[scandibro]

I'd like to get the opinions and experience from those of you who are selfemployed or run your own business.

I don't know if I am a minority in this regard (I doubt it), but as someone making my income online I often deal with uncertainty and 'impending doom' regarding my business. I do affiliate marketing and some services regarding to online marketing and I almost never feel like my income is secure. Part of that I am sure is the field I am in, where the whims of Google can decimate a major part of my income at any given day. Try waking up one morning, checking your rankings in Google for your websites and seeing red arrows (lost positions = lost income) all over the place. That is a very bad feeling.

Now, I've been on my own for almost 2 years and have been able to weather several storms and still manage to have enough income to live comfortably, but I have zero savings and no investments and that bothers me.

I am wondering though if these uncertainties I am feeling is just something everyone who is selfemployed has to deal with or it is actually my business model that is simply lacking.

For now, I have decided the latter, and is working on learning coding to add some marketeable skills and also to be able to rise the barrier of entry for competitors.

What is your opinion?

[samsamsam]

scandibro, I cannot speak to the specifics of your business industry. However, I have spent the last several years as an entrepreneur. I have invested a lot in a couple of industries (I would be prefer not to mention which). It has been a roller coaster ride and the stress and uncertainty has been rough. Things are finally pointing towards up, but I feel there will always be some uncertainty.

Part of being self-employed is not having a boss. Eating what you kill so to say. You get the benefits of having flexibility and the potential of a big pay off (which is what I am betting on).

The key to being able to make more money is having a set of skills/offerings that other people do not. Learn things that few people know, that people will pay for. Anything else just gets competed away by people willing to do it for less.

At some point self employed people (the ones who have not given up) should get to the point of having some stability and profitability. Or else you could get more by working for someone else. I am not trying to dissuade you from what you are doing.

Some people may place a priceless value on the freedom on being self-employed. Others may feel they have less freedom working on their own because they are constantly worrying about survival. Only you know what you value.

Can you earn more working for someone? Do you see it possible to make more than you can earn more working for yourself than for someone else? How much of a dollar/euro/kroner value do you place on being self employed?

[Laner]

Quote:

I am wondering though if these uncertainties I am feeling is just something everyone who is selfemployed has to deal with or it is actually my business model that is simply lacking.

For now, I have decided the latter, and is working on learning coding to add some marketeable skills and also to be able to rise the barrier of entry for competitors.

This is something that all small business owners have to deal with. If you have stakes in any business, actually, this feeling will always be there. If you cant deal with that feeling, then perhaps you are in the wrong line of work.

The fact that you know to diversify is good. I know next to nothing about internet marketing but from what I do know of it (and other business models like it) is that the ever increasing competitiveness is where men are made and broken. Certain companies will grow, and in time will dominate the market. Whats left is those who play at the edge (not a bad place if you like freedom) and those who are struggling at the bottom and middle. Only time will tell where you lay.

If you have the fight, brains and contacts go all in. But the uncertainty will not go away.

If you want freedom learn how to make your business stable with income goals and diversify so some of your income is more stable.

I know a few guys who love the middle struggle. They always have their sights on the next target and their place is known, who is behind them and who is in front.

[scandibro]

(09-01-2013 04:28 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  

Can you earn more working for someone? Do you see it possible to make more than you can earn more working for yourself than for someone else? How much of a dollar/euro/kroner value do you place on being self employed?

In absolute income I earn about the same working for myself that I do if I worked for someone else. In terms of hourly wage, I earn significantly more being on my own, since I make money even the days I take off and I rarely work more than 4-5 hours a day. However, the goal of being selfemployed has changed for me. I live abroad now, which I couldn't as an employee. I can travel as I like, go out at night as I like etc, sleep late if I like, all good things. But my next goal is to try to build a business which can be sold for a substantial profit. I am 31 and probably is in the top 25% income wise for my age, but not top 15%.

Freedom is important to me, but not because I can't work for someone else. I just can't stand the usual office politics in larger firms and having to compromise so much. I also hate the idea of only being able to get small raises a year and no part in any major progress in a firm. 9-5, 5 days a week never seemed productive to me, since most employees really only work productively a couple of hours a day, yet have to spend most of their waking hours in an office chair and the one day be laid off and forgotten within a week.

I'd have no problems being an employee with a good many stock options in a promising startup, that would be close to ideal if it was to be employment.

(09-01-2013 04:33 PM)Laner Wrote:  

Quote:

I am wondering though if these uncertainties I am feeling is just something everyone who is selfemployed has to deal with or it is actually my business model that is simply lacking.

For now, I have decided the latter, and is working on learning coding to add some marketeable skills and also to be able to rise the barrier of entry for competitors.

This is something that all small business owners have to deal with. If you have stakes in any business, actually, this feeling will always be there. If you cant deal with that feeling, then perhaps you are in the wrong line of work.

The fact that you know to diversify is good. I know next to nothing about internet marketing but from what I do know of it (and other business models like it) is that the ever increasing competitiveness is where men are made and broken. Certain companies will grow, and in time will dominate the market. Whats left is those who play at the edge (not a bad place if you like freedom) and those who are struggling at the bottom and middle. Only time will tell where you lay.

If you have the fight, brains and contacts go all in. But the uncertainty will not go away.

If you want freedom learn how to make your business stable with income goals and diversify so some of your income is more stable.

I know a few guys who love the middle struggle. They always have their sights on the next target and their place is known, who is behind them and who is in front.

Good post.

I like that. I wrote this post inspired by Roosh recent vid about setting goals. I suffer too much from complacency once I reach a certain income/standard of living. Taking days, weeks, months off (not completely of course), where the really motivated person would push extra hard to solidify his position in the market.

Good posts guys, keep them coming.

[worldwidetraveler]

Cash flow management is a necessity no matter if you're working for someone else or working for yourself. You can go down either way if you can't manage that portion of your life.

At least with your business, you have more control. Working for someone else put all the control in their hands. They dictate whether you get paid or not. There is less security.

You should be looking at what is making you money and what isn't. Let go the activities not making you money and double up on the activities that are making you money. If the money is tied to your time, you need to figure out a way to push that work on to someone else so you can expand. I take it you are not bringing in enough cash to feel secure since you have none saved up.

You need to be able to weather the storms. It sounds like you need to revamp how you are doing business in order to bring more in.

[w00t]

This is exactly why I turned my back to affiliate marketing and SEO. Any day google can change their algorithm or your vendor just closes his affiliate program and youre done.
Im into freelancing now which is way more stable. Next step would be to build a real business and turn it into passive income. Also always save and have a nestegg.

[MikeCF]

I've been self-employed for over a decade.

Control cash flow.

Remember that your best month is not a typical month. Neither is your worst month.

It's easy to ball hard after a good month. That mentality is how rich people go broke.

Have a line of credit to carry you through truly lean times.

It takes balls to run your own business. That's why most guys slave away for the man.

I could never work for someone ever again.

Could you?

[samsamsam]

scandibro,

So if you are doing that well and live abroad, are you just burning cash on lifestyle?

[scandibro]

(09-01-2013 05:33 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  

scandibro,

So if you are doing that well and live abroad, are you just burning cash on lifestyle?

I am not doing that well, I don't know what people classify as doing that well. I make the equivalent of the wage of a lawyer, banker, engineer with one or two years experience in GROSS income, my after expenses is lower.

Yes, I spend quite a lot on lifestyle such as probably too expensive an apartment in a nice neighborhood, imported foods and wine, tennis club, drinking and expenses related to chasing women.

It is not extravagant at any rate, but considering that I've spent the last couple of years slumming it (really slumming it) while studying, working and trying to build a business perhaps I went a bit overboard once I finally began making some money.

But that is ok, if the conclusion is to learn how to live more frugally. I have very little experience in budgetting and actually running a business, since up until a couple of years ago I went the usual college/academic route and never learned a thing in university or from my parents about proper money management.

[Laner]

Quote:

Control cash flow.

Quote:

Cash flow management is a necessity no matter if you're working for someone else or working for yourself.

I cannot stress this enough. I remember this was my "AHAH!" moment of self employment.

It was sometime early on in my second year. I had just done my year end and I was completely bewildered how on paper I had only made X amount, yet my pockets were seemingly bulging with paper.

It came down to cash flow. I reworked a part of my business plan right then to include ways to get cash rolling in every couple of days.

That changed everything. Every day it seemed there was money (albeit only drips) flowing in. Not enough to live like a baller without danger, but when my head was down and I was hussling and did come up to blow off steam I had access to cash and it felt like a lot.

Mentally, sitting in positive cash flow territory is a warm fuzzy buzz.

[AsiaBaller]

The only certain thing in life is death.

When I was younger I got to a point where I was making just as much as I could make in a normal, low stress job, while working all day, every day just to be able to pay my bills and I choose to just work for the man for a while until better options came up.

In the end it's up to your personal stress and risk tollerance, as well as your judgement on how well you'd fare when your source of income would suddenly be gone.

Even big businesses, like automobile company suppliers for example rely on the financial well being of their main clients and when those go bust or are having hard times, the suppliers often end up going bust too.

Adsense sites and the like are a high risk business, so you should really work on diversifying your income right now instead of slacking along until the worst case scenario takes place.

I'm not sure why you'd want to learn coding btw. unless you want to go back to employee status. Tons of low cost freelance coders are out there for hire.

[WanderingSoul]

Definitely uncertainty in being unemployed, but also much more uncertainty in being employed than people realize.

You can show up to work any day and be handed your walking papers through no fault of your own.

You can bust your ass to close a huge deal, only to get shit canned right before it closes and you lose your commission because your manager/boss felt you didn't deserve it.

Hell, I had a Jiu Jitsu instructor who showed up to teach one day and the place had been emptied out over the weekend and closed down. Owner didn't give him a heads up because he wanted him to keep teaching until the day it closed so he could squeeze every extra penny out of the place. Students didn't even know it was closing until my friend showed up to train and saw the mats and heavy bags were gone. The owner was actually a cop (that one's for you, jimukr104 hah).

Business may be bad and you get laid off with no warning.

Manager is bat shit crazy and decides to cut your hours down to 10 per week to force you to quit.

Company loses a couple big clients and cuts half of their workers.

Your job is outsourced overseas.

You go to the bar, get drunk, hit on the bouncers girlfriend, they jump you, police arrest you for drunken disorderly because they know and talk with the bouncers practically every night and are friends, you miss work and show up with a black eye, get fired.

Ex girlfriend shows up at your work throwing a hysterical fit, boss cans you.

Managers cousin needs your job.

yada yada yada.

[Roosh]

Quote:

but I have zero savings

This is what's causing you anxiety, more than a variable income. Build a 2 year living fun and a few bad months won't get you.

[JackDavey]

I own a small, real-world service business, which serves local, high-end clients. This is a very different endeavor from internet marketing, but I have been implementing an idea that may, with some modifications, be useful to you.

Typically I work for a client on a month-to-month basis. Lately I've been offering a discount to clients who agree to sign a 12 month contract with me. This assures me a certain amount of money for the year. The discount is one free month of service, the price of which I divide by 12 and apply as a credit on each month's bill (this gives clients an incentive not to break the contract).

I don't know how applicable this is to your situation, but this one idea has stabilised my cash flow quite a bit. I still have seasonal ups and downs, but now I also have a baseline that is guaranteed. Advertising this promotion has also brought in some new business during what is normally my slow season.

[reaper23]

I have been both an entrepreneur and a salary man. Currently executive director of an org with about 120 people.

If you don't think that each one of the people that works for me doesn't face the risk of losing their job at anytime for any reason you'd be crazy.

Security at a salary job is an illusion.

People come to a fork in the road. One side says freedom. The other says security. Most chose security and end up losing both.

[WestIndianArchie]

(09-01-2013 04:19 PM)scandibro Wrote:  

For now, I have decided the latter, and is working on learning coding to add some marketeable skills and also to be able to rise the barrier of entry for competitors.

What is your opinion?

You're sitting on a gold mine, but you're not monetizing it properly.

If you can "rank and bank" - that's a skill that people will pay for
- rank and bank client sites
- teach people to rank and bank
- create email lists for your end users of your current sites and continue to promote "value providing" products.

Break out camtasia and record a session of you finding a good product,
figuring out a good niche
finding a good monetization method
analyzing a keyword,
analyzing the competition,
picking a domain,
picking the right theme
setting up the plug ins properly
writing/ordering the content,
editing and formatting the content for end users,
finding pictures, picking layouts, picking fonts, what headings to use
editing the content for search engines - headings, keyword density, meta-descriptions, alt-tags

finding relevant sites to your niche
your white hat outreach to relevant sites
writing blog comments, forum responses, guest posting

your black hat stuff with getting companies to do the work
using xrumer or some automated tool to build links quickly
researching relevant expired domains with good page ranks and building those out to some how put link juice on your money site

Internet is 20 years old, and IMO there STILL aren't really good courses out there that break all of these aspects down WELL. Crappy click bank products, noisy free forums, legit gurus that always seem to hold something back because everyone is just gonna copy their method instead of learn from it.

And that's just the beginning. Aside from selling shovels to miners, you can sell your gold to people who can't be bothered to learn all that stuff - small businesses and new entrepreneurs.

You can create products in the successful niches you understand.

You can broaden your income with cpa offers, adsense, amazon.

If you get product keywords well, that can be an Amazon affiliate site, then a drop shipping site, then a hold inventory e-commerce store, then a brick and mortar.

Hell you could take your internet money and buy tax liens down at the court house. Do it well and end up with a house that you can flip to investors, or one you can live in.

It's not like people aren't already out there doing all of these things.

What's really holding you back? It surely can't be information.

WIA