Just Became a Victim of the Economy: Lost my Job of 10+ Years

I just spent a few minutes reviewing your posts throughout the forums and the only thing I can say is that you seem to be one of the warriors that I would never connect with fear of failure.

I looked at your WSO on domains and can't recall many I have seen that are better.

When I became a victim of the economy it was due to illness and I was sidelined for a couple of years without ability to do much but concentrate on breathing. The last ten years have been a slippery ride down the razor blade of life and I can say that without my wife, and her positive outlook, I may not have made it this far.

With the talents you have displayed here I would just go for it full bore. Give yourself 8-10 hours per day 5 days a week and get your online to the fantastic profit margin that is available. Take the rest of the time to be with family and keep that intact.

As far as leaving the depression behind, don't. Face it full on and get rid of it. Don't forget to bring that rose or some other surprise to your lady and she will get the picture. After all, wasn't she smart enough to marry you?

We are finally getting out of the $$$$ depths of 9 years of disability, low and slow employment and selling stuff off to get by.

Long drawn out and simply was put here to say. Water off the ducks back--shiver and shake for a day or two and then set the internet on fire.
Don't worry----Paypal is supposed to handle those large daily deposits!!

glchandler

Hi Charles,

I have been there and can empathize. If you would like to follow up either here or by private message, feel free.

You are doing the very best things possible right now: reaching out and acknowledging that you have tumultuous feelings. Continue to talk with friends, neighbors, people at church, family, parents of your kids' friends.

Simply tell them that you were suddenly laid off after ten years, you'll do fine but you're kind of in a shock and daze right now. Let them know you aren't looking for advice, just wanted to mention that it was a real surprise. Some people will change the subject. Some will have a shoulder to cry on. Some people will have advice. Write it down in a little notebook and thank them. You have enough time to think it over without having to act on any of it immediately.

Find someone who is patient, kind, wise, sympathetic, with whom you can safely discharge the emotional pressure: minister, loving friend, gracious relative, licensed family therapist. Just an hour or two of blowing off steam can really help you think straight again. All the better if the person has training and work experience helping people focus on what they need to next amid confusing circumstances. Do not expect that average person to have the slightest clue how to offer this help. Pay for an hour or two with a professional if necessary.

Pay COBRA for a month. Eat ramen and potatoes every day if you have to, and also take the bus with car insurance on hiatus a month, in order to make this work. You'll use this month to transition to a high-deductible catastrophic insurance policy that would keep you from going bankrupt if a kid needs surgery. Once that policy is in place, which might be integrated with an HSA, you can drop the expensive COBRA coverage. But you might need to have coverage to get coverage.

Find out what your options are about rolling over or withdrawing money from your retirement plans. Immediately file for state unemployment coverage. Realize that you will not starve. In fact, you are probably fine for a better standard of living than the average college student for half a year or more. That is plenty of time to come up with an intelligent plan and get it into action.

If your company was big enough to have district managers, it may well have some level of outplacement assistance. Use it.

Keep to a job schedule. Every day you will have a lot of stuff to deal with. Deal with it, five hours a day. Then leave the work day behind you and get some rest. Most things can be handled just fine one day at a time.

Gather any clutter or excess stuff you can sell at eBay or a garage sale without emotional attachment. If you can use one less car, sell one. If you can use a smaller car, trade down. This is all temporary. You will be able to get those things back in a year. The safety of shelter, food, clothing, medical care, love of family and friends comes first.

Make a list of nice things to do for free. Maybe there's a beautiful new park you could never visit during the work week? Do a couple of those things each week.

Take a deep breath. Be grateful that whatever deity or force of nature you believe in gave you all the opportunities that are in front of you today, far more than the average person in many countries has ever had even without a job. List the ways that you are blessed and rich.

Tomorrow let's get your new Internet marketing plan underway.

Chris

Wow glchandler....i love your post and advise.... i too...is experiencing the downfalls of the finance world....i have credits to pay left and right... my daughter just got out of the hospital this January 18 2010...recovered well...from Pnemonia...thanks to the Healthcard that my company supplied...but heck...been absent for a couple of days...and its unpaid....wheew...and over $1k of debt in my credit card...worst comes to worst my relative is asking me for $350 that we do not owe them....
Glchandler...you really inspire me what you have said...and about what you told to his wife... thank you for all the Positive things that im reading in this Forum/Posts

Charles, in 1999 the company I worked for went out of business. I had started a part time online business in 1997, so I decided to see if I could make a go of it taking my part time job full time. I had a wife and still had one daughter at home to support then, plus a $900 mortgage, so it wasn't a decision without some risk.

To make a long story short, I'm still self-employed today and have never taken another job and have never been happier doing any other kind of work. Sometimes what seems a negative is really a blessing in disguise. Hang in there, Charles. You can look for another job, but in the meantime pour yourself into your online business. Maybe it will pay off for you like it did for me. Good luck.

Take a deep breath and relax. What's done is done. Your in a great position right now.

You have already been successful so there is no need to worry. Know you can focus on building your OWN business.

Here's my suggestion: keep yourself focused and centered. (This is the only way you'll make good money. Do the task at hand! )

Think about it: you didn't lose your job, You just found a better one : ). If you do things the way you have been, you'll be fine. Just find some ideas that will help with profits but don't move from one style or strategy to the next. If you have a strategy that works; keep it. You HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED. Devote some time to studies but be smart about it. Balance between work and study is key for you right now. Start capping in some profit but look for ways to expand your business. Once you find the right tool. Implement it THE NEXT DAY. Get to work on it.

Study time management at least a few hours a day to start with. You need to be able to manage your time properly. You still have your 8 hour workday, it's just a different job. You need to study the most efficient and effective ways to grow your business.

If you stay *patient*, calm, and focused, I'm certain you'll be more than fine. It's about time you quit that boring old day job anyways : )

I'm in the almost the same position as you are. I need to develop some good income by summer. I DON'T want to go back to college, get a 4 year degree, and then end up with some desk job. I want to learn from the most powerful and successful people in our history and I want to be able to help others along the way. This could never happen at school. I have one shot at this and I have to capitalize.

So we're almost in the same position. I understand that your kids add pressure but here's the name of the game for us right now:

1. Develop Our Plan
2. Stick with Our Plan
3. Capitalize on Time Efficiency
4. Capitalize on work:profit ratio while still leaving room for your business to breath and grow.

The rest is history. If you stay focused on your tasks and not on your situation(s) you'll be working full time before you know it.

I know I'm going to succeed and I'm certain you will too.(You already have a proven track record) I've spent days developing my current work schedule and I'm already in the process of implementing it. The rest will come in time, it's as simple as that. Just keep working and keep your path clear. Knowing this should keep you calm even if at the present things don' look look to great.

However, if you take one thing from this post I want it to be this:
You have an opportunity to replace your income. Think about it! Your on the verge of financial independence and IN TIME you can cut hours off your workweek if you feel like it and spend some time on vacations and with your family.(Or you can just make more money : 0) This is what you need to stay focused on the most throughout your journey. Look at your opportunities and only for opportunities. This is key in capitalization. The more you look the more these opportunities will present themselves. No Joke : p

I personally can't wait until I can take my trip to Peru!! I'm already planning for it towards the end of the summer(takes an hour a week and each time it creeps closer!!)

I really hopes this helps Charles,
Aaryn

I wish you the very best, I would like you to think an alternate way and that is one of opportunity not loss. You are now free to take new direction and meaning in your life, use this rare opportune moment in time to become better than you were before.

Yes I also had the dreaded news last November from my employer, you feel a sudden anxiety, where for the first few days you belly quills up and your in a daze, then anxiety hits I have children, a wife bills and every other factor.

You feel worthless as a person and wonder why you are worthless or have been thrown on the scarp heap.

Once those feelings all settle down you come out stronger with more focus and drive than you have ever had before, your focus is sharper than a razor blade and you will strike with deadly accuracy.

It is said those who face the extreme edges of the outer limits are those that go on to amass great things, this only comes to those that are in the position you are in now.

The working man does not have these pressures and as such will continue in the same ol same ol.

You have not been delivered a blow but instead a wonderful future, the emotions and feelings you have now are just prepping your body mind and soul for what will be your finest hour.

I wish you well as you move forward

Pete

Charles,
Sorry to hear about this.

I just got fired from my (crap) job this past Friday. I have been laid off last year and been out of work for a few months before I landed that terrible job.

I have been laid off twice, fired once, so I really don't care anymore. I freaked out like you the first time. The third time I lost the job, I just laughed.

COBRA is just ridiculously expensive, don't do it. I must recommend you to get a plan from ehealthinsurance.com it's very affordable and has decent coverage options.

You can either choose to pay for the small stuff like prescriptions and office visits to keep the premiums low, cover yourself for only major unexpected expenses (such as an emergency surgery or accident/injury). If you are in relatively good health, I suggest you to pick a plan that has low premiums and high deductible. I don't know about family prices but they have pretty good options for individual coverage as low as $28/mo. You should be able to cover yourself and your family for a low premium and get similar coverage to the one you got through your employer.

Some suggestions about coping with unemployment:


1-Try to pick up freelance gigs in your area, look at craigslist, elance, freelancer.com, guru.com etc (I don't know your career so I have no idea what you can do as a freelancer)

2- I don't want to recommend my worst enemy to look for another corporate job, but since you are in an emergency situation, I can say go on linkedin and network on the job bards and recruiter boards there. A lot of recruiting managers search linkedin before they post the job openings on major job boards. Look for contract deals too, since everyone is doing short term contracts rather than hiring someone as permanent employee. Contracts pay decent (at least in the tech/IT industry) and you can easily afford a good plan from ehealthinsurance with the money you make from 3-4 months contract gigs. Some of those extend the contracts to 6 mo/1 yr if they like your work.

3- I don't have much of an idea how good you are at IM and marketing stuff but if you read the war room and got some decent WSO's you should be pretty knowledgeable, I'd say pick up the yellowpages, find some prospective clients to provide them marketing services. I highly recommend finding the posts by AP and read them. The man makes a KILLING by fixing up marketing for businesses like doctors, lawyers, cosmetic surgeons, CPA's. Read all of his posts and that whole "offline marketing" thread where he was writing, there is some gold mine information there. In fact i already started working on one project after reading that thread and hoping to get a couple of clients by next month.

4- Keep making micro niche sites and blogs. Keep flipping them on flippa. It really doesn't take too long to build those and get traffic once you have the process in place. It becomes automatic and much faster once you do it a few times. Supersimpleblogging.com is a great site too. You should be able to make a dozen micro niche sites in 2-3 weeks. Keep the ones that make more than $5 sell the rest. Keep building more and more. 100 sites that bring $5/day is $500/day. 100 sites that bring $1/day is $100/day still not a bad income.

5- Last, but not least, cut down all unnecessary expenses. Now! Get rid of the cable/satellite TV. You don't need the darn TV. Ditch the second cell phone, landline (keep the internet since you need the internet to find jobs/make money) reduce your A/C and heating use (wear 2 layers of sweaters) no more eating out, 100% home cooking, start grocery shopping at Wal-Mart if you aren't already doing so. Cut down everything you don't need to survive and get a job/make money. Get rid of all subscriptions except for basic phone and internet. Also this is a good time to shop around for car insurance and look for a lower quote. Maybe lower your car ins. from comprehensive to basic liability. That saves a TON of money.

Last, but not least, keep posting resumes/browsing through job networks on linkedin/doing the IM thing, all that work should keep your mind busy and you won't have time to get depressed.

I also recommend reading Steve Pavlina's blog at stevepavlina.com there are some great articles on monetizing blogs and making money. The man started with $4/day blog and it now makes $40.000/mo, very inspiring great articles.

I hope everyhting turns around. I really hope someone from WF can help you out better than I can.

Charles, I can understand your frustration and what ever emotions you're feeling right now.

Please understand that your emotion equals your point of attraction and while it's perfectly normal to experience negative emotions, when the time passes by you really want to put your head down and focus on the future.

You said you have the skill of building and selling websites so at least you can start somewhere and have the experience to do things the right way as a webmaster.

We all have the bad moments and I sincerely hope that sooner or later you can get back up, dust yourself off and look at the future.

All the best to you

im sorry to heard that bro i hope God will give u a way to other thing that can make you a better living

Yes, the global crisis surely sucks..

I always thought that the crisis had ended way back in November of 2009.. So, I got comfortable with the status of my employment.. That was then..

I am a sales representative.. During one of my sales rounds around one of my areas of coverage I got a text from a teammate that our division will close the next month (January 15 on the dot). Wheew! I'm sure you can relate to what I felt when I read the message.. It's like a wave of cold air hit me..

My work is my primary source of income, I share some of it with my parents and siblings.. The rest goes to the bank.. To make matters worst, my mother has just underwent a heart bypass surgery and we just borrowed the money for the operation from a relative.. Where would I get the money to pay him? My father has just retired and partly depends on government pension to put food in our table.. He has recently suffered from a stroke..

Now, January 15 has passed and I don't have a division to work for.. Yes, I'm still connected with my present employer but I am on a "floating status.".. My mind is already distraught as to what would be the next step to take..

I just kill the time learning anything about IM and HOPING that it will make me sufficient income someday.. Someday..

I hope the following helps you:

There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

From the "golden book."

I hope you can relate to my story and draw strength from it.. We're Warriors, right? Warriors never surrender..

Good luck to all of us.. Smile always, and the whole world will always smile at you..

Charles,

Been there, done that and I will never work for another company ever again. I take it your in Montgomery AL? Funny I worked for a company there as well, I was one of their top sales reps, Here is their reason for firing me. "You sold more than our distributors therefore we are going to let you go." So you get rid of the guy you pay the least yet sells the most for the companies that sell the least but take the most? That doesn't make sense to me.

That company is now bankrupt. Wonder why eh?

You best bet as described above is to re-evaluate yourself, the position you are in and get a plan of action on how to achieve the goals you have laid out for yourself.

Personally I have a growing business of developing software and services for internet marketers and small businesses. Just recently I gained a large corporate contract to build production tracking software, I was pretty shocked.

Now is, also, a good time to go to your local state run tech school and brush up on the skills. This is, also, a great place to network to get some "sidejobs". My local tech school referred that big corp contract to me. Why? Because I specialize in it. Remember you are not marketing a product, you are marketing YOU. Get out there, be seen and heard! Once you do, the money will come.

Thanks for the replies so far. I have been reading them all day to help clear my head. 10 years of doing the same thing, and now nothing, God that is crazy.

Thanks for the replies. I have read them about 20 times now, and plan to keep reading them.

Buddy every feeling you have is normal in many ways. You will find your feet, yes you need to make calls while dancing on a hot tin roof.

If ever you are endure about a decision then just let it be for a while longer and things will clear up for you.

I would not back myself into a corner and hope you have made the right call with a IM path, take a job if you can to help relieve some stress an anxiety, and get some money rolling back into the door. from there work on your IM projects in the background

Lost my job 9 months ago along with 200 co-workers. It is interesting to see how people react differently.
I suggested this book yesterday in a different thread and I am going to suggest it her:
Strategic Acceleration
by Tony Jeary

available on Amazon for around $11.00
It helps you get clarity and focus in your life

I lost my job 3 years ago after working in the same comfort zone for 20 years had a great salary but when they moved to another location i did not want to move so i took a nice financial package and ran,but as i had been working on the internet for a few years i decided to start up on my own and it was the best move ever.Its taken 3 years to achieve the same salery but i have never been so happy as i am at the moment.

Its not a nice space to be in when you have just lost your job but you have to stay focused and as they say as one door closes another one opens.

I wish you the best in finding a job quickly.

Charles your WSO seems to be getting some great reviews. If you haven't already, why not place the product on a network like CB or PDC in order to reach some affiliates and generate some more sales. Perhaps some of the WSO buyers will also promote it for you. You could also try selling it as a book on Amazon.

Andrew

Charles, you have to understand something right now that's cruical.

Confidence is just as easy to come by as doubt. You have a CHOICE to determine whether or not you have confidence in yourself. And confidence is the key between success and failure : )

Sit down, write everything out. Dissect it. Make sure you understand FULLY what position you are in financially.

Organize your thoughts and ideas. Structure and plan. This is key.

Apply for jobs but don't spend every waking moment doing it.

Focus on developing an online business at the same time.

FOCUS ON TIME MANAGEMENT.

Stay calm, stay centered and stay focused.

Charles, find your strengths and exploit them till they are completely exhausted. What are you good at? Figure it out, use it, then exploit it.

Maybe you could throw out your ideas along with your strengths and we can help you develop a strategy.

Remember, IM and product creation is all about providing instant gratification with good value and to present it in a way that relates to and lures in customers your customers.

Looking forward to hearing from you : )
Stay Positive Champ, You'll be fine.

I want to thank everyone in this thread for making one of the most awesome online discussions I've ever read.

Charles eloquently described his circumstances and his feelings. The combination of empathy, inspiration and advice poured out in response, by so many, is truly humbling.

I believe that this thread could very well become one of the Warrior Forum's all-time classic "greatest hits." I envision the collected wisdom here helping countless people in the same boat find a path through the storm, long after Charles gets his own income rebuilt.

I wonder if some kind of master mind type of discussion could be put together for those who'd like to help each other make plans. If you'd be interested, please PM me and let's see how we could keep in touch to inspire each other and share brainstorming on a regular basis. This would be an entirely free, voluntary self-help effort to supplement this thread with more detailed, confidential conversations.

Job is the safe and secure way. But it limit your income.
In this world we cannot count on our pension or job. The problem with money is this. Its value that goes down.

So we need to start building assets. So that the assets value go up. If you just make money and not invest it right. You up for a big disaster. Cause the value of money goes down and the prices goes up.

This is my tip for you charles. I know that God can take you out of this situation if you work hard and never look back.

Life is not easy but with faith and action, it cures fear. I know that 2010 will be a year that your income will start grow. If you make a difference in the people you sell to.

Start building assets and keep your cashflow low. This what I do at the moment and it start working for me.

It is not how much money you have it is how much money you invest wisely.

So when the money value go down your assets go up.

Life is about test and trials. May 2010 be for all of us the victory.

Be Bless

Renier

Charles, besides the company I worked for going out of business that I already told you about, I was also laid off in 1993, along with 12 other people in my department and about 100 people company wide. I can't tell you what happened to the people outside of my department, but here's what happened to the people I worked with:

RK - Now works for the county as a jailer. Better job.

PK - Also worked as a jailer, but got fired for viewing pornography at work on a county computer. Lost track of him after that. Better job until he blew it.

RH - Shift superviser at a food processing plant. Better job.

DK - Top aide for an elected state representative. Much better job.

KN - Started his own business in the renewable energy field. Much better job.

RP - House painter, considers it a lateral move.

JH - Sets up office systems. Lateral move.

GB - Retired.

SB - Works in manufacturing. Step down, but a small one.

PM - Works as a police dispatcher. Better job.

RC - Retired.

SM - Police officer, then promoted to Detective. Better job.

And me...I went from that job to a supervisor position, which was a better job. Years later I was laid off again and just started working for myself, as I said before.

So, out of 13 of us, 8 are better off, 2 took a lateral move, 2 retired, and 1 took a small step down. To put that another way, 12 of 13 are as good off or better and only one is slightly less well off - and he was annoying as hell anyway!

Life has a way of working out, Charles. Take a deep breath, be calm. You will see this through with the same intelligence, wisdom, and determination that got you this far. Nothing can hold a man down that refuses to be held down. You will not be defeated.

I believe everything happens for a reason. It can be very uncomfortable at times while you go through it, but you usually end up becoming a better, stronger person for the experience.

One thing I would be doing for your headspace is looking at what made you money before on the net and focus on repeating that successful strategy over and over again.

Success and results are the best mindset builders I know.

Go for it, Steve

Hey Charles,

One more thing, a great book to read in such a time is Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill, if you read this book you will see that every individual who has grown to glory has done so only through tough times. You can download the book for free - here , its not an opt-in, its a direct download link.

Best Wishes and Regards,
Santosh

My girlfriend is very unhappy about her current job and I am trying to convince her to quit and start working online like me. I will send her the link to this thread so she can get some encouragement from the responses given to Charles.

I don't want to echo other people so I will share a tiny idea for when you start working on your online plan.

I checked your domain WSO thread. Apparently you have a hot product on your hands, you have some great testimonials and you provide people great after-sales support. Many IM people follow this forum but not every thread, and many other beginners have no idea about the forum or what a WSO is. I'd suggest that you build a site around your product, or even more globally around domaining. You should be able to sell more of what you have and sell other related products to your current buyers.

Or you can ask to be part of an upcoming beginners course offered by some other marketer with a big base.

I know you already know and can do the above but my stress is on the fact that you can do this starting today.

By the way, I myself quit a very well paying job thinking I would soon start making twice that working on my online business. After almost two years, I am not even remotely close to what I was making, and the reason is that I didn't have anyone giving me the above advice.

Still, with so many bad choices made and lessons learned, I know I can get there in a matter of months (easier if living in a developing country and skipping insurance altogether though [no kids]).

I wish you good luck.

Charles,

i'm glad you have taken strength from the postivity and excellent advice wf members have given you so far.

However, I hear the doubt in you. Of course you are in a fearful place right now, the news came out of left field and you had to deal with the shock of it. Now you are left with your present reality. Looking around for jobs has shown you that you deserve more. Your experience last year taught you that you can be more.

So now it is time to put your focus on what you want not what you don't want.

How hungry are you, how ready for success are you? Are you ready to put into action that which you know you can do? You are lucky you have a track record, testimonial and a whole lot of people rooting for you.

Take some time to breathe, get a clear vision in your head of what you want a real vision, taste it , smell it feel it,see every aspect of your life as the success you want it to be. When you have that vision good and clear get your plan into action. Now I am not talking pages and pages of plans, a broad outline that you can add to with some clear goals you can work towards.

Whilst you are doing this remember you are still going to be facing your feelings, ask for help when you need it. Don't be afraid to show those emotions, invest in you so that you can invest in your family.

You have what it takes to rise above your current situation. You can do it.

Good luck man.

I really hope that you resolve your problems and can get back on track. I was recently laid off of my own job, but thankfully I also have money in reserve just for that case.

Again, Good luck.

Charles, can you give us an update please? (Even if the update is "I still just don't know!")