While browsing my comments section from a recent post, I stumbled upon somebody named Diana who took issue with the fact that I have an Amazon Honor System tip jar on my site, saying she didn't know how I could justify asking for money for rum and cigars when she had to work to support her vices.
Well, I got news for you, Diana, I gotta work to support mine, too!
I have a regular full-time job that allows me to meet my obligations, save a little money, and retire a bit of old debt, but lately not much else. Comparing pay stubs to last years W-2's, it looks like full-time dealers at my casino are on pace to make about eight grand less than last year. So while times are definitely good, things are just a bit tighter than I'd prefer. No big deal. Compared to the very Lean Times of 2001-2003, I'm living in tall cotton!
But enough about that.
I have lots of hobbies to keep me occupied--reading, sailing, shooting, and the one I spend the most time on--writing. The best thing about writing, besides the fact that I actually enjoy it (most people are the polar opposite), is that it's dirt cheap! It doesn't cost me a dime, which cannot be said for sailing to Catalina for the weekend, or going down to the range and blasting away at paper targets.
As far as writing is concerned, I've always done it--I started in high school with a Creative Writing class and I knew I had a smidge of aptitude for it when the teacher told me that while I was far from being her favorite student, I was most definitely her favorite Student... I knew exactly what she meant. Once I got to college, I also had a fantastic writing instructor in Freshman Comp and I pulled an 'A' in the class that pretty much everyone else hated.
I also kept a daily journal from 1986 until about 1995 or so, and when I go back and read some of the stuff I wrote, it absolutely makes me cringe. More than a few times I've been tempted to throw all three volumes in the fireplace, but something inside keeps me from doing it, embarrassing as they may be.
So I've been at it for a long time. All the practice has helped, but believe me, I don't think I'm nearly as good at it as some people say. I know my limitations.
But what really got me started was all the free time I had on my hands in 2002 when we were in the throes of the technology bust and it's associated recession. I went jobless for almost a year, so I have a unique perspective on personal finances.
But since I had so time on my hands, I got a lot of reading done, which of course led to lots of writing. I'd never even heard of the concept of a 'Las Vegas Trip Report', and sitting around on the computer one day I stumbled upon the Travel2Vegas.com site and opened the Pandora's Box of the Trip Report section. Well hell, I'd been to Vegas several times, and the adventures with my buddies were almost epic. That was right up my alley!
I figured I could probably throw my hat in the ring, and my first attempt resulted in that 'September Quickie' report you see linked in the left-hand column. I got enough positive feedback and encouragement from that offering, that I kept cranking them out after every trip, and they took on a life of their own.
I also tried my hand at free-lancing, and managed to make seventy-five whole dollars selling a story to a sailing magazine on the first try. That was encouraging.
About that same time, I stumbled into a decent job at Go Daddy Software, learned the basics of website design, and had a corral full of geeks at my disposal who would answer any questions I had. So I built my first website, the original HurricaneMikey.com, with all the different pages--Vegas, Sailing, Poker Night, My Oddball Family, etc... I had fun doing that, but realized after awhile that I preferred just doing a 'blog' style of website.
So then I changed over to this format that you see here. Somehow in the past four years or so, I've managed to build up a core group of regular readers who've been here for the duration. I would say that most of my 'success' came from all of my silly postings over on T2V, and a majority of my readers have migrated from over there.
Now I never set out to make a buck when I started my website. Honestly, I figured that nobody except my family and friends would be the least bit interested in anything I had to say, and most of them be like 'Yeah, whatever...' and then my attempt at internet fame would die an ignominious death.
But somehow along the way, things have taken off in a small way. Hurricane Mikey is no Google or YouTube, but I still get about 450 hits a day, and I've gone well over 100,000 visits for the year. Obviously somebody is interested in what I have to say...
But there are other bloggers out there, with much better websites than mine who I read every day. I used to read a blog by a gal in Texas, who I've never met, named Rachel Lucas. She had a fantastic writing style and excellent commentary. Unfortunately, she's since closed up shop. But back in the day I'd check her site all the time. And she was the first person I ever saw who put a tip jar on her front page, along with blatantly saying "Here is my Amazon wishlist--send me stuff!". Imagine making money and not selling anything...
At first I was amazed at the audacity of it, but America is a great country, and if Paris Hilton can be famous for well, being famous, there's no reason that a gal like Rachel Lucas couldn't get free stuff just for being an entertaining writer.
So the seed was planted.
I thought it was very cool, but figured I couldn't pull it off. But after awhile I had enough people emailing me and suggesting I do the same thing. So the half-hour of my life it took me to set up the account and struggle with all of the html coding was a minor investment.
I didn't think anything would come of it, but in that first week I made about $250. Cha-Ching! Of course, there I was immediately thinking I'd make a thousand a month in perpetuity, but the truth is, after that, reality set in and things have pretty much dried up. Oh, I'll get a few bucks here and there, and if I mention that things are really tight, some generous soul will toss $25 in there, but for the most part, the tip jar just gathers dust now. Nobody has put anything in there in over two weeks.
Do I expect it? No, not at all. Do I appreciate it? Hell yeah! Do I check my Amazon account every day, just in case? Yes I do.
I'd be lying if I didn't think it was pretty cool that folks will donate to something like this. It's not like it's a charity--I'm not out saving stray animals or feeding starving kids in Africa. I'm just providing a little insight into life in Vegas with an odd story or two, sprinkled with an occasional opinion. Apparently, there is some value in that. It's a fun hobby, but it really is a lot of work, and nobody is more thrilled than I am when I get a little material reward here and there.
Do I wish I could make a steady income off of writing? You know I do. Do I have the discipline to do so? Probably not. Unlike some writers, the ideas don't come nearly as often as I like, and if I got myself a job as real writer, then it would become work in the official sense. I guess it comes down to expectations. If I were getting a steady income, I'd have to churn out a quality product on a steady basis. Maybe I'm just not confident enough in my ability to do that. So in the meantime, I do it just because I enjoy doing it, and am always thankful for any remuneration that comes my way.
My meager talents at writing, coupled with the fact that I live here in Vegas, has almost made me a de facto ambassador. I always have folks stopping by my table at the casino and saying hello, most of whom I've never met before. And I also get lots of invitations for free drinks and nice meals, the only cost to me being my time and a few stories. And more than a few folks have dropped off a gift of a cigar or two. If I calculated the value of all that I've gotten in the past few years as a direct result of my writing, I'm sure the number would run into the thousands of dollars. And with very few notable exceptions, everyone I've met has been great and the experiences have been a lot of fun. You can't put a price on that.
But the biggest reward so far has been all of the friends I've made. If it weren't for my writing, I would've never met Angy, Dougie, Dawn, Jer, Marty, Doc Al, Terry, Steve B, Sticky, Kelly & Dane, and the list goes on and on... I can't even imagine how dull life would be if I didn't know all of them.
So yeah, Diana, to respond to your comment, I guess I actually *do* work for my vices, no justification seems necessary. It's taken almost four years of hard work to get to the point where I can say Hey Lama, how about a little something, you know, for the effort... And it's true, when I don't write as often, the little extras don't show up. But when I'm cranking out the material regularly, the goodies usually start rolling in.
So hit the tip jar, will ya? My bottle of The Captain is running precipitously low...
Thanks!
Mikey
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