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S P O N S O R S

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Ready, Set, Jump

September 12, 1997

So, are you set to go it alone or with virtual partners? How will you start?

Once you've decided to give entrepreneurship, cyberpreneurship, or virtual partnering a try, pick a field where you're needed.

A Manpower survey cited in PR NewsWire says that companies will be more aggressive and creative in their recruiting efforts due to a shortage of labor. In particular, several industries were highlighted as needing additional workers.

• 38% of those involved in wholesale and retail trades need additional employees while only 7% expect to make cutbacks.
• 31% of durable goods manufacturers say they will add staff and just 7% will cut back.
• 26% of the educational sector expects to continue the hiring efforts begun last year, with only 4% reporting a decline in staffing.
• 23% of non-durable goods manufacturers and those involved in transportation and public utilities expect to need additional workers, while 7% expect to reduce their workforce.
• 24% of the service industry anticipates additional hiring with 7% believing a decline is in store.
• 21% of those polled in the finance, insurance, and real estate trade foresee a need to hire, while only 5% see cutbacks looming.
• 17% of the public administration sector plan to boost hiring; 9% plan to trim the rolls.

If you fit neatly into one of those categories, terrific. If not, find a way to mesh your abilities with the needs of one. Or look to see where they may overlap. Then take a look at the business links below to get you started.

• Entrepreneur's on the Web provides a lengthy list of links to entrepreneurial organizations, resources, assistance, and references.
• Cyberpreneur's Guide offers an alphabetical list of items of interest, as well. They include multiple newsgroups and mailing lists, as well as links to financial sites, the SBA, and credit agencies.
• The State University of New York offers a classic list of links focusing on small business startup information.

Virtual Partners

September 11, 1997

Cartoon characters like Dilbert have it relatively easy compared with workers in real life who are faced with cubicles, nasty bosses, ridiculous management fads, overtime, downsizing, and double-speak.

In their book, A Simpler Way, Meg Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers, recognize that as individuals we work best when we "relied on the passion evoked when we connect to others, purpose to purpose. So many of us want to be more. So many of us hunger to discover who we might be together."

Are you better off than Dilbert? Do you experience that needed connection to others?

If so, wonderful. Read no further. If not, consider leaving. Go on your own.

After all, outsourcing is growing exponentially. In fact, 50% of the businesses in the Antelope and Santa Clarita, CA valleys expect to hire temporary employees this fall. And that's only one small part of the world.

Mind Tools poses questions to help you determine what it is you want out of life. Answer their questions. Think of all the pros and cons you can. Decide what it is that you want to do.

Then, consider virtual partnerships. Virtual partnerships unite you and other service providers in loose, on-line confederations to offer clients a centralized, one-stop source for their needs.

This is not an unusual concept. For instance, C Studio is looking for partners to create new outsourcing work groups. In particular, they're looking for people who are:

• organized and decisive
• loaded with interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship
• global learners
• able to handle numerous responsibilities or projects simultaneously
• entrepreneurial thinkers and doers
• ethical, trustworthy, knowledgeable about diversity and multi-cultural needs

Teamnet List is also looking. They want researchers, consultants, and businesspeople to build a network of people to discuss collaboration in business.

Or, consider asking your current employer about telecommuting. Telecommuting will allow you to work from home (at least some of the time). Although this may not be your best bet for a long term solution, it may ease some of the current pressure.

Talk to Citicorp Chase Manhattan Corp., and First Union Corp. (Or other financial institutions) who are among those allowing employees to work from home.

In any event, consider your options.

I'm in the Money

September 10, 1997

So, how can you make money with the internet?

The same way you've made money all you life.

You use it to do what you know how to do best. You also use it to learn and add to your repertoire of skills.

First, learn it. What it offers, what it can and can't do, how to use it efficiently.

Find news you can act on. For information about computer products and services, try What's New. Do a search for business news wires. Subscribe to some. Do the same for internet technology. Understand what works and what doesn't. Check out a few news groups. Look at some mailing lists. Find areas you're interested in and learn what's going on.

Once you're comfortable with what's going on and what it might all mean, change it. This is still a new communication medium. Very little has been set in stone--and that which has is still in the process of being shaped.

What can you use it for? To communicate? To profess? To inform? To create? To teach? To build? To advertise? To network? To create partnerships? To build business? To grow a business? To.....

Get Rich Quick? Nah!

September 09, 1997

So, you want to make money on the internet?

There are lots of said-to-be-proven ways to get rich quick using this amazing medium.

Mydas Touch has a web site that offers a get-rich-quick scheme that deal with long-distance phone calls. Freedom Starr does also. So do several others.

Then, there's Opportunity Now's site--complete with a banner to click if you want to get rich now. It even contains, mid-screen where you're sure to see it, the caption "The best programs on the Net!" and offers a URL implying a link to a respectable news source endorsement. Guess what? Following the link brought us to another page belonging to Opportunity Now and, surprise of surprises, no news story.

Then of course there are the offers to send $5 and get zillions back. In fact, Web Dental's message board offers some of these. But take a look at Synth Fool. It offers the logical and mathematical reasons why this is not only a doubtful scheme but an impossible one as well.

Then, too, there's even a handy guide to get-rich-quick links. A delightful site it is. The site starts with a straightforward list of links and uses META Refresh to transport you to a site full of frames, color, and advertising.

But, our personal favorite in all this hype is The Crazier Than Hell Get Rich Quick Page--it's well worth a look.

As our moms often said, "there's no such thing as a free lunch."

There are legitimate ways, though, to make a living--either on your own or in partnerships, on the net or off. Check back tomorrow.

Oh! The Possibilities

September 08, 1997

Using the internet as a way to connect to others has enabled an outpouring of innovation which has never been seen before. This new medium fosters, and indeed, dictates that we begin to think of new ways to use computers and information systems.

There's a whole new world waiting to be discovered, explored, and defined. Sure, some are old pros at maneuvering their way around this new medium. Plenty of others are just starting or have yet to start. The ‘net offers an opportunity to think of new ways to extend our value chain. We can cut across and through traditional business models. In other words, we can use the ‘net to cut out middlemen. We can contact companies directly about open positions or marketable ideas. Or, we can invent new kinds of middlemen to work between us and them. Or, we can even create new businesses or industries.

The possibility of near-immediate contact through email, chat rooms, listservs, and newsgroups, offers abundant opportunities--if we but know what to do with them. We can easily meet people from around the globe who share similar ideas, attitudes, dreams, and goals-- making most anything possible.---Jennifer Hicks

More Resources

• Companies with Job Ads (Nearly 1500 Links to Companies and their Job Postings)
• Tools (Everything You need for a Job Hunt)
• The daily newsletters are archived in weekly volumes in the Archives. Past issues include: