Keep the day job

While working at my primary Bank job, I've kept my hand in some Web projects on the side. I mentioned in an earlier post about developing a job-related site, intending to use it as a R&D exercise to learn what works and what doesn't for a sideline Web business.

My intent was to pick a popular area, and job-related sites certainly gather a lot of traffic. Put up a site that links to a lot of quality content, although not requiring in-depth content of its own. Then see what could be earned with some well-placed Google Ads from visitors. Essentially a "build it and they will come" approach.

Well, what I've learned so far: it ain't working. They don't come because no one knows it exists. And they don't know it's there because your site gets pitiful search engine rankings from Google and others. A lot of people are searching for your category, but no one is going to wade through 500 higher ranked sites to get to yours.

One way to get traffic is to be listed in some high-profile directories for your category. So I made an executive decision to pay to get my site listed in the Yahoo Directory a couple weeks ago. Not an easy decision, because it's a $299 annual fee! But I obviously needed to try something: the site had been earning an average of 15 cents per day.

For the first seven days, new directory entries in Yahoo are listed at the top of their category and marked "New". Last week was great: in seven days the site earned over $30 - it was exciting. How great was this: you do nothing and get paid for it!

Alas, the seven days were up Thursday, and my site has retreated to the bottom of the category list. Saturday I earned 8 cents (I'll try not to spend it all at once).

Guess for now I better keep my day job.

Technorati Tags: Google ads, moonlighting

My wife learns her fate

For several weeks now, my wife has continued to work part-time at the small, two-person accounting firm. It was a temporary trial: she was not an employee at that point, but an independent contractor. That was okay; she was content to be earning something for the moment.

However, as the weeks wore on with no word either way, she began to wonder if she was simply low-cost labor until they finished their September 15th fiscal year high workload. "We need to sit down and talk" was said frequently, but nothing ever came of it.

Monday that changed. The head of the firm was suddenly insistent that "they needed to talk". This was the first business day after September 15th - not a good sign. And the family's experiences this year with one-on-one talks with the boss have not ended well.

Well - surprise - they offered her a permanent position! Although the money could be better, the training opportunities seem very promising. They'll be putting her through the ropes with most of the accounting duties they do at the firm - she won't be just doing grunt work. And they are very flexible about working hours, which is one of the main things she needs, plus the central location is ideal.

And amazingly enough, she'll be working with highly educated professionals that seem organized and decent (no yelling/cursing, no constantly missed payrolls). True, her boss is the micromanager to end all micromanagers, and she does still have to deal with the DOS circa 1990 accounting software they use, but no job of my wife's is complete without its strange quirks.

For now, things seem to have worked out for the best. She's quite pleased!

Weekend getaway

My wife and I got away on our own this weekend, "visiting" San Francisco. Although we live in the area, it's easy to take it for granted and see less of it than tourists. Plus it's great to get away as a couple sometimes. So several times a year, our kids stay with the grandparents for a day or two, and we "travel" somewhere in the Bay Area.

We're under a budget, so usually stay someplace nice but within reason. This has meant most of the nice San Francisco hotels located in the heart of the city have been outside our reach. However, this time we tried PriceLine for the first time, and scored the Grand Hyatt hotel on Union Square for $110, a sizable savings over the normal $220 rate.

We had a great time. I'm ashamed to say it had been over 20 years since I had last been to Union Square. Since that time San Francisco completely renovated it; it's now wonderfully open, teeming with people and host to constant special events. The Union Square I remember was a magnet for the homeless and you walked through it quickly to get on your way.

We also stopped by the Cheesecake Factory at Macy's, which was packed. I'm not a cheesecake fan, but this is not normal cheesecake: the taste is out of this world! We brought back some White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake for my folks and the boys - it was divine.

Wall Street Journal: Layoffs = bad stock?

Interesting MarketWatch column in today's Journal: "Why investors may do well with firms that avoid layoffs". The spur: Wall Street's negative reaction to this week's announcement from Intel of a less-than-expected 10,000 layoffs. This is all too typical of the market, cheering on more bloodletting. But investors, as opposed to short-term traders, might be wise to view mass layoffs suspiciously. They are rarely an example of wise management.

In fact, some studies have shown that big layoffs have no long-term impact on a company's stock. As the article notes:

Maybe that is because, cost-cutting, for the sake of cost-cutting to appease Wall Street, is also the result of companies scrambling to show a profit or to continue to show a profit. It also suggests mismanagement by companies as they try to reignite their growth.

The sad truth is that as was the case for IBM, these layoffs signal the end of Intel's great run. Its monopoly grip is loosening, and its leaders and circumstances behind its early growth are gone... That is nothing for investors to cheer about.

One day perhaps, the perception that layoffs are bad news, not good news, will be common knowledge on Wall Street. Nothing could do more to sober up Corporate America from its current layoff addiction.

Technorati Tags: layoffs, outsourcing

Outsourcing alive and well

While I've been preoccupied with my new position, that doesn't mean the IT landscape at the bank has been getting any safer. Our large technology organization has announced a new Indian organization has been awarded a long-term contract for production support work (ongoing maintenance of existing application systems). Apparently this is great news, as the new vendor presented a "compelling business case", "nearshore (Uruguay) capabilities" and a "strong and proven knowledge transfer process".

Transition work will begin by early October. The knowledge transfer will shift work from both existing employees and current outsourcing contractors. New development work (for now) will remain in-house.

This may affect my web applications that were outsourced last quarter. My Indian IT contact is not a member of the blessed outsourcing firm, so it could be all that knowledge transfer work was in vain. He seems to be floundering by the way, not sure he can manage to meet a deadline for an upcoming server conversion. What a mess if someone even more clueless takes over.

I'm hoping I will slide under the radar screen for now; my work is more ad hoc and not part of a formal application system. But then I thought the same thing about my prior position - my fortuneteller reputation is not untarnished!u

Just another day on the outsourcing frontlines.

Technorati Tags: layoffs, outsourcing

An Assassin's Tale

Something a little different. No, this is not Corporate America's latest devious scheme for reducing headcount! It refers to a science-fiction short story my college son wrote recently. He posted it to fan fiction site, where it received a good reception, so I thought I would share it here.

Mercy - An Assassin's Tale focuses on Misao, on her coming to grips with the nature of her profession, which is that of an assassin.

Come to think of it, it does look like outsourcing (of a more permanent nature) would be right up her alley...HR people, no ideas please.

Technorati Tags: science-fiction, fan fiction, guild wars