gainfully unemployed

The ultimate small business is a website run out of your home. Think about it. No brick and mortar (aka additional rent for an office). You can teach yourself how to build a website or hire someone to build one for you relatively cheaply.

Websites are the ultimate small business. You have minimal overhead other than computer and web hosting costs, advertising, education expenses, and whatever you put into your product or content.

Another amazing thing about running an online business is you can run it from your apartment, your cubicle, or a beach in Jamaica (as long as there’s wifi).

The sheer scalability of a website is an exciting thing too. Anyone anywhere (well, perhaps not those in China) can visit your online storefront and make a purchase or learn more about your service or whatever it is you have to offer.

If you are interested in starting a small business in whatever field and you haven’t started a website yet, I would recommend that you look into it.  Your competitors are.

I wanted to share with everyone my experiences with hiring writers. I write the bulk of my own material, because I’m a writer and I enjoy it. But there are a lot of people out there who do not like to write at all. There are many people, in fact, who hate writing.

But if you have an online business or a website, searchable written content is necessary.  Words are the lifeblood of internet commerce.

Well, there’s good news for you. There are a lot of people willing and eager to write for you. They’re just waiting for you to drop them an email telling them what you need.

Well, that sounds a little easier than it actually is.

You’re probably wondering how you know who is a legitimate writer and how you can make sure you don’t get ripped off or get duplicate content.

I have tried to find writers in three places: freelanceswitch.com, Digital Point Forum, and Craigslist.

First point of advice. Don’t use Craigslist. It’s a hassle. There’s too much to sift through if you put a post there and hope for a good writer to respond. CL may not be a bad website, but there are better places to go to find internet copywriters and content writers.

Digital Point Forum is one of these places. You can find people who charge fair rates and do good work. But you don’t have to take their word for it. Everyone who participates on the site, by either writing content or paying for content, gets rated on a system called iTrader.

You can read reviews of writers from the people who have worked with them. Needless to say, you notice patterns. Furthermore, Digital Point is very strict and kicks out spammers and other dubious people very efficiently. I have had great success working with several writers I found on this site.

FreelanceSwitch is a website all about the freelance lifestyle. It is a resource for professional freelance writers, web designers, graphic designers, and copywriters. There is a job board at the site where you can post a job notice. You don’t have to pay for this, you just have to sign up for an account, which is very simple.

The writers looking for jobs pay $7 a month to have access to the job board, so there is a reverse situation here than on Craigslist. These writers are serious enough about finding freelance writing jobs that they pay for the opportunity to find them. This means you may be able to find higher-quality or more professional writers.

Beware, if you put up a post on this job board you will get some resumes sent to you. This was a new thing for me when I started. People from FreelanceSwitch may expect higher rates of pay than writers on Digital Point, but this isn’t always the case.

Another place to look is Elance, where writers, programmers, and graphic artists set up accounts and bid on projects.  I have very little experience with this website, but I plan to explore it a little more and work with a few writers from the site.  I have heard good things about this community, which also has ratings and ranking systems for its members.  I’ll let you know about my experience with this site.

I hope this helps those of you looking for good quality written content for your websites, blogs, or online business.

I was in Borders recently (which is not the surprising because I spend at least 10 hours or so a week in bookstores) enjoying a hot cup of coffee in the early morning (who am I kidding, it was already ten).

I walked into the bathroom and on my way saw a huge sign for the Borders Visa credit card you can sign up for. The way this probably works is Borders gets a commission fee from Visa for every card they sign up. There may also be some back-end profit sharing from each account they are responsible for–in other words a percentage of the person’s debt.

They may even have their own financing company like many car dealerships have. But this arrangement is more of a profit sharing venture with a bank, than it is their own company.

Then I picked up a book and a magazine and looked for one of the black leather chairs that were constantly being rearranged. Now they were over by the DVD section against one of the walls of the store. I sat and read for a while. I was so startled by the loud and confident sounding voice of Oprah Winfrey from the TV set that jutted out of the wall a few feet above my head that I almost spilled my coffee.

Oprah was talking to a celebrated author about his latest book. The next segment on the tv was a short excerpt from a new documentary about The Rolling Stones. The next was a short piece about a new cookbook.

I was just trying to read and drink my coffee, only to be blindsided by this–advertising!

In-store advertising. I had been wondering how money was made in books. It seems like the actual sale of the book doesn’t make anyone rich–especially not the author. Unless, of course, Oprah gets on board.

Borders isn’t a bookstore. They’re a website. The credit card is their affiliate marketing link. The tv advertising is the ads in their sidebar. And their shelf space (that they sell to publishers) is where they make their profit.

Borders is thinking in terms of multiple revenue streams, which is necessary these days, and is similar to a website that receives a lot of traffic and sells CPM (cost per thousand impression) advertisements.  The real job is to get people into the stores looking at products.

It’s like a newspaper.  The New York Times doesn’t make money from the paltry $1.25 it sells each paper for, it makes money from the full page ad Tiffany takes out hawking their newest silver bracelet.  It’s all about providing an audience.

So next time you feel guilty about thumbing through several magazines that you don’t plan on purchasing as you sip on your coffee, remember that you are doing exactly what Borders Books wants you to do.  So my advice is just enjoy it–that is, if you can find somewhere to sit.

One of the reasons online business appeals to me and thousands of other people across the world is that it gives you the opportunity to earn income from anywhere in the world.

I have this image in my head of a guy sitting on a beach in Jamaica (I don’t know why it’s Jamaica, but for some reason it always is) on a chaise lounge with a Corona and a wifi-connected laptop.

He’s just taken a dip in the cool crystal blue sea and is now sunning himself as he checks his ample Google Adsense earnings or affiliate commissions for the day.

It’s a dream of many people to become a part of this burgeoning “mobile workforce.”  Whether you start an ecommerce site, a blog, a forum or community, it is fairly easy to do so.

You don’t need to know how to code.  You don’t need to know much about SEO (although it helps).  You don’t even need to know how to write well.  Every day it seems like a company starts up based on helping people create small businesses, manage inventory, or market products or services online.

Most people probably won’t end up conducting the bulk of their business from a beach in Negril, Jamaica, like my example above, but what’s stopping you from trying.  In the process you may find yourself getting an extra check or two each month.

That’s called disposable income.  And last time I checked, that’s a really nice thing to have.

The internet and internet business is only in its infancy, but one thing that I have begun to realize over the past couple years is that there has never been a better time for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

The internet has truly created the opportunity for a democratization of business and commerce that is unrivaled in history. You may call these lofty words, and I would probably agree with you.

But the truth is that setting up a small business has never been easier. The internet gives you the ability to speak to the tiniest sliver of a niche in pointed terms. If you wanted to find where a certain group of people hang out online or what websites or forums interest certain people, a day spent researching on Google, MySpace, Ning, and Delicious will give you all the info you need.

And if you’re someone who has a product or service that interests these people, it is easy for you to speak directly to them. It is also becoming easier to root out spammers and lying marketers because the dialog is so much more direct and clear between seller and buyer. This creates a nice situation for people with quality written content or services and products that actually have value for people.

It is really amazing how much the incredibly high speed transfer of information is changing the world more and more every single day. It is hard to tell what the future holds for the internet–I have trouble imagining what the net will look like in ten years–but if everything goes ideally, great ideas will always reign supreme.

The beauty of internet business is that it is possible to earn money every hour of every single day. You can literally earn money while you sleep. Picture it. Your head is on your pillow while you lie in your comfortable bed. At the same time, your website is working for you.

If you run a blog, website, or an online business, every single article you publish is out there working for you every hour of every day. They’re like little salesmen making cyber house calls. Actually, it’s the other way around. People are actively looking for content and information, so your pages are more like employees waiting for visitors they can assist.

If you are successful with a few websites, you may begin to earn a decent hourly wage. How does $8.00 an hour sound? It doesn’t sound like much when thinking about the traditional 8 hour day.

But multiply it by 24.

Online business (much like any other business) is really about give and take.

There is your “give,” which is what you bring to the table: your content, entertainment, or useful information. Then there’s the “take,” which is what you get out of this social transaction.

Here are some typical “gives”:

Information. Most people online are looking for information. Either it’s directions to a restaurant, a movie review, or an article about anything. Good websites provide useful information of some sort.

Entertainment. Another thing people search for online is entertainment. Whether it’s a viral video website or a website with the latest gossip, people actively look for this content. Many websites are based around these themes.

Free Stuff. Many companies, individuals, or websites give away a free product in order to establish a relationship or to get visitors to “opt in” to their email list. The free gift can be an ebook, an informative newsletter, or coupons.

Here are some of the typical “takes”:

Community. Some people just want new readers to become regular visitors to their sites and make friends with like-minded people or those with similar interests, talents, or ideas.

Business. Many websites are set up just to get ad clicks or impressions, or ultimately to convince visitors to buy a product or service.

Profile. Some people want to raise their profile in a certain industry, or distinguish themselves from others in a particular market–in other words, they want to create a brand.

For online article marketers, the give is the informative article they write. Maybe it’s a review of several similar products or it could be a short tutorial on how to start your own website. The take is the link to their website in the signature box at the end of the article.

For someone with a freelance writing website, the give can be informative articles about how to look for writing work, how to write SEO articles, or an ebook about successful strategies for writing for the web. The take would be a link to their writing services.

For someone who owns a video entertainment site, the give is obviously the entertainment. The take typically is advertiser revenue or some kind of membership cost. Internet marketers use the awkward phrase “monetizing traffic”, which basically just means that people who come to a site are subjected to advertisements

You always hear people say, “Content is King.” This is no more true anywhere than online, where search engines operate mostly from “reading” written text.

The better your content–your give–the more successful you will be, that is, the more opportunity you will have to receive something in return.

An entrepreneur is someone who wants more control over his or her life. He or she is naturally curious and fascinated by the business and marketing of everything and the world in general. An entrepreneur wants to try new things and is willing (and eager) to take risks.

For true entrepreneurs, it’s not about the money as much as it is about doing something interesting. You might be an entrepreneur and just not know it yet.

The following are 10 Clues that you Have the Entrepreneurial mindset:

1) No cocktail napkin is safe from the frantic scribbling of your pen.

2) You wake up in the middle of the night and smile because you’re dreaming about multiple streams of income knocking down your door.

3) You decorate your cubicle with a copy of the famous Scream painting because that’s how you feel when you’re sitting in it.

4) It’s 2 a.m and you’re awake.

5) The next time you plan to go into an office is when it says “Boss” on your door.

6) Your idea of hell is a building that requires key card access.

7) You tell your children that they shouldn’t worry about monsters in closets or boogie men under their bed. They should worry about middle management.

8 ) You own one white collared shirt—for the eventual meeting with venture capitalists. Because even though your angel investors say they don’t want to see you dressed professionally, you know it will help you get them to give you a check.

9) Coffee isn’t a choice. It’s a necessity.

10) In an entrepreneur’s eyes, the piano key necktie is not just a novelty gag gift from the 80’s. It was a product created by an astute entrepreneur filling a demand in the marketplace. Okay, disregard this one. Move on to the real #10.

10) When you walk into a store, you think about what the rent costs, what the markup is, how much the employees cost, the store location, lighting bills, and the company’s position in the marketplace. In other words, you think too much.

But it’s this thinking that just might make you rich. Or better yet, happy.

I would never suggest that anyone look up to politicians as role models. They’re arrogant, power hungry, and have their own varying understandings of what the word “truth” means. But having said this, there are a few things you can learn from the way politicians run for office and stay there.

The following six points are the basic tenets of running for political office that can also be applied to getting a job or rising in a company. Use these tactics wisely. I would say use them for “good” too, but you’re only human.

1) Attraction. Make yourself appear as attractive as possible. Embellish everything you’ve ever done.

2) Distraction. Talk about what you have done in glowing terms and distract from what you haven’t done or what you don’t want others to know you’ve done.

3) Spin everything. Never talk negatively about yourself. The only time politicians are slightly self-deprecating is when they get caught in an affair with an intern or a graft scandal. They are never down on themselves in public. This type of negativity spreads like wildfire. Nobody likes someone with low confidence. If you are cornered and have to fess up to something, never blame it on yourself, blame it on that convenient scapegoat, your “actions,” as in, “My actions were completely immoral…” etc.

4) Relentlessly name drop. Anyone who has done anything positive and is held in a good light even if only tangentially related to you, claim this person.

5) Talk about yourself. This might be the most important point here. Politicians don’t ever shut their mouths. Most people are taught to be polite and not talk about themselves and their achievements. But the truth is the most obnoxious people get the most attention. If you don’t constantly tell people how great you are, how are they going to know? Attention is good. Really, really good. Get some.

6) Pose for photo ops. You may not be able to do this literally. But you can do this figuratively by casting your accomplishments and deeds in a positive light so that people see a positive picture of you. Whether it’s sepia-toned or black and white, create a positive image of yourself and put it out there. The first person who needs to believe in this image is you. Others will follow.

After graduating from college in 2003, I quickly decided to keep the “real world” at bay for just a little longer by seeing more of the, uh, real world. With nothing but a big red backpack I purchased at REI, I hopped on a plane headed for France.

I backpacked with a friend and saw some of the most incredible man-made structures ever created, iconic pieces of artwork, and encountered interesting people from all over the world.

A lot of my time on this two month journey of haphazardly criss-crossing western Europe with a few trips into eastern Europe (I had an unlimited Eurail pass) I did a lot of thinking. When you’re sitting on a train staring down the barrel of a 13 hour overnight journey, there’s not much else to do.

I thought a lot about what I wanted to do with my life, how I would go about finding a job when I returned to my home in the United States, and what I wanted to do in terms of a career. I wondered if I should go to law school like I told myself I would.

I didn’t come up with any concrete answers. And now I realize that there really are no answers–at least for me. And I know a lot of other people like me. I realize that the only way I’m going to be happy is by pursuing what I’m interested in today. I am not going to be happy in a job that I am not totally excited to go into each and every day, minus vacation days and holidays. Sure, sometimes we have to work jobs we don’t like to pay the bills. That’s life.

What I’m getting at here is taking steps everyday to inch closer to what you really do want to do with your life. This makes having a not-so-fulfilling job sort of fulfilling: the fact that it helps you pay the bill while you move closer to your goals.

I realize that you have to take action. Today. Right now. If you want to be a writer, outline an article or jot down some ideas, do some research. If you want to be an internet entrepreneur, take steps to start a blog or a website today. If you start a project today, continuing to work on it tomorrow or next week becomes much easier.

This website is about finding the entrepreneurial path that works for you. I want Gainfully Unemployed to be a resource of articles, news, and information about working for the best boss in the world. You.