Prison Consultant Shows Pattern of Success

Sunday, May 10 through Saturday, May 16, 2015

 

Sunday, May 10 (Mother’s Day)

I’m finally catching up with my work. That 12-day trip I took to New York, Washington, and Minnesota in late April took a lot out of me. In addition to many speaking events and meetings, had to keep my podcasts current. For the past week, I had a considerable amount of work to complete, as I also have clients that I must serve. In any event, I finished a lot of that work yesterday so I was able to complete administrative tasks today on time. That means publishing podcasts, writing show notes, recording new podcasts, completing weekly logs, and writing the newsletter. Then, I went to my grandma’s house to celebrate Mother’s day with my mom and grandmother. Wonderful treat.

 

Monday, May 11 (MasterMind)

I finished writing the final lesson for the MasterMind program. Each of the 10 modules that I wrote exceeds 2,000 words of content. Now I must layout all of the modules in a branded document. I will use Adobe’s InDesign document to prepare these modules for the market. Once I complete the layout, I will load into a variety of forms for people to download. Clients will be able to download the MasterMind program from my websites. They also will be able to purchase through Amazon. I intend to create an additional program that clients can use to access my time independently. Then I must launch a sales initiative so that my prospective clients can find the program. Much work ahead as I continue to build our the products and services that will help people emerge from prison successfully.

 

Tuesday, May 12 (Search Engine Optimization)

I’m making a $6,000 investment in search engine optimization (SEO). Now that I’ve finished writing and designing the 10-part prison consulting MasterMind course, I need to begin the marketing process. I create content in many different forms. For example, I publish videos on YouTube. I publish posts on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. I record daily podcasts. I write books. I write and publish all of this content because I want to improve outcomes of the nation’s criminal justice system and I want those who experience to return to society strong. Yet it isn’t enough for me to create all of this information. I also must invest the time, energy and resources to ensure that others find the work. Search Engine Optimization will be one part of this strategy. I’m hoping the investment will pay off. If someone is going to prison or if someone is looking for programs that will help people in prison prepare for success, I want their searches to lead them to MichaelSantos.com and PrisonProfessor.com.

 

Wednesday, May 13 (Foundation)

I received a visit today from my partner Justin Paperny. Justin is the Executive Director of a nonprofit foundation that distributes my work. The nonprofit provides services to jails, prisons, schools, and community based organizations. We had a meeting on strategies that we could pursue to expand the scope of work. The foundation has resulted in training for many formerly incarcerated individuals. We teach strategies to develop critical thinking skills, so the individuals will be better positioned to transition into the employment market. Today we discussed using the Earning Freedom podcast as a resource for both creating more jobs and as a tool that contributes to public policy change.

 

Thursday, May 14 (Real Estate)

Carole and I made a decision to rescind an offer we had made on a new home in Irvine. Irvine is a beautiful Southern California community. We currently live in one of the many planned developments here. We appreciate the cleanliness, the landscaping, and the tranquility of the environment. The home we were going to purchase was in the “Great Park” community. But in the end, we realized that a better decision for us would be to purchase another investment property–one that we can rent to tenants. We own one investment property in the San Francisco Bay area. The price appreciation has advanced our preparations for retirement. By replicating that strategy, we feel that we’ll be able to position ourselves better for our golden years. Now we must answer the question of which community will serve us best.

 

Friday, May 15 (Author Page)

I spent a considerable amount of time building out my author page on Amazon.com. I should’ve completed this task long ago. The author page allows me to provide information about my journey and describe the backstory on all of the books that I write. I need my audience to know everything about my journey. It’s part of my commitment to transparency. I always want readers to know who I am and why I do the work that I’m doing. That transparency should provide more insight and give them a level of comfort in my authenticity. I’ve been on this journey of reconciliation since 1987. By sharing everything, I hope to inspire others to see that they, too, can become more than past bad decisions.

 

Saturday, May 16 (Computer Troubles)

My computer is giving me too many troubles. I’ve sent it out for repair once, but I still get the same problem. I think that I’m going to have to invest more resources in computer equipment. I currently use the iMac and the MacBook Pro. They’re the same computers that I purchased in August of 2012, when I transitioned from prison to the halfway house. So they’ve lasted almost three years. I’ve been told that they should last for much longer. But I spend several hours on the computer every day, and I use some robust programs like Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Audition. Now that I’m loading the daily podcasts, it’s possible that I’m clouding up the memory. Truthfully, I’m not technologically savvy enough to know precisely what steps I should take to master these computers. Since they’re integral to the work that I complete every day, however, I may need to invest more money in computers. I sent my iMac out today for a second time. If it doesn’t get fixed this time, I’ll purchase a new machine. I just can’t afford the downtime.

Libsyn downloads as of 5:00 pm, Saturday, March 28: 1,283

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 4: 2,564

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 11: 4,292

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 18: 6,292

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 25: 8,164

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, May 2: 9,450

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, May 10: 10,900

Libsyn downloads as of 7:00 pm, Saturday, May 16: 10,900

 

Miles for week: 25.23

Miles for month: 41.23

Miles run for year: 329.32

Weight: 168