Think outside the box. Find something you can do that is unconventional. Two of the many pieces of advice one hears when a job becomes hard to find. Fair enough, but concrete suggestions are much more helpful. Pam, being a smart and thoughtful person, understands this. She suggested that since I know a lot about weblogs and personal websites, computers and software, and am a reasonably good communicator, I ought to teach people how to put up their own sites. Hold some classes, bring in a few dollars.
Seems like a reasonable idea to me. So, starting small, I made up a flier and posted it a couple of places here in Mountain View. I wanted to put one up on the bulletin board at the Mountain View Public Library but the pain in the ass in charge of such things wouldn’t approve; apparently only non-profit organizations, based in Mountain View or not, are entitled while residents of the town like me who, through property taxes actually pay for the library can go stuff it. Anyway, I did post a couple of the fliers on Castro Street, one inside Books, Inc. and the other outside the Mountain View Market, and will keep looking for places to post. Know any?
My plan: Classes will be held Thursday evenings (or otherwise as requested) here in my house or nearby, depending on attendance, any Thursday evening at least four people sign up for about 90 minutes to two hours. The classes will cover the basics of such sites including the available tools, types of hosting, related tools and services (blogrolls, RSS, directories), basics of content. I don’t expect to provide personal consulting during the class time, or actually set anyone’s site up; of course that would be fine for a small extra fee afterwards or whatever. Let’s see how it goes and where it goes.
Want to learn or know someone who does? Let me know!
BillSaysThis 