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Old 09-12-2021, 3:03pm   #1
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Default I think my career is over. Thankfully.

I’m ****ing burned out on my profession and I’m stopping. I am a marketing consultant for companies that sell to other businesses (B2B). My usual gig is to be a virtual chief marketing officer on a contract basis instead of hiring. This gives smaller and midsized clients more experience for half the cost.

It’s ****ing hard to sell. I’m good at selling it but it can take six months to close a deal. I’m constantly publishing and doing events, speaking, etc. if I’m not doing that I’m doing admin, client work, cleaning the shitter or taking a nap.

The pay is great (starts at $10k a month) when you have clients. COVID pretty much destroyed that.

This has been the worst year financially in the history of the company. Our revenues are down 100X from 2018.

Plus clients are either stupid or stupid dickheads. Who needs it?

Now I will focus on my wife’s company as her V.P. Of business development. We set up a graphic design and production company under a different name. My job is to get clients. Her job is to manage a team of contractors to build websites, design materials, do SEO, branding, video, etc.

Fees are half of my consulting fee but simpler, more demand, lower price point, more transactional. More scalable. But way lower margins.

Work load will be the same. I’m old and tired. It’s getting harder to keep up just when I need to work extra hard to start over again. This will be the third time we have started over from zero in our adult lives.

It looks like a giant mountain right now. I’m seriously unsure if I have the stamina to pull it off.

My condition will eventually make it impossible for me to work. I have zero idea what happens after that. I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting that new C8.

Music is good for tens of dollars a year. So I think it’s the right course. We started out as a design firm three decades ago.

They key is finding clients who have regular needs, not the one offs. They will pay more for professional service and work. (We are not bargain basement and not expensive - competitive for professional firm)

It’s happening slowly but surely. You can help by sending us the strength we need to make it happen. Beam it from your big, stupid hearts right up our bungholes.
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Old 09-12-2021, 3:06pm   #2
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Best of luck with business and health Pete. You're on your own with the whole bunghole thing
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Old 09-12-2021, 3:10pm   #3
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It’s ****ing hard to sell. I’m good at selling it but it can take six months to close a deal.
my employer sells 2 way radios to police, fire, schools, road departments...

Sometimes I feel sorry for our salesmen... when spending the publics money for something, the process
is very s l o w.
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Old 09-12-2021, 3:36pm   #4
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Life choices have consequences.
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Old 09-12-2021, 3:55pm   #5
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Too bad music has taken such a hit - your music is great and you surround yourself with great musicians. Yeah, the false panic over covid has hit a lot of people.
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Old 09-12-2021, 5:22pm   #6
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Marketing is the most misunderstood and badly done portion of any company. The majority of people can't understand or willfully ignore the most basic of facts around it. They couldn't do the job themselves, yet think hiring somebody is over-priced. Then often bully the marketing people to use their ideas instead so they can blame the marketeers and fire them later.

Getting out will be good for the better part of your soul. You have a back up to go to already, that's 90% of the battle. As for music, being a musician is the main place you don't make money in the industry. EVERYBODY gets paid before the musicians do. I used to have many major friends that were pros, and the ones that didn't ignore their surroundings were horrified at how much everybody else made off them. Had a friend who fronted a major MTV generation band tell me he went out for a night with a buddy who had been a roadie for him from the beginning. In the rain he crowded the ATM and happened to see the guy's balance. He admitted it and then asked where the guy got all the money. The guy said, "From you. You paid me, and I've been Union since day one. Don't you know how much you pay people???". It almost killed him when he found out.

Had another friend who recently passed that started at distribution and was worth a fortune. Our conversations the last few years before her passing were eye opening.

The money in music is everywhere except playing it...sadly. Good luck in your upcoming change!!!!!!!
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Old 09-12-2021, 5:39pm   #7
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My condition will eventually make it impossible for me to work.
Why do you say that?
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:01pm   #8
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I understand and empathize with you guys. I have zero energy these days. I feel beat up and worn out - 68. I was lucky and retired 10 years ago. I have two nice homes and zero money worries and I am glad of that because if I had to go out and get a job it would not be good.

For Pete and Lars - here's hoping things go the way you hope or BETTER.
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:12pm   #9
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Why do you say that?
While there are treatments for Crohn's, the disease is progressive and there is currently no "cure". If you are not in remission, you are getting sicker.
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:15pm   #10
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While there are treatments for Crohn's, the disease is progressive and there is currently no "cure". If you are not in remission, you are getting sicker.
Steve knows.. He's had it for decades.
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:18pm   #11
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Steve knows.. He's had it for decades.
Then he has been fortunate treatment and lifestyle choices have kept things at least somewhat in balance. Hope it remains that way Steve!
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:31pm   #12
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Then he has been fortunate treatment and lifestyle choices have kept things at least somewhat in balance. Hope it remains that way Steve!
Thanks. Diagnosed 45 years ago. It’s not a death sentence.
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:46pm   #13
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Life choices have consequences.
What do you mean by this?
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Old 09-12-2021, 7:58pm   #14
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Thanks. Diagnosed 45 years ago. It’s not a death sentence.
You know everyone’s disease state is different. If I recall, you were able to get the disease pretty much cut out, then things got better?

I’m not saying I’m going to keel over. That would be a relief. I’m saying I get tired fast. I can work about five hours then I have to sleep.

My mind is foggy. My eyesight is getting very bad (doc says immune system attacking my optic nerves) and I’ll be legally blind in 5-7 years at this rate.

I haven’t been in remission for years and it’s taking a toll on my body. I had two more surgeries over the last three weeks.

What will end my working ability is the fatigue that no doc can seem to help.

One frustrating factor is the blood disease on top of it. Remember, my luck is so fantastic I also have a rare blood disease, a type of leukemia. The net effect of which is not being able to make enough red blood cells.

So between the biologic drugs, lack of sleep, fatigue and malnutrition from Crohn’s and pernicious anemia, I’ve been unable to do much but work and sleep. And a 90 show once a month.

I’m not depressed about it, this is not a “woe is me” post. Just clarifying what I mean. My Crohn’s keeps getting worse for unknown reasons.
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:03pm   #15
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Originally Posted by Chemtrails99 View Post
Marketing is the most misunderstood and badly done portion of any company. The majority of people can't understand or willfully ignore the most basic of facts around it. They couldn't do the job themselves, yet think hiring somebody is over-priced. Then often bully the marketing people to use their ideas instead so they can blame the marketeers and fire them later.

Getting out will be good for the better part of your soul. You have a back up to go to already, that's 90% of the battle. As for music, being a musician is the main place you don't make money in the industry. EVERYBODY gets paid before the musicians do. I used to have many major friends that were pros, and the ones that didn't ignore their surroundings were horrified at how much everybody else made off them. Had a friend who fronted a major MTV generation band tell me he went out for a night with a buddy who had been a roadie for him from the beginning. In the rain he crowded the ATM and happened to see the guy's balance. He admitted it and then asked where the guy got all the money. The guy said, "From you. You paid me, and I've been Union since day one. Don't you know how much you pay people???". It almost killed him when he found out.

Had another friend who recently passed that started at distribution and was worth a fortune. Our conversations the last few years before her passing were eye opening.

The money in music is everywhere except playing it...sadly. Good luck in your upcoming change!!!!!!!
Yup. Exactly. The business was great thirty years ago. It is very mentally intense and complex but gets little respect. It’s a young mans game.

Music is just a hobby. It’s the only time I feel normal.

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I understand and empathize with you guys. I have zero energy these days. I feel beat up and worn out - 68. I was lucky and retired 10 years ago. I have two nice homes and zero money worries and I am glad of that because if I had to go out and get a job it would not be good.

For Pete and Lars - here's hoping things go the way you hope or BETTER.
I’m ten years younger. I bet we feel the same. I literally have no energy to do even the things I enjoy. And I inject B12 and testosterone which after twelve years of needles is getting very old.

Due to circumstances beyond our control we have to work indefinitely. I’m watching my mom try to live on $1,500 SS a month and I know she suffers. She has Crohn’s too.
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:11pm   #16
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I’m ****ing burned out on my profession and I’m stopping.
Welcome to my life.

For the last ten years I go in every morning at the crack of 11:30am and stand around playing on the internet till it’s time to go home.
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:17pm   #17
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Then he has been fortunate treatment and lifestyle choices have kept things at least somewhat in balance. Hope it remains that way Steve!
Scientifically speaking lifestyle choices don’t seem to have much impact on the disease except drinking and smoking (I’ve never smoked and I have had a drop of alcohol in 29 years).

Food doesn’t have much effect except things that are hard to digest can get stuck which is life threatening. Stress is a factor but not really within my control.

That’s part of the frustration we live with. We have zero control over any of this. My body is on a jihad against itself.

Steve has had some rough times and he is more private about the disease than me.

However his Crohn’s is likely different from mine. It varies greatly in symptoms and severity from person to person and depending on where it strikes in the body.

For some people it’s relative minor and can be treated with pills. “Mild to moderate” they call it. Depending on where it attacks, some can get the disease cut out (technically they still have it but the surgery puts them in permanent remission) and it doesn’t spread in these individuals.

Others, like me are inoperable and have “moderate to severe” Crohn’s. The pills don’t work so we go on heavier, more dangerous, way more expensive drugs. The disease tends to spread to other areas (in my case optic nerves and joints) and worsens.

We advanced guys get hospitalized a lot (I average twice a year for the last decade), get multiple drastic surgeries, infections are constant. I’ve been in the ICU six times in six years. In 2014 I was in five times that year alone.

I have had periods of remission but not for a few years now. It’s hard to describe feeling ill 24/7 for years while hiding it and working constantly. One secret is to stop eating food for a couple weeks at a time. It seems to reduce inflammation.

I was concerned COVID would finally be the thing that kills that business. I’m relieved. After 30 years of hustle, it’s going to take some adjusting. We have had amazing highs and insane lows but we have never had an economic event cause by the government.

The impact of that is starting to be seen as the government EIDL money runs out.

You guys have been a lifeline for me and I have chronicled my struggles here. I do it to vent and in my fleeting hope to be understood, but never for sympathy.

And I only share about half of it. My quality of life is pretty bad right now after a six year decline. But I’m fighting it with everything I’ve got and I’m pretty tough.

My dad said “always remember, quitting is always an option on the table. Don’t make the mistake of not quitting soon enough.”

I now know what he meant. Back in the day, I let my previous company drag on too long. It cost me a lot of money.
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:23pm   #18
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My friend's daughter has the worse kind I've been told and she's just 18 now. Surgery already couple years ago. Her treatments are not pleasant.
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:29pm   #19
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Welcome to my life.

For the last ten years I go in every morning at the crack of 11:30am and stand around playing on the internet till it’s time to go home.
I know you have had some insane problems. Even worse than I. How are you lately?
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Old 09-12-2021, 8:36pm   #20
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My friend's daughter has the worse kind I've been told and she's just 18 now. Surgery already couple years ago. Her treatments are not pleasant.
It breaks my heart bigly when I meet a kid with it. It’s a lot to deal with, scary as **** and the medical brutality is indescribable. I was diagnosed in my 30s. I can’t even imagine being a kid with this disease.

I on some forums where I hear about the many faces of Crohn’s. Part of the challenge with treatment is how much it varies from person to person.

And contrary to what is generally believed not everyone shits their brains out. That would be mild compared to what my CD does. My immune system has destroyed my small intestine and ruptures it every couple of years giving me sepsis. If you think COVID is bad, try sepsis.

My mom has that version in her colon and has constant diarrhea and it’s terrible for her. But she has more energy than me, never had surgery, is 80 and the strongest woman I know.
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