Originally Posted by camperjohn64

Today I realized I've been "self employed" for 5 years now, which is a nice way to say unemployed. I have deliberately avoided getting a got a job, in order to pursue online marketing, websites, contract work etc. Anybody here that has an affilitate program, I am probably promoting you.

Sometimes I look at my friends, who are making a solid $140k a year at the job I left, and think that I've missed out on nearly $700,000 in my pocket, plus bonuses. But these have been the best years.

I've had dozens of experiments in websites that generate traffic, hours learning new code techniques, both theory and design, and watched my traffic jump one month, then dive to almost zero the next. Bills I can't pay, followed by $30,000 checks in the mail. New motorbikes one quarter, then bald tires the next.

I looked at MySpace when it first came out and said "I could make a better version, but it won't last" only to have facebook in my face and regretting "Man I could have done that".

Every year, there is a new idea on my website design list, and every year there are people that say it can't be done. Yet at the same time there is always a new facebook, youtube, twitter, right around the corner. The youtube and twitter guys never listened to those in the biz that say "All that can be done, has already been done - there is no more internet gold".

Well aparently there is still gold in them their hills. At 5 years I haven't hit gold, but today I realized "Wow, am still afloat - Cool".

I don't have a point to this. Maybe it's a work in progress.