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Is this the worst freakin’ economic nightmare you’ve ever seen?  Since a year ago, I have seen too many friends and relatives losing their jobs and homes and it sucks.  I have to confess that 2008 and 2009  wer my best years ever from a financial standpoint.  God, luck, some good timing all brought it together for me over the past 24 months and with the same good fortune, 2010 will be as good or better.  But having been on the upside of online efforts before only to see the bottom fall out so I take nothing for granted.

But one of the most frustrating things that has been happening lately is that so many people who I know, who are really struggling, keep saying things like, “I want you to show me how to make a living online”.

Of course the problem with that is that a lot of what I do online is at best, grayhat stuff that I would not divulge but more to the point, everyone seems to think that I can sit down with them this weekend and just show them the money.  Which I can’t.

So I’m kind of stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place:  How do I explain a 6 figure income when I’m working from home for about 4 hours a day?  At best.  I do have some standard, white hat sites and blogs and  ecommerce sites that I’ve run for over a decade but it’s getting harder and harder to bullshit people into believing that I make my living that way.

On top of that, when my wife (who is an executive at a large corp) tells me there’s a social function we are going to attend, I dread the one question that never stops coming: “So Buck, what do you do for a living?”

I’ve pretty much gotten to the point where I just say, “Internet Marketing and Consulting”, which usually leaves them open mouthed and frankly, not interested in hearing my definition of what that means.  But overall, trying to explain what I do online for a living is usually a drag.  I should probably just start saying, “I sell on Ebay”.

Something I read in the L.A. Times this morning over my coffee: Looks like a federal grand jury in LA has begun issuing subpoenas in the case of the Missouri teen who hanged herself after some taunting on Myspace

I’m sure you remember the case, 13 year old Megan Meier thought she was being rejected by a 16 year old boy she “met” in the shithole more commonly known as Myspace when in fact it was Lori Drew, the mother of one of her former girlfriends. This stupid bitch created the account solely for the purpose of communicating with Megan to see what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter.

Prosecutors in Missouri have been trying to find some way to charge Drew with something but have been unable to find any statute under which they could prosecute her. However, in an interesting twist, prosecutors in the US Attorney’s office in Los Angeles are looking into charging Drew with fraud against Myspace by creating a false account.

Federal wire fraud and cyber fraud statutes are being looked at in the hopes of filing charges against Drew. Since Myspace is headquartered in Beverly Hills, the prosecutors think they can file the federal charges in California.

Interesting stuff. I guess I have two thoughts on this. The more important of the two is in relation to Drew who in my never humble opinion needs to be charged with something. What I don’t know but to let this fucktard get off without even a slap in the face is not acceptable.

The other is the detail on which they are looking at charging her and how it affects internet marketing. As we all know, many internet marketers have used Myspace in the past for for their money making ventures. Myspace and other social networks such as Hi5 and Facebook have been the target of bots used to create numerous, bogus profiles, add friends, comment and bulletin round the clock. Myspace has clearly cleaned up their site but there are still people using this method. In the past, Myspace made an attempt to delete fake profiles and in some cases, ban ip’s but I wonder if this case in Missouri and California might set a precedent on future efforts.

Read the LA Times Article