FTC to go after bloggers - but it's an AP article so I can't freaking link it!

[wiccawench]

 

and you don't even have any real family connections forcing you to stay there

Jennifer that is a BIT of an assumption isn't it?


Chesyre! i like the way your mind works.......0.001 x a few trillion you mean. 

I am sure Matt has thought long and hard about this as is evidenced by his posts. After all it IS his income base and that one change is going to mean a different tomorrow for Matt on a day to day basis. Latoc too.

[Chesyre]

and you don't even have any real family connections forcing you to stay there

Jennifer that is a BIT of an assumption isn't it?


Chesyre! i like the way your mind works.......0.001 x a few trillion you mean. 

I am sure Matt has thought long and hard about this as is evidenced by his posts. After all it IS his income base and that one change is going to mean a different tomorrow for Matt on a day to day basis. Latoc too.

.10 = ten cents
-01 = one cent

unless my math is wrong 
not that i care anyone who posts risque pictures of her shapely arse can make all the mathematical errors she wants 

[EastcoastJD]

That being said, maybe we need to accept that the collapse is here and now and adjust accordingly.

I had figured this would happen dating back several years. A site like LATOC does best in terms of revenue when there is volatility BUT only in the context of lots of credit sloshing around which is what gives people the money to buy prep gear. So when the credit markets started collapsing in October, I figued that with 3-4 months revenue would drop 50% from 2005-2008, which it has. But even after sustaining a 50% drop I can still pay the rent, food, and other basics. One of the reasons I dropped my retail store and went to all affiliates starting bak in October is doing so freed up a lot of time which I could then use to focus on preps. (Right now I'm taking acupressure classes on the evenings and weekends)  I made more money with my retail store but I figured this new model better adjusted to the times in that I'd be making less but still enough to pay the basics while having the afternoons to focus on prep related activities.

But a total or near total loss of advertising revenue then means I need to do *something* else just to pay the rent and other basics like food.

What about going back to the legal field for the time being?  Are you up to date on your CLE credits?  One area that is certainly growing is criminal defense, and since you already have experience from having interned with a public defender's office, maybe this would be something to consider?

[highstreet]

the issue for me is taking something relatively simple and making it so specialised and complex it no longer functions.

It's about making choices that with each new rule, regulation and decision takes so much time to even know about.....

Deliberately micro-managing everything.

This is exactly what the Fed Gov loves to do.  The pattern holds.  Micro Managing Small Business out of existence, despite the fact that small business creates 70% of new employment. 

The big companies don't like competition.  This is the same thing Walmart does in the Retail market.

[Jennifer]

and you don't even have any real family connections forcing you to stay there

Jennifer that is a BIT of an assumption isn't it?

I'm assuming what he's said about himself, and what the alt-weekly wrote about him, is true. Should I assume otherwise, do you think?

[gary275]

Matt perhaps it would work to set up a non profit in say Nevada for the distribution of information on peak oil with your self as sole employee I'm sure you already contribute to a few charity's use your following here as your base and expand the banners with a few worth while organisations. you have a law degree you can get around this. there are a lot of ways to beat the system talk to anyone in office there experts on law abuse . this site should qualify because the info you post is beyond most folks ability to find. it is informative and not super agenda tilted {except kuntsler} lol i guess I'm saying beat the bastards at there game don't fold your hand its  a  full house   

[Mosby43]

Matt perhaps it would work to set up a non profit in say Nevada for the distribution of information on peak oil with your self as sole employee I'm sure you already contribute to a few charity's use your following here as your base and expand the banners with a few worth while organisations. you have a law degree you can get around this. there are a lot of ways to beat the system talk to anyone in office there experts on law abuse . this site should qualify because the info you post is beyond most folks ability to find. it is informative and not super agenda tilted {except kuntsler} lol i guess I'm saying beat the bastards at there game don't fold your hand its  a  full house   

Bingo. But skip the non-profit aspect, even more of a hassle. Just incorporate in NV, get a mail drop, a corp bank account there and as a LLC it's pass through revenue, avoiding double taxation. Amazon probably doesn't care about where the address says you are, so long as it's not California. You can even remain sort of anonymous. Corp filings in NV require a court order from a NV judge to reveal who has incorporated what. Doubt your size would warrant sending CA lawyers to try to get a NV judge to open an incorporation filing.

And don't fall for this "You have to put "PMB" on the address (personal mail box). I have used simply "#" for years and no one ever asked anything.

If you really want to go underground, use the corp acct exclusively and pay CA expenses in cash. (ATMs, use a newspaper to hide from the pinhole camera. Move around a bit. But again, you're small fry compared to what the state goes after generally) Online purchases go to the mail drop for forwarding.

Not as good as BVI, etc. but on this level it can be done. Maybe even move the server to NV or elsewhere as well (if it already isn't somewhere else).

Technically speaking, LATOC wouldn't be operating in California and the only principle, you, telecommuutes to NV.

That aside, sounds to me like a desperate state gov't, in woeful financial straights, grasping st straws, and has been bamboozled again by a legislator who listened to someone, got just enough information to make them dangerous and ended up skewering the real revenue source....income tax and sales tax from online entrepreneurs spending their money in their communities.

I'd say we're in for a lot more Bozo moves like this nationwide before this is over.

I'd say any legal loophole you can find to put it to them, why not. It's a just reward for stupidity.

[Dry Observer]

Well, perhaps you can bring your retail store back.

Alternatively (or additionally) you could sell articles, fiction, on-location reporting, personal accounts of major (recent) events, and collections on particular themes. Some articles and accounts could be gleaned from "Best Of" threads, such as Megadoom's description of New Orleans after Katrina. Articles written for LATOC might serve in this capacity (like Orlov's pieces), and some writer's might be willing to put up their collection of blog posts in this format -- Kunstler's weekly blog commentary, for instance. The site gets a cut, the writer gets a majority, and the customer gets whatever ebook-format or pdf file the writer put up for sale. Quite a few forum members could probably generate an article or two in their area(s) of expertise. I know I've gleaned quite a bit of material for future Hubpages articles just sifting through my own archived posts. Some of your other posters might be surprised by just how much they have shared on subjects for which they have great passion, or at least great insight.


And if none of that works...

Consider selling the site. Someone competent, dedicated, and living in a viable state would work perfectly as a new site manager. And while I don't want to disparage the work you've put into this operation over the last several years, it seems like this place is already built. Someone capable who just wanted to run it could do so, if they put in the time.

[Adaptation]

Matt — is it possible for you to partner with someone to sell advertising in the traditional, non-affiliate way? If you were to find the right partner, it's possible your work hours might not increase much while both of you still make some livable money.

just a thought.

—paula

[Bear In A Bunker]

Matt, I thought a nevada LLC does not report any info to the feds. Its kinda funny seeing someone that WANTS to stay in Kalifornia.
Get the hell out while you still can. Find a nice place in Tahoe.

[Ayoob]

This is pretty disappointing, Matt.  I thought you were more of a fighter.  I guess not.  After all the times you defended yourself on PO.com against the h8erz who thought anyone with a profit motive was some kind of backstabber... what a letdown.  What's so great about Santa Rosa that you're ready to flush a once in a lifetime coup down the toilet?  Those people will still be there after you move to a free state and do your thing for a while. 

You remind me of that rdenner character who confessed one day that he was too obsessed with watching the media to do anything to prepare himself personally.  Camping skills?  Really?  That's like planning on being a refugee.  Talk about making decisions out of fear.

I hope your plan B looks better than your plan A.

I don't know what to say.

[TLR1138]

Everyone, please stop suggesting that Matt set up shop in Nevada. He's already looked into that.

[slow_dazzle]

Mods - I loves ya.

Booya.

[wiccawench]

 

[ipatent]

Buy a condo in Vegas to be your principal residence, they are dirt cheap now.