A "Please Help" Post

But nothing serious. A friend of mine and I have started a website, that will allow you to keep track of your expenses, and even alert you to when you're reaching a you-defined limit. You can add money spent records to your account via text messaging from your cell phone (to an email address, not a phone number yet), or online.



Lots of other features, regarding tracking personal finances are in the works, but in the meantime, we need testers! So if you're the type that keeps track of personal expenses, please, in the spirit of friendship, and entrepreneurship, sign up (we only ask for username and password, nothing else), use the site, and let us know of anything you like/dislike or any errors you encounter.



Visit the site at www.MyWifesMoney.com

Thanks!

Tagged Like A Ragged Fence

Weird got me so I must participate.

The Rules:

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).

2. Open to p. 123.

3. Go down to the 5th sentence.

4. Type in the following 3 sentences.

5. Tag five people. (Or three, or whatever)

"The first (and most cumbersome) is to format the value portion of the hash element into something recognizable, such as a comma-separated list. Whenever you store the hash element, you assemble the list into a scalar by using join, and whenever you retrieve a value from a hash, you split the scalar back into a list by using split. This method is cumbersome and error-prone."

My part would have been more interesting, I think had I not done this while at work LOL.

I tag:
1) Agincourt, because he lives to blog.

2) Anthony, because he'll whine if I don't include him :-D

And the following because they're totally hot:

3) Eerily Like Jane
4) Karyn
5) Kenpo Angel

Back In The Saddle Again

Okay, so after being a total failure at promotional product sales, I needed a small time period for the entrepreneurial dream to revive itself. Personally, I blame gas prices for the last failure. I chose promotional products because it was something I could do part time, and because past ventures failed (in my personal belief) because of my fear of selling. Well, I countered that fear, and I'm proud of my accomplishments in this last venture. What was lacking this last time, was marketing. I had to do it old school, to make sales. I got out there, canvassed, and cold called like crazy. Whenever I could get some time with people (and not get the cold shoulder), I'd make sales. And I did it MY way. No pushing, or manipulating. Just excitement and belief in the products. I'm 100% confident that I could do it again. But next time, market myself and products better, so I can get calls instead of making ALL of them.

After gas prices went up, all my expenses went to cold calling. I just wasn't getting the customers fast enough to support it. But WHAT A RIDE!

I didn't blog because this is an entrepreneur's blog. I wasn't pursuing anything, and wasn't planning to go back at it too soon, I needed a job. Sadly, I wasn't having a lot of success there, plus fractured my ankle (requiring surgery), and I got attacked by bees and stung over 100 times (another hospital stay) which led to some depression for a bit, another reason to not want to blog.

Fast forward to September of last year, and I finally got a job. I work as a programmer for the county community supervision and corrections department. I've got a lot done here, which has made me well liked by my superiors -unlike my old boss. A nice reminder that anyone ... anyone, can be a manager someday, no training required, or provided. Suck at your own speed.

So now I'm a happy camper at work, and the dream is full throttle again. My friend Ron has had his entrepreneur spirit revitalized for some reason, and has a couple of software projects in mind using cold fusion development for internet and intranet applications. He's included me in this, and gotten me fired up again. We sat down and designed the database for the project, but most of the development has been done by Ron thus far (I'm still learning cold fusion and have to download an editor). We spend time talking about theoretical features of the first project, and Ron's developing them into a tangible, visible output faster than I possibly could. He credits cold fusion's abilities over his own ... I'm not convinced yet.

So that's my newest venture, we'll see how well it goes. In the past, I've wanted to post commentary on politics, humor, etc and didn't because I thought it didn't belong here. But WTF kind of thinking is that? Is it not part of the entrepreneur spirit to make the rules, not follow them? It's my blog, and the rules are mine alone to make or break, so just a heads up, I'll be traveling outside of the title's scope on occasion. It'll be more fun that way too.

Cred to my friend Weird for the cyber kick in the ass to get back to this. Thanks bud!

Pounding The Pavement

While I can never give up on the dream of one day being an entrepreneur, facts are facts. I have to go back to work. Sadly, that's not going too well either. The only good thing about it is that it seems that most companies prefer that you submit your resume online.

The wife doesn't want me to take "just any job". She's only interested in benefits, not income. She thinks taking a job near minimum wage would screw me more than being unemployed (make the resume look nice). Plus, she doesn't want to have to go back to chipping in as much with the house work. Me, I'm interested in money.

The wife's stance is both good and bad. If I could find some way to make money doing some temp work or something, then I could quickly bounce back into chasing the dream, but jeez Louise, that's not easy to find either. Here I have this amazing spouse that's extremely supportive of my pursuit, yet I need some cash to get going again.

For IT jobs, they only want to hire specific language experience. It doesn't matter that programming is programming, there's little learning curve between programming languages. That's like saying that if you work on Fords, you're somehow incapable of fixing a Chevrolet.

If you've studied any Microsoft visual language, OOP, and C++, you've little to learn to change from one language to another. I don't get it, but hey, I'm not an HR guy. Nor will I ever be, I'd rather be a man whore. Not really, but being an HR guy would totally suck nuts.

The latest business opportunity I'm researching is one called Ocean Pacific Wood Products. You can set up your own store, or sell to businesses like nurseries that don't carry their own line of outdoor furniture, and give them a taste of the profit. I like the products they offer, the profit margins, and the support the company claims to provide. Now I need to visit some places to see if there's even a brick and mortar establishment where I can set up a deal like I've described.

I've also thought about getting a local guy selling those wood kid playsets, and also a sun canopy contractor. I can create a brochure/flyer, and get in with a credit company so I can put "we finance" on the brochure.

So that's where I'm at so far! The journey/struggle continues, only it's looking like I'll have to fantasize from my cubicle again!

Stop The Senseless Pain And Terror

If you do any sales for a living, this site will make you feel better. Just a heads up, it's a site selling sales coaching or something, but what's cool is they're offering prizes for the best 'worst cold call' story told. The stories are where the best reading lies.

Now This Opportunity Looks Interesting

I found this business opportunity online. While it's funny in so many ways, I think I can make it work. I'd even venture a guess that it'd be easier than past sales jobs I've done. Firstly, mom and pop owners are loads easier to approach cold than big corporations. And many a mom and pop establishment generates lots of traffic to their businesses. I think the key word here in dealing with this subject is to gently discuss the product, rather than my typical WYSIWYG, "over the top" approach.

I would definitely want to call them "feminine hygiene products" instead of "snatch pads." I also think the wife would appreciate my not discussing her own personal menstrations with potential clients, especially those that live in this little suburb of ours.

Then there's the whole working for charity, yet earning a living at the same time. That's noble! I don't necessarily have to become wealthy to do major good! I like that. Biggest problem I see is going to my 20th High School reunion coming up soon, and having to answer the "so what do you do for a living?" question. That may be the second biggest problem, I'm not sure. I have a ton of friends that will pounce on this one LOL.

Next Step

Well the promotional products have been good to me, but not real good. I close sales when I can get in with the decision maker, but the difficult part for me has been getting to him/her. I can say with confidence that the customers that I have in fact earned, are mine, and won't be swayed by any others in the same business. So my strengths in sales are closing, and customer relationship building. I'm also not afraid of cold calling. My weaknesses are getting past "the gate keeper", and rocky road ice cream.

So the work and effort in the sales game I've chosen isn't paying off in the ways that I'd like. BUT I'm learning tons, and have grown a strong appreciation for the business. That being said, I'm not making enough, fast enough to keep me playing 3-6 Hold 'Em at the Kickapoo Casino in Eagle Pass. Oh yeah, then there's that 'help support my family' thing.

Well in the course of developing customer relationships with my clients, it has been mentioned that I have a former career in computer programming. This has resulted in requests for web page development, and computer repair. At first, I was doing it for no charge, but that's a thing of the past.

Long story short, I figured I'd start up a local computer repair business. It turns out there is no service being offered in the town I live in (the town in which I live?). Repair techs are driving in from San Antonio, and charging top dollar for repair. My friend Weird, from Slacker Nation, offers a full realm of computer consulting in Colorado. He brought me up to speed on some quality software to use for service calls. (Sincerest thanks again!) My father made me up some flyers (I guess he was bored), and Uncle Jesse offered to hook me up with some signs to advertise the new business.

Because most of my friends are computer nerds, and because I've worked in the profession (ugh, I shudder at the memory), I have contacts and help abound! Most of them are tech whores for the right dollar amount, so if and when the business grows beyond my ability to provide service by myself, I can half the service fees with them, and have a strong service base. I already have a win-win scenario, now lets just hope I'll have to tap that resource.

So I'll still be out selling promotional products, when there are no repairs or service to be done.

I'll still be a home based business, with the goal of making enough to rent a location, sometime down the road.

I'm hoping that one or the other will take off to the point that I'll have no choice but to drop the other. But for now, I think the combination of the two will keep me from cubicle beelzebub. So keep your fingers crossed for me! LOL