This is what I consider to be the first real post I’ve written for this site. I’ve already written three posts but they were really just to set the scene.
In the first one I laid out what this project is about and how it works. In the next two I explained something of my own situation so that you could get an idea of what this project means to me. I wanted to convey the idea that it’s important to me personally, and also that I’m passionate about it.
I want this to be an active site in terms of both content and the community within the comments. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts in the comments and I’ll try my best to get back to you with either a reply or in a post.
I want to share more about my personal circumstances and I want to address some of the questions that you may have, so it would be great to get a conversation going.
I also want to get straight into the Mona Lisa Million and make it a live and happening thing.
I haven’t started the auctions yet but I will do soon enough. Before I even get there though I wanted to point out that there are already four sites residing on the Mona Lisa Million image.
The people behind these sites are people I ‘met’ right at the start of my time online. These are people I like and trust. They’re people that you could easily come to like and trust, or perhaps you already do? And if you do then please shout up about them in the comments.
They were all instrumental in helping me find my blogging feet and kindly souls that they are, they still help me even to this day.
They didn’t ask to be linked from the image and I didn’t offer. I just did it.
It is perhaps only a small token of my appreciation for what they’ve done for me, but I felt it was important to recognise it in some way.
Each of them has found success with their online endeavours and businesses. They are respected and trusted and thoroughly good people.
Check out their sites by clicking on appropriate section of the image. Or look below the image and click on their banners and links.
The Mona Lisa Million
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I will of course offer my four friends the opportunity to supply their own text and in-context links but I wanted to get my intro in first.
Sticky Fingers – Tara Cain is a fabulous British mother of two who runs her own successful media consultancy business from home. I first got to know Tara through her blog when I’d just started out as a stay at home dad. I enjoyed her take on parenting and life in general and the first time I commented on her blog I was immediately made to feel welcome. Tara has a fantastic sense of humour and somehow manages to find time to comment on a thousand blogs every day.
Tara paints a great picture of family life in her writing and often takes a great picture of family life with her camera. Why not drop in to Sticky Fingers and say hello to my favourite British Mum Blogger! She’s been a great friend to me and I’m sure you’ll love her too.
How to be Rich and Happy is a site run by a guy called Tim Brownson. He’s another Brit but lives and works in Florida. First and foremost Tim is a well established and well respected life coach, but he’s also a published author. His current book, which funnily enough is called “How to be Rich and Happy”, explores ways in which people can tap into their potential and lead the lives they want to lead based around their true values.
I’ve read the book and have benefited from it a great deal. I have no hesitation in recommending it. But what really caught my attention with this book is that Tim and his co-author John Strelecky are also running a project which is also ambitious and which is also aimed at raising 1 million dollars.
I’m going to help Tim and John by donating 5% of the after tax and fees proceeds from the Mona Lisa Million project. Please drop in and see if you could help Tim with his one million book giveaway.
Collective Inkwell - There are two guys behind this endeavour but it’s the artistic lead I wanted to mention here. David Wright is a very talented cartoonist and writer whose work has been published in hard-copy and syndicated in the news-media.
But with David it’s not only the writing and cartooning – he’s also a gifted website designer with a particular flair for customizing the Thesis Theme, as you’ll see if you take a moment to look through his portfolio on the site.
David is the co-author of the genre bending horror suspense novel “Available Darkness” and as a natural extension of that work, he and his partner currently offer other writers help with writing, promoting and publishing their books.
Setting business aside, the man also known to many as BloggerDad is great fun to hang around with. He’s incredibly funny, incredibly helpful and he’s a family man through and through.
PottyTrainingPower is a site owned and developed by Sean Platt. When I first encountered Sean I knew him only as WriterDad through his website of the same name. I was captivated by his writing style and the way he relished family life. I’ve followed him ever since and I’ve enjoyed watching him build a successful online career.
Potty Training Power is a family business run by Sean and his wife Cindy to offer parents a proven system of potty training children.
Sean and Cindy have children of their own and for a number of years ran a pre-school, so they’re very experienced. If you need help with potty training go and have a look at what they offer. It’s a great service from great people!
Want to shout about your site here? Well stick around. I’m going to start by offering some free sections of the Mona Lisa to readers. I’ll publish details in another post and later in the week I’ll get the auctions underway.
So please go ahead and leave a comment just to say hello, or to say you know me or one of the fab four already in residence on the Mona. Feel free to ask questions or berate me for daring to desecrate such a magnificent work of art!
Thanks for reading
Dave.
Photo: RP72
