No Job, but a comfortable income

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I suppose it depends upon how you approach work. Doing years of research does risk being behind the times when you actually start trying to attract clients. But if doing competent, sustainable work is a priority, knowing what you are doing is going to help your longevity in the field. Some fields, as you mention above, require quick, decisive action. Others do not change radically and a few years is not an issue. At any rate, keeping up with information and trends is usually useful.

There are plenty of people who can be very successful by pretending knowledge. I guess if it works for them, then great, but I don't know that I would want to be the client of a con-artist. If I discovered that a person conned me to get work, I would not be likely to trust them again. The con artist who gets results may get hired again, but often those kinds of results are unpredictable and the next thing may be an utter failure.

At any rate, each person has to find their own way. For the photography work I described above, lying to get a job would have been both illegal (I'd have had to use someone else's work and pass it off as my own if I didn't have any actual skills) and unsustainable (once the art directors saw that I could not deliver good images, I would not be hired again.)

Also, when I speak of research, I am refering to doing the work to know what your clients need. And knowing what clients are out there. If you don't know what they need, you can only rely on chance and that seems like a rather inefficient method of approaching clients.

Well, more often than not, the big money is in emerging sectors. For example, if computers were a brand new thing right now, there would be no established players in the market as there are today. Apple and Microsoft would be just as big as Asp-Z Tech. Therefore, if you get in quick to that market, hire people who are good at that market, get investors on your side if you need more capital, and advertise lots, you've got a good chance of doing well in that market.

If, however, I was to start Asp-Z Tech today, I'd have very little chance of going anywhere because the market's already owned by the big guns.

As for lying and being a con man, that's not really what I was saying. What I'm saying is, as long as you know the jargon and you're up to date with current market trends, you don't need to have a complete knowledge. For example, do you think Steve Jobs is a master coder? Nope. It's the Apple engineers that create all the products, and Foxconn - a whole other company altogether - that manufactures them. Steve just comes up with the ideas, does the design, and sells the things.

Obviously, you'll may very well learn a bit more as you go along, but as you start, it isn't essential, just as long as you watch what your market's doing and the people working for you do have lots of knowledge.

I don't get how that's conning you into working for them. They hire you for your skills, remember, not under some promise that they know just as much as you at all times. Also, "using someone's work" is what all companies do. When you work for a company, you're basically letting them pay you for use of your skills.

And yes, it is of course important to know what clients want. As I said, a business should keep an eye on market trends by all means.

This is such a frustrating thread. Here's my thoughts:
First, you have to be in touch with yourself - your strengths, etc. If you start your own business that requires going to businesses or phone-sales and you're not good at it, or it's extremely uncomfortable for you - you'll never succeed.
Second, it's not a choice between a 'job' and 'start your own business' in the sense of renting space and buying stock and selling. Or buying a franchise for hundreds of thousands (or more) dollars.
You can start earning for little or no money from home. Having money to spend can speed it up, or you can waste it all.
Here's the trick - each and every one of these is WORK. They take effort, they take time, and they take new skills and knowledge you may not have now. I've been working at each of these for a year or more, and earn just a bit of money. I don't focus on each, as I have a day job, but I get nice little checks.
Author - When I was laid off, I was cooking mexican food, realized how much I loved it, and put together a quick cook book with pictures I took for simple, fulfilling mexican food that frequently can be made with leftovers. Created a website, and completely and utterly failed. I had NO idea how to get it ranked in google, keywords, etc. (I've gotten better).
So, I took it and listed it on Amazon for kindle. I sell a couple or a few a month. I have a few others for sale as well I've written or compiled, each sell a little. I'm not retiring off this, but I can in all honesty say I am an income earning Author.
Here's my Mexican Cookbook so you can see what I'm talking about:
(I can't post links, so it's Everyday Mexican Cookbook on Amazon, for Kindle)

I'm planning on expanding it this year to make it big enough for print-on-demand - so if you have thoughts or requests for recipes to be included, let me know!

Blog - Blogs are SO easy, and if you put adsense ads on them you can make a bit of money. Find a topic that's either super hot in the news OR that you're an expert on (regardless of how specific it might be) and you can make a bit.
For example, I have had bedbugs, they're big in the news, and so i put together a blog on them, my experience, and how I got rid of them. I'm not ranked high in google, but I comment on news stories sometimes and post my link, and I just got a check from Google for my ad income yesterday.

Affiliate income - this goes along with both above. Sites like Clickbank have products (frequently ebooks) you can represent. Others create the product, you blog, email, etc. about it, and when people buy it you earn a commission (frequently 75%). I'm not very successful at this, but I don't focus on it much either, but I still get checks from Clickbank infrequently.

Network Marketing - okay, there's a lot of negativity about this, and you do have to talk to people, but you can build an organization online. Fact is, Network Marketing/mlm is a legitimate way to earn an income that is frequently misunderstood, vilified by those who've failed and/or been taken advantage of by immoral people, or made the news because of some scam artist.
However, it can also be a fulfilling and rewarding choice. IF you approach your business as truly wanting to help others and not focus on how much commission you can make if you 'get' them, you can build an ethical organization. There are thousands of honest and ethical companies out there in almost ANY market. I'm a big believer, and most of my part-time income comes from this area. I'm a Mandura Rep.


So you can start to earn at home without a job or the cost of starting a brick-and-mortar business.
More later,
Jon

As far as I can see in this thread, we are all essentially right in what we are suggesting, The main points of difference seem to be the scope of the kind of work we are talking about.

In my own case, I was refering to a single person working alone in a specific type of work that, once up to speed, could be fully self supporting. Being an Aspie, I am uncomfortable working with lots of people (and in my case that created problems) but the basic suggestions I was making are useful for that particular scope of work.

Asp-Z's suggestions seem tailored more toward a large scale business that requires many more individuals with growing levels of management. Obviously this is something that can work well for some people and is a valid suggestion for the people with the stomach for that kind of work.

Jonrpatrick suggests a third approach which seems more of a suplemental income where a conventional job is still required, but perhaps over time one can build up one's very small suplemental jobs into bigger full income.

Each approach has its merits for different kinds of people. It's not that one is right and the rest are wrong. It is that we all have different ways of approaching work and different goals as to what we want out of life. I will say, in defense of my suggestion, is that is was a functional, real world example. The money was enough to support a person well and the work was interesting.

All great points.

My suggestions are tailored towards making large amounts of money from a business you plan to expand, not small time sole trader work.

And my point was trying to be that each should consider their strengths and weaknesses or challenges and tailor their self-made opportunities for that.
Someone who has difficulty dealing with multiple people might not want to seriously consider a venture that has a potential to grow into something substantial with many employees and sub-managers all demanding their time.
Similarly, there are great opportunities when you start looking around online for legitimate ways to earn incomes, that can range from extra cash-flow to people who get very detailed oriented and focused and earn six-figures plus from home.
It's all about finding a passion, and walking into the opportunity with open eyes, and not creating a JOB for yourself you'll hate just because of the attraction of a high income.

I assume that here, by "great opportunities", you mean "scams"?

??! !
Not at all. did you read my post above? Nothing mentioned was a 'scam', and I'm not here selling anything!
The point is, if people keep their eyes open, there are thousands of opportunities out there, both on and off-line.
I knew one guy who made money by teaming with used car dealers - when they got a new car, he took a picture, dug up the details, and created a window sticker for them.
If you get good at building websites and SEO, you can work for small businesses locally helping them online.
Just 2 more examples, either of which could build a good income for someone...but both take work and may not be right for someone while perfect for others.
JP

I'm not saying you're a scammer, don't worry. But those "make a six figure salary online!! !! !" deals are rarely legit.

I do run some small websites and make money from ads, though. AdSense has made me a little bit of cash, but I'm trying to advertise on AdWords to get the sites known, too, but it's being utterly useless - I've got no activity at all since I joined about two weeks ago!

This was kind of my idea when I first posted. The online world has opened us up to a whole world of possibilities for obtaining an income, and then there are those that autistics tend to be good at (art, writing, etc) that can help earn income without being a true job.

Allow me to explain it like this: Let's say that you own a bakery (something I've considered and discussed in the past). Well, you're still doing everything you would normally do in a traditional job environment. The only difference is that you also have to run it.

What I'm talking about is doing something like setting up a website, playing poker, art commissions, etc. These sources of income seem perfect for those of us that can't work in a traditional job environment.

Whew! I thought I'd said something completely wrong.
First, you're absolutely right - most of those "Earn Six Figures from home in your pj's with only 30 minutes of effort a week!" are complete and utter scams, selling 'systems' that just never work.
However, that doesn't mean people don't do it. I can't post links in my responses here, so do a search for "Pot Pie Girl", and you'll find an affiliate marketer who DOES make 6 figures a year, and gives away a lot of advice using free techniques. (yes, she also has a course to sell too. )
As for your site and earning income, I hate adwords. I've failed utterly and miserably each time I've tried it. I do make a bit of money from adsense on a blog or two.
If you're interested in getting traffic to your site, without spending the money on adwords, check out the Warriors Forum (google search!) and the subforum "Adsense / PPC / SEO Discussion Forum". This is ALL about building backlinks and traffic to websites.
Greatest forum for internet marketing I've ever seen.

I'll check that forum out, thanks for the advice

Is there any alternative ad system you'd recommend? As a publisher, AdSense is the best in my experience, but AdWords looks crap so far.

No. As a replacement for adwords, I've tried the ones with Bing and Yahoo!, but Google is just such a monster, it's the one that gets any results at all.
The others are less expensive, but I've always had few click-thrus.

For ad display, I've only really tried adsense. I know sites like Hubpages have Konterra (or something like that) built in, but that's contextual highlighting and I HATE it... the others I really know nothing about personally.
Good luck, see you at Warriors.

Ive been considering doing something that a coworker did on the side.. ebay business.

He finds a supplier (direct from factory) of just one type of item and buys a dozen of them which he then re-sells for a profit on ebay. He makes a good amount of extra cash that way.

In his case he sells WW2 metal-cast model airplanes and tanks. Buys them and re-sells them for a 30% profit. Those things cost 50 to 100 bucks each and he sells nearly 50 a month.

Not sure if this is something one can base your entire income on but definitely worth trying with a part time job and this to supplement. You just need to find a niche item and stick with it.

Yep, it's a big piece of it. I would summarize more accurately as poor management, but the accounting is obviously a part of it. As someone once told me, there are no original ideas, just people who get the ideas to market and people who don't.

I don't recommend going self-employed as a way to live the easy life. I recommend it as a way for persons of a certain mindset to live a more fulfilled life. You may or may not get lucky and have something that will make you rich enough to retire. You don't go into it for that goal; you go into for the love of the product or the idea. If you follow your passion and dot your i's, you increase the odds it will come out alright. And, if it doesn't, at least you won't get to the end of your life wondering "what if." My husband and I have now opened and closed a few business. Financially, it set us back (basically, we don't have what it takes; don't know how else to summarize it). But as part of a life journey ... I highly recommend it. I earn a good part of my bacon by helping others get their businesses off the ground. I love being a part of it, even if I don't think I'll ever hold all the right cards for myself.

Last edited by DW_a_mom on 30 Dec 2010, 4:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I like your post. Work hard, save hard, defer gratification, retire early. Very classic advice. Keep things simple, stay focused, and hang in until the goal is met.