Panda Picks-Seniors Work on the Net!

As late summer days approached, the smell of ripe tomatoes in our garden permeated the air.  The older ladies of the neighborhood would often stop and discuss the opening of the tomato factory.  “When would it open?”, “What was the crop looking like?”,” Are you working at the tomato factory this year?’ were the questions most often posed to each other.

One could  hear the rustle of stiff rubber aprons hitting against the black rubber boots as the ladies passed on the alley behind our house.  The long awaited day had arrived.  The tomato factory had opened.  It really was not a factory but what we would now call a processing plant.  In the little town of Pandora, Ohio the opening of the tomato factory was anticipated as it would provide income for some senior citizens at the factory and immigrant or seasonal laborers picking tomatos. It was short term work of only a few weeks.

When I was a child I witnessed my older sister and my mother as well as some neighborhood widows take this as  part time employment.  Because I was home alone and some times sought my mothers permission to play with friends or go swimming with another family, I would stop in at the tomato factory.

It always smelled of over ripe tomatos, close to rotting, and tomatoes cooking in the hot water gave the aroma I well remember. The sounds of cans clanging overhead as they traveled from outside the building to the end of the peeling line are vivid memories. There wasn’t much chatter among the ladies who stood along a conveyer belt concentrating on their task of peeling tomatoes. They had to make their money in just a few short weeks, so each hour of concentrated work was precious. After all they were getting a dollar for each galvanized bucket they filled. A card pinned to their back was to be punched by the ‘runner’ for each bucket filled.

The process was simple, men outside the building dumped hamsters of tomatoes into tubs of hot water. A conveyor belt pulled the tomatoes into the building where the ladies stood on the peeling line.  The first ladies took the biggest tomatoes, gave a slight squeeze to remove the skin and quickly removed the core with their special tomato knife.  As the tomatoes progressed down the line the less desirable tomatoes took a little more work to remove the skins and possibly cut some of the hard parts around the core. By the end of the line, the poorest tomatoes were available, and fewer tomatoes were processed.  Each hour the ladies shifted  positions so  that all had equal opportunity to the best tomatoes.  The canning of the tomatoes was the last part of the process.

I never got to work in the the tomato factory, wearing the stiff rubber aprons and stiff black rubber boots and coming home with withered skin on the hands. The factory was closed and moved to modern facilities where people wore sanitary suits, masks and processed tomatoes in sanitized  well controlled environments. Now the tomatoes are picked by giant machines which make one trip through the fields to tear up the plants at the height of ripening period.  The little town of Pandora, Ohio no longer provides this seasonal work for Seniors seeking part time work.

This story reminds us that opportunities for Seniors to work on line processing seasonal foods has disappeared.  Many jobs have moved overseas where labor costs are less.  As retirees we look for opportunities to find part-time or short term work to supplement our income.  The internet provides us such opportunity.  Even if we are physically challenged using our computer to generate income is a viable way to have some short term or seasonal work.

I am thankful I don’t have to rise early and go to work in a damp wet place like a tomato factory but rather work on line in the comfort of my home, choose my own hours, choose the type of work I wish to pursue.  I have mentors and friends not from a neighborhood but from the entire world of internet users. It can be seasonal or short-term or even at my age I can make it a career.  Here’s to on line work for Seniors.

Panda Picked this  story to remind us that as times change, we Seniors can adapt to new ways of making money. We can use the computer to find us work, applying on line for local jobs, create our own on line business, or train ourselves for services to provide on line. The possibilities are endless!

What is your online venture using the internet and all its possibilites?

So you want to set up a  business on the internet   Here’s a little reality that you should read at least once a week while building your business.

FOUR BITS OF WISDOM
 1.  INVESTMENT-THERE IS NO FREE when it comes to doing business on the internet. Whether it’s an investment of time, or an investment with money, you have to ‘invest’. This is a business, and a business cannot grow without some capital. Plus, if you are investing in your future, it makes sense to invest in your business.  If you are still employed, don’t fall for “Fire the Boss” as you might just have to crawl back and ask for your job.  Continue with employment until you are making more on your internet business than you are earning at your paying job.  When you have made allowance for the benefits you will lose and making a live-able wage then full time internet marketing might be feasible.

You will need advertising.  Oh my did I miss that one when I bought my first site. The business you buy has no obligation to promote. You are on your own and a perfect set-up to spend big bucks.

 Connect with a business that fits your personality and passion in life.  Ask yourself this “Would I buy this product if I were not selling it”. Your testimony to the usefulness of the product will speak volumes. Auto ship is the method of forcing you to purchase or another way to say it is, they send  a specific amount  automatically.  Your downline will do the same, and that is how you make your money.  Since it  means you must purchase a certain amount yourself,  ask yourself if you want a shelf full of potions and pills that you will not use. By far the largest investment will be in time and learning how to market.  Internet marketing is not like selling to your next door neighbor as your customers will be people you have never met. Know how this potential business suggests promoting.  If you detest cold calling (people you don’t know) or typing ads, doing research or what ever the suggested method, then check out our personality traits and abilities for marketing.

Number 2 – YOU HAVE TO MEET PEOPLE-The idea of working from home in your pj’s, saving on gas, saving on lunches and clothes seems so appealing.  But guess what, you still have to meet people.  Yes, you can do all of the above but networking means working with other people.  There will be people on line just like you or people that can make you want to throw your computer across the room.

Where will you meet these people.  You can talk or write to people on Yahoo, MSN, Skype and other free message centers.  Forums are a great place to learn about people and you can share about yourself and your experiences.  Perhaps your product would be of interest to someone when they learn about your product.  Writing e-books is a great way to share your ideas. You can enroll in sites who will provide leads at little or no expense. Live conferences on the phone or in on line meeting rooms will develop business partners and build businesses.

Number 3 – YOU MUST HAVE PATIENCE On the internet, we are told of instant riches, and success in 90 days or less. Some go so far as to promise you will have money in 3 hours. FORGET ABOUT IT. Remember, this is long term income we want here, not a quick fifty bucks. You must have patience with your online business. This is the only industry on the planet where success is ‘demanded’ in weeks and months, not years. It just cannot happen, most offline businesses take 2-4 years to turn a profit, it should be no different online. Take your time, there is no rush!

Number 4 – WORK, WORK, WORK I know…The images of sitting back with your feet up, sleeping in until noon, owning a yacht, travel to the islands….It’s a myth! You must roll up your sleeves and put in work. Again, this is a business, it takes effort. Do not be scared of it. Beware of any site that says, No work, No advertising, no recruiting, no nothing.  All that means is that you just bought “NOTHING”.  Do the math.  If you are promised to make a certain amount of money, figure out how many people it would take to make that much. 

Take those four points as you wish, all I ever write about is what I have experienced. These things have worked for me, and trust me, I’m not a ’special person’. I had no clue what a url was when I first started. Even the words, mentor and internet marketer were unknown to me. Hopefully, when you find a business, you find mentors who will take you by the hand and take you through the strange world of on-line communities, advertising sites, computer skills, and most of all where to hide your credit cards.

Panda Picked this subject so that our Seniors new to the internet are not victims of the internet.  Choose a business unique to you and I wish you well on your journey.