Earning Money

I was sitting in a meeting tonight because I am on school senate (and which is why this blog post is so late) and we were talking about Spring Weekend. Basically, it’s a weekend where we have $45,000 to throw a massive party and everyone gets drunk and it’s a lot of fun. Only…We, as the senate, need to really determine what sorts of activities we want to hold. Do we want to get a comedian or get a band? Do we want to do this or that? There are twenty of us in that room, or close to. With twenty different people, getting everything heard can be tough.

And that’s where the importance of working together comes into play. This post doesn’t really have much to do with working online, but the truth is, the things you learn from working together are things that will help you if you ever go into a venture with a few other people or if you are working for a company and have to go to a meeting. I know that there have been times that I have discussed business in a chat room and I had to keep myself in check because I was on the verge of potentially offending someone. You don’t want to offend anyone, especially if you’re working.

So, what are some things that you can do to try and work best as a team? I’ve compiled this short list of things that I think will allow for the most productive teamwork out there. It’s what we did tonight when I was meeting with the school Senate and it’s what I recommend to everyone:

• When one person speaks, only allow that one person to speak. Cease all side conversations.
• Designate one person as the head of the meeting. They don’t have final say, but it is their job to ensure that only one person is speaking at a time.
• If it is taking place in a chat room, end your sentences with -d- or something to signify that you are done so that someone can respond to you. I know that there have been times, especially in AIM chat rooms where I needed to send three or four posts and people have started replying before I was done.
• Respect the people that you’re working with. You have no idea the importance of a bit of respect. If you respect the people you work with, you’re bound to find that success you want.

I intend on, one day, starting a blog network. I am going to need to hire bloggers and there will come a time when there are meetings, I am sure. We’re all a team and we’re going to need to work together to grow the network to become much bigger. I intend on following the above rules because the way I see it, what I have just provided are some real basic, but important guidelines to make a meeting work wonderfully when you’re working as a team. Try it out. Let me know how it works. Maybe it’ll make you even more productive. Who knows?

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I remember when I first started earning money on the web, people asked me what I did and I explained that I worked online and made my money on there. And then they’d respond, “Dude, that’s so cool…I wish I could do that…Oh, I got to go…McDonalds is calling me.” I’d stand there looking at them and then roll my eyes and go back to writing a blog post or something along those lines. And at first, I was like, “I guess I can understand what they’re saying. It’s tough.”

And then I stopped thinking that and looked at my control panel on Wordpress and looked down at my quarters that littered my desk and then I rolled my eyes. Making money on the web was as easy as one two three. I learned to count at a young age, why couldn’t I learn to make money on the web? And I did. But others were insistent that earning on the web was like rocket science and if I wanted to make money on the web, I’d have to have tons of money. And I’d hear this enough and finally, one day, I said “shut up” and I sat down one of my friends and I began to explain to them what they needed to make money on the web. So, I thought I’d give you that same list:

• You need $25.00. That’s IT! Get twenty five dollars and you can make money on the web. What for? Ten bucks for a .com and then $15.00 to pay for $5.00 a month hosting. So, for the next three months, you’re covered. So, for $25.00, you’re set.
• But wait a second! I can’t make websites, I don’t know HTML. So? Think I do? Guess what? Make a blog. It’s all set up. You type and then click “Publish” and suddenly you have a post! Amazing, huh?
• But how can I get people to see the site without money? You said I only needed $25! And I was right. Why do you need to spend money to make money? Guess what you can do: Guest Blog Posts. Stumble Upon. Digg. With those THREE things, you can get traffic.

By now, they are just sitting there looking at me as I explained each of those things. And they then pushed themselves to stand and rolled their eyes. “Whatever, dude,” they said and walked off. I sat there looking at them walk away and then shrugged. I didn’t care if they didn’t want to take the chance. I didn’t care if they were too afraid. It wasn’t my problem. I knew that I loved what I was doing and that was what mattered.

So…If you are one of those people that don’t think that they can make money online, read the above three bullets. With $25.00, Wordpress, and the ability to write compelling enough content that people digg and stumble you, you can easily make money. But you know what? If you’re still afraid or still don’t think you can, then go back to flipping your burgers. However…Let me tell you one thing. The feeling of working for yourself is absolutely amazing. Truly is. So, do it. Stop saying you can’t. Shut up. And do it. You’ll love it.

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