I also have experience in failing in business, but there are some many so-called experts out there that I don't really want to join their ranks. Honestly the topic of starting a business isn't as interesting to write about than it is to actually do it.

I've considered other topics, like sharing my life story. Brendon Buchard, author of, "The Millionaire Messenger" told me to perfect telling my life story {via his book albeit}. Although I have a colorful life story that many would enjoy reading about, it would take me months to write it. I suffer from a little problem, which some may label as attention-deficit {no, not medically diagnosed}, it's really the simple fact that I get bored and lose interest. So, what should take a few months may take a few years, because I won't have the sticktoitivness {<-- my favorite word} to pull it off. Plus, I'm the duchess of instant gratification. When I come up with an good idea, I want to get to work on it immediately and finish it in a short period of time. I want to see results. My philosophy is:

Think It! Do IT! Get Results! (good or bad)

I'm not afraid to fail. I've failed at bigger things in life. In my own mind, I have nothing to lose and what's the worst that can happen in most cases?

After much thinking I decided on 4 or 5 topics I could write about and in my own fashion, I've begun writing on all 5 topics, that one that sticks is the one that will get published. Currently, there are two top contenders: Glo-Bus and My Success Experiments.

My goal is to finish writing my book by this weekend and have it ready for proofing then {yes, I'm going to have someone read it to check for grammar and typos - duh!} for submission by next Wednesday {that's how I roll}. I've also been tracking my progress with all of these and trying to make sure I keep track of all the things I do trying to get my book published once it's completed.

So wish me luck and be sure to subscribe to my blog so you can track my progress as well.

How Converting from Microsoft PC to Apple Mac is like a Religious Conversion

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:38:00 +0000

One year ago, I began my conversion from Microsoft's PC to Apple's Mac and I have to say the process and experience has been like a religious conversion. Microsoft preached stability and increased productivity with promises of a fast processor. But, then like the Catholic church, they threw in the rituals and all the caveats.

First, I had to purchase and install an antivirus which is like going to confession. The antivirus would discover that I've been to "bad" sites, even if unintentional. My antivirus would tell me that I was absolved, but only for a few hours as I would eventually commit another Microsoft sin. If I didn't let me scan run it would be like missing confession. All my sins would eventually slow down my PC causing me to feel frustrated.

There there's the pop-up blocker. It's like communion, you are encouraged to use it daily and when you forget, you're PC is likely to become riddled with annoying pop-up windows.

PC's also run like church mass, slow and unpredictable. You spend hours on your PC dealing with all the craziness of the slowness of the machine and you know you'll never get back those hours spend screaming at your screen back.

Last year, I completely and wholly converted to an Apple Mac. I thought the transition would be painful. But unlike my induction to Microsoft PC, the Apple Clergy held my hand and guided me into the light with personal one-on-one training with a live Everything Apple Guru. They made sure that once I was home I could continue to be enlightened by offering me scripture (how-to videos) when I needed them the most and on the topics I need them.

Whenever I needed help from Microsoft, I was thrown into phone-tree hell waiting for a some guy in India by the name of Bob to ask me if the power cord was connected to my PC and if I had tried rebooting. Thanks for nothing Microsoft.

Now, Apple once again has given me another reminder of why I converted. They just announced OS X Lion which will be available for ONLY $29.99 try and upgrade your Windows OS for that price. AND, I'll be able seamlessly integrate my macbooks with my iPhone and iPod with iOS5 and iCloud.

Apple is my cult!

The Down-Side to Owning a House

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:22:00 +0000

Last year, I shared my experience in the purchase of my home. It was an interesting process, but I quickly learned the down-side to buying a house. Over the years, I've been a bit of a nomad. I've lived in a few different states, including:

Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico
Goose Creek, South Carolina
Jacksonville/Mayport, Florida
Houston, Texas, and now
Milford, Connecticut

Buying a house meant tying myself down and rooting myself in one location. The problem? I absolutely hate the State of Connecticut. I don't have enough words to describe my true feelings of living in this god forsaken state. The taxes - I feel like I'm soon be taxed just for breathing one to many breaths. School systems sucks, job opportunities are limited, everything is overpriced and most of the people here suck.

So you may say that all sounds like a personal problem. I admit, it's my personal pity party. The only upside to CT is being closer to my family and in particular to my mom. A girl needs her mom now and then, the main reason I moved here in the first place.

There are other down-sides to owning a house. I'm now responsible for all the maintenance if something breaks or gets damaged in the house. As a renter, if anything went wrong in my living space, I picked up the phone, called maintenance, who would respond within an hour. Now I have to deal with a bunch of crazy people who are out to hit me where it hurts most - my purse.

My mortgage payment is higher than my rent payments were. Included in my mortgage is an escrow for taxes and homeowners insurance which increases my mortgage $1200 to $1800 a month. My rent use to be $1400 and it included heat and hot water. My renter's insurance use $25 a month or $300 a year compared to my homeowner's insurance which is $890 {and I had to shop around to get the lower rate}. As a renter, I didn't pay property taxes. Now add-on the cost of all the utilities: electric, gas, water/sewer and oil and my new house has turned into my biggest DEBT!

I've also come to learn that the housing market is like the stock market. When the market is bad you have to hold on to your stock, in this case house. If you want to sell, you should do it when the market is high. We all know that the current state of our economy is extremely scary. The housing market is at an all time low, making it a buyers market - which means sellers will feel the pain. Bank housing stock is at an all time high and they are trying to unload the large number of foreclosure homes they are holding. This alone makes it difficult to sell my house if I decided to get a job in another state.

I admit, the allure of a low interest rate, 4.25%, and having a place my kids could call home played a prominent role in my decision to by but now I feel like I should have thought it over a bit more. Buying a house means no vacations, no splurging, basically cutting back on a lot of the things I could afford when I was a renter. I realize my kids don't care if I own or rent - they do care when there are no more vacations. Bummer!

So much for the American Dream. Owning a house is suppose to give you pride of ownership, when in reality it just digs a bigger hole in your wallet. I guess homeownership is not for everyone. I'll just have to sit this one out and hope the market gets better.

The Reinvention of Myra

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:14:00 +0000

Hey Everyone! I've been blogging here on Blogger since 2007. I have over 167 posts on a variety of topics. I thought it was time for a change, it's time to not only reinvent myself but also my blog. So my blog has a new name, "Chronicles of Myra", a new look {checkout my layout}, and a new URL http://chroniclesofmyra.blogspot.com/.

My goal is to share what I really think about things as well as some other great information, because I don't think you will always want to know what I really think. So to my faithful subscribers, I hope you continue to read and to new readers - Welcome and I hope you hang around.

If you're looking to get your fill of everything Myra, then check out my other blog http://myraroldan.com and http://www.ecoetsy.com where I offer strictly business tips.

10 Settings Changes That Will Save iPhone4 Battery Life

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Sat, 28 May 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Let me start by sharing that I don't just love my iPhone4, I think I'm addicted to it. But it seems that my iPhone4 battery charge would only last just about 8 hours whereas my older iPhone was able to hold its charge a bit longer.

So I did a little searching and found some tweaks and adjustments that can make the iPhone4 battery charge last a bit longer, so here it goes:

1. Turn off Push Notifications. Settings > Notifications - move slider to OFF

2. Set Brightness to Auto-Brighteness - this setting is designed to conserve battery life. Settings > Brightness - set to Auto-Brightness

3. Turn off WiFi when not in use. Settings > Wi-Fi - move slider to off

4. Turn off Bluetooth. Settings > General > Bluetooth - move slider to OFF

5. Turn Email Push Off. Settings> Mail, Contract, Calendars > Fetch New Data > Push - move slider to OFF

6. Set Fetch New Data to Manually. Settings> Mail, Contract, Calendars > Fetch New Data - set Fetch to Manually

7. Turn Location Services Off. Settings > Location Services - move slider to OFF

8. Turn Vibrate Off when not needed. Settings > Sounds > Vibrate - move slider to Off.

9. Turn off Calendar Invitation Alerts. Settings> Mail, Contract, Calendars > scroll all the way down to Calendars > New Invitation Alerts - move slider to OFF.

10. Turn off All Apps Running in the Background. I left this one for last, as I found it the most interesting. Anytime you open and app, the app will sit open in the background like a little vampire sucking your batteries life. So even if you went through and made all the Settings adjustments above, your battery life would still suck - literally.

You can see which apps are sitting open in the background by double tapping the round "home button"

When you click the home button, your screen will slide up and you'll see some app icons. These are your open apps.

To close the apps just hold your finger on the app until it shakes, when the minus sign appears, tap the app to close. It will not delete the app from your screens it will just close the app.

So, there you go 10 Settings Changes that will save your Battery Life.

Nook Color to Android Tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:24:00 +0000

For Mother's Day this year, my kids gifted me a cool Nook Color. I had read that I could turn my Nook Color into an Android Tablet. So I did a little research and figured it out.

My Nook Color is now a very cool Android Tablet. I've created a few Youtube videos to showcase my new tablet and I'm offering pre-configured microSD cards in my Etsy shop http://funkeymonkeycompany.etsy.com

Check out my Video:

An extract remarks a north.

Host Your Website via Dropbox.com

noreply@blogger.com (Myra) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:42:00 +0000

Do you want to host a simple information website but don't want to incur the expense of securing a webhost? Well there is an alternative, it's called dropbox.com.

Dropbox.com offers free storage space for your documents, pictures and music in the cloud. You get 2gb of free storage space when you sign-up for an account and can get an additional 8gb free when you refer your friends and family. So this brings me to the real subject of this post, "Hosting Your Website on Dropbox.com". The process is pretty painless, here are some simple steps:

Step 1

Design your website (or if you're an instructional designer like me – design your training). Build the file structure exactly as it needs to be uploaded.

Step 2

If you don't have a dropbox.com account, visit their website by clicking on my hyperlink and sign-up for an account. If you already have an account, sign-in. Once you are logged onto your account, you will want to download and install the dropbox.com desktop application. You can also download and install the dropbox.com app on your smartphone.

Step 3

Now that you have the dropbox.com application installed on your desktop, access your dropbox.com drive, it will appear just like your c:/ drive. Once you open the application, you will see a folder labeled "Public" . Double click the "Public" folder to open it.

Step 4

Drag and drop your website file structure to the "Public" folder. A green checkmark will appear once all your files have been successfully uploaded to your dropbox.com account.

Step 5

Here's the very simple and very cool part. Find your index.html file or the file which will launch your website. Right-click or control click on the file and choose: Dropbox > Copy Public Link . This copies the internet link you can paste into your browser to launch your website. You can take that URL and shorten it using http://www.budurl.com to create a URL that contains your site name.

That's it! You're ready to share your website.

So how is this useful? Well, you can use it to share your website without the cost of monthly hosting. You can share online training with your students. You can share pictures with grandma or music with your friends. The possibilities are endless.