Jul
14
That may sound like a hustle—and it can be—but distributing credibility via certifications is totally legitimate and so common that it’s almost invisible. Whether a high school diploma or college degree, state board license or driver’s license, Social Security card or passport, or any industry certification, the structure is the same:
- A trusted industry expert or organization or company or entity requires a minimum standard for identity, knowledge and/or performance and offers a certification that, if achieved, sprinkles Magic Credibility Dust on the heads of…
- Folks meeting the standard and proving their ability, who can then show the cert to…
- Other folks wanting third-party verification
This is a game where everyone wins. Read more »»
Jul
9
Note: If you were expecting the article on how companies, vendors, and industry experts are offering certifications for passive income, look for it on Friday…
Since last summer, US gas prices have gone up by something like 50%. For those in Maryland, so did our power utility costs. No matter where you are you’ve likely felt/seen that groceries cost a bit more than they did 6 months ago.
I feel sure that 99.99% of us are affected by these increases, and there’s no doubt some of us are more critically affected than others. I’ve been more and more troubled about this since yesterday afternoon. Here’s what happened— Read more »»
Jul
7
The Business Peril Of Personality
Filed Under In General | 10 Comments
That’s not personality with a little “p”, as in characteristics of individual behavior…I mean Personality with a big fat “P”, as in celebrity. Everyone has a personality, but famous folks are a Personality.
And with my Passive Income Glasses on, I view that as a problem. As an entrepreneur can be caged by their business because they don’t delegate and outsource day-to-day tasks, a Personality is worse off because they can’t delegate or outsource their role.
They are their job. Their job is them.
Think about it: What if Rachael Ray got sick, or just sick of cooking, and stopped doing her cable shows? Rachael is the shows and the shows are her. If she is paid per show like most TV actors, then she doesn’t get paid if she’s not in front of the camera.
However, Read more »»
Jul
4
Our Freedom At Work
Filed Under In General | 5 Comments
A Freedom Timeline
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the New Americans, and I (as an American) was made forever free of Great Britain’s rule.
On September 22, 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, and I (as an African-American) was made forever free of slavery.
On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified and I (as a woman) was left forever free to cast my vote.
In 1992, I became self-supporting and I (as an adult) made myself forever free of my parents’ rules and priorities. Theoretically, anyway…
January 15, 2005 was my last day of full-time work as an employee. I invested three years into supporting Dan while he was in school full-time, and on that day he started returning the favor with three years of freedom to work from home. Maybe forever. Maybe not. Read more »»
Jul
2
Backups Online: The Internet Remembers
Filed Under In General, Work the Web | 7 Comments
Image credit: redjar
Earlier this week we talked about using online backup services for offsite safekeeping of our files and photos.
But many of us have stuff that lives online and not on our home computer, like blogs and websites, and all our goodies at Del.icio.us and Flickr, et. al.
I feel sure we can depend on social media sites and online services like Jott and Remember The Milk to protect what we’ve put out there. And that’s not fangirl talk.
The bottom line is that their bottom line is 100% dependent on their ability to 1) provide the service, and 2) preserve our data. And not necessarily in the order.
So with our links, photos, reminders, and schedules in trustworthy hands, we only need to worry about backups for our websites and blogs. And really, we don’t need to worry (much) about those. Here’s why— Read more »»
Jun
30
Image credit: Mark Setchell
Many, many moons ago, I finished a lengthy document and saved it to one of those portable thumb drives? Shortly thereafter the crappy little thing died, the document was irretrievably lost, and I had to do it over.
A short and somewhat ordinary story in retrospect, but if you’ve ever lost a document—or an afternoon’s work—you know that the actual moment was long and vibrant, full of colorful language, whimpers of denial, and gnashing of teeth.
The aftermath was just as exciting, between trying to revive the thumb drive (deader than a hammer), attempting to recover something—anything!—from the computer I had worked on (a public PC wiped clean between users), then sadly and frantically recreating what I had lost. All before a nearing deadline.
And all because I didn’t have a backup. I could have avoided those hours of tearful re-work by simply emailing myself a copy.
Thankfully, with nifty Web tools and the Internet’s nostalgic tendency, it’s nearly as simple to store all of our files somewhere (else) safe and recover archived copies of our Web work.
Whew! Taking a short break from blogging, folks. More posts coming soon. Thanks for your patience!
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