Here Comes The Money

I belong to a networking group of unemployed folks, and every week, we have a speaker come in and talk about whatever it is they do, or something we can do to help ourselves, etc. For instance, recently we had a guy from our local chamber of commerce come in and talk about starting small businesses, an account executive from an employment placement agency, and things like that. Generally, they have good advice, because they have been able to do something that those of us in the group are in, and find a job that the economy didn't eliminate.

There's a great mix of people, some old, some young, some with experiences you wouldn't believe, and some with none whatsoever. I've been noticing one particular attendee asks every presenter about how much they make, or what the money is like in their particular industry. This person has also been somewhat of a career hopper, not suprisingly.

I think that person is going about it all wrong. Even in today's economy, don't do something just because it's where the money is. Don't do something you don't know how to do, or something that would compromise you just because its where the money is.

Its not just advice for the unemployed, either. Following the money is not a good way to do things. Freelancers and Consultants know this firsthand. Just because someone offers you a project that's going to give you a lot of money, doesn't mean you should take it. If you don't know how to do it, or can't do it, because of time or whatever, in the end, you won't get the money anyways, because you will more than likely have to halfass it just because you need to finish it. Don't do it that way. Take the stuff that comes along that makes sense for you to take. Things may get a little tight in the meantime, but in the long run, it will be worth it.

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Social Networking vs Business Networking

Over the past couple of days, the topic of Social Networking as a business, or being able to USE Social Networking as a business model from the user side, nor the owner side has been emerging. The question that is being raised is if Social Networking as it is set up right now can support or would welcome business integration beyond banner or clicker advertisements.

Social Networking as it stands right now cannot support business. People are too suspicious of spam or mass marketing and similar things to really get into adding a business side to a social network. What needs to be done is there needs to be a business network developed SPECIFICALLY for the business side of things. LinkedIn is part of the way there, because it allows people to communicate on a business level on things they have in common or want to have in common, whether that be a person or a particular characteristic of business.

However, adding a sales side to LinkedIn would be incredibly difficult as things are at the moment. I'm not sure that the internet community as a whole can truly support a social network built for business purposes other than networking. I don't even think it is because of security measures, because things can be done to combat most of the questions. I just don't think that the internet community, or the world at large even is ready to support a full on social business network.

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