Randy Smythe

The Complete Randy Smythe

I became a full-time blogger in Sept., 2006 with my first post about my eBay business failure: What is the E! True Hollywood Story About EBay's Former Top Seller Glacier Bay DVD? Since that time, I've learned a ton about blogging, online marketing, social networking and persistence.

I've spoken with several successful bloggers over the past year and each of them told me it may take up to 18 months before I make measurable income at this and a full 2 years before it becomes a living. In reality this is not much different then any other business. It takes, persistence, luck, confidence, ingenuity, creativity and a lot of hard work.

That original post has received over 12,000 visits in the past year and helped me launch my blogging career, though I wouldn't recommend crashing and burning in one business to promote a new one.

Today, my online content receives over 12,000 visits a month and is trending upwards, so I look forward to the next 6 - 12 months as I turn this into a real livelihood.

What a life! I spend my day in my underwear (sorry for that image), speculating about eBay's next move, bitching about their latest move, creating new content on a variety of subjects (like Jessica Alba). Life is good!

With all of this content though, there is a growing need to gather it into one place to serve as an index of sorts, that is really the reason for creating this Profile Lens (page, to all non-squidooers).

This profile is basically everything you wanted to know about me and I'm sure many things you didn't. This SquidWho page is what my MySpace page should have been: part bio, resume, index of content and a money maker.

I would recommend that each of you reading this profile consider creating your own SquidWho page. It doesn't matter what your line of work, or interests -- I'd like to get to know you.

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow rksmythe

powered by Twitter

My Favorite Band

Bad Company Rocks!

Here's a little tribute to my favorite rock band. At least the years when Paul Rodgers was lead singer.

Bad Company

While I grew up listening to late 60's rock and roll, I didn't own any albums until the early 70's and the first Album I purchased, with my own money, was the debut self-titled album called Bad Company from the great Blues Rock band from England. Sho...

Brand Yourself -- It's All About the Eyeballs!

Getting Exposure for your Content on the World Wide Web

If I learned anything from my days at Glacier Bay DVD (still the most recognizable brand on eBay), you need to have a lot of eyeballs see what you are offering, before you actually make any money.

The same idea works for exposure to your content. The more eyeballs that see your stuff, the more potential you have for making a living at this. That's why I frequently leave comments on blogs and in forums. As a blogger, I appreciate when readers leave comments on my posts and I regularly click back to their site to learn more about them.

I also use one public user ID (rksmythe) on all of my social network accounts for consistency and visibility. I also don't post anonymously on blogs and forums because after awhile people remember your name. Type in rksmythe or Randy Smythe in any search engine and you will see links to my content.

Believe me, if anybody is looking for me they can find me (on second thought, that might not be so good). A brief note of caution; don't use your public id as your private id for online banking and other personal accounts.

My readers come from all over the world but they don't all find me the same way. My Squidoo readers are not the same readers as my blog readers, though if I'm doing my job right there will be a lot of cross-over readership. You need to open up a spot on the web where the readers congregate and then write interesting, fun, insightful content and they will follow you to your other content.

Think of every social networking site on the web as a window to your content, its simple to create a profile and once you've done that you can move on. Regularly update the sites that bring you the most visitors.

My Favorite Movie of All-time

Where is my Light Saber?

It was released in the Spring of 1977 when I was senior in High School. I had been waiting to see it since I saw the trailer the previous Christmas. I stood in line for my first movie since Jaws.

I wouldn't consider myself a Star Wars Geek but the film sure did get me interesting in Film Making as a career. Check out my employment and educational history to see what impact this film had on my life.

Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (1977 & 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 07/25/2008)

My Social Network Profiles!

I'm a social butterfly!

I'm all over the web so please add me as a friend if you are on any of these sites.

My Myspace Profile: I gave in and opened up a MySpace page. Please stop by and say hi! I do check this profile once every couple of weeks so if you want I'll add you to my friends list.
My Blog Log Profile: MyBlogLog.com is a great community for experienced bloggers as well as those just getting started.
My Widget Box Profile: WidgetBox is where I create widgets for my various blogs. You can grab a widget of my blogs there.
My Digg.com Profile: If you are interested in what I read and find interesting check out my Diggs here. I digg a lot of stuff.
My Stumble Upon Profile: Please stop by and add me as a friend and we can Stumble through life together.
My Friendster Profile: Yeah, I'm over at Friendster also. Not much activity there though.
My Facebook Profile: You would think with all of these social profiles I might actually be able to get a date.
My Google Search: If you are looking for my content or news just Google me. This link is my "Randy Smythe" search on Google.
My LinkedIn Profile: This is my Linkedin Profile.
My HubPages Profile: I just can't get enough of this. I'm going to be plastered all over the Internet before too long.
My Twitter Profile: Now you can follow me on Twitter.
My Links on Google: Get links to all of my content on Google.

My Favorite Chick Flic

Yeah, I'm a romantic

I'm almost embarrassed to even mention that I like chick flics but here it is. I'm just a sensitive guy.

Somewhere in Time (Collector's Edition)

Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 07/25/2008)

My Blogs

I have a lot of opinions and I like to share them.

Here are a list of my blogs. I write mostly about eBay and the world of ecommerce but I do have other interests.

My Blog Utopia: My musings on the world of ecommerce, social networking and probably a lot of stuff about eBay.
The Seller Evangelist: Traveling from Webstore to Webstore and from Market to Market, Spreading the Good News of Online Selling.
The Digital Napkin: Many of the great ideas of the past had their beginning on a Paper Napkin. In honor of of that simple method for putting ideas in print I have launched the Digital Napkin a New Media platform for the ideas of tomorrow.
The Single Dad Blog: Musings about my 15 years as a Single Dad. Unfortunately this blog takes the most out of me emotionally so I don't update it very often.
My Associated Content: My articles on AssociatedContent.com
The eBay Squidoo Blog: News and information for eBayers on Squidoo

Mt Blog Utopia Feed

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Some of my non-eBay lenses

I do have other interests!

This list will grow because Squidoo is the best Social Networking/Content site on the web. Squidoo is the top referring site to many of my blogs.

How to Survive being a Single Dad

I've been mulling around the concept for a blog/lens on parenting, from the perspective of a single dad, for quiet awhile and in fact I did create a blog called The Single Dad where I post the information I have posted here. I've found that...

The StumbleUpon Gallery!

I've been stumbling around the Internet for years and have come across some great photos, video clips and travel desitinations. Since Squidoo offers me the tools to gather all of my stumbles in one place, I've created this lens as a gallery of my col...

What I Look For In A Lens! by a Squid Angel

First off, it is an honor to be one of the first Squid Angels on Squidoo and I take this responsibility very seriously. There are a great many lens makers here on Squidoo that are keen on improving their lenses; to increase traffic, lens rank and pos...

My Educational History

I figured I would give you my educational history starting with Kindergarten and ending with my BA Degree. At least I'm enjoying this stroll through memory lane.

Ford Elementary School - Kindergarten (Fullerton CA)
Ruby Drive Elementary School - 1st and 2nd Grade (Placentia, CA) Favorite Teacher - Ms. Lionello (Not sure of the spelling)
Golden Elementary School - 3rd Grade (Placentia, CA) Favorite Teacher - Ms. Sumner (I had a crush on her)
Brookhaven Elementary School - 4th - 5th Grade (Placentia, CA)
Hong Kong International School - 6th Grade - (Hong Kong, China) Favorite Teacher Mr. Rausch (Not a 100% sure on the spelling) We lived in Hong Kong for a year while my dad was on sabbatical from Cal State University, Fullerton
Tuffree Junior High - 7th and 8th Grade (Placentia, CA)
El Dorado High School - 9th through 12th grade (Placentia, CA) Favorite Teachers - Mr. Sonnenberg, Mr. Cardinale, Mr. Hepp. (My son is currently a Junior at El Dorado HS)
Sterling College 1977 - 1978 - (Sterling, Kansas) Favorite Teacher Diane Kling I didn't last long there as I was pretty clueless on what I wanted to do so I left to come back home and work. Favorite classes: Writing for Television and History of Film.
Fullerton College - 1979 - 1981 (Fullerton, CA) Graduated with Honors - AA Degree in Television Production
Southern California College (Vanguard University) 1984 - 1986 (Costa Mesa, CA) Graduated with Honors - BA in Television Production - Favorite Teacher Rick Hardy
UCLA Extension - Intermediate Screenwriting 2005 Los Angeles, CA

My Favorite Baseball Team is the Angels

The Hunt for Red October Begins Now!

My favorite baseball team is the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I grew up in Orange County and from as far back as I can remember, I've been an Angel fan. It took the Angels just over 40 years (almost my entire life) to win a World Series and now we are going strong with a great management team, strong minor league system, a great group of young players and of course established players like Vladdy, OC (Orlando Cabrera) and GA (Garret Anderson)

My Employment History

I've been self employed for most of my adult life but here are a few jobs

Since this is my lens, I've decided to include every job I've had from High School on.

Fazzare Jewelers - 1976 - 1977 - Delivery Boy (I was 17)
Part-time
Los Angeles Times Delivery - 1976 - 1977 - Got up at 4:00 AM - 7 days a week to deliver the news - Part-time
Environmental Control - Janitor Summer of 1977 - I actually enjoyed this job. I worked late at night cleaning Car Dealerships.
Sterling College - Janitor Athletic Department - 1978
Part-time while in College (Sterling Kansas) Left job/school. I was clueless about what I wanted to do and was just waisting my parents money.
Beckman Instruments - Fullerton, Ca 1979 - 1981
Shipping and Receiving Clerk - Job I took after leaving Sterling College and before going back to school for my AA degree.
Ramic Productions - Assistant Editor for a Motivational Film Producer - Newport Beach, CA 1981 - 1982 Left to take video producer job at Beckman Instruments.
Beckman Instruments - Fullerton, CA 1982 - 1984 - Video Producer for Training Department. Left to get BA.
Freelance TV Production - Southern California 1984 - 1988 - Emcompassed all aspects of Television production and post production including game show development - Worked for companies like Dick Clark Productions, Gaylord Entertainment, Gemini Productions, Westgate Entertainment and NBC
Movietime Hollywood, CA 1988 - 1989 - The company that became E! Entertainment. Manager Post Production, Scheduling and Video Library Managed 6 employees. Left to start my own production company.
Vanguard Entertainment - Video Production Company 1989 - 1990 (Owner)Specialized in Corporate Video for numerous clients like Home Savings, SCE, etc. Shutdown company because of inconsistent work and I needed a steady paycheck for my young family.
Morningstar Computers - 1990 - 1993 - Computer sales and service. Dove right in and began servicing the computer needs of over 40 clients in the Greater Los Angeles area.
Smythe & Associates (Owner) - 1993 - 1995 - I took over the top 20 clients of Morningstar and continued to sell and Service computers. Sold the company in 1995
True World Access - Vice President of Sales 1995 - 1997 - Sold website design and development services to small businesses. Left to form Quality Powder Coating International.
Quality Powder Coating International - Video producer, Web Portal Developer and Trainer for the Metal Finishing industry. 1997 - 2002 - Sold the business in 2002
Glacier Bay DVD - eBay's Top Seller of media products. 2002 - 2006 Shut the business down because of market changes and lack of potential growth. 3 very good years and 1 very bad year.
Blogger - Self Employed - 2006 to present. Today, I blog about ecommerce and anything else that strikes my fancy.
Squidoo.com - Community Manager, eBay Sellers on Squidoo Community. July 2007 to present. Volunteer position - I help eBay sellers get the most out of their Squidoo experience.

My Favorite Comedy!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

This is possibly the funniest movie of all time. It is my favorite comedy among many great comedies. Not everybody gets this kind of humor but check out my tribute to Monty Python

Monty Python

"Bring out your dead!" Monty Python and the Holy Grail will go down in my personal history, as my favorite comedy of all-time. I doubt very seriously if it will ever be topped, though Caddyshack is a close second. I can think of no other fi...

What I'm Reading Today!

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Create your Own Personal Lens

Come on, you know you want to.

Squidoo is a community of creative people who love to share their experiences. Why not create your own personal lens just like this one.

Create Your Own Personal SquidWho Lens: Why not create your own SqudidWho lens? After all, who knows more about you then, well you?
My Lensography: See what I've cooked up on Squidoo.
Tell Me More About Squidoo: Here's a snapshot on Squidoo.

More Personal Info to Come!

Get to know the real Randy Smythe

I'm still working on some personal stuff to add to the profile and maybe when I start dating again after my son graduates from High School this page will also include my dating stuff. Who knows!

Check back here when you get a chance to see what else I'm up to.

Where is Placentia?

Placentia means Delightful Situation.

I've lived in Placentia for most of my life and I often get asked where it is. Now, with Google Maps I can show you. Just use the navigation tools on the top left of the picture to zoom-in or zoom-out.

Powered by Google

Tell me what you think!

I would be very interested in hearing your opinions about this lens.

jprice

You out of any of the Angels or lensmasters here on Squidoo inspire me the most... Thanks!

Posted June 12, 2008

caseysellers02

Wow! You have done a great lens! Very inspiring and informative. I will see your other blogs as soon as I can. But this one is really superb! I was thinking of joining ebay before but was overwhelmed with fear that I might not play good with the other sellers there. Thank you for inspiring and awakening me. Let me share to you another lens effective organizational skills which I also find equally helpful as yours. They provide ideas and tips on career networking and organizational skills which are very much effective. You can check it out!

Posted April 07, 2008

the-secret

Hi,
Thank you for a very nice lens!
http://www.tameyourbrain.com

Posted April 02, 2008

Alex (1 of 9)

Hello Randy,
As your Zodiac: boar, same as me. Your age should be now 49 instead of 48. Well I do not know your exact DOB (which I am not trying to know) so 48 may not be wrong either. 2007 was year of Boar (12 x 4 = 48). Have a good Chinese new year!

Posted March 18, 2008

Alex

Yahoo and ebay merger, an excellent platform to compete with google and microsoft.
But why wait for the merger. Why not establish a company which has what yahoo and ebay can offer to the market? How big is that challenge?
Please comment.

Posted March 18, 2008

Some of My Featured SquidWho Lenses

Are you on SquidWho?

Before you call me a dirty old man for the Jessica Alba lens, I must let you know, that was an experiment in driving traffic ... and probably the most fun updating.

Jessica Alba

Just think of this lens as a tribute to a young beauty. Jessica is young, intelligent, funny, beautiful and wealthy and yet you never hear about her entering re-hab or getting busted for DUI. She is just coming into her own as an actress and is showi...

Troy Percival

Troy Percival is a true Angel, even though he's now playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the All-Time Saves leader for the Angels and #11 All-Time in Major League Baseball with 324 career saves. In 2007 Troy retires as an Angel and was ho...

Will Smith

Will Smith is one of my favorite actors. Other than Wild, Wild West, I think I've liked every film he's been in. I like stars that are talented, successful and good citizens and Will Smith fits that bill. I hope you like this Will Smith FanLens ...

Nolan Ryan

I grew up an Angel fan and Nolan Ryan was one of my favorite players. He was a no-nonsense ball player who could throw the ball 100 miles an hour. A Hall of Fame Great. Ryan was traded to the Angels in 1972 (I was 13 years old) along with pitcher Don...