I went in search of an answer on the net and found the reason might be that I used some words I shouldn't have in my last post. If what I read is correct, some words from yesterday might have made the search engine think I'm being paid to write content, or there's some artificially generated stuff in the post. (I won't repeat the words here, because obviously it'll make things worse) Anyway, you know that's not true. I just wanted to share my experience. And, blogging about self employment ideas is completely legitimate.
Anyway (I'll stop crying now), I attended a seminar today on the 'next big things' on the net. Lots of people attended, some are already self employed (otherwise they would be at work on a Thursday morning) or some were looking for ideas. The seminar was organised by a city law firm looking to provide legal services to e-start ups and entrepreneurs.
For all those out there looking to start up their own business and become self employed, I would strongly recommend you attend seminars like this and also networking events for entrepreneurs. The variety of people you meet and things you might learn is worth your effort. (Self employed people are an interesting bunch) But don't hold expectations that you'll meet someone who'll hand you a silver platter with a great self employment idea on it!
I enjoy observing how attendees presented themselves and whether they came prepared. Most people didn't come prepared with business cards nor specific questions they wanted answers for, despite a legal adviser, a venture capitalist and other successful internet business people around. I didn't approach any of the speakers because I got distracted networking with some of the attendees. I think it's a missed opportunity.
To share what I learnt in relation to 'blogging towards self employment', the message I got from this morning was "don't expect advertising to pay for your efforts writing content". I've been told this by another business adviser earlier and now I'm absolutely convinced. There isn't enough advertising money in the world to support content on the net. Some examples were cited:
- Rupert Murdoch, who said the future of newspaper revenue was in advertising and not in the cover prices, has turned around and indicated News Corp might soon charge readers of their news websites because it's current business model isn't working.
- Twitter has grabbed worldwide attention thanks to investment from venture capitalists, but it's unclear how it generates revenue or how it will in the future.
In conclusion, if you have a net-based venture that's not an e-commerce site, it's more likely to survive if your self employment idea is backed by a product or service, not just depending on advertising. Unless of course you are only interested in getting your message out there. Does that count as being self employment?
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Post-publishing note: The self employment ideas blog is back in the search results after going AWOL for half a day! Not all is lost. Thanks goodness!
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