After joining eBay ten years ago (to this exact day, strangely enough) I finally earned my green star today. Over 5,000 positive feedback!
I'm hoping to earn a shooting star sometime sooner than a decade from now…
There's always a ton of whining about the Facebook layout whenever it changes. But perhaps what's even more irritating is the notion that Facebook is going to charge people to use its website. Groups have sprouted up demanding that Facebook not charge its users, lest it lose many of its members. Let's take a look at this idea for a minute, using logic:
Every now and then, when I tell people what I do for a living I am asked "how can I do that too?" Usually I can't offer much more than a shrug, but perhaps I can answer it with another question: "Is the lifestyle best suited to you?" Being self-employed has many benefits, but also requires many sacrifices.
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.
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!
One of my all-time favorite business books (on a topic that often leaves people divided) is Inside Network Marketing by Leonard Clements. There is a section where he posts real recruiting ads that are too hilarious to be true, along with some witty responses. Ads such as "Don't Call This Number" (there was no number listed), "Ground Floor Opportunity" (for a 125-year-old company), and "Pays 100% on Level Six" (no explanation necessary). While I may not be as witty as Mr. Clements, I'd like to offer up some responses to the slew of internet dating ads that have been cropping up on Facebook more than I'd prefer them to.
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.