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    Jeremy Enke PictureI suppose an “About Me” page is where you would expect to read a third person professional write up on myself. Hmmm…. well that’s not really my style, so I’ll just go ahead and tell you “about me” in my own words. Read more...

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  • Archive for November, 2007

    The Benefits Of Working The 9-5 Grind

    Thursday, November 8th, 2007

    On Tuesday I made a blog post about what can make you wealthier. Going to college for a degree, or simply just being an entrepreneur and determining your own destiny? I think the overwhelming majority of readers would agree that being an entrepreneur allows more opportunities to make the big cash.

    However at the same time, I suppose it is not fair to say nobody should aspire to work the 9-5 and everyone should beOffice Space Mug entrepreneurs. If it weren’t for people like my twin brother and my little brother, the world would not have the great teachers and doctors in it that we have today. Instead it would be a bunch of money hungry people like me, sitting in sweat sedo’s all day counting the money they are going to make before it has even been earned.

    I know myself and other full time affiliates paint the picture that this job is so easy, we never work, and all we do is lay around all day and hit refresh watching our bank account balances go up. Let me explain however a few of the things us full time affiliates envy about the 9-5 schedule.

    Work Hours - Oh sure, we can all make are own hours. But to be honest I sometimes miss the idea of showing up at a certain time and then being able to leave at a certain time and not even have work cross my mind. In this business it seems like you are on the computer from morning til night.

    During the day I’ll sit in my office and work. Then at night I have the laptop in the house to speak with people across the world on Skype. Even if I am not working, I am still occasionally walking by the computer to see if a new email showed up or an issue I need to deal with has come up. Not to mention the late late hours we end up working some nights. I would love to have only a 40 hour work week.

    Having several emails to answer, support tickets to get back on, and writing content is very time consuming. And this doesn’t even take into account that having 10-20 people blowing you up on Skype in one morning is not uncommon. Doing this full time is really not as much of a cake walk as some would think.
    Skype Box

    Consistent Paychecks - There are not many poker affiliates I know that live on a strict budget. Why? Because we have no idea how much money we are going to make from month to month. And then we have no idea when we are actually going to get paid. There have been times I have waited over 30 days for 4 and 5 figure affiliate payments. This sucks, no matter how much money you have.

    Take away investment accounts and savings, people live within their means and expect to be paid on time. A paycheck every other Friday with a nice base salary and big commissions was so nice when I was in the real world.

    Insurance and Investments - If you’re like me and have a family then you know having good health insurance is not optional, it’s mandatory. The amount of money I pay to ensure my family’s security is sick. In the good old days I had a few hundred dollars deducted from my paychecks. I also could go to the doctor and just pay a small co-pay. Then when my kid would get an ear infection, I could just pay $10 at the pharmacy and be on my way.

    Now I pay EVERYTHING out of pocket until I hit my yearly $6000 deductible. And for the price I pay per month for this garbage policy, I could be driving a brand new BMW. Bottom line is that private health insurance in the states for a family sucks. In regards to investments and 401K, I don’t see any company matching my deposits or offering me a reduced price on company stock. Contributing to an investment account with matching was so sweet in the old days.

    Swingline Red Stapler Lack of Social Interaction - This is probably one of the things you hear me talk about most. But at least in an office setting you have others to talk to. Even if it is in the coffee room talking about the football games this weekend, or bitching about the boss. Regardless you have other people around to talk to.

    As an affiliate working from a home office, you spend a ton of time isolated in a room by yourself. For me this sucks because I am very social. This is why I absolutely love that Thursday night is my guys night out. I look forward to that every week. Chatting on Skype and email is really not the same as having face to face relationships with people.

    So as you can see, being an affiliate is not all sunshine and roses. There are down sides to the career. Fortunately money is not one of them if you are in the category of “Super Affiliate”. At the end of the day however you must choose a career in life that makes you happy. If I weren’t happy as an affiliate I would quit. There is not enough money in the world for me to put my career before my family or happiness.

    Life is actually very short on a relative scale. When you are on your deathbed, it won’t matter if you have millions in the bank or are dead broke. What will matter is how you lived your life and what legacy you leave behind. When that day comes for me, I want to be able to look back and say, “Wow, what a ride that was, I had a great time and did everything I wanted to do in the world.”

    So if you are working the 9-5, love your job, and simply are an affiliate for extra spending money…… just ignore half the bullshit you hear me say when talking about Corporate America or being a wage slave. As long as you are happy in life, that’s all that matters. Oh also with all that said, I still don’t miss working in the real world. <——-Rent this movie immediately if you have never seen it.

    A Couple Great Blog Posts I Came Across Today

    Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

    As any other affiliate I have a number of blogs I try to keep up on every couple days. Here are a few great posts and other places for you to go in your daily surfing.

    Also I know I promised to write another post about the benefits of a 9-5 over being a full-time affiliate. I will do that in the morning. My wife is in the jacuzzi and wants to “cuddle” afterwards. Apparently treating the family to that shithole in the Midwest we call “Chuck E. Cheese” actually does earn you brownie points.

    Blog Post #1, Types of Social Media Users by Kyle Healey . This post is so true in so many ways. Good Stuff Kyle.

    Blog Post #2 , Justin Goff - Mr. October. Justin is fresh out of college and already making almost $8k a month as a full time affiliate.

    Becoming An Internet Entrepreneur Or Going To College (Which will make you wealthier?)

    Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

    Wow, when I decided to write this blog post today I went to google images to look for a picture and simply googled the word college. Keep in mind I have no filters on my searches (or my brain and writing for that matter). Apparently to google images, college now days consists of lesbians and plenty of oral sex. <———-I’m thinking about going back for my masters. :)

    Bill Gates 1984 Time MagazineAnyhow, on to the topic at hand. I have my bachelors degree in business management and communication. (Bill Gates does not) I suppose I wouldn’t necessarily trade it for anything. But at the same time I can also say with a fair amount of confidence that I will never use it again. If I did, it would be because I were taking some executive position that had a degree as a requirement, but not because the degree qualified me……if that makes sense.

    Let’s hypothetically say the ballers over at PartyGaming offered me a seven figure executive position. (Feel free to ship that offer over when you have a second Mitch)….. Do you really think they would want me because of my B.A., or instead because of industry knowledge, experience, and more importantly my ideas for the future of PartyGaming?

    So let’s look at the question again. What will make you wealthier, going to college or becoming an entrepreneur? I say unequivocally without a doubt, becoming an entrepreneur will make you much wealthier. Especially if you are involved in affiliate marketing or making money on the internet in some fashion. If anything go to college just so you can get a degree and a middle class job to fund your entrepreneurship and stupid investments that you will inevitably make. That was the JE plan, and it worked fairly well.

    If you are thinking of “being an entrepreneur” and opening up a hot dog stand at soldier field in the post season, then certainly go to college. But if you already have a moderatly successful affiliate business, the only point of college is for something to fall back on. <——-not right or wrong, just my opinion.

    Here is a list of the highest paying U.S. jobs according to Career Builder.

    1. Surgeon — $181,850
    2. Anesthesiologist — $174,610
    3. OB/GYN — $174,610
    4. Oral and maxillofacial surgeon — $169,600
    5. Internist — $156,790
    6. Prosthodontist — $156,710
    7. Orthodontist — $153,240
    8. Psychiatrist — $151,380
    9. Chief Executive Officer — $140,880
    10. Engineering Manager — $140,210
    11. Pediatrician — $140,000
    12. Family or general practitioner — $137,980
    13. Physician/surgeon, all other — $137,100
    14. Airline Pilot — $134,090
    15. Dentist — $132,660
    16. Podiatrist — $111,130
    17. Lawyer — $110,590
    18. Dentist, any other specialist — $106,040
    19. Air Traffic Controller — $100,430
    20. Computer and Information Systems Manager — $100,110
    21. Marketing Manager — $100,020
    22. Natural Sciences Manager — $97,560
    23. Sales Manager — $96,950
    24. Astronomer — $96,780

    The amount of money to be made as an internet entrepreneur far trumps any of these careers. I will never have a pager going off at 2:00 AM paging me into the hospital. I will never get sued for malpractice. I will never have to operate on some stinky ass feet. Yet every year I will make a nice six figure income working my own hours in the comfort of this pimped out office.

    I am not knocking anyone that does choose to go to college. Hell I already have college funds set up for my daughters and I will encourage them to go. To be honest, the life of an entrepreneur is not for everyone. The income varies from month to month, and the word “certainty” will never even enter your vocabulary.

    Entrepreneurs are risk takers with a mentality that is completely different than the traditional 9-5 worker. I just wantedMr. Peanut to make this post to point out #1 how lucky us affiliates doing this full-time really are. And #2 to show what the top “professional jobs” pay. These incomes are peanuts compared to what the top affiliates are making each month.

    Again all the readers working the 9-5 or with college degrees will probably flame this post in the comments. All I am saying is that you can never become truly wealthy working for the man. Except in the case of commissioned sales you can, but even this is considered entrepreneurship in most circles.

    Here is a list of the biggest baller entrepreneurs in the world. They all have one thing in common, none have a higher education.

    I Don’t Miss Corporate America Or My Old Cubicle

    Monday, November 5th, 2007

    Yes at one time in my life I did have my very own cubicle. This song below made me realize today how much I don’t miss being in the real world. Although I do miss the social interaction, I don’t miss working for idiots and pretending to be doing something productive when I was really just surfing porn or playing online poker from a proxy.

    At least now when I am getting nothing done, I can’t get fired or “written up”.

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