This is the backstory to one of the most epic and iconic pictures in internet marketing.  When I cashed this check it was accompanied by a $350 unemployment check.  My

There is a freelancer for almost every industry in the world. In this country alone, they make up about one-third of the workforce and that number is expected to increase to more than 50% in the next ten years. There are dozens of platforms online to help you find these workers. All it takes to find the right person for …

Anyone who reads blogs on a regular basis probably knows about affiliate marketing. If you’re a new blogger, you’ve probably considered becoming an affiliate marketer. Ads, especially if you’re just starting out, aren’t going to bring in much income. You could build a digital product, but without any traffic, you won’t make any sales. So for new sites and people …

Do you remember the old cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers? It was a show back in the 90s about five teenagers who could combine their powers to summon their own personal superhero. Their goal was to “take pollution down to zero”. And as far as the fictional world, they did a pretty good job. Marketing is a lot like …

We constantly hear about the Microsofts and Apples of the world. The garage band companies from humble places. But those companies were a semblance of what they would eventually become. What about the companies that took a chance on something new? What about the jokes people expected to go nowhere? These are the surprising stories that continually surprise us. We’ll …

In my inaugural post on Shoemoney, I discussed SEO and why you need it for your small business. Brick and mortar shops need SEO, sure, but more than anything they need to think about what kind of SEO they need. It’s just three letters but it’s a broad term, with dozens of different strategies and methods to get the best …

Ask most consumers to explain the cloud and they’ll tell you about online storage. And while this is a semi-accurate description of the cloud, there is so much more to cloud computing than just a 21st century way of keeping your mom from finding your porn stash. The cloud is still a mystery to many people even today. They see it …

Children can start learning about money as early as age three. One of the best ways to do this is by not always buying something when you go into a store. If your kid wants something, you tell them “there isn’t enough money right now for that, but if we wait patiently, we will eventually be able to buy it.” …

In college, I took a course on global capitalism from a fairly liberal political science professor. Back then, globalism was a conservative idea to be eschewed by the left. Outsourcing was an evil corporate activity exploiting workers all over the globe. Now, nobody bats an eye at the word. It’s divorced from sweatshops and third world economies. The most reputable …

I once got to be part of a user experience test. My friend was in grad school and he and his colleagues had created a simple game programming tool. It was one of the most confusing pieces of software I’ve ever touched. I found out later, they’d created a problematic piece of software on purpose. They were testing a user …

In the film “Joy,” the title character experienced patent troll torture. Joy Mangano marketed an idea. A mop that required no hands to wring out. After building a business and almost bringing her invention to full success, someone made a claim on her patent. The end of the story is a good one, but Magano went through hell proving the …