Monetization is an ugly word. It is also a necessary word.
You monetize your skills and knowledge, and that's your job. With your paycheck you can buy food, clothes, and PlayStations. That allows you to live comfortably. So the math goes like this:
Skills + Knowledge = Money = Food + Clothes + PlayStations 
We have all been conditioned to believe that Money is the limiting factor in this equation. But how is that possible? Money is alone on the board. It's just an exchange medium. However, this is what 99% of the world believes.
That's where deals come into play.  People like to feel that they have gotten a better value for what they have paid. It does not matter if this is true or not. All that matters if that the recipient feels that they have gotten the "better end" of the deal.
This is how Donald Trump has made all his money. In his book, "The Art of the Deal", he gives eleven rules/guidelines for creating deals:

1. "Think Big" - If your deal or idea doesn't scare you, it's too small.
2. "Protect the Downside and the Upside will take care of itself." - Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
3. "Maximize Your Options" - Be flexible in your plans. Build in redundancy. Have a Plan B (and C, D, E, F...)
4. "Know Your Market" - get into the minds of the people you are trying to attract. If you know what they want, all you have to do is make them think you can provide it.
5. "Use Your Leverage" - if you have done your homework, then you know that you have what the other party wants. Always negotiate from that position of strength. If you have done your homework, and you do not have what they want, but maybe you have something close, that's where sales skills come in handy. Engage the other person's imagination and allow them to feel that doing this deal with you is in their best interest.
6. "Enhance Your Location" - quoted from the book, "Just as you can create leverage, you can enhance a location, through promotion and psychology." For an example of this, just watch the South Park episode, "The City Part of Town".
7. "Get the Word Out" - the news loves a good story, but even better is an sensational story. Create a situation where people can feel engaged; that they are living vicariously through you, but without putting themselves, their reputation, or their assets at risk.
8. "Fight Back" - self-explanatory. If someone is trying to stop you, just for the sake of stopping you, fight back. If someone is trying to stop you but they have good reason, maybe hear them out.
9. "Deliver the Goods" - again, quoted from the book, "You can't con people, at least not for long." Eventually you will have to deliver on what you have promised.
10. "Contain the Costs" - Spend what you need, but not more then you should*.
11. "Have Fun" - According to Donald Trump, money is just a way to "keep score", the excitement that comes from creating deals and watching projects come to fruition is what's worth it.

None of these are bad ideas for doing business. Issues arise when you don't follow through. As someone who grew up outside Atlantic City and personally saw Trump break some of his own rules when dealing with the Trump Taj Mahal casino; I have a general distaste for the man. Nevertheless, he is the President. Which brings me to why I've update my website, my blog, and talked at length about business deals.

If you navigated to this blog through my main site, then you've noticed I've added a new section: Current Focus. 
I have signed up for an Amazon Associate account, which means that if you click or buy any of the products that I "sponsor" I get a few cents thrown my way, and you don't pay more then they already low Amazon price. What a deal!

Each month I'm going to sponsor a few products that focus on a central theme. This month's theme is President Trump. All the books I sponsored** I can guarantee that Donald Trump has not read, but all the billionaires in his cabinet have. These are books that I truly believe will be relevant to your personal success during the Donald Trump Administration. The Art of War by Sun Zhu is one that I come back to constantly because it reiterates the importance of knowing your opponent, and placing yourself if the best position to benefit from or defeat them.

Monetization is an ugly word, and a necessary one. I am monetizing my knowledge in the hope that you, the reader, feel my information, advice, and opinion is worth checking out my recommendations. As always, I am here to discuss, converse, and answer any questions to the best of my ability. Here's to personal success in the next four years, despite anyone trying to keep you down.

Yours,
​Stephanie

* There are a few stories that popped up during the campaign time pointing to questionable business practices on Donald Trump's end. My brother (owner of the Black Hat Bakery in Portland, OR) has a personal connection to one of the independent contractors who got "stiffed" and can verify that the accounts are correct.

**You might be wondering why I didn't list Trump's Art of the Deal on my list. The short answer? I don't feel like giving a billionaire more money when the meat and potatoes of the book has already been written out, and said billionaire wants to do away with my beloved CPB, NPR, and NEA. Please feel free to borrow it from your local library.

Today is the last day of the President Obama Administration. Tomorrow Donald Trump takes an oath to serve our country to the best of his ability. I hope, with every fiber of my being, that every impression I have of him, from his business acumen in my hometown of Atlantic City to everything I've seen and read from all over the media spectrum during this election, is misconstrued. Because regardless of who I voted for, tomorrow he will become my president.

This is the cornerstone of democracy. What we don't like, we have the capacity to change. 

What are the roadblocks we will face? The same roadblocks:

• Media bias and the easy ability to live in your curated newsfeed, seeing only what you want to see.
• Slacktivism- the idea that changing your profile picture or posting a picture is the same as donating to a cause, whether it's time, money, or resources. Not backing up your "thoughts and prayers" with actions.
• "It's not my problem." I don't know anyone who lives in Flint or Ferguson. My connection to the Native American nations at Standing Rock stopped at my grandmother. Yet, these are all real threats and horrors that our modern society has managed to gloss over.

If I am going to do my yearly call to action (because I haven't blogged since last year), let it be this: Let your actions speak for you. Give yourself over to a cause you care about: Human Rights, Planned Parenthood, the Growing Skills Gap, Animal Rights, the list goes on.

Pop your bubble and live your life differently. That's how change happens.