But on to my point…

Looking Back Over My Shoulder

It’s been a fun semester. I only took 12 hours, so I had plenty of time for all the extracurricular stuff that ususally stretches me so thin. I had time to:

• Start taking banjo lessons again – I spend hours playing nearly every day. I think there has been 1 day this semester that I haven’t gotten in at least an hour. I’ve also gotten interested in music theory, and am trying to figure out how to apply the cool stuff it teaches you.
• Run – Though I’ve been slacking a bit in the past month or so, I spent the first 2.5 months of the semester running hard, and plan to run even harder this summer. I’m running a leg of a 50-miler in June, and hopefully a 50K+ sometime after that.
• Get in a car wreck – and be without my car for 6 weeks after being told it’d be ready in 2. So, so fun…
• Do web projects – I’ve gotten to complete multiple freelance/personal projects this semester. I’ve got some personal stuff in the hole that I’m going to try to work on over the summer.

If There’s Still Ramblin’ in the Rambler…

But the big news is not what happened in the semester. It’s what’s happening this summer. In short, I’m no longer The Man. I’m going to spend this summer working full-time on my own business, working mostly on web design/development contract work. Hopefully, though, I’m going to be able to get some of my personal product/service ideas off the ground this summer, too. I’ll be living in Park City, Utah until school starts back.

It was a step that I really needed to take. It’s a shame I had to resign from my co-op job (a nearly guaranteed job after school is great, especially in this economy) but it really wasn’t where I see myself down the line, and it was really time to give my business the full-time attention it deserves.

So, that being said, if you or anyone you know needs a website made this summer, I’d love to at least talk to you. Please, shoot me an email or give me a call.

This semester’s been fun, and the summer’s going to be great! Stay tuned!

The first way is to start a company. Get a co-founder or two, find a great idea, do some magic, then become fabulously rich. It’s just like starting a band, really. Find a couple of other musicians, create a great sound, do some magic, then become fabulously rich and famous. If it works, it’s awesome. You get rich, you get famous, and it’s all a piece of cake. Except your chances are slim to none. The chances you’ll found a tech company worth billions are about the same as your chances of founding a #1 rock band.

The other way to make money on your own doing development is by freelancing. Chances are, you won’t make a billion dollars doing freelancing, just like the chances are you won’t be world-famous being a session musician. However, there’s much less risk, you control your destiny, and you make a reliable and good living.  And if you want, you can grow your freelancing until it becomes a good-sized business or consulting firm.  You’ll be sustainable in the meantime, and you’ll start making the big bucks with a few years of hard work instead of one or two living in a box wishing on a star.

Then again, you might even turn your freelancing business into a billion-dollar company. After all, Jimmy Page, Luther Vandross, Duane Allman, and Slash started out as session musicians. It wouldn’t be too bad to end up like them (minus the drug addictions and crazy clothes/hair), would it?

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