Make Life Great

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Learning Models (LLMs) are the rage. Some think they are the best thing since sliced bread. That they will replace people in many jobs. Others think that they are a toy. The new fad. That they are completely overhyped.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I see them as a powerful aid. They will make us more productive. My son told me that he is “100% more efficient developing code with the help of a LLM.”

I don’t write much code, but when I do, they have been super helpful. I use them daily in place of and in addition to search. I find them more effective in getting answers to my questions. I use them to aid in my understanding of so many topics.

I believe in AI and LLMs so much that I wrote several articles on Develop Great Managers (developgreatmanagers.com) to help managers understand how they and their teams can use it in their day-to-day work.

In addition to writing articles and using it daily, I have run some experiments and developed solutions (with the help of my son). Through this process, we identified product opportunities. The first is in the content creator space. It is focused on helping content creators better leverage their back catalog using AI. We will call this product Distill-AI.

The second product, and the first that we will ship, is focused on making it easy to create a virtual server in the cloud. It allows the developer to understand and control their spending. It is called My Dev Server.

We hope that you enjoy these products.

It has been a long time since I have made a blog post, so this one will encompass changes that have taken place over the last few years.

Develop Great Managers

This continues to be a flagship for Make Life Great. We continue to see a good number of visitors leveraging our content.

We have recently generated new posts related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Learning Models (LLMs), targeted at managers. This is a fast-moving area where we think we can make a difference.

We have also embarked on a project to take advantage of our strong back catalog. This project will leverage AI to provide insights for managers. Stay tuned!

Consulting

As an offshoot of Develop Great Managers, we created a consulting business.

The business has been very successful, helping companies in real estate, technology, and printing – with people, structure, and process challenges.

We plan to continue each year with between three and five businesses. This allows for a hands-on approach with each, allowing for time to do what is needed to drive success for our clients.

New Projects

As you will read, we have shut down some of our projects. There were good reasons for each. With this “extra” time, we are working on some new projects. Take a look under the Future Projects link for more details!

Kitten Cozy

The business of creating Kitten Cozies was a good one. We helped a large number of people to better raise young kittens. We sold out of our stock and have closed down the business.

Ferrario Fitness

The Ferrario Fitness business was created during COVID as a way to train virtually. This was a good business that helped clients to stay active and healthy during a challenging time. As COVID ramped down, we closed the business.

The Serious Hiker

We have shut down the website. The content had aged and there was not interest to keep it fresh.

We all are looking forward to 2021. Time to put behind us one of the most challenging years ever. With COVID-19, the California forest fires, and the election – it will be a year we will never forget.

Before moving forward, there were some amazing accomplishments. FerrarioFitness is up and running, with a number of remote clients. Develop Great Managers has released more than 80 podcasts and growing its importance to managers across the world. DMG Consulting has completed more than 20 engagements. And FerrarioFitness is working on its first-ever exercise product.

Now on to 2021. Make Life Great will have have three primary focuses.

1. Continue to develop FerrarioFitness. Expand the number of remote customers and introduce the first exercise product.
2. Deliver what managers need to be successful in this ever-changing world with Develop Great Managers.
3. Ramp up work on The Serious Hiker. Make it a destination site for hikers across the US.

Thank you for your continued support!

There has been a lot of progress with Make Life Great. The biggest three are:

• We introduced a companion podcast to the developgreatmanagers.com website!
• We have added consulting to the business with DGM Consulting.
• And we have just launched virtual personal training with Ferrario Fitness.

Develop Great Managers Podcast

The Develop Great Managers podcast is a companion to the website. It is a great resource to learn from the experts. Each week a new podcast is posted. Podcasts are made up of interviews and topics. They are available on the developgreatmanagers.com website and everywhere you get your podcasts!

Ferrario Fitness – Virtual Personal Training

You can get the a great training experience remotely, using the equipment that you have. That is because Nick Ferrario has learned how to provide a great training experience, helping you to achieve your goals, wherever you are. All you need is a cell phone, iPad, or Laptop.

DGM Consulting

We have taken the experience that we have gained through the Develop Great Managers website and podcast, and turned it into a consulting business.

There are three primary focuses of DGM Consulting. They are related to cloud infrastructure, cloud-native applications and advanced customer support technologies.

Welcome to Make Life Great. We are very happy to be up and running!

Our focus is to make your life great, focusing on both work and home life.

The biggest thing that we have done is created a website called developgreatmanagers.com. The site is a way for managers to learn from the experts. Check it out!

We plan to follow this with a podcast made up of interviews by great managers. The podcast will be in two parts. The first focuses on key questions that managers are interested in. The second covers the career path or journey that these great managers have taken to get where they are today. The goal is to launch the podcast before the end of 2018.

We have also created a website for hikers. The site is called theserioushiker.com and has examples of hikes, including some that I believe are Epic. Take a look!

Next on the list are some mobile applications and products that are intended to make your outside experience better. Think about a hiking application for the less serious hiker. Or maybe a way to make it more fun to boulder and toprope climb outside. Or even some way to make it easier to handle all of your electronics while hiking or biking. Some fun projects are in the works and should be available late in 2018 and into 2019.

That is it for now. Please keep an eye on this site for updates…