Sunday, March 8 through Saturday, March  14, 2015

Sunday, March 8 (Web design research)

This morning I watched a video on web design. Since completing my obligation to the Bureau of Prisons in August of 2013, I’ve become relatively more familiar with the Internet. The Internet didn’t exist when I began serving my sentence, so I had a lot to learn. I built the MichaelSantos.com website to document my journey. I recently build PrisonProfessor.com as a site to serve those who were going into the system. Now that I’m going to launch a podcast and webinar service through MichaelSantos.com, I need to complete a redesign. My research today gave me a much better idea of features that i would need to add. I’m interviewing web developers this coming week. My expectations are that launching this podcasting / webinar venture will require me to invest about $20,000. Yet I’m convinced it will help me reach hundreds of thousands of people. This step will lead to my reaching millions of people. It’s always one step at a time. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Monday, March 9 (Order podcasting equipment)

Today I invested about $1,000 to purchase the recording equipment for my podcast. I know that I will need to invest many hours to learn how to use the equipment, but I’m up for the challenge. I expect to receive the equipment on Monday. In the interim, I’m practicing with some of the equipment that I purchased when I concluded my prison term. It doesn’t sound as good as I would like, but the new equipment I’ve purchased is professional grade. The broadcast will be radio quality. But I won’t launch the podcast until I’ve recorded interviews with about 20 people. I’m committed to releasing a podcast every day, seven days each week once I start. I’ll need to become much more social, using Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook in more strategic ways. There is considerable work ahead to build a massive audience. Yet that massive audience will help me change the world. Always striving to be the change I want to see!

Tuesday, March 10 (Record sample)

I recorded a sample podcast and loaded the sample up to the libsyn hosting service. It’s very cool. If I chose, i could launch the iTunes version now. Yet I want a much more coordinated launch. Once I launch, I do not want to stop. Since I haven’t revised my website yet, I don’t want to start. Because the iTunes platform should expose me to many more people. I’ll be able to drive traffic to that site. The traffic should spread in a viral manner if I can produce compelling content. I will launch by introducing readers to my story, but episodes will also include many guests. Together, we’ll show people that regardless of what struggle a person has encountered in the past, strategies can lead to a more fulfilling existence.

Wednesday, March 11 (Meeting with web designer)

Today I began working with Zach, the designer who is going to rebuild MichaelSantos.com. I had a long phone conversation with Zach. I explained that one of my goals was to build an email audience, and he gave some insight on how I could do that. We concluded the call with a list of to-dos that i need to complete before Monday. On Monday I am blocking off the entire day. I will not take phone calls, I’ll work with the web designers the entire day. We anticipate going live with the new website by Tuesday. I will not lose any of the content that I’ve been accumulating since I concluded my obligation to the Bureau of Prisons. But the website will have a decidedly different look and feel.

Thursday, March 12 (Meet with client)

Another day of heavy writing. I have three clients. Each of them is facing a prison term. I’m working to help them craft mitigation strategies. These projects require that I interview the defendants extensively. While incarcerated, I developed this skills by writing books–first for myself and later for other prisoners. This work helps me pay the bills and provides resources that I use to build other projects. Right now I’m most passionate about building a broader platform with podcasting, but I must conclude these obligations that I’ve already begun. It’s my hope that the work we’re doing together will lead to lower sanctions for the people who retained me to help them write sentence-mitigation strategies.

Friday, March 13 (Brant Choat / Stanley Greenburg)

What a busy day. In the morning I worked on my podcasts. Then I had a lengthy phone call with Brant Choat, a leader from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. I knew Brant when he led educational programs for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Now that he is with the state prison system, I’m hoping to expand my relationship with him. It’s my hope that I’ll be able to introduce my new podcasts into every jail and prison in the nation. I need to find inspiring and interesting guests. I invited Brant to participate and he agreed. .

Saturday, March 14 (Jethro Jones)

This morning I completed a podcast with Jethro Jones, a principal at a junior high school in Alaska. Jethro is passionate about improving educational programs in schools across the country. He invited me to share my story with his listeners. I appreciated the opportunity, as it gave me more insight into how the podcasting system works. The equipment is quite complicated, but with help from kind people like Jethro, my learning curve is picking up. I’ve recorded several of my own podcasts already. Soon I’ll begin interviewing others. In fact, tomorrow I’ll interview Luis Congdon for a future episode that I’ll broadcast into prisons. I plan to launch this venture before the end of March. On Monday I’ll begin the rebuild of MichaelSantos.com

 

Miles for week: 30

Miles for month: 53.3

Miles run for year: 226.92

Weight: 165.5