Best clueless line of all time:
"By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine's."
That was Paul Krugman in 1998.
Ouch.
Actually, the Internet has changed everything.
One of my favorite early Internet stories:
Steve Hogarth, of the band Marillion (which has sold in excess of 15 million albums), tried explaining to American audiences that they couldn't afford to tour in the U.S. The books just didn't balance. Their fan base was in Europe.
But on the fledgling Internet of the 1990s, Marillion fans banded together and raised $60,000 -- and then pledged to buy tickets on top of that if Marillion came. Which they did.
Hogarth (whom I have interviewed on the Tom Woods Show) later noted that here he was the lead singer, and he had no idea this was even going on. Suddenly, they had this pile of money.
But he was a quick learner. "Whatever this Internet thing is, we'd better get on it," he said.
Other struggling bands, not wise to the benefits of the Internet, missed out on these advantages and opportunities.
The Internet has made things like this possible. It has also made possible the kind of lifestyle I myself enjoy: wherever there's WiFi, I can work. No boss, no fixed schedule, no workplace politics, no physical inventory. Just doing what I love to do.
Even now, in 2020, most people are still missing out. They slave away at miserable jobs they hate, as if this were a fated existence and the Internet didn't exist.
You have got to see the replay Aidan Booth's special eCommerce presentation. You are going to thank me.
What should newbies looking for a soup-to-nuts side hustle do? This.
"I'll get to this someday," you have promised yourself.
Someday is today.
Tom Woods