In an age when technology evolves on a daily basis there are
disadvantages as well as fantastic advantages.
The disadvantages include making certain vocations
increasing obsolete.
Are YOU in a field which could possibly suffer such obsolescence
in the near, or relatively distant future?
Think about some jobs right now that are in danger based on
just one article I read yesterday…jobs in the retail sector.
There are 19 nationwide chains that are closing over 100
stores this year alone. This doesn’t include that chains that are closing less
than 100, obviously, and that includes Walmart also. Radio Shack alone is
closing over 1000.
Stores come and go all of the time. But this is a large and scary list and when you see Sears
on any list, it is cause for concern. They simply have the best research team
when it comes to forecasting future sales based on real estate and consumer
purchasing trends.
This means a few hundred thousand people will be unemployed this year in the retail sector. When you think about the holiday season and how we point to the retail sector so often to discuss the strength of the labor market, this is troubling.
We can point to online sales as a major cause of this
coupled with the shitty economy. Currently, we do know the US Government is doing
pretty well with continuing record levels of tax income. That tax is coming
from businesses and you and I, my friends. The US Government took in a record
472 BILLION dollars last month which beat the old record set just the previous
month. That is money that ONLY the government can spend. Businesses can’t
invest and YOU can’t spend it either so it makes it tough for businesses and individuals to improve their own financial situation.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/7/feds-set-tax-haul-record-472-billion-one-month/
Anyway…so what will you do if YOUR industry gets flushed
down the Crapper for economic or technical reasons?
For about 20 years I have run a sports video production
company. It was only 8 years ago when I took on an additional challenge and
became a hypnotist. But thank God that I did. Because the video production
business basically got flushed because of technological advances which made it
much easier and cheaper for my potential clientele to produce their own work.
Now, they will rarely produce anything better than I can, but in these shitty
economic times people are saving wherever they can.
That’s completely fair and in a capitalist society (ok,
quasi-socialist society in which we live now) I have to accept that.
I was simply fortunate that I like to do other things don’t
place all of my eggs in one basket, so to speak.
Are you a teacher? Are you safe? Well, as long as the
government educational system makes laws to force kids into their system you
are ok, but more and more parents are bailing from the
public school system to teach them at home. A growing online teaching community
is available and, in many cases, is CHEAPER as well.
Robots are doing more and more jobs. Automated tellers and
kiosks are taking more jobs.
One thing Obama did say one time, with which I agreed, when
he spoke about jobs early in his administration he brought
up how technology is taking jobs from people so that does have an effect on job
numbers.
There are currently over 93 million Americans NOT in the
work force right now. That is a record and despite what our
leadership will want to tout as good news that we have a 5.4% unemployment rate
that is not good news for those 93 million, unless they are getting free money
out of the 472 billion that the government has taken from those who are working
last month.
So what are YOU doing to ward off a potential disaster in your own working life? The percentage of Americans who will never have to worry about such things is much, much smaller than those who do and I am not really talking to them. I am talking to YOU who has to strategize and plan more effectively for an unforeseen, or maybe even inevitable, dilemma in your life.
Remember the old In Living Color show starring the Wayans
Brothers, Jim Carrey and even Fly Girl, Jennifer Lopez? They used to do this
skit with a couple of the Wayans acting as Jamaicans and the running gag was
that they are very hard working and always working at least 7 jobs. Anyone with
less than that were just lazy people even if they had only 4 or 5.
I believe that EVERYONE in a potentially precarious situation
should endeavor to be such a Jamaican, as portrayed in those skits.
This has now set me up perfectly to promote all of the
things that I do but it might give you some ideas as to how to earn extra money
for yourself, pursue a dream of some sort, and not only survive in these times
but thrive and be prepared for what we all hope never happens for you…a catastrophe.
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As mentioned I still do sports video production
and a wide variety of it.
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I have a website for that service which also
does a smattering of local sports coverage to a much lesser degree than it did
in the past. That coverage, which I am increasing again, helps bring potential
clients to the site who may take advantage of the video services.
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On the site I can run ads to make extra money.
- - On the site I can sell videos that I shoot.
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I am working to build that site into a national
sports video presentation site. All of those videos will get plugged into the
revenue generation program.
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I am an entertainer, which is my main career
right now. I even do TWO different types of acts, to diversify there.
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I do hypnotherapy both group and individual.
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On my hypnosis site I sell hypnosis recordings
and can also run ads.
- - I also train others to become hypnotists live
and now online.
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- When I videotape my hypnosis shows I put some
highlights on YouTube and they are in the revenue generation program so I earn
per view there.
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- I am associated with two other firms, one of
which is a counseling service where I do hypnotherapy and the other is a Sober
Companion service.
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I recently started a booking agency because I
make all sorts of contacts and can always match up a former client with an act
that I have met on the road or online. I have a website for that.
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- I recently started a social network, which is
similar in operation (but with more features) to Facebook. There I can sell ads
and, at some point, sell subscriptions.
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I do a weekly “comedy” podcast called the
Dungeon of Manlove. Our website is marshcast.com. There, we have just opened up
an online store where we will sell our stuff but also invite others to sell
their podcasts, music and merchandise too. We will then market the site, and
therefore our shows, using an affiliate marketing system.
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- For quite some time I operated a sports festival
called The Diamond State Games here in Delaware. I am looking to re-launch it
in 2016.
- Referee a couple of sports - volleyball and basketball
- Referee a couple of sports - volleyball and basketball
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- And I have an affiliation with a credit card
processing company and if you are a business which takes credit cards I can
save you money on processing fees.
I never ever cared what I did to make a living as long as I could do so. I was very close to being able to sell out everything and retire before the economy tanked. I have to rebuild once again. But I won’t rely on just one thing to get me there, even though I never really did.
I have been called crazy before in my life…many times. I
have been told over and over again that my refusal to comply and stop thinking “outside
of the box” is plain stupid. I make social network posts all of the time
announcing things that I am doing and am promoting. It has to look a bit crazy.
But I don’t care and now you know why. I would hope that if you are in a
position such as I mentioned but don’t have a backup plan…or 7…this will
inspire you to get one.
Oh…yeah…I almost forgot. Even THIS BLOG earns extra money
for me since its placed in the Google Ad Sense program.
Done.
