What am I talking about? Your digital resume. “What is a digital resume?” you might ask. Well, think of it as everything you do online that can be viewed by others. This includes MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, forums, websites where you leave comments, etc. ANYthing of yours online that can be seen by others is your digital resume. It is you and how your employers, clients, and customers will perceive you whether it’s the “real” you or not…to them it’s the real you. Period.

I’ve unfortunately worked on projects in the past where people were either fired or not hired based on certain activities they were involved in online. How were they discovered? Simple…just searched for their name on various sites. You might think you can be sneaky and use a nickname, but you’re going to slip up somewhere and that nickname is going to be linked to your real name…then the trail starts. It’s up to you how that trail looks. I can’t stress it enough to be conscious of what you do online. You may not give a hoot what people think about you and you may make a living going through life with that attitude, but just be aware that you’re not “hiding behind a computer screen” lobbing out an “online lifestyle” that is “different” that your real life. To people that come in your life down the road…the two are the same.

On the other hand…use your “digital resume” as a tool to build a foundation for where you want to be down the road. Participate on sites, forums, groups, etc that parallel your plans. Leave a trail that shows how you got to where you are today. The people you communicate with and that see your activity may end up being the people who pay for that roof over your head and the food on your table. Don’t lose site of that.

Remember this…perception is reality…especially in the online world. What you do will be seen by someone important to you down the road. It’s up to you as to how they will react.

Most of you know that this site has been somewhat a labor of love for me since January of 2004 with little-to-no compensation to keep it up and running. In order to continue to provide this source for the students I had to implement some form of advertising and/or affiliate marketing. I chose to go with Google AdSense as they seemed to provide the best and most relevant ads for content, which would create a win/win situation as users would get quality, related content while also helping to keep this site alive. I was completely new to the world of AdSense, but in a month’s time I learned so much…and you’re about to dramatically benefit from it. So let’s assume you’ve just setup an AdSense account and are ready to roll. Let’s break down the tips to help you succeed.

DO NOT Click Your Own Ads:

To many of you, this may seem like common sense. The fact is that there are many publishers that abuse the AdSense system by clicking ads on their own site to generate revenue. Not only is it dishonest, it hurts honest people making honest mistakes…and this is where I learned some important lessons. As I was building this site, I added AdSense into the code to see the relevancy and quality of the ads that would be generated. I aim to give you guys the best information here, so I didn’t want to “muddy” the site up with “junk” ads. Here is where the first lesson comes in: DO NOT “test” ads by clicking on them to check out the target sites. Doing so will lead to you getting deactivated for life by Google. I had a misconception that they simply disregarded clicks from the account holder’s computer as I figured the IP, computer, browser, etc would be recorded and the advertiser would never pay for a click generating from that computer…WRONG. They turn your ads off, deactivate your account, and send you a farewell email…it’s almost as bad as getting dumped by your first crush. There is no warning…nothing. Just poof…wake up one day to tumbleweeds and dust. In order to control click fraud, they have a very firm policy regarding clicking your own ads. If you have to test the ads, though, you are not out of luck. Google has put together a “preview tool” that allows you to test the ads with no fear of getting deactivated. The tool is incredibly important and instructions for implementing it can be found at: https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/topic.py?topic=160 . Bookmark that link as it is arguably one of the most valuable tips you will receive for using AdSense.

DO NOT Encourage Others:

Aside from testing your ads, do not even click them if you’re honestly interested in an ad. Don’t get your wife, husband, mother, father, dog, etc to click your ads. Leave the alone. Don’t encourage people to click them by adding text that says “CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THIS SITE” or anything of the sort. Simply stay honest and you’ll have a much better shot at having a long & successful career with Google AdSense. Simply Google – AdSense account deactivated – to see tons of stories of people immediately having their account deactivated without warning. Google reserves the right to deactivate a publisher at any time without any warning whatsoever. Trust me on this…it happens every day and can happen to you if you don’t follow the rules.

DO Read These Pages:

https://www.google.com/adsense/terms
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies
https://www.google.com/support/adsense

Many people don’t take the time to read through those pages, but I can’t emphasize enough how important they are. If you care about staying with AdSense…read them. If you want to be deactivated and have a practically 0 chance of being let in, then ignore them. If you break the rules, Google will deactivate your account for life. What this means is that you cannot open a new account and you cannot have anyone else open an account to place ads on your site. Google will have your information and any time it sees AdSense being placed near anything of yours they will take action.

DO Mind Your Own Business:

As scary is it may sound to use AdSense, the best advice I can offer is to place your ads on your pages and forget about them. I’m not saying to disregard content creation for the most effective ads…I’m saying that it’s best to forget that the ads are there and not click them, encourage anyone to click them, or even tell people about them. If you basically ignore them after you are satisfied with their look and placement, you stand a better chance of staying an honest & faithful AdSense member. Focus on your content to keep it relevant to your site and users and you’ll sleep much better at night.

You Got Deactivated…Now What?:

Many people will tell you that you’re basically done for if Google deactivates your AdSense account. Many times they will be right. There may be hope, though, if you feel that Google may have made a mistake. You are allowed to file an appeal to Google in argue your case, but there is one important thing to remember if you choose this route. Be professional. Google will glaze right over you if you reply with, “WHO THE @#^%& DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DEACTIVATING ME?! YOU BETTER TURN MY ACCOUNT BACK ON OR I’LL USE YAHOO’S SEARCH ENGINE FROM NOW ON!” That email will find it’s way to a Google campfire while the AdSense team sings “Kumbaya” while snackin’ on smores.

Instead, be professional. If you don’t know why you were deactivated…ask. Then offer to do whatever is necessary to rectify the situation. One of your users may have click-bombed an ad or your grandma clicked them while she was visiting you for Christmas thinking it would be a nice Christmas “bonus.” Whatever the case may be, try to find out what the deal is from Google…in a profesisonal manner. Offer logs of traffic or whatever they may need to help identify the problem. Be genuine about the situation. It’ll get you further not only with Google…but with other aspects of your life. When it comes to AdSense, they basically have you (the publisher) wrapped around their finger…and they can flick you away like a lil booger any time they please. So play nice and be nice. Don’t be a snot.

Final Words:

AdSense is a very popular advertising system that many web publishers have profited from. It may be easy to become wide-eyed at the potential of using AdSense on your sites, but be responsible about it and follow the rules. Google does not slap wrists when it comes to abusing their terms and policies. Those policies are the only warnings you will get. If you click on some ads accidentally, send the AdSense team an email stating so…this way the advertisers do not lose money on your mistake.

Be Smart
Be Honest
Good Luck!

5 AM
A day in my life is very hectic and chaotic at times. The first thing I think about at 5AM before my workout is… DEADLINES. Everything at a newspaper is about deadlines.
After my workout, I take my girls to school and stop to get coffee and head to work by 8AM (depending on what is due, it may be much earlier).

8 AM
First thing in the morning, I pull all the designers in to go over what needs to be done by the end of the day. It is like a teacher giving out assignments. This way, there is no confusion about who is doing what and no time is wasted. The daily newspaper ads always get designed first. They range from local car dealerships to Hy-Vee (grocery store) to Kmart. Most of the ads are completely designed and laid out by us, but sometimes they are done by corporate and emailed in as PDFs. Then all we do is size and fit into an ad.

10 AM
After daily ads are out of the way, we move on to our bigger projects such as MLS (real estate guide) or The Southwest Iowa Shopper. The MLS is one we are currently working on. It is a monthly tab (booklet) that consists evenly of the four realtors locally. They split the price of it between them and share the space. It is always eighteen pages long and each page consists of dozens of houses or apartments with full descriptions. It is a huge project to tackle monthly and we usually only have a weeks time to proof and finish. It is completely designed and laid out by us monthly.

We have many other tabs. We just finished a bridal tab in January that was a lot of fun. We do a coloring book every year for kids and we also have one called Middle Scene which is a booklet for seniors about healthcare and nursing homes.

When we are finished with MLS this month it will be time to move on to our annual Progress edition. It is a huge tab that consists of ten sections sorted by industry. It is a tab meant to show the community how well business has progressed in the last year. I think it is beneficial for the community to know this information. Each section in 6-8 pages long so this tab ends up being fairly large. It will print March 24 so we will have a month to finish it. Then of course, MLS will be due at the same time.

On Thursdays, I have to download the next weeks TV Guides to go in the daily paper and we also begin working on The Southwest Iowa Shopper, which prints every Monday. Some of you probably have a shopper or something like it in your community. It is a free weekly paper that consists of ads and classifieds. It also contains the local retailers and grocery store inserted ads.

1 PM
Throughout the day I also have meetings with clients about new design ideas and also something I hate…misprints. It doesn’t occur everyday but it does happen quite often. When it does, I am the one that has to answer for everyone. Yesterday, Dale from Fareway (a local grocery store), came in when he received his Shopper. Every week he runs a big four page insert that has a double spread and a front and a back. We accidentally printed it with two back pages and the double spread. I couldn’t believe it made it all the way to delivery. I have to apologize (I felt terrible) and I agreed to run the entire insert in tomorrows paper free of charge.

I have also been in meetings with our publisher dealing with our budget and working on finding ways to cut costs for new equipment and supplies. So far I have gotten us new software, a new computer (we need three), a new hard drive, a super drive, and a new camera. These things have saved us time with less technical difficulties. We work strictly on Macs (which I love) and were very behind in the times.

I also have had many meetings with the fire department about their annual convention book. This year’s convention for the state is being held here and I landed the job of designing and laying out the book. It will end up being about 800 pages long in full color. It will be very time consuming but exciting!

I know you are thinking that this all sounds pretty boring but honestly I am using my education (what little I have). Things can be pretty routine and standard but many times we get to be creative and revamp an old layout or completely design new ones. I use creativity everyday and that is all I ever wanted in a job. I am gaining experience in my field and am successful in it so far. This is good to know I didn’t choose the wrong field! I have also gained much experience with Quark, Multi-Ad Creator, and Macs. These are all things I did not know how to use before I worked there. I work long hours and sometimes my day begins at 7AM and doesn’t end until 9PM (Fridays usually). I work in a wonderful environment though. It is a place where no man is left behind so if I stay late, no one else will leave until the job is done. We all care about each other like a family and everyone helps out. We have our ups and downs and we make mistakes but our motto is: One person’s mistakes and triumphs are another’s. I don’t plan on working here forever but I do love the satisfaction I get from my job.