Self-employed webmasters, what if your mom says go get a "real" job?
- Thread starter archyboy
- Start date
Well, I am 32 years old, I barely had a job in my life (I am an offline entrepreneur converted to online...), BUT my mother STILL tell me too get a real job!
I say: Mom: I hire people, why do you want me to get a job? I don't know, she doesn't get the business thing. For her, to make a living, you must have a job.
She can't imagine that I never actually worked for someone in my life.
In my case, I just listen... There is nothing I can do!
I say: Mom: I hire people, why do you want me to get a job? I don't know, she doesn't get the business thing. For her, to make a living, you must have a job.
She can't imagine that I never actually worked for someone in my life.
In my case, I just listen... There is nothing I can do!
JOB= Just over Broke
I used to tell her that i do not like wearing handcuffs, Not even golden handcuffs(college educated prisioner of a job).
She used to tell me to get a job when i started my first business, and i asked her "how are you doing finiancialy" and as she started to comment, she stopped, she got it!
I have asked many people the same question. It does not have to be rude, but in an easy tone.
Most people who ask that question are struggeling with finiances.
It is a thought process, it was the way they were brought up.
I used to tell her that i do not like wearing handcuffs, Not even golden handcuffs(college educated prisioner of a job).
She used to tell me to get a job when i started my first business, and i asked her "how are you doing finiancialy" and as she started to comment, she stopped, she got it!
I have asked many people the same question. It does not have to be rude, but in an easy tone.
Most people who ask that question are struggeling with finiances.
It is a thought process, it was the way they were brought up.
Julia15
New Member
Well I'm not self-employed, but I still have a tricky time talking to my family about what exactly it is I 'do' - I've tried explaining to them many, many times what 'affiliate marketing' is (including using diagrams, showing them websites, etc), and over a year later, I think they still have no clue! 
JerseyGirl
New Member
I love this topic, forget explaining in the most simplest of terms, I still always get the "glazed over eye" response. The best is when you try to explain to a family member who doesn't use email or the internet at all. May as well be speaking a foreign language.
Also, taking this one step farther. I work for a company home based in NY. I work for them remote from another state. Can anyone see where I am going with this one??
Some of my favorite questions are:
"Do you work in your pj's"
"Do you watch tv all day"
"Do you eat all day long"
It never seems to cross anyone's mind that you actually work more.
Also, taking this one step farther. I work for a company home based in NY. I work for them remote from another state. Can anyone see where I am going with this one??
Some of my favorite questions are:
"Do you work in your pj's"
"Do you watch tv all day"
"Do you eat all day long"
It never seems to cross anyone's mind that you actually work more.
Yep lose the commute + work in PJ's =s an extra 2 hours of productivity to my day. Then having my office next to my kitchen so I can still work while dinner is cooking, then eat dinner at the PC =s another 2 hours.
And watching TV at night in my office (on my new big screen monitor) while I keep working on the other half of the screen another 3 hours.
So by working at home I work an extra 7 hours a day.
And ebooks try to tell you working from home in your PJs is easy!
15 hours a day straight productivity - can't do that in an office J.O.B.
BTW I gave up trying to explain what I do. Not only do I have the same problems you all do with trying to explain what AM is. but my particular biz model is so unique, no one else on the planet does what I do.
I'm not an affiliate manager or an outsourced affiliate manager or an affiliate management consultant,
or a PR person or an ad agency or a recruiter or a match-maker or a sales trainer...
I'm kinda sorta all those rolled in one - a little bit, kinda, sorta, plus...
So I just say I have an Internet Marketing company and leave it at that.
And watching TV at night in my office (on my new big screen monitor) while I keep working on the other half of the screen another 3 hours.
So by working at home I work an extra 7 hours a day.
And ebooks try to tell you working from home in your PJs is easy!
15 hours a day straight productivity - can't do that in an office J.O.B.
BTW I gave up trying to explain what I do. Not only do I have the same problems you all do with trying to explain what AM is. but my particular biz model is so unique, no one else on the planet does what I do.
I'm not an affiliate manager or an outsourced affiliate manager or an affiliate management consultant,
or a PR person or an ad agency or a recruiter or a match-maker or a sales trainer...
I'm kinda sorta all those rolled in one - a little bit, kinda, sorta, plus...
So I just say I have an Internet Marketing company and leave it at that.
JerseyGirl
New Member
Linda, I totally get what you do, and my hat off to you, I think it is brilliant.
You get it? Cool!
Even people that have known me professionally for a long time still don't
quite understand my model. I even confuse myself sometimes.
Even people that have known me professionally for a long time still don't
quite understand my model. I even confuse myself sometimes.
I guess I'm a lucky one to have a very supportive parents. They were always encouraging me on my pursuits. They must've had hard time looking at me failing all the time. But they stayed with me, and helped me when I was financially broke that I couldn't my bills for 3 months.
Well, now, they no longer have to work because I can support them. They are after their dream now in Mexico operating a private school for the poor families.
My post doesn't really answer your question, but want you to know that if you have the passion in what you are doing, what other people or your families think about you will not matter much after all. Go after your dream, and be bold. Show them the result and show them what you are capable of.
Bo
Well, now, they no longer have to work because I can support them. They are after their dream now in Mexico operating a private school for the poor families.
My post doesn't really answer your question, but want you to know that if you have the passion in what you are doing, what other people or your families think about you will not matter much after all. Go after your dream, and be bold. Show them the result and show them what you are capable of.
Bo
"Well, now, they no longer have to work because I can support them. They are after their dream now in Mexico operating a private school for the poor families."
That's awesome Bo! I LOVE it when "pay back time" is a positive thing!
That's awesome Bo! I LOVE it when "pay back time" is a positive thing!
JerseyGirl
New Member
Great story, good things happen all the time through hard work and I think you telling that story only reinforces it for others out there going after the same thing.
Congrats!
Congrats!
I agree, They just can not grasp that we do work and that it has to be treated as a business for it to work!
Only if their thoughts were true!
I sure would like watching t.v. all day and eating all day.
I sometimes work so long that when I take a break at midnight, I realise i am hungry!
Only if their thoughts were true!
I sure would like watching t.v. all day and eating all day.
I sometimes work so long that when I take a break at midnight, I realise i am hungry!
JerseyGirl
New Member
That is classic, you forget to eat, but ya know what, I totally know where you are coming from.
For me, it becomes addictive. Working from home, I am constantly drawn to my PC. If I get up in the middle of the night to grab something from the kitchen, I automatically check my inbox.
I never invested the same hours working in an office and also never accomplished more. There is something about the determination, it is like you just know it is entirely up to you to be successful.
For me, it becomes addictive. Working from home, I am constantly drawn to my PC. If I get up in the middle of the night to grab something from the kitchen, I automatically check my inbox.
I never invested the same hours working in an office and also never accomplished more. There is something about the determination, it is like you just know it is entirely up to you to be successful.
Well I'm not self-employed, but I still have a tricky time talking to my family about what exactly it is I 'do' - I've tried explaining to them many, many times what 'affiliate marketing' is (including using diagrams, showing them websites, etc), and over a year later, I think they still have no clue!
It's terrible isn't it! Gotta love the blank stares you get when you tell people you're an affiliate marketer and search engine optimizer
Now I just them the old, "I work on the internet".But to the first question....if your mom says to get a real job I wouldn't. Even my mom told me I was wasting my time when I got out of college working on affiliate marketing. Now I'm 25 and could retire while my friends are beating their brains in at work. Stick it out, work hard, and be creative. I always found negative words to me were the best motivation I could get because you want to prove them wrong.
I get the blank stares all the time, especially now that I'm doing this full time. People have a hard time grasping you can make a living from a website even when you're not physically working on the website. I was talking to a cousin over the Holiday and he still swears I'm involved in some kind of scam. LOL
But when my parents found out exactly how much I was making, they stopped staring and questioning. LOL Suddenly all my friends want websites. But I am continuously reminding people that it's more than just putting up a website. They seem to glance over the stories of me spending 10+ hours per day on the PC and all the content I write. They forget it took me years to get to a point where I earned enough to comfortably quit my 9 to 5. They ignore the stories of all the sites I started that failed. People only want to focus on the money and glamour.
I've never worked harder in my life but I am loving it and really don't consider it work. Although I'd much rather be spending 10+ hours/day doing what I love than sitting in a cubicle bored to death and dreaming of working on my sites when I got home. Anyone else do that?
But when my parents found out exactly how much I was making, they stopped staring and questioning. LOL Suddenly all my friends want websites. But I am continuously reminding people that it's more than just putting up a website. They seem to glance over the stories of me spending 10+ hours per day on the PC and all the content I write. They forget it took me years to get to a point where I earned enough to comfortably quit my 9 to 5. They ignore the stories of all the sites I started that failed. People only want to focus on the money and glamour.
I've never worked harder in my life but I am loving it and really don't consider it work. Although I'd much rather be spending 10+ hours/day doing what I love than sitting in a cubicle bored to death and dreaming of working on my sites when I got home. Anyone else do that?
re: Self-employed webmasters, what if your mom says go get a "real" job?
How you know you're doing it right! This is a true story, actually happened to me. We made a move to a new town that was fairly small. High end sports cars in the driveway, couple SUV's, we don't have jobs, hardly ever leave the house.
I get up one morning, take the garbage out, come inside to eat breakfast and help get the kids off to school, walk outside with the kids to catch the bus and my garbage is empty, but no other house had theirs picked up yet. Come to find out the police had taken my garbage. The local PD was spying on me. I called the mayor and chief of police, invited them over and showed them what I do online.
He admitted that his officers took my garbage for "Probably Cause" to be able to raid my home because they did not know how lived at the level I do with no apparent job!
Be careful folks!
How you know you're doing it right! This is a true story, actually happened to me. We made a move to a new town that was fairly small. High end sports cars in the driveway, couple SUV's, we don't have jobs, hardly ever leave the house.
I get up one morning, take the garbage out, come inside to eat breakfast and help get the kids off to school, walk outside with the kids to catch the bus and my garbage is empty, but no other house had theirs picked up yet. Come to find out the police had taken my garbage. The local PD was spying on me. I called the mayor and chief of police, invited them over and showed them what I do online.
He admitted that his officers took my garbage for "Probably Cause" to be able to raid my home because they did not know how lived at the level I do with no apparent job!
Be careful folks!
re: Self-employed webmasters, what if your mom says go get a "real" job?
It helped to give my mom something to say when her friends ask her what her daughter does. At first she was saying "I'm not sure, something on computers? The internet?" and then they were hitting me up for IT help. That seemed vague and like I was in a scam.
Now she says "She does online business, very modern" and her friends are impressed and she's good.
My mom's never told me to get a "real job" but that's partly because she doesn't work now (she effectively retired; my dad supports them), and because I buy her stuff all the time. I pay for her phone bill, too. She's happy!
It helped to give my mom something to say when her friends ask her what her daughter does. At first she was saying "I'm not sure, something on computers? The internet?" and then they were hitting me up for IT help. That seemed vague and like I was in a scam.
Now she says "She does online business, very modern" and her friends are impressed and she's good.
My mom's never told me to get a "real job" but that's partly because she doesn't work now (she effectively retired; my dad supports them), and because I buy her stuff all the time. I pay for her phone bill, too. She's happy!
re: Self-employed webmasters, what if your mom says go get a "real" job?
I just tell my mom that what I do is nothing illegal and that she shouldn't worry. Sometimes, it's just hard to explain and no matter how hard I try she has a hard time getting it.
I just tell my mom that what I do is nothing illegal and that she shouldn't worry. Sometimes, it's just hard to explain and no matter how hard I try she has a hard time getting it.
My mother passed away when I was 18 but my dad still gives me crap. He just dose not understand the concept of making money online lol. I tell him all the time I would much rather be at home with my family even if I am on the PC a lot. Plus It's something that I really enjoy doing.
Similar threads
