Just read an article about a number of people who will be facing the end of their unemployment benefits.

It struck me how willing they are to work at just about any job from shoveling horse poop to putting in fence posts to cleaning rain gutters, and what a versatile group of people and a large manufacturing base we have here in the US.

These are earnest people willing to work very hard for very low wages. One can imagine they will work strong and long for decent wages to pay their bills and feed their families.

Is is location? Do they avoid entrepreneurship? Do they believe they can only work for others? Are they right?

I often thought that in the most desperate times, I might do what I did as a kid…

I had gotten these little index cards, folded them in half, drawn a little picture on each with magic markers. I then made little matching envelopes and wrapped each pack in plastic wrap, taking them door to door selling them for a dollar - and believe it or not, quite a few folks bought them.

To this day I love to make handmade cards but simply don’t have the time. Going door to door? I suppose only a kid finds that fun.

Another thing I did was create neck chokers with black velvet and an array of gemstones glued to the center. They were extremely beautiful and people loved them. They also all flew out of the nest.

And then someone had shown me burlap and felt banners hung on wooden dowels, and I became quite adept at cutting out letters and pictures, pasting them attractively, sewing in the dowels…

Now that I think of it, I would add jewels, gems and pretty bits to make spectacular banners…

Anyway, all sold.

Something happened between then and now…

Somehow I got caught up into the Get an Education gambit. So off to school I went where I learned that teachers and professors come from a very ancient place… the place behind the “8 ball.”

They attempted to teach me how to become an obedient corporate clone, able to take voluminous volumes of inconsequential knowledge and turn it into more of the same. Please, no offense… just a humble opinion that stands only for today. Totally changeable. Okay?

All those childhood ideas went by the wayside… and now I just stick to Web and Computer stuff. Yes, I dropped out of school.

The truth is… had I stuck it out with my childhood projects and let the natural evolution flow, I’d probably be quite successfully, “richer.”

Had a million ideas as a kid, (Don’t we all?) each one “better” than the next… as far as just being simple ways to go out and make money quickly.

LESSON: “Somehow we lose something so pure and fine as we become adolescents and grow up. There’s a time to go back, reconnoiter, re-evaluate, and remember the things of childhood that stood us good stead. It’s easy to lose sight of the simple entrepreneurial ways to make a living that a child might dream up.”

One more thing… so far, I haven’t EVER met a person who didn’t have a gift that could help them stand out from the crowd.

Finding it? That’s another story… I’m thinking it takes others to cajole it out of us. Either parents, friends, family.

Friends are invaluable. People are invaluable to one another.

Tags: benefits, childhood, friends, invaluable, losing hope, unemployment, working hard

(Quicknote: Updated previous post “Website or Blog.”)

Side by Side Comparison

Today I whipped out a little one-page site and a new blog for someone. They liked the simple site more than the blog - and I don’t blame them. The simple site is direct, to the point, clear and concise. (And it was their original PDF design.) The blog is distinctly, bloggy.

Went ahead and used their Microsoft Office code - will see how that transpires… Will encode in plain HTML if there’s any problems.

I often make coding choices based upon budget. The more money, the more customization. I try to keep costs to an absolute minimum as that seems to be what folks prefer. But it can cause a few issues, no doubt.

You can see the differences for yourself. I actually do like her design quite alot - it delivers info swiftly. Simple.

Could it be gussied up and perfected? Well sure. But would we want to do that?

Lesson: The more I learn, the less I know. Website of blog? Only you, the visitor, knows for sure.

As for keywords, optimization and other services, not yet for this little site… but since this silver mask is such a handy little carry and store about, will probably resell it because I love the concept and the quality of this product. (Fabric made in Germany)

Tags: blog, comparisons, mask, side by side, silver, website, website or blog

Update: 1:45 PM 8/24/2009

Felt I needed to clarify - sometimes it’s imperative to have a $5500 and up website. For instance - my boss has a client who owns property around the world. The client needs an expensive website to showcase her properties. 

I seem to be going through a phase watching the Webosphere rumble by as the Blogosphere hitches on. Perhaps it’s just me and childish excitement, but the blogosphere holds much promise above and beyond Social Network sites that have perpetual rights to use your material at their will. 

~~~

Previously:

 ”Building a Website.” A huge subject AND a main category…

I’ve held off getting into the nitty gritty because there’s so much to write about.

To begin, will talk about choosing to make a full website versus a blog. 

My boss has built many sites. Boss has done the work and I’ve done a chore or two - just enough to be dangerous.

But i have two eyes that see results, and one thing I’ve seen is that times change in a flash. Yesterday’s website can be today’s dinosaur.

~~~

These last 9 months, I struggled to build my very own MONEY MAKING website. It was to be an experiment. No help from friends or family - just me, a relative newbie with my dangerous little knowledge.

Has it been easy? No. Have I learned a TON? YESSSS. More about myself and who I am, actually. I’ve also learned that a blog is all you need… and websites are dedsites.

Please feel free to disagree. But my belief is that the old $5500 websites are of little value in today’s blogosphere. AND - you can ALWAYS make your blog look like a site if you wish.

The main point is THIS - keeping your content fresh and updated. And a blog is the easiest way to do it.

If I had to start all over, I’d do something I already did - sign up with a service to have them walk you through hand in hand. But I’d also do much DIFFERENTLY. Goll, I’d save time, this time!!!!!

~~ Lord, Give Me a Second Chance, Please. And many more after that too. Honest Prayer here… ~~

I’ve come to believe signing up is crucial for the serious beginner self-website-maker who’s doing it on his her own.

Why? The time you’ll save and the company you’ll keep. The forums are worth every stinking dime if you use them, and the handholding instructions give you a comprehensive education in one fell swoop.

The cheapest and best I found was SBI, so I signed up with them. It’s been up and down, and let me admit that I’ve continuously run off to explore each guru’s super marvelous new secrets in the meanwhile.

(Note: I also signed up with a few more services for $1 and once for $97 or so. So my total expenses have been about $600 - $400 for SBI and maybe $200 for the rest. It took me AGES to fork over my pennies to SBI, let me tell you…)

More about SBI later.

Meanwhile, here’s a partial list of gurus I’ve liked.

I particularly liked Russell Brunson, Frank Kern and this long haired hippie kind of looking guy whose name I forget. At first I also really liked Alex Mandossian - what a magnificent salester! But he became too glitzy glam super polished.

I also liked the Mind Valley Guys. Super smarties who provide an encyclopedia of SEO science that burned me out in the reading. Then there’s the classic copy writers of worldwide acclaim - Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, and others.

BUT HERE’S THE THING

Each of these marketing geniuses LOVE WHAT THEY DO WHICH IS MARKETING!!!!

OF COURSE THEY’RE INCREDIBLE AT IT - IT’S THEIR JOY!

They couldn’t stop themselves if they tried. As a kid, Russell Brunson used to read ad mailers zealously. He just fed off them, couldn’t wait to write his own. A born sales person. Do you love to read advertising mailers?

These gurus thrive on selling, promoting, marketing.

So they are very good at it AND very good at getting you to sign up with them. They will invariably tell you what they did to succeed and how you can do it, too.

Sure you can! But would you want to? If so, then sign up - it’s for you. If you live to sell, you’ll be able to do what they did.

As for me, no way. I hate selling.

So there’s no use in me trying to do what the gurus do - it would be just a huge bunch of dirty ole repetitive dull boring labor to me.

Instead, I turned to doing what I love most - being myself and telling stories. Don’t we all love being ourselves and telling stories?

So far in life, I’ve noticed EVERYONE has a story to tell… whether about themselves or about a subject.

LESSONS:

“Find yourself, find a subject.”

“Each to their own. Look in your past for something you loved to do year after year. Become really good at it. Practice Practice Practice. Then share it with the world.” In a Blog or Something.

As a perennial Budding Entrepreneur, I will keep searching and looking.

In school, they taught us how to read… and WRITE.

Everyday I keep writing and blogging, and my insight grows. Yours can, too… writing helps!

Tags: blog, blogging, Finding Yourself, gurus, SBI, website, website vs. blog, writing