Charlie, as a very young lawyer, was probably getting $20 an hour. He thought to himself, ‘Who's my most valuable client?' And he decided it was himself. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. He did it early in the morning, working on these construction projects and real estate deals. Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day.
Just think what we could all do if we took some time each day and set it aside to write that book, develop our hobby into something profitable, or work on that one idea we've had for the past five years. Over a long period of time, the impact to our personal finances could be quite dramatic.
It's an issue worth considering. What would you do if you took an hour (or maybe even less, as long as it was consistent) and worked on improving your finances? What would the results be five, ten, and twenty years from now?
Buffett on Charlie Munger: Work For Yourself An Hour Each Day [My Money Blog]
FREE MONEY FINANCE
(Photo: risastla)
socialdarwinism@amwayquixtar.com
]]>however, that's just me :)
]]>I am a full-time artist already; I tried listing my work on Etsy but local sales keep me plenty busy as it is. Spending the extra time aiming for the perfect Etsy-style photo and creating the listing just wasn't worth it, plus I had to make more time to create extra pieces in addition to the ones supplied to the places I sell locally. Listing my vintage patterns on Etsy, on the other hand, has been well worth the time and effort, plus now I have more room for new supplies!
]]>A coworker does this too. He just released his CD and I bought a copy. It's actually pretty good and I feel virtuous that I'm supporting another struggling artist!
]]>Butter?
F. Paul Wilson wrote a story called "Lipidleggin'" about unhealthy fats and oils being outlawed and the thriving black market that then resulted. It's a hoot.
]]>I don't care. I have to try.
@picardia:
That's awesome. And true. If I don't try, I'll hate myself for never doing so. My life is already half-over; I don't have time for talking myself out of it, or for people who might try to talk me out of it.
If I had time, I'd do some crafts. I totally have an entire room full of stuff!
]]>Yes, exactly. That's what writers who still have to work do. That's what you do every freaking night and on your lunch hour and most of the weekend and when things slow down at work and you have no life! Aaaaa!
But someday...I will be getting paid for it. I WILL.
]]>And they say true love can't come from a computer. :-P
]]>@richcreamerybutter: Cheesemonger!
]]>I have made the most amazing friends at the animal shelter, who have in turn helped me in all areas of life. The karma is awesome. Three of the ladies volunteering at the animal shelter have lost their jobs recently due to the economy. All the other volunteers banded together and networked and got them interviews at companies where they worked. Two out of three have a job now. All the volunteers look out for each other and help each other.
Volunteering also gives you great references and looks great on a resume. For those right out of college who have no experience, volunteering is a great way to gain experience when no one will give you a chance. For example, someone who went to school for IT might volunteer to help a non-profit with their computers or networks. They will be thrilled and give wonderful references.
]]>Ive been publishing them to a blog (zombiestories.wordpress.com) with the eventual aim of packaging them up into a book. Whether it makes any money is kind of by and by as im enjoying myself each day I do this.
]]>I feel much better about my small-time bootlegging operation. It's really just building up skills for my next career. And the still is a tax write-off!
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: I don't know what your skill level in pshop is so don't take this as an insult, but there's a great webseries you should watch if you haven't. It's called "you suck at photoshop". Google it and enjoy! It actually helped me with some of the tougher stuff.. well those vids and [www.worth1000.com]
]]>On my 18th birthday, someone gave me a lotto ticket. I won a couple of bucks. I pocketed half, spent the other half on more lotto tickets. Made some small wins, won free tickets which garnered other wins, etc. Then quit.
I'm not trying to discourage others from writing. On the contrary -- many of my friends are wonderful writers, whose work I love to read. But I think it's silly to mislead people that there's big money in writing. Most writers will never get as far ahead as the latest flock on the best seller list. SOMEONE will. Just like SOMEONE hit a trifecta almost once a week when I worked at a horse track. And everyone looks to that someone and thinks, "I can do that!"
(p.s. Getting published is easy! Getting paid for it, less so.)
]]>Another way to gain extra time to work for yourself is to use your vacation/personal days from your real job to work on side projects. I do this at least a few days per year. I'm not much of a traveler, so why not use the time to make money?
]]>Personally I do some OSS stuff on the side gratis at all times just because I like to. As a side benefit it keeps me from becoming a fossil. But I am not allowed to use work resources for that in particular.
]]>I'm about to do this myself, as soon as I get a computer that will handle the software.
]]>Or maybe it's really not meant to be. I enjoy painting, but I know I'm no Renoir and I can't bear to paint a few stripes on a canvas and call it modern art, even if it did sell. The reason why I've never tried to sell my work is simply because I know my own limitations, and I know that I'm no real painter.
]]>Often times I spend an hour a day doing photoshop for myself and for friends.. I guess I should start charging.. but damn I had this plan when i was trying to learn the guitar years ago.. half hour a day i'd tell myself.. here i am not a rock star and all i can play are power chords of old Green Day songs.. Maybe they were right when they recommended ritalin.
]]>@wheresmymind: If you feel like your wine/beer is awesome sauce and your friends/familly agree there are probably home brew comps you could enter and maybe have your stuff sponsored by a company or something.. or you could take the plunge and start a microbrewery.
]]>@nakedscience: I have been thinking about this for a while. The summer seems like a perfect time to do so.
]]>@nakedscience: That's harsh. I would sooner guess that since everyone is a photographer these days it's becoming a harder field to enter. Maybe the answer lies in the subject. Find something that no one else is taking pictures of... like the emptiness of wallets during this recession. Yeah! Call it myemptiedwallet.com and just have random peoples wallets contents in the pic.
]]>I made a few hundred bucks a few months ago rehabing and reselling pianos, had a blast doing it. Downside is there are only so many beat up Rhodes in my city to buy and fix up.
]]>@wheresmymind: I'm fairly certain it is illegal in the US to sell homemade booze.
]]>@kateblack: Glad I didn't listen to you a few years ago; I wouldn't have sold eight novels by now, and I wouldn't be outearning my day job in my spare time. (Though I think next year it is becoming my day job, at least for a few years.)
If you enjoy something, and you're good at it, and you think you might be able to make money for it, you owe it to yourself to try. Even if you fail, you'll never ask yourself what-if. And you might not fail.
]]>@kevjohn: Maybe photography isn't for you?
]]>An hour?? Maybe that's what my problem has been. I've been putting 4-7 hours a day into my photography, with only moderate results. I've been working too hard!!
]]>@docrice: I'm thinking tattoo artist or piercer, maybe? Otherwise I got nothin'.
]]>@richcreamerybutter: What kind of skill is this? Monster truck driver? Assasin? Vigilante? Please, tell us more...
]]>@richcreamerybutter: Tattooing?
]]>@kateblack: Writing in your spare time is NOT the same as gambling. Why do people always compare unrelated things? Gambling means actually spending money to MAYBE win something. Writing in your personal time is something most writers enjoy, anyway, and could be fruitful in the future. Not the same thing.
]]>I make more than I spend on Etsy too, but I also understand that we're in the minority. I don't know ANY successful seller who invests as little as an hour a day. Etsy's been pretty disingenuous about their "Quit Your Day Job" series, and bragging over certain sellers' income levels -- publicizing certain sellers' gross, not net, earnings. (And without those sellers' permission, at that!)
Everyone I know who makes a living as a creative puts in better than full-time hours.
]]>I mean, just $1 a game. You never know when you might strike it rich.
]]>I believe she did lol.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265:
You know... that makes me want to fulfill my dream of being a recognized star of the adult films industry... I'm not so sure the Air Force will be too happy with that idea though.
Guess I'll have to ask the "Chain."
]]>I already do this!! Except I usually end up on Facebook talking to my mom...
But that's rewarding in itself, so I'm good with that.
]]>You never know when it might come.
]]>My point is not to discourage anyone from doing what they would like, but to encourage people to not jump on the bandwagon until they are sure that there is no conflict. For instance, if I want to spend my free time volunteering with an animal rights group, that may conflict with my working for a research laboratory, even if I'm not a scientist and they're not doing any harmful animal research (in their opinion). In the eyes of the company, I am potentially taking a public stance on something and would be representing the company by having my name or face associated with the animal rights group.
It's important for anyone to understand the realistic implications of certain things. We're not talking about setting up an Etsy shop, we're talking about more complicated things such as volunteering for certain organizations and participating in certain clubs (the NRA for example).
]]>I have seen some sort of delusional people over there who have had 10 sales and want to quit their job and "try etsy full time" and nope, that's never a goal for me.
]]>It's a rare and fortunate author who gets the popularity, longevity, good promotion and honest publisher that it takes to achieve financial stability through book royalties.
]]>I've been on Etsy from its beginning (and co-edited an unofficial news site), and most sellers are losing money on it. It takes a lot of creativity, hard work and skill to do anything more than break even.
]]>which is why you don't do jobs that don't offer some level of automation. you may work the antique game for awhile, but now that you've done it for a bit - put out a DVD on how you made X amount of dollars in X amount of time as an antique enthusiast.
sell the dvd's for $20 the same place you sell your antiques - once it becomes more popular, sell them online w/ testimonials from existing customers and your past experience in the biz as a credential.
get a fulfillment company to take over once you scale up, then you're doing 0 work and making money.
the problem with most side businesses is that they don't work for you, you work for them - and they simply don't scale. make it scalable and make it automatable.
]]>@theformatter: Er, she's looking at things realistically, which you have to do if you have any desire to succeed in anything--including your personal life.
]]>Get a coffee machine that makes coffee on a timer and set it up when you're doing the dishes after dinner.
]]>@Saboth: Which is great, unless she hates it.
]]>you could sell photos of you doing a gangster lean in a snuggie.
]]>Yeah but she could make like $50 an hour working on the weekends in a nursing home as an OT.
]]>This is a tough one to see how it would apply to my life. I work as a software developer in test. About the only thing I could do an hour a day is to study some hot topic that will allow me to get a job making more money. This is feasible but I'm still working a corporation job.
I think I would have to study something outside of my career that I would enjoy more or simply work on my personal life to make money by spending less money.
]]>If you keep looking for reasons not to do it, you'll never discover the ways to make it happen!
Jim
]]>Also, volunteering works for those of us who aren't creative and suck at selling.
]]>@Margaret Powell: what's your shop? You may have found some new customers...
]]>I volunteer for a local non-profit organization. I'm not necessarily working for myself, but I am meeting important contacts (I'd like to work in non-profit for real, and preferably in the same area), and building my resume (I'm doing something completely different (yet somewhat related) from my real job; it can only help me in the future).
Volunteering is great because you do good for others, AND yourself.
]]>@Saboth: $5-$6/hr is not bad if you enjoy it and you have the time...
]]>(can you imagine getting PAID to be on this site? SWEET!)
]]>@Papercutninja:If we keep it up for 10 or 15 years, a star might be in our future.
]]>@Mary Marsala with Fries: I need to follow in your path. I have tons of craft supplies that are dying to be made into extra income. I recently made 35 paper flowers for an auction at work and discovered they can be sold for $3 on etsy
]]>I have had this on my mind for a while for myself, because I have neglected my writing, but it just occured to me that this would be great for my husband as well. He has had a business idea for a while now, and giving himself an hour a day to research what it will take to get it up and running is a good start to eventually making it happen.
]]>@Amy Alkon: There's my problem, I can't do anything before I put on the coffee
]]>Also, if you take an hour out of your day to do something for yourself, how does that affect the time you could be spending on other things...for instance, if you have kids, taking an hour out of the day gets increasingly difficult since you already share time with kids, who have a very different view of what mom and dad should be doing.
]]>@Mad Dog McCree: You don't want to know. You just don't...want...to know.
]]>If there's anything this economy has taught me, it's that you *can't* count on big corporations to "take care of you", now or ever. Everyone needs to take care of themselves, even if they're employed at the moment.
]]>In "The War of Art," Stephen Pressfield advises people aspiring to do something be an amateur who works like a professional -- meaning do the job like you're getting paid for it. He said it more eloquently, but sorry, I'm in a hurry.
]]>ive been pondering a ponzi scheme for a while.
]]>@Papercutninja: well, one day with a lot of hard work, and a little luck, you could get a star.
]]>This sort of "snowball" approach has its merits. But like many incrementalist strategies, they tend to fall victim to behavioral weaknesses in the way our brains reward us for pleasure and sloth.
]]>