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Disaster or Opportunity? -- You Decide |
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In This Issue:
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Issue 407 -- May 06, 2008
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3. 48 Days Online Radio
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1. Disaster or Opportunity? -- You Decide
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2. Freelance Work – Is it right for you?
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5. Humor -- Employee Notice
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At 44 years old Phil had attained an amazing level of career success. Growing up in a family without TV he had developed an early appreciation of books. Now after 25 years in the publishing industry he was head of an $80 million division of one of the world’s largest and most respected publishers. He knew that being there was part of his calling. And yet he recognized a “growing dissonance” with the pressures from New York stockholders on the bottom line at the expense of product and customer focus. However, he assumed he needed to “suck it up, and stay – out of fear and a sense of responsibility.”
His unrest was addressed on a fateful day in 2004 when, rather than receiving an expected promotion, he was given a severance package and the invitation to clean out his desk. While that experience was “scary and humbling,” Phil says his thought was, “You’ve answered the prayer of my heart – not my lips, but my heart.” He says he would never have taken the “risk” of leaving on his own.
Today Phil has capitalized on an exploding trend in publishing – downloadable audio books. His company, eAudioSource.com is a leading provider of audio books and Bibles. You may notice that he is one of our 48 Days recommended businesses. He simply found a new, innovative and fitting opportunity with even more potential for both time freedom and income than anything he had experienced in previous positions. In place of the challenges of a traditional publishing house, his “store” is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no employees, no physical inventory, and no limits to expansion. He is using every bit of his background, his valuable relationships and his unique expertise. He is still in publishing and, more importantly, is still fulfilling his same mission and calling in his life.
What a great example of taking one of those unexpected yet inevitable transitions that life brings us and using it as a springboard for even greater success – personally, in relationships and in creating balanced, fulfilling, purposeful and profitable work. Many of you are walking through similar transitions right now. Was losing your job or business a tragedy or a blessing? Are you expecting to use your background to create a more fulfilling new season in your life – or are you expecting less? Remember the Biblical truth: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Check out Phil’s special offer for 48 Days members for The Word of Promise Audio Bible. You’ll hear the scripture come alive with readings by well know actors such as Jim Caviezel (Jesus in the Mel Gibson’s Passion movie), Richard Dreyfus, Lou Gossett Jr., Michael Smith, Rebecca St. James and others.

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If you are a graphic artist, website designer, accountant, data management expert, sports trainer, or other such specialist, you may elect to find four or five companies that could use your services but are not large enough to employ you full-time. This way of working can be a tremendous advantage for both you and the companies who hire you. They get your expertise but don’t have
to find things for you to do forty hours a week. You have just increased your security by having four or five clients instead of one. If one company “fires” you, it will be necessary to replace only that 20 percent of your business, not the 100 percent that you’d have to replace after parting with a traditional job.
As a freelancer, you can reasonably expect to triple your hourly income. Therefore, if you were making fifteen dollars an hour as a salaried graphic designer, you should expect to move up to forty-five. You can’t expect to bill for forty hours a week, but perhaps twenty-five to thirty, still effectively doubling your income. Yes, you will have to allow for benefits that may not be provided. But there is nothing magical about benefits—they all translate into money. For example, just calculate the real value of your health insurance and build it into your plan. There are great insurance packages available for freelancers and the self-employed.
A couple of years ago I helped Monica, a graphic designer, do exactly what I just described. She actually went from $12.50 to $40.00 per hour, but quickly realized that was just a fraction of what she could be making. She began bidding her work by the project rather than by the hour and made over $100,000 the second year, doing primarily record label graphic design. She has three computers set up in her home, working the flexible time she desires as a single mom.
Is Freelance Work Right for You?
- Do you feel like much of what you currently do is outside your strongest skill area?
- Would you be more energized by working with multiple companies while focusing on your area of
expertise with each of them?
- Are you self-disciplined and determined?
Would you like to join the growing number of people like you who have moved into a more creative work model? My 212ºConnection members put themselves in the driver’s seat: You Can Too!
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Sickness And Related Leave:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
Your Own Death:
This will be accepted as an excuse. However, we require at least two weeks notice as it is your duty to train your replacement.
Rest Room Use:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the rest room. In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical order. For example, those whose names begin with 'A' will go from 8:00 to 8:10, employees whose names begin with 'B' will go from 8:10 to 8:20 and so on. If you're unable to go at your time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your time
comes again. In addition, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm bell will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the stall door will open.
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Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Have a nice week.
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48 Days
P.O. Box 681381
Franklin, TN 37068-1381
(615) 373-7771
www.48days.com
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