People think the Mayans predict the world will end in 2012 but no record can be found in their history to suggest that’s true. But the calendar they used does end a 5000+ year run on December 12, 2012. Whether doomsday does arrive or not, I’m still moving forward with my plans for 2012, just in case.

Last year was much better for us than previous years. We’ve been through quite a lot and the break from major life catastrophes was a welcome change. Erin is still healthy and that’s really all that matters to me. Everything else is gravy. But now that she is well we’re a tad low on gravy.

I tend to make overly optimistic plans ever year and never see them through. So this year I’m keeping it simple. This is basically it:

Do something every day to move towards your goals.

That’s it. I have no other resolutions, as this covers them all. I do have goals for the year and doing something every day to achieve those goals is how they’ll come to pass.

• Finish losing weight. Over the last few years I’ve been losing weight and this year I will finish this project. I’ve stalled a few times here and there but this is one of the things I’ve stuck with the most. I’m down to around 178 from 240! My goal is somewhere around 150. The actual weight isn’t the goal. It’s a certain size/shape: flat, not fat!
• Put a big dent in our debt. Between medical bills, housing fiasco and only one source of income our debt has become a looming cloud of doom for me. It’s one of the few things that can ruin my usual easy going, optimistic demeanor. To that end Erin is finally able to get back to work (she’s already interning and looking for other work) and I’ll be freelancing some of this year (more on that later). We’ve already cut our bills to the bone and now it’s time to hit these bills with a hammer.
• Make money for myself. I’ve always done web development for fun and for other people. I’ve had a few projects of my own but none of them really ever focused on money. This year I’m taking making money for myself very seriously. A good chunk of the money I make from consulting will go to debt but the rest will be invested into my own ideas.
• Have more fun. I don’t goof off nearly enough. It’s not that I’m serious all the time. Far from it. But I do tend to take everything very seriously even if it doesn’t show. And when I have something to do and I’m too tired or burned out to do it I still sit at the computer just staring at the screen because I feel guilty for not at least trying. I plan to goof off more and not feel one bit guilty about it. I plan to feel less guilty this year in all things.
• Create more art. I’m not planning on becoming a full time photographer, artist or writer but I do plan on being more creative this year. Art is the reason I got into programming in the first place! I created Lit.Org because nothing like it existed at the time and I’ve been programming since. Oops. I’ve already sent off a few samples for a couple of writing gigs and I’m working on more. I have some guest blogging planned as well as more creative stuff that I’ll be publishing on Lit.Org.

So that’s the simple plan. Put one foot in front of the other and get going.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of doing some sort of video content for one of my sites. I’ve thought of doing a little news video blog type thing or just random blog posts or focused on a specific topic. But nothing really clicked with me enough that I thought I would be adding any value. Finally, I think I have an idea.

I’ve been doing web development since 1995. Everything from servers to code, graphics to marketing. I’m not an expert on everything, but I know my stuff and I love helping people and teaching others. So I think I’m going to be offering a combination of video types. Free webinars that teach people some of the things I know, and then how to videos. On the how to front, I’ll be specifically answering questions sent to me. I’ll be putting up a form and people can submit questions and I’ll answer them with video showing exactly how to do it. My goal is to create a product from the information I know and give lots of it away for free and charge for some of it in certain formats, like perhaps a printed book or dvd, etc.

I still have some other ideas for videos for some of my other sites too, but video can take a lot of time to process so I’ll be getting into video slowly. I’m in no rush, but I am excited about the possibilities.

I have to admit, I didn’t get Facebook at first. I was pretty early on Facebook in my sliver of the social graph, but it had even less appeal to me than MySpace did. But as more and more friends got on that’s when the magic started happening. Facebook’s killer feature is you’re friends, family and colleges. It’s the new email.

Speaking of family, I never thought I would like the idea of my family being on Facebook. Turns out, it’s probably one of the things I love most about it. I get to keep up with close family, cousins and even distant relatives in Germany, one of whom just found me on Facebook today. From a town of 630 people!

Facebook has become an important part of how I communicate. I probably get as much, if not more of my contact with people through Facebook these days. So much so that I have to check it a couple of times a day just in case one of the many projects I manage have an update through the service.

Facebook really doesn’t do all that much. It’s probably very sophisticated code, but the features of Facebook are like a forum in reverse. Instead of viewing discussions, you view profiles and you have discussions on them. But features isn’t what Facebook is about. It’s all about your contacts. That’s why, out of all the new services I’ve seen spring up Facebook might have the best chance of long shelf life. Because your best friend from school is on there. Your brothers, sisters, parents, cousins and extended family are on there. Your co-workers, clients and vendors are on there. It’s email 2.0.

Some articles have said that Facebook is mostly about “weak ties” type relationships. But I think it’s making many of my relationships stronger. I get to keep up with people I care about in a way that I couldn’t otherwise. We all have busy lives but it’s very nice to keep up with what’s happening in the lives. It’s also brought me closer to friends in real life. Not only do I see what’s going on with people I don’t get to see often but because of Facebook I’m also meeting up with more friends for lunches or dinner or just to hang out.

All in all, I’m glad something like Facebook exists.

Chris Brogan recently wrote Which Crowd on his blog, almost if on queue. Amazing how many good ideas pop into your view when you need them most. I’m working on my plans for my sites and thinking about the audience is on my list, but reading his article it just really clicked with me. While I do have to narrow down a topic, I also have to figure out who I’m writing for on that topic.

So who do it write for then? I could write a blog that would appeal more to colleagues and peers. There’s some appeal in that but I think that space is pretty well covered. I do have some thoughts to contribute and I’ll do those as guest posts where they are better suited. I plan on guest posting quite a bit so some of my interests that I don’t want to write about full time can still find a home somewhere.

I know I love helping people and teaching has always been fun for me. I love giving people the power to do the things they want for themselves. So I know whatever subject(s) I choose will probably have in mind the people out learning things and doing it themselves. For example, if I do decide that web development is one of my sites, I would most likely focus on things to help people learn. I’ve done just about every job there is in making a website work, from servers to design. I’ve been at this since 1995. I may not be the best but I’ve picked up all sorts of good tricks and there aren’t too many errors I haven’t seen or caused myself.

I also run Lit.Org, so I’d like to cover writing. A subject I am not an expert on. I know good advice when I see it, but I’m not that great on the technical side of writing. I use too many commas and that’s not even my worst problem. But I do love writing. I always have. I want to write a book or five one of these days. I may have to spend a fortune to have it edited before I let anyone see it, but I will get it done. But I can write about other aspects of the writing business, like promoting yourself online and using social media. I can talk about publishing, contracts and other issues writers face, because I’m learning them as I try to get published myself. I can also talk about jobs in writing, especially online where I’ve been published. That’s where guest posts will come in. I can cover what I know and what I learn as I go. To fill in the areas where I’m weak I hope I can get some great guest posts and even eventually pay for writers. That’s true of whatever sites I do.

Chris’s article was a great spark to get me thinking about this more. It’s helping me narrow the focus of the sites I’m going and that helps me figure out what content and features the sites will need. Now it’s time to start ironing out a real plan and getting to work.

While I’m getting back into publishing I’ve been thinking about what sites to do. My interests are varied, so I have to find a way to narrow down my focus. First, I need to figure out what criteria to evaluate potential ideas agains.

I have 3 primary criteria:

• Interest/Passion for topic
• Desire to Write about topic
• Ability to profit from topic

Publishing is work, so I have no illusions this will be all fun. I want to create sites that are rewarding creatively but also financially. This is my job, not just a hobby. I can not get paid doing something else with my time.

I don’t want to write about everything I love. For example, I love taking photos. I love learning more about my camera and I love teaching people. But I don’t think photography is my niche. It’s more something I do because it’s not doing this. It’s my escape. I do have some posts related to photography I want to write. Some for one of my sites and some guest posts for others.

One topic that seems obvious for me is web development. My experience in this area is pretty in depth. I’ve managed servers, web sites, people and code. I’ve done it all, programming, design, social media, copywriting, seo and more. I keep up with the industry, new techniques and technology and I love doing it. I could write about web dev, no doubt. I’m going to focus on the stuff that’s most fun to me, like WordPress, Social Media, Blogging and so on. I’m trying to decide if that should be here at Chrispian.com or on it’s own domain that could be branded.

The other site I plan on working on is Lit.Org. I created it, probably about 15 years ago and sold it almost 5 years ago to help pay for medical bills for Erin. A few months ago Mark and I were talking about the site and we ended up buying it back. I never could figure out how to properly monetize the site. It needs some major work. It was ahead of it’s time back in the day, but when you look at sites created the last few years, it’s grown stale. Even though the site’s about writing it’s difficult for new users to figure out what the site is and how to use it and search engines don’t know what to make of it. Most of the content is generated by users and is, by design, all over the place. A story about a small town killer to a poem about war and everything between. The site is the result of writing, not about writing. My plans here are to upgrade the main site and add more social features. There’s a good bit to do, but it’ll be small changes happening over time. I’m a big fan of incremental improvements vs a large scale upgrade. Next is a new section on the site (powered by WordPress, natch) that will be focused on writing. It will focus on articles to help writers improve, get paid and market themselves online. Since my expertise and focus is online, most of my contributions will be focused that direction but I’ll be looking for guest posts and eventually paying writers as well. This section is part of my plan to monetize Lit.Org. As it always has been, the site will remain free to users. We may put a few ads on the site here and there, but the main focus for revenue will be done via the new section.

Now I’m just ironing out the details and making plans. It’s interesting basically starting over and trying to figure out what to do next. It’s always easier to tell other people what to do on their projects. I never know what to do myself. I keep trying to treat myself as a client but I keep firing myself for being too demanding.