Laid-off and need guidance

sinack

sinack

Haberdasher
Mar 4, 2008
116
3
0
I was laid-off today (as well as a few others). I was a programmer/dba for a call center. Anyways, I posted this in the noob section because I'm looking for some direction. My dream is to get my own business started, but I can't seem to come up with a solid business plan/idea. I'm a decent programmer but terrible at landing sales. I realize that WF is primarily made up of Marketers, which is why I'd like to see what kind of ideas you have regarding starting a business.

Already applied for unemployment. So I have time to focus on something and I want to use my time wisely vs pissing it away.

Thanks in advance!
 


Well depends on what you're into but I guess the quick startup would be to use the web talent on this board (site designers, logo designers, social media packages) and create a biz around those (private label). Create your own packages for the above services then post an ad on craiglist to hire contractors (on just commission) to sell the packages for you (30% for example). If you have 15-20 people dialing for dollars a day you can easily break the 100K per year barrier. I have done it. It's a pretty easy setup & business model. Believe it or not people are willing to work on just commission and you'll get lots of resumes/responses. If they suck at sales who really cares you're not out of anything except your time talking to them.

Just an idea for you. Best of luck in whatever you do.
 
I'm basically in the same situation as you. I am leaning towards affiliate marketing myself, although I have a blog and am in the process of starting another one. Blogs take a lot of time where AM is ...well a little less time consuming. In my case, because I am not a good writer it takes me to long to come up with content to get a steady flow of traffic. Now don't get me wrong........because I am not good at either one YET! The only great piece of advice I can give is to do SOMETHING! ACTION is the only thing that works. I have played around for almost 2 years but never followed anything through. Form a plan and take ACTION. I wish you luck. P.S. You will fail more than once but you must learn from the mistakes you will make.
 
identity_00 said:
Well depends on what you're into but I guess the quick startup would be to use the web talent on this board (site designers, logo designers, social media packages) and create a biz around those (private label). Create your own packages for the above services then post an ad on craiglist to hire contractors (on just commission) to sell the packages for you (30% for example). If you have 15-20 people dialing for dollars a day you can easily break the 100K per year barrier. I have done it. It's a pretty easy setup & business model. Believe it or not people are willing to work on just commission and you'll get lots of resumes/responses. If they suck at sales who really cares you're not out of anything except your time talking to them.

Just an idea for you. Best of luck in whatever you do.
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That's a fantastic idea. I was actually considering something very similar to that.

ajcurly said:
I'm basically in the same situation as you. I am leaning towards affiliate marketing myself, although I have a blog and am in the process of starting another one. Blogs take a lot of time where AM is ...well a little less time consuming. In my case, because I am not a good writer it takes me to long to come up with content to get a steady flow of traffic. Now don't get me wrong........because I am not good at either one YET! The only great piece of advice I can give is to do SOMETHING! ACTION is the only thing that works. I have played around for almost 2 years but never followed anything through. Form a plan and take ACTION. I wish you luck. P.S. You will fail more than once but you must learn from the mistakes you will make.
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Over the course of the past 3 years, I've taken many actions. I've learned what I'm good at and what I'm not. I guess I'm just looking for ideas, before getting really far into a project.
 
well, what i would do in your situation is do freelance coding work while you gather ideas for IM and a budget, what kind of coding languages do you know?
 
cygon said:
well, what i would do in your situation is do freelance coding work while you gather ideas for IM and a budget, what kind of coding languages do you know?
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Yah, that's pretty sound advice.

Tally your skills. Look for ways to use what you are good at.

Bompa
 
As others have said, you have a skill that puts you ahead of the game where a lot of people are. Start doing some side projects, try to bust them out quickly and then on the side start focusing on some of your own personal projects that will sustain income with less amount of work. It's really my business model right now and has worked fairly well for me up to date. :)
 
Thanks for the advice, it is very appreciated.

cygon said:
well, what i would do in your situation is do freelance coding work while you gather ideas for IM and a budget, what kind of coding languages do you know?
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python, vb.net, c#, c, c++, java
 
definitely leverage your programming skills, am a programmer myself and automation could get you far ahead ... I would read up on the basics (seo, ppv, ppc) while you're doing freelance work to tie you through

blessing in disguise i say
 
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