Tonight I attended Networking Night at the EAA Museum. Since I am now officially a Supply Chain & Operations Management major, attendance was mandatory. While I was very impressed with the whole setup, I must admit I felt a little out of place. Surrounded by hundreds of undergraduates preparing for their career in the corporate world, it felt odd already having a career as an entrepreneur, and listening to information about entry level jobs. UW-Oshkosh does an excellent job preparing students for careers, but I am thankful I already have that taken care of!

I do a lot of international business online. A LOT. Every now and then, an overseas customer comes along and asks me to forge an invoice to save him a few bucks in duty taxes. While this hasn't happened as much as it used to a few years ago, it still happens. Maybe they don't know any better, but it still makes my head spin.

While it may be true that this is not often prosecuted, it's still mail fraud. I like running a legitimate business, and not having to worry about being investigated for federal crimes. It's a bit upsetting to know that so many online merchants actually do this to please the customer. I don't mind, though, because it won't be me being slapped with a fine when the shit hits the fan.

I like this store's customs declaration policy:

http://www.artofadornment.ca/catalog/shipping/

"We CANNOT declare the value of the parcel contents on the Customs form as less than the actual item value for two reasons:

The fact that other businesses may lie to Customs for you does not concern us (we will not "jump off a bridge" because another store did). It is not a fair and legal business practice."

For the last several weeks I have been noticing calls on my phone from "Unavailable" coming up while I was sleeping on an almost daily basis. The caller did not leave a message during any of the many times this happened. I was just about to go to bed and my phone rang… it was them!

I picked up the phone and was greeted by an employee who was obviously reading from a script, talking at a mile a minute, slurring her words. I was half asleep, and it sounded like she was asking me to confirm some information about my Discover merchant account, and that a packet of information would be mailed out to me.

She started reading me terms and conditions as fast as possible, and as incomprehensible as possible. Eventually I thought I heard something about a fee. HOLD IT RIGHT THERE. Can you please repeat that, because you were talking way too fast? She apologized for talking fast and then read it again, just as fast. I asked her straight out if I'm going to be charged anything and she explains (a bit slower this time) that there is a $49.95 enrollment fee for a premium services package. Knowing that I definitely don't need this, I stopped her right there and told her to please not make any more sales calls to me ever again.

If you work in sales, there are some simple lessons that can be learned from this:

1.) Don't talk so damn fast!

2.) Try to sound like a human, not a robot reading a script!

3.) If you are going to sell me something, and don't do #1 and #2, even if I actually do need your product the answer is probably going to be NO!

4.) If you call me over twenty times, don't leave a message, and continue to call again, you're not going to be dealing with a receptive customer!

It's no wonder these types of jobs are becoming more susceptible to offshoring.

UPDATE: It turns out this was one of their "business partners" that called me. I called up Discover and requested that they refrain from sending me third-party solicitations.

I started up FunPageExchange.com five years ago with the vision of creating a more effective traffic exchange for arcade and humor sites. FPE allows webmasters to buy or trade traffic without the use of annoying popups or flashy ads, as all content is promoted using text links. FPE promotes content rather than advertisements, because people are more likely to click on content links rather than advertisement links.

This month, FPE reached a milestone of having delivered a total of 50 million clickthroughs so far since inception. The current count is 50,204,617 and it grows by about 20,000 per day. FPE has almost 1,500 members. I have never done any major promoting of FPE; almost all signups are generated from word of mouth. I'm starting to wonder what kind of results could be attainable if I implemented an actual marketing plan? And more importantly, what a good marketing plan might be?

I posted the following on Facebook awhile back. I thought it would make a great first post for my new blog!

—

(Originally posted 11/29/06)

What is entrepreneurship? In the traditional sense of the word, it is starting your own business; creating something out of nothing. To me it's more than that, though. When most people think of an entrepreneur they think of someone in a suit and tie, perhaps in an office board meeting. In my little world, that's not what it means to be an entrepreneur.

To me, being an entrepreneur is about freedom. It's about not having to wake up to an alarm clock. It's about wearing whatever you feel like, not an uncomfortable suit and tie. It's about being your own boss, creating your own rules, and owning your own time. It's about planning your work around your day, instead of planning your day around your work. And most of all, it's about having the power to make your dreams come true.

When I was 12, I started my first business, writing a newsletter and selling copies for a quarter each. I was ridiculed by many of my classmates, but all the while I was gaining valuable business experience while enjoying my work.

At the age of 17 I watched a video that would change my outlook on careers completely. I learned how time is our most valuable resource, and that most of the population trades their time for money in order to make a living. This barter of time for dollars has its limits, as there are only so many hours in a day. Only by creating leverage from other people's time and talent can one escape this "rat race" and transcend the time-for-money mentality.

After turning 20 I soon became financially independent and dropped out of college to be an entrepreneur full-time. By creating leverage, I actually ended up with an incredible surplus of free time! That's why I made the decision last fall to return to college. I'm trying to use my free time more efficiently now.

Now I'm 25 and it's hard to imagine what the future will hold. A few short years ago I ran around trying to preach to the world the advantages of being an entrepreneur, only to be ignored by most. Now I sit quietly watching the world go by, and think to myself that I must have done something right to get to where I am today.

—

7/27/08

I have been going to UW-Oshkosh part-time for five semesters so far. One thing I've learned is that I learn best at my own pace, which I now know to be two or three classes at a time. I learned this the hard way when I tried taking *five* math classes one semester at Stony Brook. Besides, being an entrepreneur means that I'm going to school to learn things I can use to improve my business, not just to get a piece of paper so some company can hire me. Who cares how long it takes?

I have already learned new ways to examine my business from classes such as Marketing, Operations Management, and Managerial Accounting. I am very much looking forward to exploring further into the world of business these coming semesters.