Posts Tagged ‘depression’

Local Manufacturing

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

How do you go about making money in our current financial Depression here in the United States?  It is easy.  Manufacture something domestically that people want.  You need to research what kind of business that you want to enter and whether manufacturing is right for you but think of this:  In the current economic climate, there are cities and counties, even in California, the home of great red tape, where there are incentives to start up businesses. 

First decide whether it is something for you or not and then start researching what machinery you will need, what raw materials, can you make the item at a decent price and make a decent mark up on a quality product.  Take note of local rules and regulations and note for employment and see if you can get started.

I would love to get a shoe business going.  Something like shoes has no local health requirements like a restaurant where one would have to be inspected on a regular basis (you know, like getting a rating of “A” if the place is clean or a “C” if you have rats taking sponge baths in your soup).  There is plenty of red tape with organizations like OSHA etc but if you get some small manufacturing machines, get them loaned to start with or get old ones and have a knack for repairs you can give it a try.

Think about this – in Japan, people have small robotic manufacturing plants in their homes.  Mom, grandma, and the kids get to work in the development of the product.  In Chinese countries there is a lot of physical labor but there is manufacturing going on to keep people working.  We need to do something similar here to get goods made that we can buy here instead of having them imported and in some cases having them dangerous.

Making something that you can sell and take pride in is a wonderful thing.  Consider all the great and popular products that are now foreign owned that were originated here in the United States.  Things like Levi jeans or Miller beer.  The parent companies are international ones and the brilliant goods started out here in America.  It is true in every country there is innovation but America is famous for it.  There is also the satisfaction of contributing to the economic recovery something tangible versus intangible.  Sure, intangibles like advice are good for lawyers, tax people and others but that isn’t quite the same as a tangible shoe, motorcycle or can of alcohol.  Remember how we use to make things out of paper, clay or shoe boxes?  We still can do that with that spirit of innovation and fun at a higher level if we are willing to work at it.

Sure, the shape of the world may be changing but there is time and room to make money in it even in small, impoverished nations like the United States of America.

Have a great weekend gang.

Oct 10 2009

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Local Manufacturing

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Make Small or Make Big? It Doesn’t Matter Just Make Something

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

I have been harping for at least a year on the benefits of the United States going back to a manufacturing economy and I don’t think it is too late for us to pull it off.  The important things to have to materialize the situation are:

 

  1.  Positive Government Environment – That means that we need tax incentives to jumpstart the battery of our local economies.  Don’t be fooled, we have plenty of talent and creative souls who are waiting to start, or in some cases jump back in, to their respective businesses but for them to be profitable, they will need to have the support of the state and local governments.  As of now, I see that sporadically in some states and sadly, California is lagging behind like the zebra that is falling away from the herd.  That means that lions and predators in the form of unemployment and continued financial Depression can gnaw deeply into our delicate bones.  Internally, some cities like San Diego are making a play to get more motion picture industry business into their area.   We are dropping the ball in the Los Angeles area and we need to not only pass legislation to keep whatever entertainment industry is left but to also get other businesses to start opening shop here in Los Angeles.  I get it that the city is underfunded but we need to get people to stay in the city and county and work legally so they can be taxed at a reasonable rate and they can grow.  At the current time of this entry, businesses are fleeing the Southland and even the US.    Folks, please write our Congressional leaders, the President, the Governors and get them to cut our local laws some slack to encourage business to stay and not flee.  I am not saying that we give away the farm in terms of tax breaks because I love paved highways, clean waterways and running water as much as the next person.  I am saying that we shouldn’t tax the poor businessman or woman to death just to raise revenues.  There are other ways of getting money and we really need to float more bond issues.
  2. Limited Robotics and Local Labor Employment – Most of manufacturing on a large scale, like the automotive business, is done with robots.  That does not employ a heck of a lot of humans so the type of work that we need to generate has to be a mixture of machines and men.  We may not have to go the pure Chinese model route, where you employ only human beings to hand make goods though that is an excellent way of working towards full employment.  The downside is that it isn’t efficient and employers would go broke with salary and hourly payrolls that they wouldn’t need if they had automated production for some of their work.  Pure robotics doesn’t work because they won’t get the average person working and making money.  Another factor when it comes to robotics is that they need servicing and you are going to need to have some local support in case your machines break down.  You will need to invest in local mechanics or have your staff trained so that they can be in a position to handle programming upgrades, repair robotic arms, fix wiring breakdowns and all of the little things that can and do go wrong with repetitive motion.
  3. Remember basic economics, gang.  You need people to make money so they will have it to spend.  That in turn will get people to start hiring and create even more jobs and create an upward spiral instead of the downward one that we are in right now.  Size doesn’t matter in what you are producing – Whether you are making socks by hand, pencils, or high tech circuit boards, the important thing in my mind and heart is for you to be manufacturing something.   Manufacturing of goods produces something in a very physical sense that cannot be stolen virtually and if it is something that people need and can afford at a decent price, you will be set.  There are plenty of companies who have been making pens and pencils for generations and they will continue to do so even though foreign competition has tried to undercut them.  If something is made of good quality, people will pay a little more for it.  In this case, it is worth spending fifty cents apiece for a pen rather than five cents if the pen will last a few months versus crapping out and drying out within two days of usage.  One of the biggest issues with a lot of Chinese made goods is that they were falling apart.  It was profitable to go ahead and buy them only until you realized that you lost money because you had to replace them sooner.  It never is a good idea to go with the lowest bidder if you constantly have to replace products.  It just doesn’t make good financial or common sense.
  4. Good relations with your business community and any chambers of commerce- It pays to make friends with the people in your community.  That is an important part in working with people to get them employed, getting permits to start your business and having the local climate work for you in getting your manufacturing business going rather than have it slog along and having to deal with committees trying to approve this and that for your gig.  You also can’t buy go word of mouth relations with your business because that kind of response spreads and helps the community and the world see what kind of great guy or gal you are in terms of doing business with, working for or buying goods from.  Even though the book value of good will tends to be over-valued, the real life value of the situation is that it makes life easier for you, your clients and the world at large if you are a decent, fair businessperson.
  5. Limited liability insurance if need be with your product.  In today’s society,  people are stupid and greedy.  They will spill a hot cup of coffee on themselves and try to sue the restaurant they bought it at because they scalded their privates.  You will need to protect yourself as best as you can with insurance.  The good news is that policies for certain things run cheap and as long as you have good training, good safety skills – especially if you have heavy machinery, you will be okay.  Take a tip from old factories and post signs that show how many days you had without any accidents.  Encourage and reward good business practices.  You can always punish the people who don’t practice safety by firing them or let them cut their own fingers off.  I am just kidding about the second half of that last sentence.  Seriously, don’t let your staff lose digits or limbs. 
  6. Make sure that you have a clear direction and a business plan for your product.  This should be the number one thing that you should be working on prior to spending a dime on your plans.  Have you looked at all the licensing and reporting requirements?  If there are food packaging issues, have you contacted the appropriate certification agencies or boards?  The last thing you want is to start up a great food manufacturing plant and have it shut down because you didn’t get the appropriate form filled out.  That sucks. 
  7. Hire and train people of all ages.  If people are in good shape, willing to work, don’t discriminate against them because they are too old or too young.  You get experience with older workers who will work without giving you grief and you will get energy and enthusiasm from younger workers who are trying to make a buck to buy their cars and houses.  Well, you probably have older employee candidates who are trying to do the same thing but you know what I am yapping about.  It makes for a better workplace than keeping it cliquish.   There is also a great benefit for getting people across multi-generations and groups excited about your business and your product.  There is a reason you see so many ethnically balanced web sites with people of many colors and religions.  We are all different and want to be respected.  If you can get a person’s respect, they will want to do business with you and purchase your stuff.
  8. Look for places to open up your factory where you can run all night if you have to.  You may have extensive automated machinery that needs to keep running all night with a skeleton crew.  If some of it is a little on the noisy side, look for parts of the community where you won’t hear the echoes of commerce at 3 am.  Where I live it is so quiet we sometimes hear the trains that run literally miles away.  Canyons and valleys echo like crazy.
  9. Use local manpower.  There is a lot of talent in every community.  I may be yakking too much on this but there is no shortage of trained and willing workers here in the United States, here in your state and here in your local city.  Get them working.  They will reward you with good, productive efforts and they will have the money to spend to keep things going in your neighborhoods.
  10. Scream to the world with press releases, Internet entries, celebrity parties, etc that you are doing business.  Get people to know that you are out there and you will make sales.  Your local chambers of commerce should help you get the word out and if you can get local celebrities or sports people to come by (especially for free or if they owe you a favor because you loaned them money when they were first starting out) you can create buzz.  Make sure whatever it is that you are selling works.  If you are making shoes, make sure that they don’t fall apart or off of your feet.  There isn’t a profitable thing about watching an attractive celebrity have her shoes fall apart for your business though the hilarity and Internet Youtube hits will make your company infamous for a few weeks.

 

So get busy.  Keep me posted as to how things are going and we can do this.  Approach your local banks for money with your successfully written business plan and start going with your gig.

 

Hey, don’t go anywhere yet.  Having some tax issues or tax questions?  Any problems with trying to make it through the financial Depression we are in that is making you depressed?  Please read on.

I am expanding  my practice and taking on new tax clients.  If you are interested in having somebody who is a successful businessman and tax professional with integrity review your returns discretely and see if your tax guy or gal is doing a good or goofy job, please drop me an email or post a comment with your contact information and time.

I have experience in international business, small businesses, partnerships, multi-state tax returns (they can get complicated) and anything else you can probably think of.

I also do business consulting and have ran several businesses (still running a few) myself so you are in good hands.

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post. There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books? You may want to make a stop over here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“? Please order it today. The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars! Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later.

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book go to Rett Syndrome research. One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes. My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime. Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 Make Small or Make Big?  It Doesn’t Matter Just Make Something

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Time Value In A Depression

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

What is the value of time in an economic Depression?  How does it help you or hurt you in a business or in your attempts at making money?

Time can hurt you if:

You don’t have enough money to pay your creditors, your bills, your mortgage.  Every clock tick just makes it closer to financial ruin.

If you are very ill or dying, time runs out and you don’t have life.  That is the ultimate in cashing out of a business- the business of your life!

If you are taking a test, waiting to get home from being deployed in a combat zone, or waiting for a refund check from the Fed or the State.  Time crawls and seems to take forever.

Time can help you:

If during the Depression you can go to school, you can use the bad economic times to step outside the ruckus and educate yourself to be in a better position to profit from things when the economy turns around.  You can also retrain yourself for hopefully more marketable skills. 

If you are in love, you always are looking for more time. Time does fly when you are having fun.

When it comes to investing, you want to look for investments that will do well in bad times.  People who are shorting the stock market are doing okay and for the time being, the stock market looks like it is going to be down and possibly going down further.  I won’t go on record saying you should short the market because there are rallying moments and you can get clobbered if the market takes off.

As long as there is time, if you are sick, they can find a cure for what ails you or what can manage whatever disease you have.  The only exception again is if you have something fatal and are leaving us too soon. 

Time is also your ally in a Depression because you can use it to revisit your family, your friends, your hobbies and remember why you were working so freaking hard in the first place.  To make your life better for yourself, your friends, your family and so you can have time to enjoy your hobbies.

So isn’t it time that you start thinking about how you value your time?

Be safe, sane, healthy and try and get wealthy.

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.   Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Time Value In A Depression

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Things People Will Still REALLY Need In the Depression

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Hi gang! I do this periodically and it is time once again for my list of things that people will still really need in our current economic Depression:

 

1.  Shelter – People, even if they are out of work, don’t have a lot in savings or have lost their home will still need somewhere to stay indoors.  If you are planning on buying apartment buildings, while I wouldn’t go completely out on a limb and say this is the time to do it, you may want to start looking at properties if you have the cash, the wherewithall to be an apartment owner and don’t mind listening to people’s complaints when the heat goes out or if the water doesn’t refill the toilet fast enough.  You may also, if you are comfortable enough with it, consider taking in people to rent a room but I would advise you only do that if you are capable of being able to evict them if things go bad for them.  Make sure you run credit checks prior to renting them a room.

2.  Food – If you are in the food manufacturing business or service business people will still be eating.  A lot of people will be going with inexpensive fast food as well since they can’t afford a lot.  McDonald’s restaurants did a decent business last quarter so that should be an indicator of the fact that tired, stressed parents would rather spend money on Happy (or perhaps UnHappy) Meals than go home and cook for the kids.

3.  Clothing – Despite images of Depression era people in potato sacks and barrels, people will need comfortable clothes at affordable prices.  If they live in cold or wet climates they will need to dress accordingly there.

4.  Transportation – Depending on where you live, you and others will need a car or some sort of rapid transportation system like a bus, train or shuttle.  That means that people will need to have support services where they can maintain these transportation systems.  Tires will need changing, batteries will need replacing and rails will need to have upkeep.

5.  Protection – With the increasing unemployment and people stressing out, classes in self-defense and sales of weapons (license permitting) will probably rise.  Look for security systems for home and apartments to do well in continued sales.

Keep this stuff in mind for investing or for looking for employment.

 Good luck and talk with you later!

Oh, and Happy Real Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday.

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Things People Will Still REALLY Need In the Depression

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Dealing With Unemployment, Lay Offs and Depression

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

With 75000 jobs being laid off on Monday, more layoffs on the way, and no end in sight for lay offs in general, here is a reminder to check my blog entry, No Job.  Things are pretty grim for a lot of people and as a supplement to the post and information in my book, Practical Money Making (which deals with surviving a depression/Depression and making money), here are some more tips:

 

hardtimes

 

1.  Unemployment, though extended, may be in short supply if the government agencies run out of money, even for the short term.  Sure, the government eventually will do something to help but if you are hungry now and have a family now get your application going.  If you received any kind of severance package, you probably will have to blow through that before your unemployment kicks in.  That is the way that it works, at least in California.  I suspect other states have similar programs.

2.  Take stock of everything that you have.  If you are fortunate enough to have some savings, start looking at budgeting to make money last.  If you are living hand-to-mouth and were getting by paycheck-to-paycheck you need to start thinking of other jobs you can do and maybe at a lower salary.  It isn’t pretty.  I have gone through something similar and it is just a sign of the times.  It is the destruction of supply that I’ve talked about (others as well) and companies, unsure of the future, are trying to be lean and mean.  You need to adapt a similar position if you are to survive for the next few days, months, weeks and years.  I am making it.  You can and you will, too.

 3.   You will be in a depression in a Depression.  Don’t do anything irrational.  You will make it through this.  There have been accounts of people killing themselves etc and just remember it is only money.  There have been stories where supervisors who were clueless encouraged employees to take their own lives as they were about to be laid off and that is totally irresponsible.  I’ve had some punks try to post something on my blog at times and I have blistered some of them a new place to evacuate themselves with and others I have ignored.  Ignore all the bad energy.

Seriously, ignore people’s bad energy.  You need to look after yourself and your family.  Start looking at trying to raise vegetables, food, etc at home.  Living in the Rust Belt and is it too cold?  Hydroponic gardening inside an option?  Worse case, think about moving, even temporarily to warmer climates.

Think about going multi-family in dwellings.  If you have the space for the short term and can handle the psychological ill-effects of crowding, move in with friends and relatives.  Try not to make it for a long time but if you need to do it, do what you have to do.

Talk to counselors, therapists, free socal help groups, – anything that can help you psychologically make it through this lousy time.  Start thinking about what you will do differently to protect yourself when you get out of the situation that you are in.  You will get out of it.  It may not happen over night but you will get out of it and thing will get better.

May you be at peace, be happy, get wealthier, and have wisdom.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my other books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed above in the link.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

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I am calling it – we are in a Depression

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

No matter what people are calling it, it is a Depression.  When money is stuck in constipated mode in banks, business is slow, and there are millions being laid off or under utilized for jobs, we are in a Depression.

 

soupline1

 

The President and Congress have to do something.  Already farmers who can’t afford water are going to let some of their crops go and have smaller harvests.  That cuts into our food supply.  People who are out of work cannot afford to buy goods, services or pay their bills.  That will cause more companies to lay off or fold.  I have a solution.

The solution is to get the money into the hands of the average person by doing something to get more jobs going faster.  How about crash courses in skills that the government is still in need of?  The government still needs computer programmers, attornies, technicians, engineers, social scientists and linguists.

We need the space race going again and fast.  We need to get out of the Depression by uniting everybody together in a race for Mars.  We need to get large and small companies funding so they can employ people and get the national economy, and by extension, foreign economies going.

Realizing it won’t happen over night, we all still need to live over the next six months to a year till things get going.  If the President and Congress wanted to make a difference, the economic stimulus package should be $10,000 per family but even that would blow us out of the water in the long haul with inflation.  A lot of American cities will be turning into ghost towns.  Look at Detroit.  People either will need to migrate out of their cities like in the Dust Bowl days or government needs to do something to get off shore jobs back in America.

There are a lot of problems going on internationally and I would expect our Administration to address them.  The first priority though is to get an economic recovery going.  Everybody can talk and think clearly when they have a roof over their head, some clothes on their backs and food on their tables and stomachs.  If people are going to be hurting in one of those three areas they will make bad decisions and we don’t want things to drop into chaos.

I am hoping the infrastructure programs take off and lead to more programs and work.  We need to rebuild our roads, dams, etc – long time readers know that is one of my harp points.  My concern is that the execution of the plan will not be co-opted by corruption and the money not getting to employ people or by getting shoddy materials.

People, keep our politicians accountable!

On a skewed note, I was watching on 60 Minutes that they were showing studies where people who are hungry and eat less tend to live longer lives.  I am going to take a cue from that and maybe start watching what I am eating and cutting my portions down even more than I am doing now.  I walk 1.5 – 2 miles a day and I know that watching one’s diet is an important thing to take care of as well if one wants to have a profitable life.

Keep those questions and comments coming, folks.  Anything I can do to help – ask away.

Be safe, happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale. If you like poker, Heroes (the TV series), comic books, Watchmen, etc, there may be some fast links to get you to what you are looking for.  Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax”?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

 If you are laid off, looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book listed below.  Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

I am calling it – we are in a Depression

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Good Emotions, Bad Emotions

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

I almost want to write a book and call it “Good Emotions, Bad Emotions” similar to my book, “Good Tax Idea, Bad Tax Idea“.  There are a lot of emotions that can hit and at times almost overwhelm you in business as well as your personal life.  The best advice I can give is to try and stay calm.  It may not be possible but more times than not, going ballistic or melting down isn’t the profitable way of solving a problem.  I’ve touched on his before and it doesn’t do much good to freak out over things that you can’t control but at times you may need to do some kind of release.  If you get wound up over things, take five minutes at lunch or at break time and go somewhere to stretch your neck muscles, relax, take deep breaths.

Your job may be on the line or a serious relationship may suffer if you don’t take at least one step to think about your reactions.

Go somewhere the opposite of where you were at.  In other words, if being alone was making you sad or angry, go somewhere where there are people and try to interact if you can.  If you were with people and they were the cause of the grief, try and figure out what was going on and if need be, excuse yourself.

There is a lot of craziness in the news with the economy, the elections, global issues, etc.  The best thing you can do is try and avoid the bad emotions.  In the long run they won’t help your physical or mental well-being.

Bad emotions include apathy at times, exhaustion and depression. Please, if you can, do not make business decisions when you are feeling bad. The result is that you may not make the best decision you can at that time.

Good emotions are emotions that make you feel great, inspire you, make you happy (though most people are not happy all the time), anything that can make you feel at peace (which is different than happy) or anything that brings you joy.  If you have a hobby, maybe dancing, express yourself.  I don’t have to tell you this if you love your work or if you are the type of individual who finds that they can get lost in their hobby.

It is also not not a good nor profitable idea to make business decisions if you are ecstatic, high or on medications. Your judgment could be impaired as much as if you were in a state of anger or depression.

The secret to feeling better is to lose your sense of self.  If you can do that with something that produces genuine and not harmful-in-the-long-run emotions, do it!

The secret to making good business decisions with profitable results is to take the good feelings and try to make a well-thought decision. You want to make a balanced decision, regardless of the good or bad emotions.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

 

Kim Greenblatt talks about Good Emotions, Bad Emotions. Really, he does.

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Self Publishing and Self Realization and The Depression Word

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

I have just finished the edit for my next book, Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement.  As I start the post production process and the cover generation I realized that I used the “D” word in the book.

That’s right, I said it.  Depression.

Back in our great-grandfathers or for some of us, grandfathers day, in the 1920s, there was what they called the Great Depression.  The problem back then was that banks had over-extended themselves because of bad investments in the stock market and speculation.  In this day and age, we are hearing daily of more and more financial problems due to the housing bubble popping.

This is the time to start looking to how to make money during a depression.  It may not be another Great Depression but with inflation rising, interest rates flat, Home Equity loans frozen and the next shoe to drop will be credit card companies freezing lines, it is time to get income and expectations in line for the immediate future.

What will sell?  Well, I suspect my book will have brisk sales if I keep the price at the market friendly $15-20 range (it will probably go for $15 retail before online bookstore discounting) and people continue to look for extra ways to make money, invest their money and work to get out of debt. The price point for non-fiction is generally between $12-25 depending on the book and content.

Did I have some other self-realizations? Of course! Let me share my realizations with you, dear reader.

Look for businesses you can start or continue that will help people save money, something that they can do that will save their homes, put food on their plates.  This is going to be a rough ride for all of us and if the economic forecasts look true, it may be two to four years for the U.S. to get out of the slump.

In terms of investments, I would watch very carefully what I would be putting my money into because for at least the next few months, there is going to be turmoil with looming military conflicts on the Russian border, uncertainty over the Presidential elections and the bottom of the financial markets meltdown may not be over yet. I invite you to do your own financial research and come to your own conclusions.

Here is an important reminder to people starting a business in the coming months or years. People will still pay for something that they think they will need, so marketing will still have some affect. The reality is that they will not be able to go into debt anymore to buy the item they want so they will have to wait patiently and longingly like a kid looking at a new video game in a store window.

From what I understand, in some of the hotels in Macau, the island off of China, the big casinos do get a lot of people but a lot of them just come over with their bagged lunch and sit and look at the slot machines and gaming tables. That is shockingly similar to state line casinos here in the United States between California and Nevada. It means that just because there is something marketed attractively to a customer – and there is nothing that screams marketing like a slot machine – that doesn’t mean that they will have the money to use it.

Maybe they need to have lower cost slot machines or table limits at some of the casinos in Macau to accommodate their poorer players. Maybe the casino builders and owners are discovering that even high rollers and whales go through their own financial depression and not have enough money to go play at the casinos. Time will tell and for now, that is outside of my pay grade, folks.

The take away from this is that personal depression may result from financial depression but if you are aware of what is happening you can plan accordingly for it by adjusting your income expectations and turn your depression into a great self-realization impression!

Good luck to you and may you be profitable, happy, healthy and safe in all your ventures.

Part of all my book proceeds go to research finding a cure for Rett Syndrom and reversal of symptoms.

Kim Greenblatt

Questions or comments? Let me know about them! Thanks for taking the time to visit and for more information or to get back to the beginning of the blog, go here.

Kim Greenblatt, in his blog, profitable, dares to use the “D” word for the next few years financially-depression and changes it into a self-realization impression!

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How Long Will the Bad Times Last?

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

With the start of the Olympics, the celebration going on in China, I see a lot of good times happening. Unfortunately, here in Southern California, as well as other parts of the United States, I have to ask myself, as I am sure you do, dear reader, when will the bad times end?

People are getting laid off, people are losing their homes, and despite the drop in gasoline, people cannot afford to pay for gasoline, food and clothing.

These are basic items – food, clothing and shelter- that we have taken for granted in this country as inalienable rights. It is amusing because as we move into more of global capitalistic economy the only right that seems to matter is financial survival of the fittest.

It doesn’t have to be this way and hopefully we are nearing the end of the bad times. A lot of people seem to put stock in whoever wins the presidential election. Maybe they are right because it looks like Congress is going to hold off on any major legislation until after January 2009. It will be interesting to follow up on this post to see what happens maybe a year from now. Let us hope that it isn’t “business as usual”.

I know in my own life I see people finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. Part of it may be their own doing for over-extending their credit. Hopefully this site will help them get back on track to being profitable or give them some ideas to get their lives turned around.

People trying to take care of special needs children, parents or relatives are being crushed by medical bills, higher drug costs and lack of support from their communities.

My suggestion, dear readers, is to start writing and if you can, screaming at our leaders. Our congressional representatives, senators, Governors and presidential candidates need to hear that we have to change things. We need to spend some money on rebuilding our infrastructure. Our bridges, highways, subways, and cities need to be rebuilt. If we get enough government bonds going we can not only get the money to get working, that will employee people. Employed people will spend their money while they are working. It will keep the circle called our economy going.

It won’t happen overnight or be easy but it can happen. If you are reading this from outside the United States, welcome to the site and any suggestions or thoughts would be welcome as well.

Let the good times roll and let them please start rolling soon!!!!

Kim Greenblatt

Questions or comments? Let me know about them! Thanks for taking the time to visit and for more information or to get back to the beginning of the blog, go here.

Kim Greenblatt, from his profitable blog, http://www.kimgreenblatt.com/wordpress, asks how long the bad times will last. Hopefully, if we all open our mouths and take action, not too much longer.

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Posted in Business | 3 Comments »