Who Here Is Self-Employed?

[livnxxxl]

awesome, sounds like going to a strip joint with you would be a trip

I could guarantee you that you would have a great time for sure.

yeah they usually give you a nice tip during the holidays, a card with anywhere from $75-$150 which came in handy for gifts

Now that is the way that it should be. I like to do things like that for cool people as well.

The guys were mostly the cheapest dudes, they had money but didn't want to spend it,

That is exactly what my gf says. It is funny. She told me that some times a guy would bring his wife or gf with him to the club (which is totally cool) and the wife or gf would be the best tipper. Where a typical guy would probably just give a buck or two the girls or tipping fives at a time.

Most (not all) guys are just cheap when it comes to tipping for some reason. Maybe they are trying to save more $$$ for their toy collections?? The women on the other hand like to spend money. Especially when it is someone elses.

the women were the best clients

I hear that. I am sure that you absolutely hated it. I feel for you man! No one should ever have to be subjected to that kind of torture at work. LOL!!

Maybe one of the reasons my wife hated me working there

That may be the main reason. This way she can keep an eye on you by keeping you close to home. And of course still help her with the kid.

[toys2cool]

That is totally cool. I hope that they tipped you well in addition to paying you good. It sounds like you know your stuff and you would be worth every red penny spent. I know some folks with money tend to be stingy with it.

It is one thing to not have it and have to be on a budget. That is totally understandable. It is another though to brag about it and not put your money where your mouth is. IMO

My gf used to be an exotic dancer and she told me about some of the clients that had money, but never spent much of it. She much like yourself had encountered CEO's, big wigs, stars as clients as well. She told me some tipped real good and some were just plain tight arses. Then of course there were the want to be's. That is another story though.

I myself am a big tipper when I get great service. That is why all of the girls used to love to see me come in the club with a couple of grand in my hand.

I am kind of glad my clubbin days are over. Now I can take that money and spend it on Mego's.

awesome, sounds like going to a strip joint with you would be a trip

yeah they usually give you a nice tip during the holidays, a card with anywhere from $75-$150 which came in handy for gifts

The guys were mostly the cheapest dudes, they had money but didn't want to spend it, the women were the best clients

Maybe one of the reasons my wife hated me working there Guys were funner to train though, you see quicker results with them

[trekman101]

I've been self employed for the last 20 years.....I have a construction and development company.....I've always liked it and am highly regarded in my area...but let me tell you it's hard....you don't work by the clock...you work until the tasks of the day are finished.....I've made money...lost money...and broke even....but I know if I worked for some one all these years,I would have to have had many employers...so being self-employed has always worked for me....you control your fate and can always make a living....so if your not able to deal with all the ups and downs of being self-employed the best advice I can tell you is don't....hope this helps

[BOTZWANA]

Selfemployed?

Sure...http://www.monstercafesaltillo.com

I made my dream come true...Now I want to sell it to the highest bidder.

[livnxxxl]

"I love to work at nothing all day"

Me to! That and being great in bed. I am great at sleeping. I can sleep all day long.

[livnxxxl]

definitely I trained a lot of people with money, CEO's, celebrities wives and people like that , they still call em and ask me advice and when i'll be coming back , some use to pay me $100 an hour

That is totally cool. I hope that they tipped you well in addition to paying you good. It sounds like you know your stuff and you would be worth every red penny spent. I know some folks with money tend to be stingy with it.

It is one thing to not have it and have to be on a budget. That is totally understandable. It is another though to brag about it and not put your money where your mouth is. IMO

My gf used to be an exotic dancer and she told me about some of the clients that had money, but never spent much of it. She much like yourself had encountered CEO's, big wigs, stars as clients as well. She told me some tipped real good and some were just plain tight arses. Then of course there were the want to be's. That is another story though.

I myself am a big tipper when I get great service. That is why all of the girls used to love to see me come in the club with a couple of grand in my hand.

I am kind of glad my clubbin days are over. Now I can take that money and spend it on Mego's.

[Zemo]

"I love to work at nothing all day"

[toys2cool]

Nothing at all wrong with that at all. eBay has helped a lot of folks make a little extra dough reno. This gives you more quality time to be with your family while making some change on the side for your bills, hobbies or what have you.

The really nice thing of all this is that you can still go back to being an independent trainer if you should so decide to do so at a later date.

definitely I trained a lot of people with money, CEO's, celebrities wives and people like that , they still call em and ask me advice and when i'll be coming back , some use to pay me $100 an hour

[livnxxxl]

when I was younger i lived off of selling toys on ebay for a long time! I became a personal trainer for a well known company for a while and then I had my baby last year, i tried going back to being an independent trainer working what ever hours I wanted and choosing w/e clients I wanted for a while but my wife begged me to stay home with the baby until he's bit older,so i'm doing the stay at home dad for now and making money off of ebay when ever I can

Nothing at all wrong with that at all. eBay has helped a lot of folks make a little extra dough reno. This gives you more quality time to be with your family while making some change on the side for your bills, hobbies or what have you.

The really nice thing of all this is that you can still go back to being an independent trainer if you should so decide to do so at a later date.

[toys2cool]

when I was younger i lived off of selling toys on ebay for a long time! I became a personal trainer for a well known company for a while and then I had my baby last year, i tried going back to being an independent trainer working what ever hours I wanted and choosing w/e clients I wanted for a while but my wife begged me to stay home with the baby until he's bit older,so i'm doing the stay at home dad for now and making money off of ebay when ever I can

[knight errant00]

've always been very suspicious of the "work from home" type of gigs. The faceless aspect of a company makes me nervous when it comes to getting paid.

BE suspicious . . . most of those places are scams, and the ones that aren't (when you work it all out) pay less than minimum wage.

[knight errant00]

What kind of work are you in, by the way?

I'm a business and tech writer. I've done a lot of contract tech writing over the years that's bled a little into BA -style work occasionally, and when I've landed FT positions, I've usually had a title like "Communications Manager" and handled everything from newsletters and brochures to policies and procedures.

I started thinking hard about doing this after I was let go for the 4th time in 9 years. I've been working part-time since September, and spent a lot of that hustling up more PT work. My business model is to be a part-time communications manager for several companies -- small- to middle-sized businesses that need someone to do what I do but don't have the amount of work or funds to bring someone on full-time (paying me for 10-15 hours a month to maintain a set list of materials, plus occasional project work).

I ended up taking another onsite contract gig at the beginning of June (needed the income), but since then I've had a few of my other leads heat up, and I'm debating leaving the contract with the big company to pursue the independant stuff I've been drumming up (only so many PT jobs I can take on with a regular 9-5 blocking out the day). Working up the nerve and convincing the wife have been the hard part -- she keep talking about stability, I keep reminding her I've had 6 jobs in the last 11 year and that I was layed off from four of them.

Thanks for the 9-5 warning. I've been taking on side projects and work for the last couple years (it's what saved me when the last contract was cancelled 9-12 months early, and got me thinking about "diversifying my employment investment"), so I'm somewhat used to the "extended hours." I'm also just finding myself chafing a bit now at the expectations of being basically "staff augmentation" vs. being a consultant with my own clients --busy, but in control, not having a boss checking up on how long you were at lunch or why you had to leave early for a kid's afterschool whatever (which, since I'm hourly and not billing them for the time, I never understand the hangup about).

I've been networking with a lot of self-employed people over the last 8 months or so and even won free seesions with a career coach at a networking event I attended, and it's slowly been convincing me I can do this.

It's definitely helpful to hear others!

[MIB41]

Work at home jobs are becoming more and more common in companies. I'm a Business Analyst and my office is at home. There is no cost justification to facilitate my position in a building they have to lease when they can hook me up online at home. The perks are nice though. They pay my monthly cable and phone bill, plus I only fill my car up on gas about once a month (sometimes not even that). Here's the down side - You MUST get out after working all day. Working at home means you lose the exercise you typically get just from commuting in. I'm a member of a local gym and I'm there at least four times a week. So you do have to be more mindful of your fitness. The kind of jobs I think alot of you are referring to probably are bogus though (like the ones you see nailed to telephone polls - "Work from home - make thousands!"). Yeah, I wouldn't trust that crap. Work at home jobs (or as we like to call them "WAH's") are typically given to people who have been with a company for a while. I've been with my company for 15 years, so they have a measure of what I can do and the expectations are high.

[jimsmegos]

I would really like to know, if any of you know, what are legitimate stay at home jobs and where do you look for them. I'm not saying self employed necessarily.

While I've never been able to track down any of those jobs myself, what I would recommend is to sit down and write out your skills and abilities. From there you could target companies who do those sorts of things and offer your services on a "freelance" or "work for hire" basis.

I've always been very suspicious of the "work from home" type of gigs. The faceless aspect of a company makes me nervous when it comes to getting paid.

[johnmiic]

I would really like to know, if any of you know, what are legitimate stay at home jobs and where do you look for them. I'm not saying self employed necessarily.