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A quick update on my “new” kitchen – here are some before and after photos of the kitchen in my new house.  The blue could use another coat, but all in all I am happy with the result.  What you can’t see is that the baseboards were all this yucky antique white / yellow color, and now they are bright white.

Before

After

It is very sad for me to report that former Tonight Show and Star Search star Ed McMahon has passed away.   He most recently came back into the limelight due to his financial crisis, his home in danger of being foreclosed on.  He went on several of the Entertainment Tonight type shows pleading his case for housing reform to help others going through the same thing.

My Ed McMachon story takes place in 1997 or 1998, I was working for Universal New Media in Burbank at the time, and we were doing “Real Interviews” – typing  up interview questions as Ed McMahon answered them, and also broadcasting in Real Audio.

At the conclusion of the interview, Ed proclaimed, “I give Troy Rutter 4 stars with a bullet!”  Which was a great honor for me, since I always wanted to be on Star Search.   From that one hour long interview, I was able to glean that McMahon was a person of highest integrity, and just a nice person.

Thanks Ed, for the great memory!

Here is the official chat transcript, sadly the audio no longer works;

http://tinyurl.com/l2w2gh

It started out as a good idea.   In trying to keep up more on my car’s maintenance, I decided to actually check my tire pressure.   I went to Wal-Mart (I know.. I know) and bought a 99 cent tire pressure gauge, and then I noticed something that looked really, really cool: valve caps that automatically show if your tires are low.   Wow, those would be great!

I bought the valve caps, screwed them on, and all was good.

Or so I thought.

The next day I got up, checked tired pressure (good to go!) and took off for Des Moines, a mere 30 minute commute.  About 3 miles into my commute, I felt the car pulling a little to the left.   That’s weird, I thought.  So I overcompensated a little and almost lost complete control of the car.  Breathing heavily, I pulled over to the side of the road, then got out of the car to check my tires.

All four were flat.  Flat flat flat flat.

I called the service station, they came out and inflated all the tires, running out of air on the last one. (Hey Butch’s – I TOLD you all four were flat!) and I went on my way to work, after taking the valve caps off.  (I had a feeling).

I thought that was it, when I got off from work, walked to my car, and one of the tires was flat yet again.

Reading reviews of these tire pressure valve caps on the Internet show that many people have had the same result, and the manufacturers blame it on faulty valve stemps or bad installation.  I had neither, until after using the caps.

I ended up having to replace the valve stems for about $25 on two of the tires before they stopped leaking.  The experience still has me questioning whether my tires have enough air.   When the car jerks a little to the right or left, I keep thinking my tires are going flat.

If you are thinking about using tire pressure valve caps, think again.  A regular old tire gauge is a lot safer!

Merlyn is glad you and your fellow kitteh will find a new, safe home.

Sleep well.

One of the rgeatest Adsense teachers out there, Joel Comm, says that in order to reach the “next level” of working with Adsense, you need a mentor.  Somebody who has had success with the program, and can lead you through the ups and downs of building your niche web sites and content-based web sites up and optimizing them for Adsense.

So, I am officially looking for an adsense mentor.

I have read all the books, tried all the programs (for creating VRE, niche sites, etc) and have all the practical knowledge on building web sites, but am missing “something” – I am looking for a mentor to help talk me through making it to the next level of Adsense earnings.

Precisely, I am looking for:

a) a 1-on-1 daily coach available for email and IM communication
b) Someone currently making more than $1,000/mo. in Adsense earnings
c) Someone who preferably has already mentored others into achieving the $1,000/mo or more target
d) Someone who wants a great testimonial if they can help me meet that goal

In return, I will give a great testimonial to the person who helps me meet my goal of $1,000/mo.   I will also “pay it forward” and pass on the knowledge to another, thus carrying on the tradition of the mentor relationship.

In addition, I will promise to donate 15% of my Adsense earnings each month to charitable causes in my community.

I have already asked Joel Comm himself, but I think he is too busy, and that may have been too ambitious.  If you are interested, or know somebody, please direct them to this post and comment to contact me.   Comments are always moderated, so only I will see it.

Won’t you be mine, would you be mine, won’t you be…. my Adsense Mentor?

Most people are afraid of failing.   It makes sense really – from an early age we are taught that failing or losing hurts.   So we avoid it at all costs.

But as some of the most influential people have noticed… the people who win big have lost big.  Babe Ruth was not only the home-run king, but the strike-out king.   How many millions of dollars has Donald Trump lost?

See!

In a previous post I wrote about the power a label printer had on me.  I was convinced it was the only thing standing between success and failure… and in this case I was scared of success. (a whole other topic there!)

Recently it has been  …  Bob Ross.

You know the guy…  the big haired, soft-spoken guy who paints happy cloud, happy bushes, happy streams, happy mountains, happy cabins, etc.  Yeah, Bob Ross has been ruining my lift the past month or so.

It started on a trip to Hobby Lobby, where I saw the deluxe version of his paint set.   $89.00 – and that didn’t include some other necessary accessories.  That’s a lot of money, even more than a label printer.   I hadn’t painted anything since college, and even then, that was only for a theater class.   I had never been a “good drawer” although I enjoyed art.

So after seeing the Bob Ross set, I wondered if I had missed something.   I became fixated on Bob Ross.   What if my calling was to be an artist but I never took the first steps?    The question plagued me until last night when I finally went and took Bob Ross home with me.

It was a no-brainer really.   I was doing 2 things.

1) I could live-stream my painting, and do blog bosts about it so I can write it off as a business expense

but more importantly…

2) If I know this is definitely NOT for me, I can shut my brain down from this infatuation and move on to the next one.

In short, I could FAIL, learn it wasn’t for me, and move on.  At least it would be some closure.

So what is the verdict?

Well, I made some mistakes in techniques and materials, but overall it was kind of fun.   I think I will try it again.   The great thing is, I never have to ask “what if” about painting again.

And as for the painting itself… that is the subject of another blog post coming soon.

What about you?   Do you have something you want to try but are afraid of failing?  Or maybe there is something you think will cure all your ills if you had it… but will it really?  What is it?

Technorati Tags: painting, troy rutter, blog post, bob ross

I’ve been busy this past week, but I am finally able to fully post about a project I have been involved with called “The Age of Conversation 2.”  It is a book comprised of 237 authors who each contributed a chapter on various topics surrounding the theme of “Why Don’t People Get It?”

The book, a second edition is called

• Age of Conversation 2
• Several of the authors are local to Des Moines
• You can buy (hardcover or paperback) or download a copy
• All profits (after expenses) go to Variety, the international children’s charity, and the 1st edition raised $15,000

Pricing for The Age of Conversation 2 is:

• e-book: US$12.50 ($10.00 going to charity)
• paperback book: US$19.95 ($8.02 to charity)
• hardback book: US$29.95 ($4.60 to charity)

The venture was overseen by Des Moines marketer Drew McLellan and Australian Gavin Heaton.

Other authors include:

Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Reginald Adkins, Vandana Ahuja, Ozgur Alaz, Armando Alves, Francis Anderson, Todd Andrlik, G. Kofi Annan, Mike Arauz, David Armano, William Azaroff, Steve Bannister, Ryan Barrett, Cam Beck, Jordan Behan, Connie Bensen, Rohit Bhargava, Susan Bird, Toby Bloomberg, Jon Burg, David Berkowitz, Mark Blair, Ed Brenegar, Chris Brown, Deborah Brown, Duane Brown, Tim Brunelle, Wayne Buckhanan,

Pet Campbell, Becky Carroll, Paul Chaney, C.C. Chapman, Katie Chatfield, Thomas Clifford, Gary Cohen, Stephen Collins, Tim Connor, Peter Corbett, Hillel Cooperman, Ed Cotton, Chris Cree, Dave Davison, Luc Debaisieux, Jeff De Cagna, Dino Demopoulos, Geert Desager, Rishi Desai, Pete Deutschman, Matt Dickman, Vanessa DiMauro, Jeanne Dininni, Brent Dixon, Mark Earls, Sue Edworthy, Jay Ehret, Gianandrea Facchini, Anna Farmery, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Jeremy Fuksa, Seth Gaffney, Bill Gammell, Deanna Gernert, Cedric Giorgi, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Phil Gerbyshak, Scott Goodson, Mark Goren, James Gordon-Macintosh, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Susan Gunelius, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral,

Jessica Hagy, Mark Hancock, Ann Handley, Douglas Hanna, Steve Hardy, Nettie Hartsock, Doug Haslam, Gavin Heaton, Paul Hebert, Jeremy Heilpern, Alex Henault, Darren Herman, John Herrington, Susan Heywood, Adrian Ho, G.L. Hoffman, Daniel Honigman, Uwe Hook, Sean Howard, Cathryn Hrudicka, Robert Hruzek, Sam Huleatt, Richard Huntington, Shama Hyder, Paul Isakson, Tim Jackson, Dustin Jacobsen, George Jenkins, Kevin Jessop, Mitch Joel, Stanley Johnson, Timothy Johnson, Spike Jones, Amy Jussel, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Ryan Karpeles, Douglas Karr, Gareth Kay, Lois Kelly, Christina Kerley (CK), Chris Kieff, Thomas Knoll, Katie Konrath, David Koopmans, Derrick Kwa, Michelle Lamar, Stephen Landau, Kenny Lauer, Bob LeDrew, Tammy Lenski, Mark Lewis, Phil Lewis, James G. Lindberg,

Brett Macfarlane, Lori Magno, Angela Maiers, Valeria Maltoni, Louise Manning, Tim Mannveille, Mike McAllen, Becky McCray, Matt J. McDonald, Paul McEnany, Mark McGuinness, Drew McLellan, Robyn McMaster, Doug Meacham, Jenny Meade, Terrell Meek, Efrain Mendicuti, Sreeraj Menon, Gaurav Mishra, Doug Mitchell, Corentin Monot, Scott Monty, John Moore, Matt Moore, Ernie Mosteller, Brandon Murphy, Eric Nehrlich, Jeff Noble, Andy Nulman, Andrew Odom, Jason Oke, Simon Payn, Branislav Peric, Neil Perkin, Eric Peterson, David Petherick, Steve Portigal, J. Erik Potter, Dennis Price, Joe Pulizzi,

Veronique Rabuteau, Arun Rajagopal, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Ryan Rasmussen, Connie Reece, Brian Reich, Cathleen Rittereiser, David Reich, Sandy Renshaw, Nick Rice, Steve Roesler, Fernanda Romano, John Rosen, Roberta Rosenberg, Troy Rutter, Mike Sansone, Sheila Scarborough, Dan Schawbel, David Meerman Scott, Sean Scott, Andy Sernovitz, Bernie Scheffler, Asi Sharabi, Ron Shevlin, Jamey Shiels, Brad Shorr, Sonia Simone, Charles Sipe, Dan Sitter, Jon Swanson, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Stephen Smith, Phil Soden, Aki Spicer, Sheryl Steadman, Rachel Steiner,

Paul Tedesco, Seni Thomas, John Todor, Scott Townsend, PJasmin Tragas, Jonathan Trenn, Kate Trgovac, Karl Turley, Tim Tyler, Yves Van Landeghem, Mario Vellandi, Steven Verbruggen, Greg Verdino, Jeroen Verkroost, Dylan Viner, Roger von Oech, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Ellen Weber, Hugh Weber, David Weinfeld, Scott White, Gordon Whitehead, Andy Whitlock, Keri Willenborg, Casper Willer, Paul Williams, Chris Wilson, Craig Wilson, C.B. Whittemore, Steve Woodruff, Troy Worman, Piet Wulleman, Faris Yakob, Joanna Young, David Zinger,

Technorati Tags: Age of Conversation

Here is my “decompression” post from Highlight Midwest, held this week in Kansas City.

First and foremost, there are a lot of very neat things being done in Iowa and the surrounding states.  There is absolutely no reason why the company I work for can’t compete with the major web production studios in California, New York, Philadelphia or anywhere.   That being said…

One of the main things I got out of the conference was that everybody there was there because of one reason:  they want to be the best <something>.   It may sound egotistical at first, but once you peel it away, it makes sense.

The only reason to be doing what we are doing is to be the best.   If you don’t want to be the best, then find something else you want to be the best at, and do that.   This is true both on the personal side and the corporate side.   If I could, I would walk into our programmer area and say “Anybody who doesn’t want to be the best web design and hosting company in Iowa, leave now.”

These people don’t describe themselves as “one of” anything.  For instance, there is a social marketing company in Des Moines called Lava Row, started by a classmate of mine at Ames High.  When they go speak, they don’t get up and say “Hello, I’m Nathan Wright, and I am with Lava Row, one of many social marketing companies in Iowa.”   He says “Hi, I’m  Nathan Write and I work at Lava Row, *THE* social marketing company in the state.”

Believing you are the best at what you do is half the battle to becoming the best.   But it can’t just be programmers, it has to follow through with all departments in your company.   If sales doesn’t think you are the best, how can they represent you fully to clients?   If they don’t think you are the best, they may feel like your prices are too high, other people unmotivated, and their sales numbers will suffer to.  Think of a cold call that goes “Hi, this is Troy and I’m from Captain Jack Communications, the best web developer in Central Iowa, is XXXX available?”   vs “Hi, this is Troy and I work at a web design company in Des Moines, can I talk to XXXXX?”

Everybody has to be on board with making the company #1 in its field.

Next, I learned that it doesn’t take a lot of money or resources to do neat things.   There are a lot of free tools on the Internet that people are using to further their businesses.  Whether they are harnessing the power of hundreds of servers hosted at amazon.com or using Basecamp as their project management software, utilizing the tools that have come out of this “web 2.0″ era of web design and development is key to a successful company.

Along with that comes the next thing I learned.   If you are going to try and make a product based on what someone else has already done, you better make it better.  If you can’t make it better, just use the product that already exists.   Facebook saw MySpace and knew they could make it better.   Twitter has spawned a bunch of third party web sites that use its technology to make different services.   If you are going to try and make a Slinky ripoff, you had better make sure it goes “up the stairs” as well as down.

And the last “overall” theme from Highlight Midwest is that companies are not alone anymore.  Where once we stood within our walls and refused to communicate with other companies because they are the “enemy” and our secrets were to be held close to the vest, the new era of doing business is about openness and transparency.   Networking has always been a key strategy of the business owner, but usually it was a network of unrelated fields at a “BNI” group or “business after hours” round table.  Today, it is a group of like-minded, similar fields that come together to share ideas and insights not necessarily about projects each is doing, but where they would like to see the industry as a whole, in the area and the world, go.

Very. Powerful. Stuff.

Here are the specific panels I attended:

Iowa Web Awards / Iowa Flood with Andy Brudtkuhl (Des Moines)
It was hard not to keep socializing with people from the #dmtweetup group, but I really was interested in what Andy had to say.   He has done a lot of work with Wordpress CMS systems, as well as Yahoo Pipes – pulling in content from a lot of sources to make one “point of contact” super-site using RSS feeds.   Good stuff.

Building a Better City Web Site with Dusty Davidson (Omaha)
This one interested me because the city web site for Ames is really bad, as is one of the “city portal” type sites in town, as well as the local newspaper.   Dusty has built a platform of content aggregation, sorting and display that will blow the other city web sites, newspapers, and media outlets out of the water.

SmartyPig with Michael Ferrari
The SmartyPig panel was less about the technology and more about the service, so a little disappointing… only since I already knew a lot about it.   Still, it was interesting to hear Michael talk about the origins of the company, and where it was going.  I only wish he would have come to Captain Jack’s instead of Happy Cog for his site design, if for nothing else but to stay local.

Comics on Rails with Scott Kahler and Doug Sparling
This panel was about uclick, the online comic site that combines the properties of a major publishing house that syndicates Garfield (among others).  Of particular interest was a discussion about how everything was dynamic on one of their redesigns, and it brought their servers to their knees.  Then, they redid everything as static pages and things were happy again.  Definitely a lesson in using database content efficiently in there someplace.

Messages, Membership, and Money with Christina MakiChristina
I attended this panel since I had been having some issues getting our local community theater to embrace technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.  She provided some good starting points for non-profits to get into the space, most of which I had already tried … but good info.

Bringing a Japanese Phenomenon West with Derek Maune
Derek spoke about a new web site / service he created to help with a specific kind of microblogging – writing a book.  Apparently in Japan, many people are using short updates via SMS on their cell phones to write books.  His company, Quill Pill provides an online reader that is easy to use for your book, and plans to offer the ability to order a real book with the service in the future.

Microblogging, Macro Impact with Mike Templeton
Mike, another Des Moines tech evangelist, spoke about the different microblogging platforms, and how his new web site is providing a way to keep track of all the micro-blogging solutions out there.

Cleared For Landing: Building a Social Media Business in Flyover Country with Nathan T. Wright and Hillary Brown
Nathan and Hillary or Lava Row gave a good representation of how to build a social marketing business no matter where you are located.   Between the two of them, they are very engaging.   The panel focused mainly on Lava Row itself, and not necessarily on tools, tricks or techniques per se.

Bottom Line – if you don’t want to be “the best” – then get out.  If you want to be the best then there is a huge, welcoming community waiting to help you get there.  And yes, there are some really cool things happening in the midwest.

I’ve had the idea for a new business / hobby for a while now.   It was something I was somewhat involved in when I lived in Los Angeles, and I even wrote a book about it.  Sounds like the perfect niche, right?

Almost.

See, like in so many businesses and niches, there are people always out to destroy you.   Just as we are seeing in the presidential race, people judge you by the associations you have had in the past – no matter how minor.   The fact of the matter is, that if you put yourself out there enough, eventually you are going to have dealings with, or encounters with, people whom you later find out are “bad.”

But back to the niche…

Besides the fear that people will judge me by my past associations (the bad ones, not the good ones) there has been one thing holding me back.   One thing that I can point to and say “If I only had … that!    If I only had one, it would make a difference.  Man, if I only had one I would get this business started and it would take off.   Man, if I only had one of those, I’d be happy.”

What is it?

A label printer.

Now before you laugh and call me names, hear me out.  Think about this great business tool.  No more would I need to waste a whole sheet of labels to mail out just one letter or package.   A label printer- a personal label printer (preferable a Twin Turbo) is all I need to be successful.

If only I had…. a label printer.

I had been blaming my inability or laziness starting the business on this inanimate object.  This thing that had a simple function – to print out an address on a sticky piece of paper.  But yet it was the most powerful thing in the universe.   It was stopping me from realizing what could be my dream.

Thursday I bought my label printer.

Show-time.

What obstacles have you created in your mind that are stopping you from reaching your goals?   Are they real or just mental blocks you have installed so you don’t hold yourself responsible for your actions or inactions.  Pick an obstacle today and decide to remove it… see what happens.

I first was introduced to the poem “State of Mind” when I attended “Leadership 2000″ at the YMCA Camp in Boone, Iowa run by Dr. Ray Pugh.    As part of the session, we were given a spiral-bound book written by Dr. Pugh (that I have sadly lost over the years) that contained the poem.   I typed it out on the computer, printed it out, and kept a copy on my wall throughout High School.

I had a lot of things to overcome.

Over the years, whenever times got tough, I would read that poem again, and it would renew my energies, making me strive for something better.   I am going to repost it now, along with some commentary by Robert Collier.  I could use some of the lessons spoken of right now, maybe you can too.

It may be that you have been deluded by the thought of incompetence. It may be that you have been told so often that you cannot do certain things that you’ve come to believe you can’t. Remember that success or failure is merely a state of mind. Believe you cannot do a thing—and you can’t. Know that you can do it—and you will. You must see yourself doing it.

“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t;
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,
For out in the world you’ll find
Success begins with a fellow’s will—
It’s all in the state of mind.

“Full many a race is lost
Ere even a race is run,
And many a coward fails
Ere even his work’s begun.
Think big, and your deeds will grow,
Think small and you fall behind,
Think that you can, and you will;
It’s all in the state of mind.”If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battle doesn’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the fellow who thinks he can.”

There’s a vast difference between a proper understanding of one’s own ability and a determination to make the best of it—and offensive egotism. It is absolutely necessary for every man to believe in himself, before he can make the most of himself. All of us have something to sell. It may be our goods, it may be our abilities, it may be our services. You’ve got to believe in yourself to make your buyer take stock in you at par and accrued interest. You’ve got to feel the same personal solicitude over a customer lost, as a revivalist over a backslider, and hold special services to bring him back into the fold. You’ve got to get up every morning with determination, if you’re going to go to bed that night with satisfaction.

There’s mighty sound sense in the saying that all the world loves a booster. The one and only thing you have to win success with is MIND. For your mind to function at its highest capacity, you’ve got to be charged with good cheer and optimism. No one ever did a good piece of work while in a negative frame of mind. Your best work is always done when you are feeling happy and optimistic.

And a happy disposition is the result—not the cause—of happy, cheery thinking. Health and prosperity are the results primarily of optimistic thoughts. You make the pattern. If the impress you have left on the world about you seems faint and weak, don’t blame fate—blame your pattern! You will never cultivate a brave, courageous demeanor by thinking cowardly thoughts. You cannot gather figs from thistles. You will never make your dreams come true by choking them with doubts and fears. You’ve got to put foundations under your air castles, foundations of UNDERSTANDING and BELIEF. Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your BELIEF in yourself.

Are your surroundings discouraging? Do you feel that if you were in another’s place success would be easier? Just bear in mind that your real environment is within you. All the factors of success or failure are in your inner world. You make that own inner world—and through it your outer world. You can choose the material from which to build it. If you’ve not Chosen wisely in the past, you can choose again now the material you want to rebuild it. The richness of life is within you. No one has failed so long as he can begin again.

Start right in and do all those things you feel you have it in you to do. Ask permission of no man. Concentrating your thought upon any proper undertaking will make its achievement possible. Your belief that you can do the thing gives your thought forces their power. Fortune waits upon you. Seize her boldly, hold her—and she is yours. She belongs rightfully to you. But if you cringe to her, if you go up to her doubtfully, timidly, she will pass you by in scorn. For she is a fickle jade who must be mastered, who loves boldness, who admires confidence.