I started a BANS site on my continued quest to work from home forever. Since learning how to optimize sites for the web, I initially decided to work for customers for a fee. I have decided to put my skills to the test for my own sites rather than building up other peoples’ businesses. I figured that if I could get some sites to pay me a regular income, then I can replicate it.
My latest site, being a BANS site concentrates on Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge parts. I figure that it would be a fun little niche for me since I have a bit of a passion for old cars. (p.s. if you are looking for a niche, email me and I can work on suggestions for you.)
Plus, if you multiply it out, I am averaging a little under $1.00 per day. That means that even if I don’t do much more, I should be able to recoup my money in about 100 days.
But, $1.00 per day is way too low I think. I am going to apply my web marketing methods to the site and see what happens.
I will try to keep this a bit updated, so keep up…
Posted on December 27th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: BANS, Business Start-Ups, Working from home, website design | No Comments »
I ran into a web designer for non-profits today who has a wonderful product. He offers his services severely discounted to non-profits, churches and missionaries (as long as he believes in what they are doing)
He takes his skills and uses them to design, update and maintain websites for them so that they don’t have to rely on volunteers who often can be unreliable.
Posted on November 10th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: website design | Comments Off
Because my wedding videography business is going very well now, I have had to look for a freelance editor to help with finishing some of them. As many know, when you are a photographer or videographer, the editing room can eat up your time (and profit per hour)
I posted an ad in Craigslist to see what kind of response I would get. The ad was very specific and outlined what exactly I was looking for. Here is the ad:
I am looking for an editor who uses either Premiere Pro or Final Cut to edit weddings that I film. Here are the criteria:
*You must have your own editing computer and editing software
*You must have an external hard drive you could bring to me to load the video files. (each video needs about 60 Gigs of free space)
*You must have the ability to finish videos within 2 weeks.
*You must be able to edit video in MY style
*You must be able to handle criticism and fix any and all issues within the two week time frame.
*You must be able to author the DVD Menu with selectable chapters.
*You must be EXTREMELY reliable.
Here is the time line to see if you can handle it.
1. I give you the video files, audio files and notes concerning the wedding.
2. You complete a working draft of the video within one week of #1 above.
3. I critique the video and note where changes must be made.
4. You complete all changes and deliver 2nd draft within 4 days.
5. Final critique of changes that must be made
6. You make final changes and deliver completed DVD within 3 more days (two weeks after you received files)
7. I review final DVD, approve it, and cut check for your effort.
I can complete a video within 10-15 hours, thus a good editor should be able to finish in a similar amount of time making this a very lucrative job. ($25-30 per hour) If it takes you twice the time, then the job still pays $12,5-$15 per hour) The faster you are, without sacrificing quality, the more you make per hour. his job is piece rate. You get paid when the video is complete and approved. f this sounds to tough, then please don’t waste my time or yours by emailing me. If you have never edited before, then don’t email me. If you are not extremely computer savvy, then don’t email me. This is for someone who knows what they are doing.
So, as you can see, I was very clear with the time line and requirements.
Several requests came in and I chose two of the people who contacted me to work. They both sounded intelligent, etc. I gave two separate projects to them. One to each. The first guy, we will call Dave, took the project on a Friday. The second, Bob, took his project on the following Tuesday.
From Bob, I got a first draft on the following Friday, just three days after giving him the raw footage. From Dave, nothing. Actually I did get some excuses about how his Mini Mac (later I would find out that he doesn’t even have a DVD burner) was freezing up on him.
I reviewed Bob’s work and returned it to him on Saturday. I then had a second draft by the following Tuesday (1 week folks). From Dave; nada.
I cut a check to Bob yesterday - one week and two days after I gave him the footage. FANTASTIC work by the way.
From Dave, after pulling some teeth, I got 5 minutes of shoddy editing severely compressed so that I could download it from the web. Not a full draft, not on DVD. Hmmmmmm?
What is the point?
The point is….what would make someone even say that they could do something if they knew from the get go that they cannot? Dave knew that he did not meet the criteria. He did not have a DVD burner on his mini-mac. (Mac’s cute commercials that rag on us PC users don’t mention the fact that they don’t even include a DVD burner)
My point is that two days after getting the footage, Dave should have said to me, “I can’t do it with my current computer. Here is your footage back.” Or Dave should have invested some money into a new computer. What is it gonna cost? My last PC that I use to edit cost about $750. Add an editing software like Premiere Elements and you have $850 in it. Not much money at all.
Where is the pride/work ethic?!?
P.s. I am sticking with Bob for my edits. I like his work.
Posted on August 24th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: Self-employment rants | Comments Off
Hear me now. If you have to work to make money, then there is absolutely nothing better than working from home for yourself. My mornings follow this pattern:
- Wake up without an alarm clock.
- Brush teeth.
- Don’t shave.
- Throw on some shorts and a t-shirt
- Turn on 4 computers.
- Eat some cereal.
- Start working.
No commute. No road rage. No risking my life on the roads with South Carolina drivers. It is fantastic! But, it ain’t (southern for “is not”) all fun and games. I do have to bust my rear working because no one is just gonna hand me a check at the end of two weeks. I have to earn each and every penny. Once it is rolling, however, you can be assured that you will make way more per hour than you ever will at a job.
Two ways to look at it
First, if you make more per hour, you have to work less hours to lead the same lifestyle as you led at your old job. Second, if you make more per hour and can get 40+ in per week, then you will make way more money which gives you a bit of freedom to do the things you want to do instead of living paycheck to paycheck.
In this blog, you will learn of my adventures in running my own businesses. I have several successful businesses and I will share some of the ins and outs of having them, plus I will explore new opportunities along the way. Enjoy. Comment if you want. Most of all, have fun.
Posted on August 22nd, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: Working from home | Comments Off
Our friends went to a wedding last night. I asked them, “what was the highlight of the wedding?” Our friend replied, “laughing at the wedding photographer.”
Of course since Kelli is a Charleston wedding photographer, I was totally interested in what this photographer had done to make them laugh so much.
They proceeded to tell us about how the photographer was strait out of the 80’s and had set up a little arch like at a prom to take each persons’ picture who was a guest at the wedding.
This brings up an important point. You simply cant afford to hire the wrong photographer for your wedding. If you do, you will end up with your very most important day being captured horribly. You don’t every get a second chance at it either.
Posted on June 1st, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: Photographers, weddings | Comments Off
AdesClrPicker is a very nice little tool that I stumbled upon while on another search through Google. When you spend 6-8 hours per day on the web, you find nifty stuff and AdesClrPicker is one of the niftyest (not a word, but you know what I mean)
What the color picker does is chooses a color as you hover over things on your screen. It is like the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, but way smaller (taking up way less of your precious RAM) Plus, who wants to open Photoshop (if you even have the dough to buy it) just to figure out the color you are looking at?
I know that the program that I use to build websites, XSitePro, doesn’t have an eyedropper tool, therefore this tool is really nice for me. It runs $10 bucks and you can find it on AdesBlog (http://adesblog.com/)
UPDATE
I have had this tool on my computer for about two months. It has become a part of almost every site that I design. I will find the perfect color as I think about new designs. I use Ades color picker to figure out what color it is and use XSP to finish the job. Wonderful tool.
Posted on April 29th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: Cool stuff | Comments Off
Planning a wedding is difficult. There are so many little details and things to think about. If you are not a detail person - someone who is good at that kind of thing - then, you will probably be more stressed that happy with the process.
Further, you may be a detail person but not very creative. That is where a good
Charleston wedding planner comes in. Having a professional working for your wedding is way better than you being stressed on the best day of your life.
Posted on April 13th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: weddings | Comments Off