500 words #2:
con·tent

con·tent²

/ˈkäntent/

noun

noun: content

1. the material dealt with in a speech, literary work, song etc., as distinct from its form or style.
2. information made available by a website, book, record, film, photo or other electronic device.

An idea that turns into substance is content, and that would be me. Be it on the page or in a restaurant or recording studio… I’ve got plenty of ideas, leading to lots of content.

3 completed manuscripts and 50 feature articles, hundreds of songs written and produced with my partners over decades, 1,000’s of menus created and executed over 40+ years cooking and playing all over the world- but monetizing it, not so much. There I need help as they’re mostly under my bed, on a shelf or residing in my computer. If you want to samba or eat I’m your guy. If you want to buy a car or negotiate a deal, not so much.

Monetizing content is something else entirely, with a different but equally important skill set required. Someone with the skills to do what I haven’t to this point done well, which is market my content as well as I create it- so a symbiotic relationship is needed.

Enter my Melissa’s. I’ve been fortunate to be around smart women my entire life (my mother, aunts and wife to start) and now find myself among a couple more.

Melissa 1 is my motivator and owner of the Networlding Publishing Platform (https://networlding.com/). It’s her guidance I’m following. She of the “500 words” suggestion that has worked for her and hers. That and showing up for the muse regularly. We’ve been friends for awhile and knows my work.

Melissa 2 makes my cyber happen. I suggest/dream aloud and she runs with the ball. We re-did my website last year (alanlake.com) and I couldn’t be happier. The things I wanted she made happen, rising to the occasion over and over so now we’re doing this. If you need either’s help, here you go: [email protected] or [email protected]

The creator of the content knows its value. Whether they get it or not is the issue, and in today’s world of free content everywhere, who pays? I’d be afraid to calculate time spent against revenues received for a lot of what I do. The small amount of what I do monetize well allows me to pursue the rest, which is alright but not preferable as my landlord doesn’t take 100 facebook likes or 1,000 twitter followers.

It’s in me so I do it. Can’t stop. It would be like telling me not to brush my teeth. I’d love to find a way to get $omething for my efforts. Presently I fund 75% of my life with the 25% I make real money with. I’m happy and healthy so there’s that but bet there’s a better way and will continue the search.

Alexander the Great lived by these words: “anticipate, react, adapt”. Worked for him.