An urgent plea from a family on the brink...

Check your PM's.

Have you thought of going to a buy here pay here used car lot? You can grab a used car for under $1,000 that will at least get her to and from work. That way you only need to come up with about $300 for the down payment.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

If you're good at writing... one thing that comes to mind is creating a membership site where you'd create monthly PLR products, ebooks, articles, whatever you can make and that is high quality and that marketers could make money off of. Make it a monthly membership but make a killer deal for X amount of people for a 1 year or lifetime membership... so if the deal would be 200$ for lifetime membership, you could say you're limiting the sale to the first 20 people ONLY and stick by that (20 X $200 = $4,000 ). You could even sweeten the deal further and promise those people they'll each get a unique product created just for them that they have full rights to... a product done on their specifications just for them.


The 200$/20 sales is just an example but you get the idea.

Good luck. I also like Rob W. suggestion above, seems like a much easier goal

oh please, not one of these threads again!

I agree with Rob,for 4,000 dollars i could buy 3 vehicles,lisence them,insure them,and drive all 3 for 2 weeks on whats left over for the gas.
I would go to some churches and ask if they had any work that needed to be done.
Raking leaves,clearing out gutters from leaves so the snow that melts has some where to go.
getting ready for winter,ect...
Then go put a small down payment on a VW,gremlen,vega,honda civic,something thats cheap,decent gas milage,and easy to fix or repair and doesnt break down much at all.PRE 1980.
Im an ex mechanic,trust me.
I see in your sig you have the article writing.How about a warrior special:
Article Marketers Dozen:
13 niche articles,plus keywords,$77.00.--articles 300-350 words apiece.
Write 10 sets now,sell them.
$770-$500 for used car-DPay
$270 left--$220 for insurance,tags,gas,for 4 weeks.
$50 left for food.
1st car Payment due in 30 days of around $100-$150.

If your really desperate hire yourself out to people. Elance.com or warriors for hire will probably land you a quick job. At least get that bus pass and work your way up to a car.

I would:

1. Do the WSO you was selling about making $Xx in Y time
2. Rake leaves for people
3. Sell plasma
4. Pawn all your electronics
5. Wash business windows
6. Pick-up cans

But I know the purpose of your post was to ask for money w/out asking. It's obviously you cant get the IM thing going so go get a freaking JOB even if its at McDonalds.

GarrieWilson, you are a cynical and mean person. I'm NOT asking for money. I'm asking for ideas -- tools that I can use to get myself past this obstacle. Please re-read what I said above. Getting a job doesn't work unless you can get there.

And I have a source of income - I work freelance on Odesk with some success, and I write articles here. The problem in front of me isn't that I'm a slacker. It's that a massive unexpected debt landed on me, and I'm looking for ideas and tools to help me cope with it.


Rob, The idea of getting an old beater is a good one; I'm totally going to do that. I'm appalled that I didn't think of it myself. I've been so fixated on getting "my car" back that it never occurred to me to look outside the box. THAT's the kind of thing I needed. Thank you!


Jesseray, I'm already on Odesk and making money from it. The point here is NOT that I need a job; I'm making money working from home -- just not nearly enough to be able to get my wife a vehicle so SHE can work as well. The bus pass is an option if I can conjure a WSO or something to get enough money to buy one.


francof, the idea is good, but I don't have enough cash to buy a domain, hosting, and a WSO. But I really appreciate the thought, and I can post a smaller WSO just to make the money to pay for the rest of it. Even if I make $40, it'll be enough to get started.

pcpupil's idea, for example.

I think that may be a workable plan. Are there any decent (free) tools/scripts you're familiar with for setting up a membership site? I'm afraid I don't have the programming skills to put anything together like that on my own...

A bit sad really. But this a "be a fu&^%er or F*&&ee world!

I haven't seen many lately (not too active either) but a little bit ago, before my reg date (lurked for awhile), there was a making money offline trend. Someone posted the simplest method of finding local businesses with no opt-in on their web site, and a great little piece to use to sell them on the idea. I believe he made around $250 a deal for something as simple as setting up an opt-in on their homepage. I'm having trouble recalling it but around that time there were quite a few posts like this. Try searching around on the forums.

I realize you have no means of transportation, but I'm assuming you live in walking distance of brick-and-mortar businesses (and you can try calling some, too). Things may have changed since all of the doom-and-gloom about the recession, but I believe this will be a lot easier than doing something online if there aren't any other Warriors in your area doing it already, since you need such a large amount of money so quick.

God bless & good luck,
Jesse

Can you place an ad on Craigslist.org seeking someone for your wife to carpool with? Also, post on every bulletin board in neighborhood grocery stores, as well as at work, etc.

Explain your situation, I'm sure you can find someone that will understand and let you help out with the gas after your wife gets paid. Save the money you would have spent on a car and put it to your business for a few months.

You have a tough month ahead of you, but with your wife working, things will get better quickly after that. Just need to find her a way to get to and from work.

Here's a tip that might help you.

I haven't tried this method fully yet, but I know it can be powerful when made right.

It's a free method, and it's based on article marketing, which you seem to have good knowldege in already.

The method I am talking about is writing and submitting articles to Ezinearticles.com.

Guess many of you know about this method ready..

But the "secret" here is that every time an article gets approved, your article will show up in the category most recent published article, under every article in the same area. (For example the health-&-fitness category.)

Here is also where you can see an increase in traffic to your website, because many times people who read an article, also look for related articles under the article they have read already.

This is temporary, but could give you a suddenly increase in visitors.

And articles from ezinearticles can basically be found all over the search engines such as Google, Yahoo & MSN.

So if you are good at writing articles, try to write 5 articles or more per day, and submit them to Ezinearticles.com.

When I did this (in the weight loss area, where the traffic seems to be the highest), I sometimes got over 100 (free) visitors to my website from just 1 article.

In my case I directed people from the articles to my opt-in form which worked very well for me.

But you could also direct link to an affiliate product for example.
(From Clickbank or similar. Try to find a good product with many testimonials here then.)

So if you write a good article (in the weight loss area which I recommend) and link to an affiliate or PLR product in your resource box (or your op-in page), the chance is also that you could get a couple of sales here (or new subscribers).

So try this method, and I hope it will help you!

Stay strong and carry on working hard.

I know exactly what it's like, I am will be living in a homeless shelter within a week. Working with my laptop and mobile broadband, the only things I have of value. If I don't make a few sales this month (have made 3 ever) I may not be online next month (or the month after that!)

Moral of the story. Keep on going. What ever happens, I'm going to make it eventually. I don't think about my circumstances (having a laptop in a shelter isn't a good idea!) but I concentrate on how things will be a year from now.

I know my circumstance are different from yours, but all I'm trying to say is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Keep at it and try to stay positive!

Steve

I'd question and challenge the guy that told you it
would cost $4k and I'd go to at least two other
places to get a better price. $4k is totally unrealistic.

I'd look around my house to see what I have of value
that I could sell to raise some seed money.

I'd get out into my immediate neighbourhood and I'd
offer to do any task I could to raise extra cash.

I'd call on local businesses and offer to help them to
get online, improve the effectiveness of their existing
websites or to increase the SE Ranking.

John

$4K for a trans is actually a realistic price. Many mid range cars here in the US have trans in them that are worth more than the car itself. My wife's grandfather was a mechanic and he had 15 cars sitting in his yard that only needed a new trans. On every one of them, the price for a replacement trans was between 3 and 4 thousand.

Not sure why I opened this thread, bu I'm glad I did.

Gosh I hope I don't come across as being an ass, but I was there and I have to tell you what I did.

You say you have all the time - why are you not spending that time looking for a job instead of posting on a forum?

I was in your position and realized that IM wasn't going to give me what I needed at the time, so I bit the bullet and got a job. Now, 5 years later I am a full time IMer and without that job I wouldn't be whereI am today.

You can get a pretty reliable used car for a couple thousand dollars - and even at minimum wage, you can make that in a month. Coupled with your online tricklings, you'll be OK.

So from personal experience, I have to say for you to go get a job. There ARE jobs out there. If you are hurting like you say, you won't have a problem taking anything you can get.

Its easy to sit there for 8 hours watching your stats. Its commendable to go out and get a job and get your family back on track.

With respect as a family man who's been there,
Allen

p.s. Honesty, Integrity, Reliability and Dignity will get you where you want to go.

My suggestion would be to sell the car for scrap, buy a $500 dollar car or a couple of bikes and go out and get a proper job so you can get enough financial breathing space to then worry about making it rich online.

$4,000 for a transmission. Wow.

As others have suggested. I would first buy a beater for $1,000 and run that a while. Park the broken one or sell it.

Later if you want to get the tranny fixed I would do this:

1. It doesn't have to be a new tranny. Search for used car parts online or in the junkyard.
2. Go to Craigslist and find a mechanic that will install it for you for an hourly wage or one price.

The idea is you get a used part, then find someone that can put it in. You'll cut the price by a ton.

Then.. once your tranny is fixed, sell the beater, but, clean it, replace anything like broken mirrors, etc.. and make it look really great. You might make money on it if you bought it right.

After that write a report on your experience. Tell readers how to get parts cheaply, how to find a mechanic, how to fix up an old beater to sell. Market that report or book to folks in your situation, or put it as a PLR WSO.

It appears you live near a major metro so I would look into your local police/sheriff vehicle auctions...some have them weekly. I have a nephew who recently got a decent Toyota that runs good at one of these for $100.

If you plan to repair your current tranny look into high schools and vocational schools in your area that have automotive programs. Often you can get repairs done at these for only the actual cost of the parts needed. Or, if that isn't an option, you may be able to find someone at either of the above who will do the job for you after hours much more reasonably than a normal shop.

The people who posted about parting out your current vehicle are also correct. Look closely at ebay and see what people are getting for various parts on your model of vehicle. You may be able to make many times what your vehicle is worth this way and do so pretty quickly.

All the best,

Rob

A friend of mine is selling a geo metro that looks like hell for $500 it runs OK, but you still need plate and pip. An even better idea is to get a 50cc scooter used for $300. They are easy on gas, no license, no pip, etc - even cheaper is a bicycle I got one at a garage sale for $10. As for food, there is a sale on potatoes, a 20lbs bag for $4.99.

Best way to make money is to sell links on your websites. OK since you need money fast, permalinks are the way to go - price depends on traffic and pr.

Hi Essence,

I am sorry that you are going through such a hard time. Times like this are certainly not fun but at the end of the day you WILL get through it. It will not be easy but you have to just keeping battling on.

From reading your post, I am struck by the thought that you seem to be panicking.
I know that it is hard not to panic but you need to take a step back and realize that things are not as bad as they seem.

Your wife has just gotten a job. You will have money coming in soon.
You do not need $4000 for a new transmission.
You can buy a "new to you" car for cheaper that.
You have public transportation that you can rely on.

I am fairly sure that a charity will give you the money for a bus pass.
You will not starve. There are food drives.
You have skills that you can use to make money online.

If you can write then do that. Write a set of 25 articles.
You can do this today.
Make them Christmas or holiday related because these will be popular at this time of year.
Pick good keywords and just start writing.

This is a set of Christmas PLR articles that I am sure people will be willing to buy as a WSO.

I think if you stop panicking and take a step back and look at your situation that you will see that things are not as bad as you think they are.

I've been in a few financial crunches in my life. Here's what I did.

1. Get up and head to day labor.
2. Go out in evenings and paint house numbers on curbs
3. Install peep holes in doors

That's good for $100-$200 per day. I didn't say a quick/easy $200. It's long days and hard work and going door to door can suck but you could have enough to buy some kind of car in a weeks time.

If your car is worth keeping, keep it. Just don't fix it right now.

Buy a beater, you can easily pick one up that runs good for under $1000 and fix your transmission when it is more financially reasonable then sell the beater for what you paid.

Good luck.

I would agree with Allen and a few others on here,

I think right now, your situation is pointing towards a job. You may be working in IM and earning a little but a job to supplement this will help!

As far as transport to get a job, a bus pass can't be much. Use the last $20 in your paypal account to run a WSO offering your writing skills. There is someone offering $97 ebooks at the moment and the thread is on fire.

You don't have to do that but maybe articles or blog posts etc. Offering services will put money in your back pocket today!!!!

Once you get a little money, buy the bus pass and find a job to supplement.

In 7 days you can earn money this way, probably enough to buy a run around next week ($500?)

GoGetta

I did a quick check and you can get a monthly bus pass in Olympia for $30 a month, or less...Daily passes are only $2. They also offer some car-pooling options, as well as bike racks, which means your wife can ride a bike to the bus stop, then put it on the bus and take it from there...
Welcome to Intercity Transit

BTW, they claim to have won an award for the best "mid size city" bus service.

If you do good work on articles, I'm sure a few of us will hire you so you can make enough for food/bus until she gets paid.

Hey Folks,

I don't know Michael, but never the less here goes...

You know there are some really great ideas here and then there are a few, which imply Michael is not doing the best he can. We don't know all his circumstances which have him staying at home and working his IM business.

I took the time and checked out his signature file for his classified ad. Then I went over to his profile in Ezine Articles, checked it out and read several of his articles. Here's his stats:

Michael can write and there is no question about it. It's obvious to me he knows his keyword research, (8,490 view) his articles contain fresh helpful information (which means he knows how to research his topic) and he writes a mean resource box.

I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and hire him for a special project. I know he may still be asleep as it's only 6:17 A.M. his time but it will be there when he wakes up. O.K. now I'm off to P.M. him.

Have a great day everybody.

Ken Leatherman
The Old Geezer


P.S. Some will say I'm just a bleeding heart. So be it! I think it's just the right thing to do.

I'll hire you for a handful of articles. If I like them, I would be happy to hire you on a regular basis. PM me.

Wa-Ha-Ha, got you Jill. I'm first in line. The rest of you guys are just plain ... My wife said I had to play nice.

Ken

Hi Essence

Sorry to hear about your position, i know the script.

First of all keep smiling and keep believing ok, you have to keep visualizing the positive outcome ok.

People may not agree with me but trust me when i say this... DONT FOCUS on the problem at all.... FOCUS on what you need they are 2 different things.

Now i am not a guru or a IM high flyer but 1 thing i know for a fact will generate cash fast for you and again people may not agree with me is EBAY. Its cheap to list items takes a few minutes to snap the pics and list the items and you have paypal. Im sure it would be very easy to find things in your home that you dont use very much, if you dont think you have these items open a cupboard or a draw and go into the loft/atic.
There will be what you think is JUNK everywhere...these are perfect !!
Take a some pics and get listing, do a 3day auction and start at 0.99.

Im not sure if you will generate 4k in a week but you will generate cash almost imediately, if you have items that are quite random do a buy it now ! & best offer!

This is all about you and if you are prepared to spend 3hrs out of your 12-16 (available) listing things on ebay you will get cash with out fail.

IM as you know takes time and you dont have much so dont be wasting it.
Do something that works now right now.

Remember to see the result and not the problem and you can and will do it.
If you need a hand on ebay PM me ok. Im a power seller and i make money on there every day of the week.

Just makesure that wotever you decide to do you are doing it with or for someone who is actually making money not someone trying to make money again there is a big difference.

Good Luck

Chunkynuts

PS My signature is ironic i know but merely a coincidence !

Here's my best advice:

Take the bus.

Get a job, clean car windows etc etc. As someone who is also not working I love the advice of some and really wonder if they themselves would follow it. Sometimes it seems like a put down than a helping hand. I could be wrong here but thats how I have felt sometimes.

First off getting a job is not as easy as some think depending on your past jobs and family issues.

I haqve been doing accounting for over 20 yrs last 10 in either a controller or assistant controller status and have my degree.

When I lost my job my boss gave me two weeks severance pay and said you will have a job in 2 weeks. Funny how 8 months later I was still looking and had pretty much exhuasted my savings. I had just about every agency looking and I got **** from them.

I found a jb on my own but it was like 1 plus hours away and even though it paid 20K less I took it and drove 1-1.5 hours one way. 2 months later I was let go because I could not work past 5PM due to distance as I have a small son who I am the only one who can take him to school and get him after work.

The jobs that don't pay much won't hire me as they look at my experience and feel I won't stick around. Even if they are getting more for their buck they will pass me up.

Because of my son I am limited to where I can work and hours which makes it harder.
Most places don't give a rat's ass about your situation and are only concerned with their bottom line.

Things are getting worse by the day and the people running this country have their heads up their butts and have no clue what to do. All they are doing is a giving money to things that don't really provide jobs. Unemployment is a JOKE.

After 20 years of working I got a total of 7K, $900/month which barely paid for rent. I was spending 400-500 a month just on gas...

I agree that you should not count on IM to save you unless you get real lucky. I know I am not.

Again I am not sure if we are paying attention to what we say in effort to help but somethings it feels like you are hurting rather than helping.

Just my 2 unemployed cents...

John you have a degree in accounting? why not get hooked up and do taxes for people and businesses on the side? or even at hr block or something.

Heck write a report on business taxes/deductions even personal taxes and sell it i see people all the time asking for tax help and its getting to that point in a couple months.

Shane

I'm sorry, but if it comes down to my family, I will go and flip burgers at McDonalds for minimum wage - I don't care.

I was there and I did it (actually I got a software customer service job for peanuts).

Sitting around waiting for your Internet Marketing ship to come in is doing nothing but getting you further in the hole.

Christmas is coing up - even a seasonal job could help. Go look on Toys-R-Us.com or go to your local mall. Get in the frickin' car and drive around town. Restaurants - Retail Stores - Fast Food - Manual Labor - Telemarketing - Office Jobs - Post Office.

Plus there's Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, HotJobs.com and a ton of other job placement assistance websites.

I'm not trying to be mean or spiteful, I'm just trying to bring things out of the IM trance and into reality. If you are financially unstable, there is a very common solution that 99% of people do - get a job.

I know that the allure of working from home is very strong. But if things are just getting worse for you, I think you need to get out there and start pounding the streets.

Allen

Here's an idea to at least get your wife that bus pass while you figure things out...

Day labor, for one or both of you. One Saturday spent gluing labels on shampoo bottles or schlepping cartons gets you bus money for a month.

A town the size of Olympia should have at least one temp agency.

Good luck to you...

This won't fix your transmission, but go to the food pantry's to save some money. I used to do that when I was in a financial bind. If you live in a decent sized city, there's probably half a dozen to a dozen pantry. Some of them actually have good food. I'm not talking about government cheese. There were times I walked out of those places with lamb, ground buffalo, donated fresh garden vegetables, and bread from a local bakery that was just a day old.

For a car, like others have said, a beater's probably your best bet. There's cars out there for under a grand that have a lot of miles left on them.

Very cool reply's

1st thing to do is sell everything you dont need.
and while your doing that look for a Job.

other things i agree with above replys that you can do "while looking for a Job"

Freelance your Stuff
there was a good idea for a PLR membership site in one of the replys
look in in the classifieds or local craigslist for a Bike (better than nothing)

Hi All -
Essence.......I feel for you! Wish I had the means to help, but wayy too close to the same boat myself (except our useless junk is my daughter's wrecked car sitting in the drive waiting on ins. settlement).
Oh, and MY paypal is running at 11 bucks, so you are up on me there

Anyway, to the rest who say 'hop the bus' and 'walk to places'......and that's too much for a trans.---

Until you walk a mile in their shoes.....
If you can't say something nice don't say anything.....
(thank my mother for those wonderful life sayings)

I am going to pm you a link and while it does not help for this week; I am really recommending reading it because it is quite useful for moments in life like this. (i'm almost done with it and absolutely love it frankly)

Be inventive, hold on to your faith and I hope God Blesses you.
Andie

I offered to hire this guy to write some articles and have not heard back.

OK I was just contacted

Hotftuna, I've been asleep. I just PMed you. ;p


I just want to say this again: I'm broke because I just paid my bills. I'm not sitting on my butt, unemployed and suffering. With my wife's new job, we'll be in the black by a small but noticable margin each month.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm absolutley grovelingly grateful for the people who have offered to hire me, and I will absolutley work like a champion for them, because those extra customers will give me the money I need to start working on a project like the membership site described in the beginning of this thread.

But I'm absolutely not looking for donations (in fact, the one that was offered to me, I turned down), and I'm not unwilling to work.

The simple fact is, I've been a fast-food manager, a retail manager, an insurance salesman, a technical writer, and an IT-support geek over the last decade -- and I still go to the local WorkSource office and have them run checks for jobs that match my profile...and there simply aren't any. I've already been turned down for every fast-food middle management job in town, because I've already been in a fast-food top-management position, and people don't want me to steal their jobs.

So I have to be an entrepreneur. I have to create my own work. And honestly, if it's a choice between doing it at home where I can watch my 1-year-old while my wife it as work and paying for daycare while I'm out drilling peepholes in doors, I'm going to fight hard to be able to raise my own kid. So I write.

(Oh, and the bus pass would be a great idea, but the bus stop that would take her to work is 1.5 miles up a slow but steady incline, and my wife has crippling asthma. She'd never make it. That's why a functional vehicle is so critical to us.)


But none of this is relevant to the thread.

This thread started with a request for an idea -- an idea that would help me get my transmission fixed. As many people have pointed out, that's not the best option, and I was panicking and not thinking clearly. I'm grateful for that revelation. My problem is not as overwhelming as it seemed in the few hours after it first rocked me out of my routine. I'm overjoyed!

With the help and ideas of the people here, I've had a revelation about how to get money 'up front' for a long-term commitment (the PLR subscription site concept), and with it, I'm going to work on getting enough cash to pay for a clunker until I can save up enough to get our minivan working again. That was exactly the kind of 'tool' that I was looking for, and I'm grateful to have it.


To everyone with empathy and well-wishes, I'm grateful for your spiritual support.

To everyone with cynicism and bitter assumptions, consider your attitude and it's effects on your own life.


My panic has passed, and I am going to take complete advantage of both the knowledge and the generous offers of work that this thread has given me. We'll have an old clunker soon, and a repaired van a few weeks after that.


Thank you, everyone.

I hope you did not take my suggestions as insulting or anything. I promise you they weren't.

As you said, you didn't ask for hand outs, you asked for advice to solve an immediate problem. Putting money together to fix your transmission.

Painting house numbers on curbs and installing peepholes (which can be done in the evenings, btw) are legitimate ways to make money that I have personally done during financial hardships. I would rather sit at the computer and make money too but will do anything necessary to support my family. Even cleaning windows at stoplights if it came to that.

Again, please don't take my suggestions as harsh or critical. They were just a means to an end if you truly needed to find a way to come up with some money quickly on your own.

Best luck to you.

I think your priorities are a little messed up.

You know what I am hearing?

EXCUSES!

I tried, but I'm out...you have to want it, its not going to fall into your lap.

Allen

I haven't read the entire replies yet, however I did see that you couldn't afford a website and hosting... if you still need some help I can setup a free website for you with WordPress on my servers, PM me if you'd like that offer.

Ok, I apologize for the names. I have taken them off of my post. I won't do that again!

Since you didn't specify what kind of work you want to do--want to dial for dollars, cold call/email selling? You could get 4k with 8 sales, which you could probably do in two weeks. PM me if you're interested.

I'm ashamed to have started a thread that has degenerated into such a hate-fest.


If you don't respect me because I posted a thread looking for help -- and yes, I've done so before -- that's OK with me.

I accept that I did something that is considered unworthy of a 'real man'. Hell, most of my friends and family told me that starting internet marketing in the first place wasn't worthy of a 'real man', and that I should take a job raking leaves before I tried to make a living working from home.

But I chose to discard their "well-intentioned advice", and I ended up with a passably successful article-writing WSO, and plenty of work on ODesk.

Now, I'm choosing to continue believing that I can succeed here.

I sincerely apologize to everyone who I offended by telling my story and asking for advice. However, anyone who believes that I am lazy or hypocritical hasn't been paying attention, and I would like to politely tell all of you to sod off.

If you want to continue disrespecting me, feel free to do so -- but please take it to PMs. I will happily answer to all of your charges in private.


Thank you.

Personally I have only worked 7 months in the last 24 for various reasons which I don't really care to discuss but I don't like when others make it out to be so easy to get a job.

Thats a yes or a know and depending on person's situation lots of variables can come into play.

For me 99.99% won't hire me because of my experience and degree as they feel I will take thier jobs. Other won't hire me for a 35K unless its totally outside my field of expertise as they feel I will only be there long enough till something better comes along.

Rightfully true as I have to look out for me and my son so you bet I will be jumping **** when something more in line with what I was doing or making presents itself.

Don't think there are many BK's that will hire me at min wage when there are plenty of teens around and I won't be gunning for their management job.

I don't like handouts and prefer to have help with an idea or even a mentor.

6 months ago my friend got me a job as a property manager for a low income apt complex making 35K 50% less than my previous job and I took it as hey 35K better than nothing. I was working 50-60 hr weeks and getting paid for only 40. Beacuse of the economy people starting losing their jobs and moving out. I had people moving out that were paying $315 for their apartments so you know things are bad.

They would not even let me advertise and wanted me to do more. A new district manager took over and replaced me with a friend of his so now I have not worked since April 09.

Was that fair? Did they screw me over? Hell yeah. They were getting almost 20 hours of my time for free each week and I was blamed for people moving out and not moving in.

Teach me to fish instead of giving me a fish.

I haven't bothered to read this thread except the OP, so forgive me if this has already been said:

1) There is no excuse for not finding some kind of job in two years. Any kind of job would put food on the table and make sure your family doesn't starve. To do otherwise is very irresponsible and lazy.

2) To want/need to spend $4,000 on a new transmission is crazy. You can buy a decent second hand car for that. Also, it may be worth learning how to fix it yourself if you are that desparate.

3) Don't rely on IM to get you out of a hole in such a short time. If you knew what you were doing, or at least doing something half right, you should have made some reasonable amount of money by now. The fact that you haven't raises questions.

I am not trying to sound harsh, just realistic. You need a wake up call.

Sam

Essence,

Check out this thread. It seems pretty doable $2.5k in 3 days.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ts-method.html

Hope this helps.

James

I'd love to see an all-in-1 thread with ideas for making "quick cash" and this type of post disallowed or strongly discouraged. There are many good ideas in this thread as well as the numerous similar threads that seem to go unnoticed.

"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." George Washington Carver

I wasn't going to reply to any of these posts anymore, but I have to come out and say please, stop posting based on your assumptions about what is going on in my life.

People have assumed that I'm broke, that I'm ignorant, that I'm lazy, and more.

None of it is true. I'm not broke, I just have an unexpected and necessary expense that I don't know how to deal with. I'm not ignorant -- I know how to write copy, I know how to drive traffic with articles (as Ken Leatherman pointed out), I just learned the basics of CPA marketing, and I'm learning more every day. I'm damn sure not lazy. I work for StartRankingNow.com, I work freelance on Odesk, and I have long-term clients here -- and I'm being considered for a position at 1ArticleADay.com (thanks to Ken Leatherman again.)

On a side note, anyone who thinks that being unable to get a job in 2 years is a mark of laziness hasn't been paying attention. There are 19,000 other people in Washington State alone that are in my position. The recession is challenging lots of common perspectives on what employment even means.


But back to the point: people are reading threads from literally a year ago, and treating my situation now as though it's identical.

It's not.

At one point last year, I had a website that made money. I was thrilled that my investment in the War Room had paid off, and I wrote a WSO that showed other people how I made the money to get my website started, and pointed toward the techniques that I had used to get a functional website off the ground.

Then, the website mysteriously completely stopped bringing in any money, despite the fact that the visitors kept coming. I did my research, I read threads here about Clickbank scamming, and in the end, I decided that it wasn't worth trying to figure out what was wrong. I started looking into other methods of making money online, and wasted a bunch of money on WSOs that didn't work.

A couple of months went by, the money ran out, and with a little desperation, I posted a second WSO on the same topic as the first, but with techniques that worked for people that couldn't get paid by Associated Content. I knew that the process worked, even if my website had failed for reasons I was never able to determine, and I still stand behind that process.

The WSO made a little, but a couple of days after I posted it, I was told that my unemployment claim was going to be denied. I decide that I needed a mentor to help me with my IM efforts, and I had nothing else going for me except time, writing ability, and desire. I made a thread, and Michael Oksa answered. Michael Oksa is still my hero to this day, even though I didn't succeed to the degree that I would have wanted. I learned a lot about how to write copy, how to market a product, and how to article-market from him. The simple fact is, bills came due, and I had to do something that would make money NOW.

So, I started freelancing. I've been writing articles for a year or so, and it treats me well. I got confident enough a couple of months ago to post a WSO advertising my skills, and I've gotten a great response.

Then, my wife got a job! Miraculous! But our car broke down, and the only mechanic we've ever used quoted us $3750-ish for a new transmission. I panicked, I came here, and I started this thread within an hour of getting the news. The rest is history.


And now that I've explained myself in meticulous detail to all of you, if any of you want to continue to tell me that you're unhappy with me for some reason, feel free. I'm going to be working on solving my problem.

Ditch the ride, dude. Or at least pull insurance for now.

$4K is not worth it on a used car if you're in a pinch.

You can easily buy a GREAT, usable, functional car for $1K - $2K.

I recently sold my bimmer (replaced it with a porsche), but it was imported so I had almost a month of carless-ness.

So I found a $950 1992 Audi 200.

It's ugly as sin.

But it works great, good on gas, power everything, etc. Not a single problem with it.

I'm totally keeping it as a daily driver.

There is no need - right now - to lay out $4K on a transmission.

-Chris

If you can't make money consistently to pay your expenses, consider getting a full time job in something that pays decent income by the hour? Heck, if I did not had the couple of skills I've gathered over the couple years - in a similar position - I'd had flip some burgers at Wendy's and have family eat for free. More importantly, if I've to downgrade myself over money in this type of recession I'll do it if I ever were left out of options. Anytime.

Dude, just check my signature for a couple ideas. There's enough clients out there and room for more. It might not be a perfect example for you, but perhaps it gives you ideas? It's an excellent example of earning a reasonable amount of money in a very short amount of time to buy or pay whatever is that you need right now. Oh and indeed, don't let your ego or the past get in the way for earning money when it's required. If you want/need things right now and hate waiting just like I do, getting a little creative might do the job for you too if money is of a requirement for whatever is that you need or want now. If you can't find something in reasonable time, forget about income opportunities online until you've settle family first. Good stuff in this entire thread.

Best of luck Essence.

My only comment on any of this is those of you who are saying "go get a job, it's not really that hard" haven't tried to get a job in the last year or so. My wife lost her job 8 months ago and after applying for over 300 jobs in that time she still hasn't found work.

Not everyone can get a job flipping burgers, although that seems to be a common assumption. Low paying jobs do not hire people who had previous employment making way more money than they pay.

Take me for instance. I haven't been able to get a job in 8 years. Employers look at my employment record and see every job I have had since I turned 20 paid at least $100 a day and my last few jobs paid $250 a day. Most burger joints pay that a week so they wont even consider my application.

Just assuming that anyone can get a job just because they need one is very very far from reality. Expecially in the current econemy where more and more people are getting layed off each month, jobs are extremely hard to come by. For every available job there are hundreds of people applying for them. Employers will hire the ones who have lower expectations and lower expense needs because they don't want to put in time to train someone just to have them quit for a better paying job after a month.

I know many people feel strongly about their beliefs but please think a little before you make posts slaming someone for not having a job. Finding employment is a lot harder than some of you seem to think it is. Before firing off a post slamming people take a bit of time and find out what "over qualified" means. I've personally been given that as an excuse for not hiring me more times than I can count.

For anyone who is having trouble getting a job because they're over qualified.

You are not selling yourself correctly.

If the employer thinks (as mentioned above) that they are going to spend money training you and that you will quit in two months as soon as you find a better job and/or that you are gunning for their job have already received some valuable information to use to your favor in your next interview.

It's up to YOU to explain to them how you could benefit them and their company.

You have to put down a list of your skills and figure out a way to MAKE them applicable to the position you are applying for. Almost EVERY skill is transferable in some way or another and even if not, any levels of responsibility you had, management responsibilities, etc.. definitely are.

You have to assure them that you're there to "start at the ground floor" and work your way up.

At the same time, you have to assure them that you aren't "gunning for their job". Most managers, especially in large organizations are trained to hire the best. It has been a long time problem that less compentent managers would hire people they didn't feel threatened by or that they felt weren't as smart as themselves.

HR has invested a lot of time and money over the years trying to convince these managers that the fastest way to the top is by building a rocketship of highly competent people and riding it to the top.

Let the manager know that you aren't after their job. You are there to make their life easier. You are used to working in conditions where you used your own initiative, saw the big picture, could self motivate, could lead by example, etc..

Let the manager know that you are fiercely loyal to those you work with and for and understand that the only way for you to move up is to help them further along their chosen career path. You will work as a team to achieve your goals.

Anyway, I won't drag this out forever but I did spend many, many years hiring and training people and I've ran across my fair share of over qualified people as well as under qualified people. Both had a realistic chance of getting hired depending on how they presented themselves.

I know the job markets are different across the country and around the world but I'm saying that interview skills are KEY to landing a job. Who is excited to work here, who has goals, who has a positive attitude, who is going to reflect the best on my business, who is going to be worth that investment of time and money.

Anybody struggling to find work right now should spend some time at the library or book store and read up on interviewing skills (the hiring managers side of the desk) to get an idea of what they're looking for in a candidate.

Gail

My suggestion is to put all your efforts into finding a job outside of IM for awhile and then build your IM business. Of course getting transportation is an immediate need.

Off subject a little but worth saying...make sure to take time for your spouse, she must be a rock for you so protect that marriage. I know from first hand experience.
God bless you,
Robert

John, Next time they say you're over-qualified, tell them "Yes, but you are an under achiever so it balances".

(that's a joke, btw!!)

John - Yet some people are getting jobs and are starting successful businesses.

I recommend the book "Put More Cash in Your Wallet" by Loral Langemeier. It's a quick read and you should be able to read it and even do the exercises at the bookstore if you have to. If nothing else it might get you excited about the possibilities again.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Here is an article I wrote that may help...

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Quick,-Easy-$2,000-in-Your-Pocket-by-the-Weekend&id=1423937

Hope it does.

Good luck.

Roy,

I have seen something similar to your article, awesome entrepreneuruial thinking. If you are stuck in a catch financially follow something like that article!

Awesome

GoGetta

Here's a link to the thread Roy posted previously: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...0-weekend.html

I remember the thread and looking at my ideas notebook I spent some time brainstorming related ideas. Thanks for the reminder!

Take that $20 and buy a classified ad in your local newspaper.

Headline:

Cash for clunkers!
Miss the deadline?
Get up to $300 for your clunker today!
Working vehicles only, please.

Not sure if this is the right place for it or not but since we are kind of on the subject of getting a job, interviewing etc...

A job interview is definitely a place where you have to sell yourself so on that note... a little story.

I'll never forget one of the most important things I've ever learned in regards to sales and it came during an interview and it consisted of only one sentence.

This was some twenty years ago and I was applying for a car sales position.

Now, I've been asked to do something similar to this dozens of times over the years but this was my first. The guy interviewing me said: "Sell me this pencil".

Ok, I've always been pretty quick on my feet and felt pretty confident so I snatched that pencil up and starting hitting every motivational button I could think of.

I went on and on about what a great quality pencil it was, how it was designed to provide you with greater comfort so your hand wouldn't cramp after long periods of writing yet was so affordable you could afford to buy them in bulk and wouldn't be concerned if you misplaced one.

On and on and on.

I thought I really hit it out of the park and I was waiting for him to tell me how impressed he was with my natural born sales ability and he looked at me for a moment and said. "Yes, but what about what I want in a pencil?"

Now, that is almost always my FIRST question. What are YOU looking for in a pencil, employee, (fill in the blank here)?

Once you know the answer to that question, you're more than half way home.

And one more thing. After conducting countless interviews over the years. Let me say that a VERY small percentage of people have great inverview skills. Most are not engaging in the least. This would be the number one area to focus on improvement if you really want to get the job offer.

I would venture a guess and say that everyone on here who is saying they could go out and get a job today is very confident in their interview skills. There is no reason why everyone shouldn't feel that confident and with a little research and practice, could.

P.S. If you have been looking for work for a long period of time and are sure that it is for other reasons than your interviewing skills then please just disregard as it's impossible for me to know each and every persons unique situations.

You know, I almost remember when I was in my early 20's and thought I knew everything. Man those were the days.

Seriously though,

Until you have walked in someone else's shoes then don't make assumptions that you know their life or what they have done. You just make the old saying about the word assume instantly pop into peoples minds.

When your young everything seems easy. Thats because you really haven't lived yet. I see that most of the ones arguing that getting a job is easy are under 30. That says a lot just by itself.

For those of us who are older things are not as easy as it is for you younger guys. Bosses look for younger employees. All things being equil the younger applicant will always get the job.

Now, I have paid as much as $3k just to get a job, I have driven 400 miles one way to go back and forth to work, I have flown across the country two times a month to have a job, I have litterally dug ditches to have a job, I have destroyed two marriages because of my jobs, I missed 2/3 of my sons short 8 years of life before he died because of my jobs, I have destroyed my body because of jobs, so how dare anyone even hint that if I can't find a job I'm just not trying hard enough.

Unless you know everything about someone's personal situation you have no right to make judgements about how hard they are trying to find a job. Some people in this thread are confusing personal opinion with fact and really need to come back down to earth because they have completely lost their grip on reality.

Nuff said.


I'm with Andrew_Writes. This is just inane at this point. Lock?



[edit] I missed this the first time through:

THAT is a brilliant way to get a car. I'm totally doing to do this. Thank you!![/edit]

@ Mr Essence, my old bones tell me this was always going to play out like this, so o need to stress it.

More so is this, regardless of what you have or have not read , or got help from here I will promise you this after years of helping people in similar positions.

It Will not matter what is written here, It will not matter what help is or is not offered here, it will not matter if every person here come and held your hand or not, or any other factor in relation to this post or offers to this point.

The simple truth is this your situation will not change, it remain in the same state as it is now regardless of any help offered, yes there might be a small ray of sunshine but soon after the spotlight has gone the grey clouds will form again.

However there is some very good news for you based on my travels and it is this, you entire circumstances can change and they can change quickly.

The only requirement to making this happen is however the most difficult thing that you will ever do and as such it is very rare that it happens, you may be lucky.

The simple answer is this, the only person who can help you is you, not any person on this forum nor anywhere, yes others can offer support and timely advice but unless you and you alone make a decision that from today you will turn your own life around and then you commit to that decision in regards no matter what it takes you will not look back, then and only then will you start to walk forward.

as a person thinks so are they, and you have the power to choose what you think and in essence your decision now will form your thinking and such your future outcome.

As usual lots of advice given and little to no indication that any of it will be implemented. Perhaps someday someone will post back that they actually tried one of the suggestions, followed through to completion and either were or were not successful.

There seems to have been a number of comments within this thread that came from people who have been on the zero income line before and have perhaps fallen on their feet later and forgotten how bad this can look.

Also there have been a number of comments from others who genuinely have been there and found themselves back in the good eg home and lifestyle etc.

Top advice from the warrior who says in Douglas Adams most famous quote "Don't Panic" because at the Panic point your either going to lose everything, or do what needs to be done and be back on top again within the next year or so....

Good luck mate - take option 2 and you'll be back where you want to be in no time

Just to let you folks know that Essence has mentioned several times he is taking action on several of the suggestions made. Now I'm not answering for him. I'm answering for myself.

I talked with him yesterday and we have taken on a special project together. He is putting to work one of his outstanding strengths, which he is going to be able to help me out and provide himself with some long term income. and if everything works right he will start seeing that income within just a few short days.

Lighten up folks. This thread has taken on a life of it's own and frankly I honestly believe the mods, should lock it down, so it will die a natural death. IMNSHO!

Ken Leatherman
The Old Geezer

Seriously.

Essence - Yes, your problem is apparently solved, for now at least. You posted a tale of woe and have been rewarded for it by having your WSO or classified highlighted and Ken graciously offered you an opportunity.

Unfortunately all anyone else in a similar situation can learn from it is to post their story and hope for the same. I had higher hopes for the thread but then I always do.

In advance, sorry Ken

I don't get how so many people just blew over this part of your original post. You were not asking for charity. And you mention that you don't make a lot - but that was not the issue. You happened upon an unplanned for unexpected expense.

Have I done that myself? Hell yes! You found yourself in a pickle, and it just happens sometimes.

I applaud those who gave advice that would reduce the need for the $4,000 by seeking alternative ways to deal with the transportation issue.

And in a later post, you revealed your current way to make money via working as a freelancer. Is freelancing really work? YES. You are making an online income - irregardless of what anyone else says. Could you make more doing that? Is there a way to improve? That is another thing, and perhaps you will want to look into that in the future.

This is just the same as if you had a job already, and were looking for another job or way to earn some extra money for an unexpected expense.

This is not the regular tale of woe that we see. This is someone who has been putting in an effort and has not given up.

Ken actually went to look and find his prior work. And you know what? It was there!

I will agree with most here that I don't want to see a constant flood of "I am desperate and need money" threads - but I personally did not see this particular one like the majority that find themselves in a hole and are looking for a plate of cash in order to escape "working" all together.

He just wanted to get his wife to her new job, and keep moving along.