As regular readers know, I'm a firm believer in the
importance of thankfulness; and expressing gratitude to those who have helped
us along our paths.
Memories fade but, when reminded, my thankfulness does not. One of the most important lessons my parents taught me is to thank the people who help you. And to thank them again. And to pray for them whenever you remember what they did for you.
I sent the following email to Gina.
I'm repeating it here to publicly express my thanks.
"Hello there, Gina!
{excited waving}
This is just a note to say a loud and heartfelt “THANK YOU” for the help and guidance you’ve so generously given me about Facebook Ads for my Written For The WW Romance Novel Consumer series of romance novels. And also for the extremely valuable market information you so graciously shared in your comments to an earlier post over at Not Your Girl Friday’s blog.
As I had mentioned earlier, a
lot of indie fiction writers like myself have recently realized that—at this point in
time—using Facebook ads often gives a better bang for one’s advertising bucks
than advertising in other places such as BookBub, etc. My issue is that I don't really understand how Facebook ads work.{excited waving}
This is just a note to say a loud and heartfelt “THANK YOU” for the help and guidance you’ve so generously given me about Facebook Ads for my Written For The WW Romance Novel Consumer series of romance novels. And also for the extremely valuable market information you so graciously shared in your comments to an earlier post over at Not Your Girl Friday’s blog.
Your information and feedback has
shaved significant time and money off of my learning curve, as well as those of
the other BW entrepreneurs who were paying close attention to that portion of
the comment section. As you know, business ownership is the path to personal freedom
for those who take informed action. It helps one avoid the very ugly situation
that’s developing with jobs described in this article.
I can't thank you enough for your information, feedback and help. Again, THANK YOU and may God bless you and yours!
Be Blessed,
Khadija"
To the aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience: If you haven't already done so, you need to take action regarding your business plans. Now. Nothing has changed (at least, not for the better in terms of being an employee) since I said the following back in February 2009:
The "Factory Age" of Rising Income Equality is OVER
From a 1997 book, The Sovereign Individual, by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg:
"[Otto Ammon, a 19th century German economist] believed that high abilities naturally result in people rising in income and social position. . . . He also believed that the 'true form of the so-called social pyramid is that of a somewhat flat onion or turnip.' . . . Modern industrial societies are indeed all turnips, with a small wealthy and upper-professional class at the top, a larger middle class, and a minority poor at the bottom. Relative to the middle, both the extremes are small.
. . . All of this is intriguing, but the immediate interest of Ammon's work lies in the major long-term shift we are experiencing in the relations, financial and political, between the top and the middle. . . . Most people could master the skills required for operating the machines of the mid-twentieth century, but those jobs have now been replaced by smart machines which, in effect, control themselves. A whole arena of low- and middle-skill employment has already disappeared. If we are correct, this is a prelude to the disappearance of most employment and the reconfiguration of work in the spot market. " pgs. 212-213.
"Societies that have been indoctrinated to expect income equality and high levels of consumption for persons of low or modest skills will face demotivation and insecurity. As the economies of more countries more deeply assimilate information technology, they will see the emergence---so evident already in North America---of a more or less unemployable underclass. [Khadija interrupting the quote here: Guess who this is? You get one guess.] This is exactly what is happening. This will lead to a reaction with a nationalist, anti-technology bias, as we detail in the next chapter.
The Factory Age may prove to have been a unique period in which semi-stupid machines left a highly profitable niche for unskilled people. Now that the machines can look after themselves, the Information Age is pouring its gifts onto the top 5 percent of Otto Ammon's turnip." pg.214 [emphasis added].
No More "Good Jobs"
". . . The model business organization of the new information economy may be a movie production company. Such enterprises can be very sophisticated, with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. While they are large operations, they are also temporary in nature. . . While the people who work on the production are very talented, they have no expectation that finding work on the project is equivalent to having a 'permanent job.'" The Sovereign Individual, pg. 237.
Also, read the following blog post about how, in a connected world where "productivity is portable," the artificial differences in salaries between workers in different countries are evaporating. http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/02/journal-normalizing-wagessalaries.html Please note the linked CNN story about how IBM offered its laid-off employees the "opportunity" of moving to India, Russia, and Nigeria and working at LOCAL salaries in order to keep their jobs.
My God.
Do you want to have your salary "normalized" with that of a similarly-educated worker in China? I didn't think so. Well, that's what's heading your way unless you make yourself as "sovereign" as possible. This means as independent as possible from your employer. This means having multiple income streams.
People, Get Ready.
