I’m going Full-Time.
Words cannot describe the excitement I’m feeling right now. I started Symbian-Guru.com back in November of 2006, going official on Thanksgiving Day (25th). I have been an active participant of HowardForums.com for over 3 years, and have always been one to get the latest and greatest Nokia device. Starting this site was a big step and has been the ultimate growing experience for me.
You may also know that I work at Time Warner Cable in the Media Sales department selling cable advertising to area businesses, helping them reach the consumers that truly matter. I’ve worked here for nearly 2 years, and loved the people with whom I worked. Back in January, I was promoted to Account Executive and was able to change offices to one closer to home.
However, as things have progressed in both Symbian-Guru.com and Time Warner, it became very apparent that one was in line with my passions and the other simply was not, so I have turned in my notice of resignation to Time Warner Cable and will be attacking the mobile and web industries head-on. At this point, I do not have an official position that I will be assuming, though I do have a few leads.
Thus, effective next week I will be blogging mostly full-time. I have built Symbian-Guru.com into my personal brand (most of you know me as Symbian-Guru first, and Ricky Cadden second) and will be continuing. I have also had the extreme honor of guest-blogging at AllAboutSymbian with Rafe and the gang over there for about a month, and will continue that, as well.
I am currently looking into positions that will allow me to work directly with mobiles and the web2.0 industry, so if you have any leads, I’m very interested. In the meantime, though, I do have some really exciting things that I’m working on as part of Symbian-Guru.com:
1. As you know, Driving with the Guru has been improving, and will only get better. I am also going to make it a bi-weekly thing, with new episodes coming up every other Thursday. (note this day could change potentially)
2. I’ll also be starting a new audio podcast called Chatting with the Guru. This will air on the weeks that Driving with the Guru does not, so that every week you will have something new to watch or listen to. The format will be me hosting a guest (and I’ve got some great ones lined up) and just, well, chatting. It’s not an interview, but will be us conversing about different mobile-related topics, not just S60/Symbian/Nokia. I’m really excited about launching this!
3. I’ve been pondering a switch to Wordpress for a long time and think that I may go ahead and do so. There are several reasons for this, but I promise I will make it as seamless for you, the reader, as possible. I’m hoping it will make the site overall easier to navigate and use.
4. As I’ll have more time on my hands, look for ALOT more how-to videos, walkthroughs, and the like.
5. I also have 3-4 BIG projects that I have been wanting to do for a long time now and will finally have the opportunity to work on. I will announce these in the near future, but I’m extremely excited about them and think you will be, as well.
So that’s it! As I said before, I’m extremely excited about this, and hope that you will be involved in helping Symbian-Guru.com grow to be a great resource and part of the S60 community. As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email at guru(at)symbian-guru(dot)com.
Great news to hear.
So how are you going to fund your self financially?
Best of luck.
Darren.
Best of luck, welcome to the club man!
Congratulations Ricky. I’m very happy for you. Anyways, that’s great news, I look forward to having more Symbian-Guru content in my RSS.
Jeb
Good luck Guru! Love your work, hope all goes well.
Congratulations Mr Cadden. Next time we meet, I’ll get in some celebration Tiger.
Freakin’ awesome bro… I’m assuming you’ll be harrassing me on IM that much more often now?
At any rate, I’m envious of the freedom, and hope that the funds follow!
(And maybe when they do you’ll start paying your humble sometimes-co-author LOL!)
-olly
Haha, @Olly, dude if I paid you per post, *I* would still be a rich man, HAHAHA.
HAHAHA, so true my friend, so true!
-olly
Hey, congrats on the move to SG being a full-time gig. Best of blessings on your career change.
Many congrats
Congrats Ricky!!
That means more Nokia leaked News..
one word… wow.
Great news, congrats!
I didn’t realize I had a Symbian celebrity answering my questions about Handy Taskman on HoFo…
hurm, a good step. but what is your source of money? hehe..sorry for my bad english.
Well well, this is a nice surprise . . . but then I guess of all the Nokia bloggers out there (and there seems to be loads these days!), you were always the most passionate about the platform. You seem to be everywhere these days, I’m half expecting to see your face on the BBC News!!
I’m extremely pleased for you! I wish you well in your endeavours, you’re provided literally days of entertainment over the last few months - Symbian-Guru is certainly one of my most frequently visited sites, I’m looking forward to seeing just what you’re capable of now that you’ve gone full time!
All the best, James.
Hi Ricky,
all my best wishes. I respect your brave decision and hope, it turns out good for you.
Regards,
Corwin
congrats ricky
//Phat^trance
Why don’t you apply for the “Russell” position, as the designated blogger of MOSH? http://www.nokia.com/A4126298
Ricky just follow your heart. If you can dedicate 100% of your time to do this, that is what you love, than I really hope only good things come.
I wish you the best of lucks and will keep visiting you here knowing that this will be now better than ever!
Good luck!
Alexandr3
Wow! Congratulations! Making enough from blog advertising to support yourself is a feat you should write about in and of itself.
I highly recommend switching to WordPress, or better yet Drupal to build a “Symbian Guru” community.
Suggestions: More user interactivity. A store to sell T-shirts ( yes I would pay $20 for a shirt with the logo ). Webcasting live “Symbian Guru” shows ( Stickam and UStream are free to use ). Local events, underwritten by companies and service providers - bring back the old days of user group beer bashes.
Congrats again.
Thanks so much everyone for the massive support. To be honest, Todd, I’m not making anywhere near enough to support myself with this site. The main thing behind this is that I know that this is where my passions lie. Not only with Symbian-Guru, but in the mobile industry and Nokia/S60 specifically. Thus, the more time I spend selling cable, the more I’m ignoring my passions, and I’m just not happy.
I love the ideas. I’ve actually been pondering T-shirt ideas for a little while, now, and will have those available soon.
There will be a big influx of media, both audio and video. User involvement is a key, as well, and I’m glad you mentioned it. I absolutely abhor the way that most blogs (mine included) handle hold content. I want to explore ways to let the reader more easily sift through older posts. Not so much the news ones, but the walk-throughs and howtos and reviews I think should be more easily accessible.
Thanks again, everyone for reading, and stay tuned. Posting might be a bit light over the next week as I’m closing up shop at work, but then I’ll be hitting it full-throttle.
-Symbian-Guru
Rick… great decision, I KNOW everything will be a hit
All the best Ricky!
So brave to go with your passion.
One of the lucky few. Congratulations.
Back to my job that I love one day and hate another.
hope i’m not too late yet hehe .. congratulations ricky!!
great decision, keep up the fantastic work! Michael
Congrats Ricky !! A bold move got sure. Good Luck !
congrats! I support you 100% in your new journey.