I Really Do Pity The Poor Graphic Designers - Including Myself As Well!

One of my very first paid work was designing a website for a neighbor of mine. He did pay me and that was the start of my working at home! (I have since moved on to include research on such things as grants and unclaimed money and other things as well.)

But I have seen yet another post from someone who would like to have a logo designed for them and not once did they mention that they would be willing to pay for it. It wasn't until other graphic designers brought up the fact about actually paying for the service did the original poster of the message say that he would be willing to pay $100 for the logo.

I'm sure that there are a lot of graphic designers out there who get this kind of thing where people want them to provide free or a reduced cost service - which is something that is not really fair to ask for in the first place. I mean you expect to get paid for the work you do - right? Why wouldn't the same be true for graphic designers.

I have read many stories from graphic designers about the terrible clients (and wannabe clients) that they have had!

The bottom line is that you should be paid for your services no matter what it is you do!

Another Benefit Of Having Your Own Business?

Tax Deductions!

Now that I can put this tax year behind me as far as my 2007 income taxes are concerned I have to tell you that one of the benefits of having one's own business is that you are able to deduct a lot of things that are considered business expenses!

Since I have earned money from adsense there are a lot of things that I have been able to deduct as far as my blogs and internet services are concerned.

You can also deduct things such as computer supplies, advertising costs and much, much more!

I do have to say that I hate the "self-employment" tax part of filing my income taxes because any income you make over $400 will have a self-employment tax!

I hate paying money! However I do love MAKING money!

Ever Get Fired From A Job That You Loved?

Here is a very inspirational story about a woman news anchor who used to work for CNN who's contract wasn't renewed.

I especially liked this story because it shows that you can't use the excuse of being "too old" to go after your dreams!

Here is a brief synopsis of the story:

Former CNN anchor does the 'Possible' *

In a competitive and youth-obsessed business, most everyone gets The Call sometime. For ex-CNN daytime anchor Daryn Kagan, it came in January 2006. She was brought into an office and told that CNN would not renew her contract when it expired at the end of the year. Kagan was lucky in one sense -- she wasn't escorted out that day by security -- but by the first of September, she was gone. Left with a personal crisis sadly familiar to many, Kagan reinvented herself with a Web site devoted to telling inspirational stories. ...

source
Selfgrowth.com

She has a website and a blog (unfortunately comments can not be added) and she has written a book! She has accomplished a LOT!

She didn't let getting fired hold her down for long!

Here is a link to her website:

About Daryn Kagan

A "Word" About Adsense!

I think that Adsense is a GREAT way to be able to make money online! You put adsense ads on your website and / or blog and when visitors to your site click on the ads YOU earn money!

To find out more about Google's Adsense program you can visit The Adsense Consultant's Blog.

BUT I should also say that you do have to do some work. I mean you may get lucky and start earning money once your site is up but for a lot others work is going to be required. So many people think that by just putting up a site and adding the adsense ads to it that it will immediately start making money and it doesn't happen that way for a lot of people.

I also want to stress that you don't have to have a "cajillion" visitors to your site to start earning money with adsense. I am a firm believer in "content is king" meaning that its the content on your site (and how you "work" that content) will determine your adsense earnings!

Using my own self as an example, I'm not an Adsense Millionaire yet, but I am certainly aiming for that goal! So far I have managed to get an Adsense payment for the last 12 months and even with the minimum amount of $100 that you need to earn to get an adsense payment the next month - even "THAT" $100 (I have been making more than that) comes in handy!

Here is a link to a blog post showing just how much some people have been making with the adsense program.

I think their number will (hopefully) pleasantly surprise you!

Are You A Billionaire In The Making?

I found another very good article that will interest those who are looking to get (filthy) rich! The article talks about the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Did you know that Warren Buffet gives most of his money away to charity? And yet and still he is a billionaire.

I will provide a link to the article at the end of this post.

I posted about it because what stood out in the article was that it said that these two men were visionaries and were willing to take risks.

These are 2 important things that you should keep in mind when you are wanting to start your own business.

I say that because while having one's own business is a very rewarding feeling you should also know that its not always going to be 100% perfect. But if you don't mind being as rich as say a Warren Buffet or a Bill Gates then you will strive to continue on until you succeed.

Are You A Billionaire In The Making?

How Is This For Inspiration?

I'm embedding the code for a YouTube video. (I sure hope it works!)

I saw this video posted on someone else's site and its an excerpt from the movie "The Pursuit Of Happiness". Will Smith plays a man who was at a very low time in his life and he decided to change his life for the better! The story is based on a real-life man who did just that!

If I remember the story correctly the man was homeless and he had a little baby son to take care of. He used to bathe his son in public restrooms! One day he saw a man who was driving a very fancy sports car and he asked the man how did he make his money? The man said he was a stockbroker and so then he decided then and there that that was what he was going to do and he went on to pursue and fulfill his dreams!

I'm A Photographer!

Remember when I said that one never knows what kind of hidden talents they might posess? Well I have recently come to find out that I am a photographer! It never really occurred until I was visiting one of my "art" galleries that I have online. (You can find out more about my "art" by going to my The 3D Beginner blog.

I was looking at other people's art galleries and realized that they had included their own photography into their galleries and I thought to myself that 'hey, I have pictures that I have taken too!' and I started adding them to my art galleries as well.

I have taken quite a few pictures of my local area and have added them to my blog. Now some of the pictures look blurry and some of them are not 100% clear but it is still photography. What is also interesting to note is that most of the pictures that I have taken so far have been with my camera phone. (Note to myself - I need a digital camera!).

Now since I have earned an income from my blogs that means that I can deduct the cost of a lot of things (business expenses) as far as my income taxes are concerned. What comes mostly to mind is that I could buy a digital camera and deduct the cost of it on my income taxes.

Now you may ask about how does this relate to working from home and hopefully it would be obvious but just in case it is not...............................

Because I have a website and blog about my local area, I have been getting email from those that have seen them and these pages are started to get a reputation and their popularity is growing. I have gotten email from some of the local businesses and organizations in the area as well. I put up a picture of our local church and got a nice email from a woman who said that she was feeling nostalgic about the area and was searching online and up came the picture that I had posted of the local church. She said looking at that picture brought back a lot of memories......................

You could start your own little newsletter-type thing about your local area as well. It could be a blog or a website (both that you can get for free!) and you could start to put content on it about your local area. Sign up for adsense so that you can have advertising on your site and start to earn an income from the adsense. Once you reach a certain amount in adsense earnings you can declare this as your business and start to be able to deduct business expenses that are related to running it. Invest in a cameraphone and/or digital camera and go around the area and take pictures. Put those pictures on your site. Let your site build up a reputation and as more and more people come to visit your site it will gain an even bigger reputation. You can then solicit the businesses in your area to advertise on your site. You can make good money using adsense but you can make even more money by getting advertisers directly!

I also have a LaMott Radio (Internet) Station and a LaMott podcast (that I'm still working on) as well. The internet radio station has a yearly fee but the podcast hosting is free.

There are just so many possibilities that one can work with when building up a business such as this. But the important thing to remember is that since your income will be had from advertisers that you have to appeal to them in order for them to want to advertise on your site. Then there can be other forms of income coming from it as well. You could even classify yourself as a reporting and report on different events and issure in your area as well.

There are just so many ways that one can go with an idea such as this one!

Give it some real consideration as a possible business for you to start that you can work from home from it.

Aspirations

I recently had a chance to view a little bit of "America's Next Top Model" and I also recently was looking at a blog about an American Idol contestant who was recently voted off the show.

I really do have mixed feelings about these types of shows. On the one hand they provide great experience for those that have aspirations of fulfilling their Dream Jobs. But on the other hand when they are dropped or voted off it seems so cruel. Some of them have said that they have not given up on their dreams and that they were going to continue to pursue their dreams.

Good For Them!

It can be really tough when you have a dream and sometimes it seems like everything becomes an obstacle - but that is when you have to continue - no matter what anyone else says! I heard a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer that said "Never let your music die inside of you" and he was referring to his own daughter who wanted to leave school and pursue a singing career. Her father gave her his blessings and even took her on the road with him when he was giving lectures. She has her own CD out now and she is continuing her career as a singer.

If you have a dream that is inside of you that is dying to come out then you should pursue it. There are countless examples of people who have pursued their passions and won! It would do you good to read about some of them. Some of them faced obstacles that are ten times those that you yourself may have to face but yet and still they reached their goals!

What Is YOUR Dream Job?

Do You Have A Paypal Account?

I got excited when my brother told me that he signed up for Paypal! I got excited for him because that meant that he now has another way to get income. But he doesn't see it that way. When he told me that he was signing up for paypal my thoughts thought of him getting "big-time" money. How? Well he is very knowledgeable about computers. He doesn't just know about computer programs but he also has a whole lot of experience at fixing them.

He said to me that the reason that he was signing up for paypal was for his ebay transactions and that was the only reason for him.

He explained to me that since he does fix computers his customers / clients would have to be of a "local" nature. Now I do agree that it would be quite cumbersome to have clients hundreds of miles away who want their computer fixed but he is not seeing it like I'm seeing it.

He could set himself up as a consultant and / or expert and answer people's questions about computers and be paid a fee for it - hence having the paypal account. There are so many consultants and experts who are doing exactly this very thing! Again - he doesn't see it that way.

I won't give up on trying to convince him though because this is a very great opportunity for him! He just can't see it yet!

If you have a paypal account you should seriously consider using it to get paid yourself. Almost everyone has an area of expertise and you should let that work for you. If you're having doubts about being able to accomplish this kind of thing then you should take a look at some of the websites that are doing this very same thing!

"Your Sign Here"

Since I am a 3D Beginner, I am a member of Renderosity.com which is a site for graphic artists (and even webdesign artists) of all kinds. I was looking throught their "free stuff" and saw a picture similar to the one above. (I couldn't use their actual photo without permission so that's why I didn't post it here - I made one of my own)

What came to my mind is that advertisers are ALWAYS looking for a place to advertise and why not online. I have read that online advertising is popular and becoming more and more popular!

Offline I remember I was watching a movie yesterday and during one of the scenes - which was a chase scene - I saw this great big Pepsi truck and I just knew that Pepsi paid a lot of money to have a truck with their logo in the movie! I have read about this type of thing in the newspaper - companies paying big bucks to advertise their products in the movies!

Online there have been people who have auctioned off theirself as advertising displays on Ebay! For instance one guy auctioned off his forehead as advertising space and he got over $37,000! for his efforts! The winning bid for advertising on his forehead was over $37,000 and the winning bidder was a company that makes some sort of snoring-related product.

If you're into graphics of any kind you could simply put a graphic such as this on your website as an invitation for advertisers who might want to advertise on your site!

Constructing the above graphic took me all of 5 minutes and that's not even including other kinds of ways that I could have enhanced the above graphic. I could have made the graphic animated, given it different kinds of colors and just so many other different kinds of ways that I could make it look more better.

Of course you would need a website but if you already have one then you could start there. If you don't have a website you can get one free because there are a lot of free webhosting sites that are out there. The reason why they are free?

Because they accept advertising!

I hope you are getting the hint here! That hint being that if other sites can solicit for advertisers - why can't you do the same thing?

"Relocation" Astrology

Now I myself do astrology readings but this is the first time that I have heard the term "relocation" astrology.

A relocation astrologer will help people by composing astrological charts for different locations to find a location that charts good results. I was just reading an article about one such astrologer who has a good client base and they work with online clients.

This is just yet another example of successfully being able to work online and have online clients. The astrologer mentioned that they loved doing this kind of work which is also a good example of taking something that one loves and turning it into a business.

If you think your own "work at home" idea may sound silly or impossible then don't forget this post.

Podcasting!

Well I am just all over the internet today! I'm visiting blogs and reading newsgroup threads...............posting to my AOL Journal.....and so on................

One of the things that I am currently working on is one of my podcasts for my local area.

This podcast of mine is relatively new and I'm still learning it. However I have some things already included on it so far. I have a public service announcement that I produced about my area's local firehouse. There are also a couple of other public service announcements that I got online and added to my podcast as well. I'm also working on adding music to my podcast but here is where you have to be careful! Unlike Live365 where you can add any music, my podcast's host doesn't allow just any type of music to be added - it has to do with copyright issues. But there is a site where you can download certain music and add it to your podcast.

I'm treating this podcast like my own little radio community talk show! It's like having your own talk show and being the host of your very own talk show!

Just think of the things that YOU could do with your very own talk show! Money and income-wise you could get advertsing and sponsorship for your show and since its YOUR show - you have control over what goes into it!

Now you may be thinking that it might just be too hard to produce and have your own podcast but to that I say just think of the possibilities that you could do!

My podcast (so far) consists of me recording to my computer and simply uploading the file to my podcast host site.

If you have had a chance to listen to podcasts on the Internet then you know that there is a whole lot of possibilites there!

So far hosting my podcast is not costing me a thing - except for my Internet access. And since I'm doing my income taxes now and having to report my Adsense income its also making me think of the possibilities of adding my podcast(s) as part of my self-employment business. When I do so there will be a lot of deductions that I will be able to take as part of this business!

So really think about starting your own podcast!

It's Time To Take A Little Bit Of Mystery Out Of The "Business Plan"!

One of the services that I provide for clients are customized / personalized business plans. However you don't really need to have someone create your business plan for you because you can do it yourself!

Basically speaking a business plan is simply a plan for your business. You can find websites that are online that have templates of business plans that you can download for free and adapt to the kind of business that you want to start.

You can even start your businessplan on your own by getting a blank piece of paper. At the top just write down the kind of business that you want to start. Then figure out how much you would have to make monthly in order to make a profit. Also list your expenses - and you don't have to know all of this right away because no business plan has to be absolute - you can change it as you go along.

Once you know what your expenses will be and how much you will have to make to make a profit you can go on from there.

Like I said before a business plan is a plan for your business and you will / can include both your expenses and income on it. Then you can add things like advertising costs and the other expenses that come with owning and operating a business.

There are quite a few businessplan software out there and there are probably some free ones that you can download for free. And again don't forget about the websites that are out there that have free business plan templates that you can download for free and adapt to your own business.

I have a business plan software that I use for my clients and it was "kinda" free because it came with my computer.

So if not having a business plan is holding you back just get on the internet and start searching.

Attention All Aspiring Singers, Songwriters and Artists!

I just read one of the most inspiring blog posts from a singer who is making her way in the world. She has CD's out and she is touring!

Many times I have advised those that want to be singers or actors that they have resources available to them that are right in front of them but they just don't see it!

There have been many aspiring artists who have decided to just pack up and move to Hollywood or New York hoping to have a career right away (and unfortunately a lot of them end up on the streets)

No matter where it is you live you have the makings of starting your own career as an artist. Just look at Myspace.com! MySpace even has it's own recording label! There have been some artists who have gotten recording contracts strictly on the basis of their music on their myspace page.

Computers have become so sophisticated now that one can record their own CD (and sell it!)

One of the things that fascinates me so is that one artist won a grammy for music that he produced entirely on the computer!

So if you think that it is hopeless to have a career in music then you should definitely read this blog article!

Comments Received

"You should post your singing talent at ~.com. (It) has many aspiring singers who are joining the website to show there (their) singing talents. It's like a Facebook for aspiring singers. Also read article on a internet magazine."

Your Career By Horoscope?

I'm going to post a link to an article that talks about career choices for people determined by their horoscope / astrological sign. I was very curious to see what mine said:

Cancer (June 22-July 22)

Your traits: Compassionate, energetic, intuitive and imaginative. Your sensitivity, loyalty and organizational skills make you an excellent *caregiver.

* - I was a caregiver to my mother and I have also worked as a nurse's aide.


Compatible jobs: Tap into your nurturing nature with a job in health care, social work, psychology or teaching. You might also consider a career in law, where your desire to protect and defend others would be put to good use.

Since I do a lot of grant research this really would come under the heading of social work because social workers do help those that are having problems. Like I noted above I have been a caregiver to my mother and I have also worked as a nurse's aide so I have done work in the health field. Psychologically speaking the work that I do with both grants and Dream Job Consulting helps to dispel the myth about what a person is capable of no matter what their circumstances are. You may be eligible for a grant to help you financial or you may be eligible for a grant to help you start your own business - but you will never know until you try. The same thing applies to people who are seeking their dream jobs - if you think that achieving your dream job is impossible then it will be. Chances are no matter what kind of dream job you want there is someone who is already doing it!

Jobs for This Sign:

• Social Service Worker: $45,461
  
  
• Public Defender: $83,442
  
  
• Adult Education Teacher: $43,763

To read this article and possibly find out what career is for you just click here

Dream Job - A Baby Sitter?

Someone recently sent me an email saying that their dream job was to be a babysitter in their own home.

Well there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!

As a Dream Job consultant I would have a lot of advice and tips for this person.

• First of all I would advise them to check out their own state's website to find out what the criteria is for people being able to take care of children in their own home. Sure you can provide babysitting services for a certain number of children without being considered illegal
  
  
• Secondly I would advise that this person look into operating as a official and licenced daycare business. Many grant recipients have received money to start their own daycare business. And some have even received grant funding to start their own daycare business in their home! I had one previous client who was looking for grant funding for her already licensed daycare business and I was able to find her over 10 pages worth of information about grant programs that her for-profit daycare business could apply for!
  
  
• There are so many other things that can be associated with operating a babysitting service that could generate additional revenues of income. You could start a babysitting blog or website and have a newsletter as well. Accept advertisers and sponsors who will pay to advertise on your online and offline sites! Join Adsense so that you can put ads on your online sites and start earning money when visitors to your online sites click on the adsense ads that appear on your site.

It's just like those wise old sages have said:

You are only limited by your imagination!

Please Remember To Have Some Fun!

Please do not be all work and no play!

Today is Saturday and I decided to have some fun with my computer! I'm going to enter one of Renderosity's Fractal Art contests. Here is a link to my "Fractal" site. Here is one of my fractal creations!



Even though I have decided to have fun today I still can't help but be in the working from home "mode" when I think about fractals. Everything is related - even my interest in creating fractals.

Here is a link to one of my past blog posts about fractals and how you could start your own business having to do with fractals. I did a quick google search and found that there is a business that creates fractal business cards!

You may not think so but you could start a business in almost ANY area that you could think of.

Want To Work From Home? Have You Thought Of Giving Ebay A Try?

There was a segment on my local news about a woman who runs a MILLION DOLLAR business selling on Ebay. What I found most interesting about her story is that she never thought that it would turn into such a profitable business!

Not only does she sell her own items but she sells other peoples' items as well. Of course she charges a percentage of what the item brings in and as well as she should because she is doing the work!

But this would be a very good idea for someone who wants to be able to work from home.

It doesn't take too much to belong to Ebay so that you can start selling on it. There are a few fees involved and you should find out more about them by going to the Ebay site.

Tips To Help You NOT Get Fired From Your Work At Home Job!

Here is a link to an online article about things that you should avoid when working from home.

Woman Starts Her Own Business

Here is a link to an online story about a woman who started her own toy rental business.

Usually this is a good success story about someone who was able to start their own business - however in this particular case she had some money from her other businesses to start her own business. So this is a lot different from the way I try to advise people who have little or no money to start their own business.

But there is a very interesting lesson to learn here. I, myself took a look at the article and what struck me as so interesting was the "comments" section below the article. It reminded me of the fact that no matter what kind of business you want to start there are going to be "naysayers" and those who are going to criticize you. I'm sure that this woman is laughing herself all the way to the bank!