OK I just want to start to see if I can have some fun here. Any business like Innucopia, that is: an independent contractor or business that has to depend on businesses and individuals that need their services, knows how thankless it is when you're trying to get started and looking for contracts, or once a main contract runs out and you have to start all over if you haven't been careful. So if you can't get contracts you start thinking that you better find a job until you can line up some contracts, and job searching is about as rewarding as searching for contracts.

I can tell you all out there that it's about ten times worse when you're working somewhere like southern Illinois, with a chronically depressed economy that depends on the local university and the always-struggling but lovely tourism industry, regardless of your past experience or credentials. Of course it's always possible that I'm just too picky (can't take the insurance sales opportunity) or don't have the right credentials (don't have a nursing degree or commercial drivers license). Looking for a job and contracts in a place like this is very challenging, and I ran across this video today that kind of sums up some of my feelings about it. I'm definitely going to check out simplyhired.com and I'll let you know how it goes. As long as I'm talking about this today I might as well include this ConsumerResearch.org link which talks about some job search sites. This was not my idea originally either, about the southern Illinois business scene I mean, my previous contractor and one of the smartest guys I know warned me about how it is around here. He moved to Oregon last year.

I've done elance, probably not as vehemently as I could, but it's cut throat out there, you've gotta bid $100 for jobs that will probably take you a week if you want to win the bid. Maybe I'm not understanding it correclty. I've already been on Monster for years, and I have had very few contacts there. Craigslist looks like a haven for the scheisters, I can find enough of that everywhere else. I search the local newspaper and community sites. LinkedIn.com is nice but most of my contacts there are from Belgium or Seattle or somewhere distant. Doesn't mean that won't be helpful someday; my lovely and brilliant friend Caterina Saraceno recommended me on there a few days ago so we'll see if that makes any waves. I canvas everyone I know or have met over the years. I get my website link in my emails, I'm starting to blog again. This is a full time job, but I technically have no job.:)

I have been here before, and I just have a feeling that I'm not the only one in this boat. So I'm going to start writing about my expeirences just in case they might be useful for anyone else. If anyone else knows of a blog like this or wants to share experiences or just tell me to quit whining, please let me know.

I have also been reading for years about outsoucing, so many jobs going overseas and wondering what everyone was going to do. How can a middle class person survive these days; unless you're able to have two incomes to cover costs it seems impossible to have a comfortable life to me, I mean unless you're a student or a single living the good free life I suppose. Or you have to have a job on the side to make some extra income. Everyone I know talks about it or does this. Most people are going to have to reinvent themselves and make their own way as far as I can tell.

So I guess I'm going to try and help some people along as I help myself. I've got a girlfriend that wants to start an online gift basket business, and some friends I just sat with last night who are going to be opening another lodging establishment here locally. It seems I can be of some service to them because I have been teaching myself about html and web design, online and email marketing for the past five years and I can wade through the mumbo jumbo and be straight about the real solutions they've got. I'm not someone who believes you've got to spend thousands on a website if you're a small or just starting out business. There are so many things you can do to make a good website these days on the cheap and still good quality. Of course once you get the website built there are lots of other things to do, SEO, getting reciprocal links, etc., etc....Here we go!