Phelan Riessen

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Recently I came across a new online service which I found kinda cool. It’s a fresh new look on a very old business model: Maid service and house cleaning. BidMyCleaning is an impressive bidding site where you can request bids for anything from monthly house cleaning, carpet cleaning, to window cleaning and more.

The reason I’m writing this short post is two fold. One, I really dislike cleaning. Two, I wonder what your business model looks like. Do you think out of the box with your business? Maybe it’s time to start thinking less traditional and more creative. It’s time for me to do the same and push my limits in both creativity and efforts.

Joe the plumber has just gained national attention. Joe was minding his own business trying to make 250k a year at his company, plumbing drains, installing sinks, unclogging toilets and after he’s done working for the day, he goes home to his much needed six pack of beer and watches good ol’ sports, his favorite shows and politics. And guess what, Joe finds himself smack dab right in the center of the spotlight.

Joe the plumber had nothing to do with his new found fame though. See, he’s been labeled by the politicians as Joe the plumber, Joe six pack, and really, he’s Joe all American. Joe represents a majority of the working and business class population that makes 250k a year at his business…so they say.

Making 250k a year is great if that’s his personal take home salary, but seriously, that’s either a whole helluva lot of work for one person, or he’s charging a lot for his services. Joe could certainly charge competitive rates, but that takes employees. Joe himself, can’t work 24 hours a day.

Let’s also account for how Joe get’s all of his business. Word of mouth surely doesn’t bring in 250k worth of sales. It takes advertising. Lots of advertising. Yellow pages, pay per click, repeat customers, word of mouth and a decent website, which sorry to say, Joe needs to work on. Flip side, he’s just achieved more free publicity then he could ever handle for just being himself: Joe the plumber.

So while it appears that Joe’s making tons of money, he really isn’t. In fact with a plumbing van expense, auto insurance, employees, cost of goods, advertising, rent, utilities, taxes, fuel costs, health insurance, mortgages, beer and food expenses and more, he’s probably in the hole or just making ends meet.

And thanks to his new found celebrity status, millions of people are visiting Joe’s website to see if he really does exist, and he does, but he’ll be getting a nice bill from his hosting services and also his government. Yes, the decisions being made for him are adding to the national debt by the second.

Congratulations Joe, I hope you pay off your debt now with your new found publicity. You’re going to need it.

On occasion, I’ll come across something odd, something funny or something that just doesn’t seem right. With a little creativity, focus, fun and a little help from you, we can make this place a better place to live in.

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Phelan