Working at home advise....

In my years of working with the internet and building my own business, there are literally MILLIONS and MILLIONS of possibilities that I have found out there.  Let’s face it, if you can think of it, someone else has already written an article about it or thought of it themselves!  But, then the question becomes, “now what?  What do I sell now?”  And, that is a tough question.  Unless you are ready for the very hard reality that will come at you, in a very short and quick amount of time, you will crumble to the floor, weeping, crying, screaming, you name it, you will feel those emotions!  That sucks!  And, then the reality will hit when you realize that you have spent money on all these ‘schemes’ and gotten absolutely NOTHING in return.  You are just plain, out the money.  So, you gotta suck it up and move on to the next thing on the to-do list.

Now, we have the hardest part over with, for now.  Believe me, there is so much more to come.  The truth about the internet market is that it is one tough cookie.  And, if you aren’t prepared for it, believe me, you will fail and you will fail miserably.  But, hey, you don’t have to believe me; you can check it out for yourself!  There are literally thousands and MILLIONS of people out there on the web that would love nothing better than to take your money, sell you a ‘song’ or a product, or an “instant website, that can be up and running in as little as 3 days”!  O.k.!  Then what?  What those lovely, so helpful marketers don’t tell you is that, once that site is up and ‘live’, you are ON YOUR OWN!  So, good luck with that one.  You won’t get any support, of any kind, unless of course, you ‘upgrade’ to another package; that usually ranges in the neighborhood of $3,500 - $6,000.  Trust me; I have been through all of this.  I have been through this so often, that I know all the marketing ploys and I know all the ‘scripts’ by heart when they call me.  And, yes, they still call me!

Now, after having gone through all of this, I can speak from my heart as I write this and tell you that now, after many, many frustrating years at trying to make a little extra money from the web, I am now here!  Here is what I refer to with respect to my writing ‘gig’ as I call it.  My writing gig is something that I just happened to fall into so to speak.  And, what a ride this has been!  But, I wouldn’t trade one single moment of this for anything.  This experience has taught me so much!

Here’s a thought for you:  When you consider selling your ‘stuff’ on the net, consider that when you begin this journey, don’t forget the most important part of this….and that is YOU!  YOU will control whether or not YOU are a success.  It really does depend on YOU! 

Yes, you will get discouraged, trust me on that one!  Yes, there will be days when you ask yourself, ‘why me?’!  But, if you continue through all of this, you will come out on top.  You will be a success.  I know this to be a fact because I have been EXACTLY where you are now!  It has taken me over 3 years to finally begin to see a little bit of a return for all of my hard work.  Not to mention the ‘sweat equity’ that I have had to invest.  Writing is something that does not come easy to a lot of people.  You actually ‘have it’ or you don’t!  It is that simple!  You can choose to write boring, poorly-written content, or you can CHOOSE to write content that you are proud of.

I never would have thought of myself as a writer.  But, if it hadn’t been for a chance ‘meeting’ so to speak, via the web, I might never have gotten into this myself.  I was so down on myself and so depressed because of the money issues and the fact that I didn’t feel that I would be a good enough writer to be able to ‘hang with it’ so to speak.

Fortunately, for me, a really beautiful, wonderful person came into my life through another website that I had joined.  She saw my capabilities.  She encouraged me to start writing.  And, with her compliments, support, and always having something POSITIVE to say to me, I began to grow and experience the joy of writing and the joy of expression through WORDS! 

Some artists paint, some artists build from their designs, and then there are the artists, like myself, who are WRITERS.  Trust me; writers are a truly gifted breed.  Because, just like with an artist who paints, you either have this ‘gift’ or you don’t!

This is how I recommend that you cope with negative sales experiences:

 ·       Sell stuff that you have personally reviewed, and will be able to believe your own pitch.

·       Be honest, even when those you tell the truth, are thinking every word is b.s..

·       One nice person weighs as much as three jerks on the:  “it’s-fun-to-work-with-the-public” scale.

·       Think like a proctologist.

One of the MOST IMPORTANT things that I have learned (and trust me, this is a valuable lesson) is that, every single time your phone rings, and trust me it will ring off the hook with salespeople wanting you to buy their products to build your website; when that phone rings and you know it’s a salesperson, get in front of your computer IMMEDIATELY!  Look up the website that they are talking to you about.  Look up the company name and Google the business ratings for that company.  That, in itself, will immediately tell you whether or not this is a good company or a fly-by-night company.

If the company has no rating, then I would suggest that you tread very cautiously!  Otherwise, you are going to get yourself into a whole bunch of financial troubles that you cannot get yourself out of.  Also, be sure to tell them that you need a couple of days to think about it!  They hate that!  They hate that because it means that they aren’t going to make a commission off of you and the phone call!  They will be pushy, that’s their job, they will be blunt, but, they also HATE it when you say, “I’m going to have to think about this”; or, “I have to speak with my husband/wife about this before I can make a decision”!  They really HATE that one!  In fact, that is usually when they will become extremely pushy and try to do everything that they can to get you to give up your credit card information.  DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!! 

Just because it may sound good at the time, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a good deal.  And, besides that, you have to be extra careful in this day and age because of the cyber criminals that are out there.  All they want is your credit card information and they are off and running!

I will close this by telling you this (although this saddens me the most):  You have to be EXTREMELY careful of people that call you from Nigeria, Africa or some of those Countries.  Sadly, these are the “CYBER-CRIME Capitals of the World anymore!  And, these thieves truly only ever want your credit card information and they are off the phone and on to the store or a website to run you into financial ruin!

And, that my friends, is the truth and the reality of working from home.  It is not glamorous, it is not a get-rich-quick sort of thing.  It takes hard work, dedication, time, commitment (and I don’t mean the looney-bin kind of commitment either), and a definite belief in what you are doing and that you are making a service available for others.

What Scooter has taught me...

What Scooter has taught me….

When I first ‘met’ Scooter, I thought that he was just your ‘average cat’, if there ever was such a thing. How little I truly knew about him was yet to be discovered. At first, Scooter just looked and acted like any other cat that I have had throughout my entire life. In fact, I don’t really know of any period of time throughout my life that I did not have a cat or two roaming around with me. But, somehow, I just knew that Scooter was a little bit ‘different’. I don’t say that in a bad way. In fact, I have come to realize that Scooter is very unique in his own right and he has much to teach me, if only I would be open to it.
We never realized that Scooter was not like all the other cats until after we got him home. It took him a few days to acclimate to his new surroundings, but he did just fine with that part of the settling in process. In fact, Scooter got his name because he literally went sliding across the kitchen tile one day, a few days after we got him home and so the name “Scooter” just kind of stuck to him. And, believe me, he has fulfilled that name in more ways than I could ever imagine.
I knew within a few months that Scooter was a bit ‘different’, although, at first, I couldn’t really tell how ‘different’ he was. I just knew that there was something different and unique about him. It took me a couple of months to realize what that was. In time, I came to realize that Scooter is a bit ‘slower’ than the other cats that I share my life with, but not in a bad way. In fact, when I look at him, I often thank God for him because he is so different. We did some research on Scooter after we got him home because he just didn’t look like your average “Domestic Short Hair”! We soon learned that Scooter is a Bengal Cat. We did even more research on that and learned a whole lot more about this cat and their breed. The most important thing that we learned is that the Bengal Cat is extremely independent and very smart. Now, the independent thing might not apply to Scooter because he is definitely dependent on us and my love. He just loves to be loved. When he wants to be independent, then he will be independent. It is just that simple for him.
Scooter is a bit slower in the fact that he doesn’t always figure things out right away. To me, that is a really great thing. Because lately, I have had problems figuring things out. It takes me a little longer to comprehend something that I am reading or something that I am trying to solve, whether it is the bank account or just trying to follow something on t.v. However, since we adopted Scooter, I have discovered that it is no big deal. Nothing bothers Scooter. In fact, his nick-name is: “my little back-up kitty”! The reason for this is simple. When Scooter is fearful or unsure of himself or something that he sees, he will simply, and quite literally ‘back up’ away from it. He then sits down and actually studies it. If he doesn’t figure it out, he will just walk away from it. No harm, no foul. The point is that Scooter just doesn’t get excited about too much.
We have a routine around the house and Scooter has mastered that routine. He really doesn’t let too much slow him down. In fact, he has gotten rather insistent lately that I stick to my routine, or at least, what he perceives as a routine. If he thinks that I am ‘off my routine’ then Scooter will begin to nuzzle me and my face and wake me up or follow me around the house. He is extremely talkative now whereas he really wasn’t all that talkative before.
Scooter has now been a part of my family for over 2 years. I just don’t think that I would want to change one single thing about him or this family. He just seems to fit in with us all so perfectly. So, you see, when you consider your next adoption, consider this: Just because a cat might be different or ‘slow’ in your eyes, maybe, just maybe, that cat has been put there to teach you a little something about your life and your lifestyle!

He was so exhausted the day that I took this picture

Writers for Drama Television or Comedy

Sunday, September 18, 2011

What happened to the writers for television?

Are there no more writers for television?

This is a question that I find myself asking more and more these days. The reasons are simple enough. I have noticed that there are more and more reality television shows than there are the drama’s or comedy shows that we are used to watching. It seems that, as a society, we have all been caught in the reality television more than anything else. Like the “Housewives of New York”. It is as if we just can’t get enough of watching the reality shows from one week to the next.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am just as guilty as the next guy when it comes to reality television. In fact, I was actually getting some enjoyment out of certain television shows like, “Operation Repo”. Unfortunately, I got so fed up with listening to the filthy language on that particular show that I just quick watching. And, of course, who can forget the ever-present Matt on the show. You know, the guy that seems to think that the answer to any part of negotiation is to just beat everyone up and then brag about it later on during the show, or during the short little interviews between the clips of each repossession. Personally, I just plain got fed up with listening to Matt and all of his great ‘sexual conquests’ and how he is the best repo guy there is. Really? Because I found yet another reality repo program that I actually enjoyed watching a few times. The reality television show called, “South Beach Tow”.

The reasons that I actually enjoyed South Beach Tow even better than Operation Repo is simply because of the fact that it was actually entertaining and because there was not a lot of the filthy language. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that there is filthy language in just about everything that we all do from day to day. However, there are limits to how much dirty, filthy language that I will listen to before I just finally change the channel. In fact the most important thing that I noticed about Operation Repo is that about the only one that prefers to cuss and get violent, for the most part, is Matt. And, given the fact that he suddenly seems to think that he is a ‘partner’ in the company just because his mommy put up the money for the new truck, is utterly ridiculous to me. In fact, given that Matt is well over the age of 45, then I don’t think that mommy should have had to put up the money for the show. But, as we all know, that is just ‘my opinion’.

From a personal standpoint, I would have to say that the increase in reality television is a direct reflection on us, as a society. This is a sad statement to me as I write this. It is as if we have lost our direction or that we have no thought process anymore. Now, I am not saying that this applies to ALL of us. I am simply saying that this seems to apply to a lot more people than we seem to think.

With the Neilson Ratings always sending me things in the mail and asking that I ‘tell them how you feel’ so to speak. It saddens me to realize that those ratings are obviously not meant for us regular television viewers.

I will say that on the subject of reality television, one of my more favorite television shows is “Project Runway”. I just can’t help myself. I started watching this program regularly when they had Christian Seriano on there. That guy was simply amazing and quite entertaining, whether he intended to be or not. The fact that he was on the show was enough for me. I knew from one week to the next that I would be watching just to see Christian and to listen to all of his funny quips; that, and the fact that he is a phenomenal designer, in this writer’s opinion.

The topping to that is that Christian now has his own clothing line, although I am quite sure that I could never afford any of his clothing, they are nevertheless, quite beautiful to see. Add to that, the fact that he is now advertising for Payless Shoe Source and I did notice that his ‘signature’ heels are right there in the front. Now, to me, that is quality, reality television.