48DaysLogo Disaster or Opportunity? -- You Decide
In This Issue: Issue 407 -- May 06, 2008 
•   A Minute with Dan
•   3. 48 Days Online Radio
•   1. Disaster or Opportunity? -- You Decide
•   4. 48 Days Recommends
•   2. Freelance Work – Is it right for you?
•   5. Humor -- Employee Notice
A Minute with Dan
I’m in Florida this week with some speaking commitments, media interviews, and then some relaxing time on the beach with Joanne. I don’t do well with working 50 weeks and then taking 2 off. I have always combined short business trips with a couple days of playing – like two days of business and then 3 days of sight-seeing, sitting in a beautiful setting or taking a short cruise.

I enjoy hearing from more and more of you who are finding the same freedom as you create the work – and life -- you love! Make this the year to find the music in you.

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"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” -- Plato


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Stay up to date, add your comments and share your successes at my No More Mondays Blog

Need resources to help you find your music?

Dan Miller Picture
1. Disaster or Opportunity? -- You Decide
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.

Check out this amazing Bible and hear a sample here:

2. Freelance Work – Is it right for you?
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!

See what the The 212ºConnection is all about

212connection.com logo
3. 48 Days Online Radio
Each week I create a new online radio podcast — that you can hear in iTunes or at the 48 Days Online Radio Show link below.

I began this podcast by relating the story of how a young guy here in Nashville got me to a private lunch meeting by doing something “remarkable.” Are you doing anything that is “remarkable” or are you just one more reliable, dependable, average Joe?

I also talked about how more education frequently traps people rather than giving them more options. Having a PhD., M.D., DDS, JD, DMin or whatever may reduce your perceived options for moving forward. And how making a lot of money may appear to be more limiting than if you’re broke.

And of course I answered lots of questions from readers as well.

If you have a question, just click on the 48 Days Online Radio link below and you can ask about starting your own business, getting a better job, or finding your purpose in life.

That’s the same place you can listen to this week’s broadcast immediately – no downloading – no wait.

48 Days Radio - Listen & Subscribe Here!

4. 48 Days Recommends
Like to see your business listed here? Click here for details.

PinkLifeline.com
pink.jpgIf you are a woman, you need to take a moment and pay attention to this now: Breast cancer is rampant and all women are at risk. The #1 source of prevention...is early detection! And Susanne Ballard of Pink Lifeline has the best best source for achieving this...in a small and inexpensive kit that you can use monthly. Dan's wife and daughter-in-law both have them...this is serious...Get the details here

eAudioSource.com
eAudio-WOPNT.jpgeAudioSource.com is a leader in downloadable audio Bibles and books, and was developed by Dan’s longtime friend Phil Stoner. He used his 25 years experience in the publishing world, and is passing along the benefits to customers. You’ll find MP3 and iPod compatible formats. You’ll find prices lower than anywhere else. We’ve worked with Phil to provide an even greater savings for the 48 Days audience on the exciting new audio Bible, The Word of Promise New Testament. You have to check out the incredible Hollywood cast who is reading this. Visit this special web page and you’ll save an amazing 60%, only available here to 48 Days subscribers: Check it out


Chuck Bowen Coaching - Financial, Career & Business
ChuckLogo48Newsletter.jpgIf your finances aren’t in order, you need to contact Chuck. If you have a business you need to get in order, you need to contact Chuck. Seeking your calling in your career? Call Chuck Bowen Coaching. He trains Dave Ramsey financial coaches and is President of Dan Miller’s 212 Connection. What better proof is there?! Contact Chuck Bowen Coaching now!

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PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT

Need to find your music?
The most popular product in the 48 Days arsenal continues to be the Computerized Personality Report. Before you begin seeking a better job or self-employment, you need to be sure you are pursuing opportunities that match your personality style and will fulfill and reward you for a lifetime!

48 Days Computerized Personality Report

5. Humor -- Employee Notice
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.

48 Days Recommended Businesses
48 Days
P.O. Box 681381
Franklin, TN 37068-1381
(615) 373-7771
www.48days.com

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