When I began my second career in writing and then in Social Media, I had four goals. The first three were in no order of importance but the fourth was a distant fourth from the others. It’s been quite a while since I began and it seems time for a “report card” and review of how successful I was at achieving these goals.
Now that my first-born is going off to college and one that costs almost literally an arm and a leg, I am finally looking at how to make more money from all my activities in Social Media. I began this second career of mine by writing a column. Later, I moved on to radio, graduated to Tweet Chats, my own website, guest-blogging, a comic strip, doing a weekly vlog, authoring a book, speaking at conventions, and finally my own #DadChat.
I’m beginning to wonder about my ROI for all the time I spend on Social Media. The money earned and spent is also a question. I don’t have any questions about the satisfaction, pleasure, and knowledge I’ve gained via Social Media or the amazing relationships that I’ve made. Some have remained virtual, in that I’ve had no real life or even phone exchanges with these virtual friends. But, others have blossomed in real life when we got to meet at conferences or just for coffee or lunch.
Do you remember that great George Carlin line about wanting to become a millionaire? I’m paraphrasing him but he said something like, “So, you want to be a millionaire – pause – first thing, get a million dollars.” Don’t we all wish it were that simple! No, you will not get magic tips on how to monetize from this column. You will get some useful ideas that you can employ.
There was a recent Pew Center study (http://bit.ly/PewCtr) that revealed how much more equal income has become between the genders. In more cases than ever, more women are working and more women are earning higher income than their male counterparts. While I believe totally in equal pay for equal work, I do question the impact on relationships when the woman is making more than the man.
With each generation becoming more accustomed to gender equality, I feel it will eventually settle into a comfortable reality that men and women will accept. But, for now and maybe longer, the inherent gender differences may remain and be a problem between couples when the woman is making more than the man.
