How to Make Lots of Money in a Recession

[TheHappyDogSpot]

I just read Steve's blog post from a few months ago on "How to Make Lots of Money is a Recession" and think it was absolutely brilliant. It was just the shove I needed to keep creating and delivering value with my Web site The Happy Dog Spot, rather than wondering at what point I will start making money with it. Since I'm getting more visitors every day, I know that people are seeing the value and it's just a matter of time to let the word spread, especially since I just started it in November. I almost got off track with worry and frustration about when the money would come then, like a gift from G-D, this article came to let me know that I just need to keep creating and delivering the value and it will come. I just wish I had Steve's strength of conviction with regards to being able to walk away from a job that earns a lot of money in order to do this full time with no income. That thought scares me so much.

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by TheHappyDogSpot

I just wish I had Steve's strength of conviction with regards to being able to walk away from a job that earns a lot of money in order to do this full time with no income. That thought scares me so much.

It is a valid concern. Many people have walked away from their jobs to pursue their own business and have failed miserably and raked up debt along the way. There's nothing wrong with working full-time and building your business part-time. Eventually you can replace your full-time job with your own business if it grows well enough.

[TheHappyDogSpot]

Thank you! That is exactly my philosophy and I really appreciate your validating that as a sensible approach. I would rather NOT be homeless than have a great paying job!

[Alex2007]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Eventually you can replace your full-time job with your own business if it grows well enough.

Yes Daffy. This is so brilliant. Just learn to ignore the negative bosses and behavior and play their "video" game. This will make you happy in any environment.

Take care!

[TheHappyDogSpot]

Yes, but isn't the need to actually pay bills a valid concern? Especially if the day gig is not one that is negative, albeit not your passion. I don't support the notion of anyone living a life of quiet desperation for certain, but just jumping ship could definitely backfire as well. I really hope that there's a lively discussion on this topic, because it continues to baffle me.

[Daffy Duck]

This is what I'm currently doing:

I'm currently working as a software engineer while I earn my computer engineering degree from college, which would enable me to work as a ... software engineer.

I really enjoy my job/career. If I was a software engineer until I died, I can be happy doing that. I work with a great team and my managers are more like friends to me. They're not your stereotypical negative boss. I agree it wouldn't be as fun to work under that type of boss, though I'm sure there would be some growth opportunities in the challenge.

With that said, I do like being in charge of everything myself, and I am pursuing more self-employment opportunities. I often do freelance stuff. I've been self-employed in the past but just didn't make as much as I could in the field I'm in now.

So yeah, this is just to further illustrate that you can do both.

With that all said, it is possible to just jump ship and maybe everything will work out wonderfully. It's a risk though and not one that sounds particularly good to me. I could take all of my savings, go to Vegas, and bet it all on Black in Roulette. That could work out wonderfully too. There's a 49% chance it would, but that's not quite good enough for me.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

There's nothing wrong with working full-time and building your business part-time. Eventually you can replace your full-time job with your own business if it grows well enough.

Or if your expenses are low enough in relation to your income and your job lets you, possibly switch to working part time and building your business full time.

I'd been under the impression that for building stevepavlina.com Steve had first made it so that it only took a few hours per week to maintain his games business (without even having to read The Four Hour Workweek, which he doesn't seem to care for) so that he could focus on the new site full time. He didn't fully abandon the game site and it's accompanying income until a while later, he streamlined it.

[cuinlalaland]

Originally Posted by openeyes

Or if your expenses are low enough in relation to your income and your job lets you, possibly switch to working part time and building your business full time.

I know many people who have done just that, or if their job didn't allow a cut in hours, they quit and got a part-time job somewhere else. If neither of those are possible yet, you can at least reduce your hours to the minimum (eg. don't accept any overtime) so that you have as much time as possible to develop your business. I'm doing the part-time thing right now as I grow my site. It requires some frugality but it will be worth it in the long run.

@TheHappyDogSpot once you have a decent sized chunk of quality content on your site don't forget to start splitting your time between content creation and promotional activities. Working diligently to grow your traffic is the only way you will ever be able to go full-time. Your site is unlikely to grow very well if you leave promotion to chance.

[pinki]

Someone please advice me. I dont even know this is the correct forum to post my problem for help.

1. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in Computer Science.
2. Then, I could not get an entry level position so I joined a consulting firm so that my H1B could be processed.
3. I have only worked on one project ever since then and that was in 2008 for 4 months.
4. Before and after that I am only getting paid minimal amount to stay in status.

Scary Problems

1. My resume is manipulated in different areas (Java professional, Oracle professional) by my consulting firm.

2. Since I do not have real experience, I give interviews based on manipulated experience to fill the gap and therefore I do not do well in my interviews.

3. This pattern is repeating and I still dont have a job.

4. Its like I am a jack of all trades but master of none.

Questions.

1. What do I do to change this?
2. Who will hire me without experience i.e, if I honestly show my work experience for those few months and the rest blank.
3. This has been going on for 3 years and still I dont find a solution. This is affecting my other areas of life.

I am scared.

[amj]

I liked this blog too. I got a lot out of it. I wouldn't want to be homeless over having a job though. If I was really good at providing value then I guess the thought would not be so scary.

[chrisrushton]

i consider myself to be unbelievably lucky at the moment. I work as a physicist (studying for a PhD in Star Formation) which allows me more opportunities to travel and meet people than most jobs. The pay is reasonable, not brilliant but livable. Whilst the job is a desk job (modern astrophysicists spend most of their time using computers) the hours are very flexible since you are judged on the work you produce rather than the time you spend in the lab. My supervisor is a great person with a ton of connections too.

I could happily work in this environment for the rest of my life, much like Daffy. One very key advantage is that the environment is very nurturing and free. I'm quite unusual as I take this and use it to work on my own project such as my blog in my spare time rather than going to the pub and watching CSI. Writing a mind dump blog is still beneficial to my work since I can unload a lot of the garbage that is flowing in my head and by making sense of it for others, it helps me make sense of it. Kind of like a mental disk defragment. Clarity of thought is very important to me. If I can make a little money from it, even better!

pinki, if I were you I'd set out to be a free-lance programmer. You can write Java right? Can you write me a class (or set of classes) which can add, subtract, multiply, divide and do power operations to numbers at 128bit (quad precision) accuracy? I have 2 numbers which (currently only) are subtracted from one another and the difference is at the 90th (or so) decimal place. With double precision variables this just turns into a random number generator. Write me this (for free), if it works and if my work ever gets published I'll mention you in the paper and I'll give you references as a previous employer too. (Note, this isn't related to my PhD project but something I did a while ago but got hung up on the issue. You might have to wait for a paper mention but the references can start immediately)

[pinki]

Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for the help. I wrote a java program that would perform all the operations but using double precision variables. I know thats not what you wanted.

I read that quad precision is not supported by the JVM.

How did you get it work till the 90th decimal place?

Any further hints for me to start off....

here is the program.

import java.io.*;

public class Numbers
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
InputStreamReader isstream = new InputStreamReader(System.in);
BufferedReader buffRead = new BufferedReader(isstream);

try
{
System.out.println("Enter the first number:");
String a = buffRead.readLine();


System.out.println("Enter the second number:");
String b = buffRead.readLine();

double x = Double.parseDouble(a);
double y = Double.parseDouble(b);


double sum = x+y; //Addition of two numbers 9,2
System.out.println("Addition:"+' '+ sum);

double sub = x-y; //Subtraction of two numbers 9,2
System.out.println("Subtraction:"+' '+ sub);

double mul = x*y; //Multiplication of two numbers 9,2
System.out.println("Multiplication:"+' '+ mul);

double div = x/y; //Division of two numbers 9,2
System.out.println("Division:"+' '+ div);

double pow = Math.pow(x, y); // Power operation
System.out.println("Power Operation:"+' '+ pow);


}

catch (IOException e1) {
System.out.println("Error reading line");
}
catch(NumberFormatException e1) {
System.out.println("Error Converting Number");
}
}
}

[motivateme]

Hi Pinky,

I am responding to your post because I have been in your position and know what it feels like, and feel that although i don't have a quick-fix solution for you, perhaps my experiences will motivate you to find your own solutions.

As far as H1-Bs go, you know that if you really want to get an H1B and then follow that up with permenant residency in this country, you really have to do whatever the employer tells you to do. I know it kind of sucks as you are limited in your options and sometimes given the most mundane projects that will do nothing to enhance your marketable skills. I had to learn a proprietary language as a programmer analyst that no one else in their rights minds wanted to do, just so I could make my employer satisfied enough to sponser my H1. And I did that for 5 years so that they would then sponser my green card. Did I grow professionally? Not much. But did I get what I wanted? Yes. So sometimes you have to figure out what your priorities are, and make a plan and stick it out. I hope I don't sound too negative.

Also, I'm not sure what the regulations are right now, but I don't think you can start earning money by being self employed right now. So maybe like someone else said, if you want to grow professionally, why don't you volunteer your technical skills at nonprofits? You can also get some books on interviewing and master your interviewing techniques. Anticipate what you will be asked and practice answering questions with friends. Build up your concidence and make eye contact at interviews. Practice in front of a mirror so you can correct your body language. That way, when you finally are a permanent resident, you can use those skills and your network to lauch your own company, or if that's not your thing, then get a better job. Right now, you are limited in your earning potential, but not limited in enhancing your skills and increasing your network of contacts which will help you at a later time.

Good luck and stay focused.

[pinki]

Hi motivateme,
Thank you so much. Your post was very helpful. As you said, I am currently sticking to what my employer wants me to do.

He said he might assign me in a web development project soon so I am getting prepared for it.

I am already on H1B and am going with the flow. Will see where it takes.

You jus spoke my mind. I really want to use my skills in non-profit organizations to gain experience and build networking.

Thank you so much.

Pinki