sustainable livelihood

The Robot Revolution Eliminates Many Jobs while Creating New Opportunities

November 23, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

Within the next decade, robots will be everyday appliances in homes, the workforce of factories, the means by which a substantial portion of medical care will be delivered, and a new basis for wealth for those who benefit.

One example is that Foxcomm, the company that manufactures Apple iPhones and iPads is replacing 1.2 million workers with one million industrial robots. The cost of operating an industrial robot is about 30 cents/hour! Robot’s don’t take vacations, require health insurance and sick leave, make complaints, and will work long hours seven days a week.

In medical facilities, you often will be looking at a five-foot tall robot with a screen for a face that allows your doctor to see you and you to see your doctor. Medical robots will take your blood pressure, have the ability to look into your ears, and an ultrasound imaging system, among other capabilities.

With over 300,000 hospitals worldwide – only one of the uses of robots, we are apt to see a population of robots larger than that many nations, which already number over 20 million. Manufacturing factories, which in the US alone number 336,000 are populated with robots working tirelessly and will increasingly so.

Robots will carry out tasks and do things that are unsafe for people, do work that is impossible for people, and do things that it is uneconomical to employ humans to do. You can imagine robots doing such things as defusing bombs, being used in agriculture doing back-breaking work, and helping the aged function independently.

How does your future and your livelihood relate to this? First, you can become a robot technician, repairing and maintaining robots. While many robots can be expected to repair of themselves and other robots, we can expect humans to be needed. On sites like careerbuilder.com, you can find listings of jobs now available.

Robots will make our lives easier – as long as we find a way to earn a sustainable livelihood. For example. the more robots there are, there will be more technicians to maintain them. Robot repair technicians install, service, troubleshoot, maintain, and repair robots and automated production systems. The number of engineers who specialize in robots will grow. Following is an excerpt from the Robot Report:

More than 14,000 jobs were advertised online requiring knowledge or use of robotics in the U.S., according to WANTED Analytics™, a source of real-time business intelligence.

… The most commonly advertised job titles requiring use or knowledge of robotics: Maintenance Technician, Controls Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Physician Urology, Registered Nurse, Electrical Engineer, Software Engineer and Urologist.

Robots are only one sector of the economy that will grow explosively in the next two decades. Other blogs in this series describe other livelihoods we anticipate being viable for creating a sustainable livelihood.

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

What It Takes to Start a Tabletop Manufacturing Business

May 8, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

3-D printers are becoming increasingly affordable and still greater creativity is going into developing increasing types of products. So if you’re seeking a livelihood in a growing industry or wanting to change of careers, table top manufacturing can be on your list of possibilities.

The characteristics of people most apt to do well in this field are persistence in producing results, a preference for hands-on tasks, enjoyment of using technology, a facility for finding what people need, creating solutions, and a determination to make sure things come out right.

The focus on this blog is an introduction to the equipment that is now available and what it costs so that you can factor these costs into determining if this livelihood is for you. Keep in mind that small business loans are available to help finance a well-thought out business concept. In addition, some companies offer financing.

While the type of 3-D printers corporations like Ford and Boeing are using cost over $100,000, the range of printers range from kits suitable for a trial to fully working systems.

An alternative avenue into this field is using scanner, such as the Photon 3D Scanner ($599 from ) to scan an object, then use someone’s else’s 3D printer to actually produce the products you scan. Quoting from Photon’s site, a scanner “isn’t just for 3D Printers, it’s the best tool for 3D animators, designers, hobbyists, prototypers, engineers, or anyone in the business of 3D creation. It’s perfect for reverse engineering, prototype development, duplicating objects, modifying existing products, archiving, generating content for video games, experimenting and so much more. Scan models, tweak them or combine them. The options are endless.”

You can learn more from 3D Printer Buyers Guide to learn “h

ow 3D printer products differ; what terminology is being used (to ensure an accurate vendor-to-vendor comparison); and how to quantify initial and long term costs.” You will find the catalog at ZCorp.com.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for an appointment.

More about Elder Care as a Sustainable Livelihood

March 16, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 4 Comments

The need increases for health care workers increases as the populations of the developed world age. In addition to the elder care sustainable livelihoods discussed in the earlier blog on this subject, including serving as a home health aide, driving patients to appointments, and assisting seniors in moving, new opportunities arise.

If you are a health care worker, such as a registered nurse, a pharmacy technician, a pharmacists, or a physical therapists, hospitals and hospital alliances are constantly hiring people to fill positions providing health care for the seniors.

Experience with health care is not necessary for other livelihoods. For example, a company called Moveline provides services for individuals and companies move by first making a video of the furniture and equipment to be moved. Videos can be made using Apple’s Facetime app.

This inventory is then sent to moving companies and at this point, experts help the customer find the best price for moving. The opportunity here is to become one of those experts and no previous experience in the moving industry is required. What is required is being on the telephone and not being hesitant about calling people, handling 50-80 inbound and outbound calls a day. Of course, interpersonal communication skills are necessary as well as good computer skills are needed. You can read about the earnings potential on the company’s site.

If you are seeking a way to change careers or use your skills in this growing field, expect new opportunities to arise and we will keep you posted.

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Small Town News Publishing as a Sustainable Livelihood

January 3, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 2 Comments

If you live in a big city, you’re no doubt aware that metropolitan newspapers are declining in readership, advertising, and influence. Why then do we include small-town newspaper publishing as a sustainable livelihood? The answer is that contrary to what’s happening in cities, newspapers in small communities without a local television station are growing in number—and this provides opportunity! While smartphones and the web is overtaking print, the current statistics from the National Newspaper Association show that 30% of the adults have no Internet access at home. Another important factor is that communication is necessary for community sustainability.

Community newspapers serve people moving to small towns, metro adjacent communities, edge cities, and nearby faraway places that are either in the shadows of or away from metropolitan media that do not cover their local news.

People want to know the happenings, events, crimes, fires, birth, deaths, and opinions on both sides of issues confronting the community and 94% of them pay for their local newspaper. While there may be a community Web site, it won’t contain the breadth or depth a newspaper can provide. So the number of small-town newspapers has grown from 5,500 weeklies in the 1960s to over 8,000 today.

Sometimes people moving from a city purchase an existing small town enterprise. This is what Gary Meyer and Patric Hedlund did when moving from Los Angeles to the Frazier Park area to acquire the Mountain Enterprise. Or sometimes communities will take up the initiative themselves and create a community-owned newspaper, paying their staff from advertising sales, subscription fees, and donations in order to get the paper off the ground.

When Gary Meyer goes to newspaper conferences, city editors and publishers constantly tell him, “I’d give anything to own a small-town paper now.” Meyers attributes this to the fact that small-town papers are highly profitable in relation to circulation numbers.

Obviously, not every paper succeeds. Arguably, the major difference between papers that make it and those that do not is having an objective publisher with an awesome sense of community responsibility and an ethical backbone of steel. Equally as important, the community must perceive the publisher that way, because people look to their local newspaper for accurate information, but even more for fairness.

The limited number of staff a small newspaper can support brings with it the need to be a jack-of-all-trades, including newsgathering, writing, layout, and printing or arranging for printing. You may be called upon to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of subject areas as diverse as gardening, building construction and destruction, and local politics. And working under deadline pressure can’t be an anathema to you. So if getting out the news is a personal joy for you, this can be your future. In fact, it could be the most fun you’ve ever had.

Newspapers, like any other business, require funds to operate. Sources of funds include subscriptions, over-the-counter sales, advertising, and donations. The small-town newspaper is often circulated for free to all community members, making advertising revenue critical. Additional sources of revenue may come from printing directories and shoppers guides. Printing services can actually be a side business that provides significant support to the bottom line. The kinds of print jobs you can take depends on your equipment, your staff, and available press time.

Can small-town newspapers avoid the electronic age? No. In fact, the Mountain Enterprise started its online edition for which it charges for separately from the print subscription. Meyers says, “Online is the future. You need to put one foot in it firmly now.” After only the seventh issue since the launch of the Web site, it has improved advertising revenue. “It will pay for itself in the first couple of months.” He advises colleagues to “think of yourself as a news publisher, not as a newspaper publisher.”

Small town news publishing does not necessarily require print, especially where members of the community have access to the web. Local news can be delivered as a community blog. An example, the West Seattle Blog.

Newspaper publishing is a venerable profession at the heart of the founding fathers’ American dream and the First Amendment right of freedom of the press. Being part of continuing this tradition can be personally and professionally fulfilling.

Learn More

Local Media Association

Newspaper Association of America

National Newspaper Association of America

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Solving Environmental Problems as a Sustainable Livelihood

December 7, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 9 Comments

Do you wonder if there is some way you can combine your career with making an impact on the health and future of your community? Do you enjoy working with your hands in environments that might be less than hospitable? If you’re a sustainable livelihood and also a person who understands that there is a need for identifying real environmental hazards and repairing them, this could be the business or job for you.

Most if not all commercial real estate deals today include an environmental assessment. In these examinations of a property, a prospective owner hires a professional to determine the nature and extent of risks such as lead paint, asbestos, moisture, mold, radon, contaminated soil, buried hazardous waste, etc. After the assessment is complete the buyer and seller both estimate the cost to fix the identified problems.

The same process holds true in home sales, only on a smaller scale and presently less often. In the residential real estate business buyers hire home inspectors to check the structure and seek out the obvious problems or potential problems. These will require an adjustment to the purchase price for the deal to close.

Newer homes are also candidates for environmental remediation because of mold problems caused both by construction mistakes and sealing up homes to conserve energy. The newer home problems come about because of moisture leaks resulting from mistakes made between the architect and the mechanical engineer. For example, many times architects do not leave enough room for air-conditioning ducts, so the ones installed lack ventilation, which leads to moisture building up and leaking out to eventually create the conditions for molds to grow.

Up steps the specialist in environmental remediation. You are the solution to everyone’s problems. Both buyer and seller, as well as real estate broker, if one is part of the deal, want to know what it will cost to remediate the identified environmental risk factor. Many projects are too small for the “big guys” who take on Superfund-scale projects. This is where the small business comes in.

In many residential settings the problems are located in one part of the house, for instance asbestos wrap on pipes in the furnace room or an improperly ventilated laundry room spreading dampness throughout the basement.The complicated, expensive, and regulated asbestos abatement and lead abatement projects require training and in some jurisdictions, licensing. Often the size of a project determines the expertise and training level required by regulating agencies. Bigger businesses will have significant start-up expenses with equipment to create negative pressure environments that protect the neighboring spaces from contamination.

Contaminants other than asbestos are more easily removed, and many environmental challenges can be met by relatively simple changes in structural components, such as ventilators or windows.

Remediation of environmental hazards is inherently unsafe, and you must pay much attention to your own safety at all times. Removing lead, asbestos, mold, or other environmental pollutants from one property that is being sold by a real estate broker will provide many future referrals and help grow your business.

The construction trades particularly lend themselves to environment repair work. In addition, hobbyists in gardening, chemistry, and home repair will find many of their skills transferable.

Training is available online and through state and local environmental protection departments. Training for most forms of remediation must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, or in states with their own programs, by the responsible state agency. So consult your state or local Department of Environmental Protection about regulations and available training before enrolling in a training program, ascertain that it has been approved. Three of the associations listed offer approved training.

The Environmental Information Association offers training and certification in mold and lead paint abatement,
The Indoor Air Quality Association offers training in mold remediation,
The National Association of Mold Professionals offers training in mold inspection and removal,
National Ground Water Association. Its scope includes remediation.

When you stick with small projects, your time is your own and fairly easy to manage. Income is based on fees charged. The substance being removed or condition being corrected determines the rate you charge. Asbestos and lead abatement projects can command more than one hundred dollars per hour; billing for containment setup is at this rate.

As land in or near cities that has been used in the past to dispose of industrial waste is redeveloped for schools, commercial developments, or homes, it’s not uncommon to encounter contaminants. This is another ingredient in providing a growing amount of work for remediation firms who in the future may be able to employ new techniques using nanotechnology for neutralizing contaminants. All in all this can be a very lucrative business requiring thoughtful and hard work.

An expense in start-up will be insurance. You cannot disturb toxic materials without protecting your personal and business finances. If concerns about the cost of insurance and the risk involved in handling typical remediation problems trouble you, consider necessary but less risky services, such as consulting to businesses and consumers offering practical recommendations about how to lessen their environmental impact by cutting down their energy and water usage, air duct cleaning, or worm farming (vermiculture).

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Working From Home and Being Your Own Boss and Your Health

November 25, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

Feeling more relaxed, eat a healthier diet, have more time off, exercise more, and have a better sex life are the top five positive effects of working from home were, according to a survey of 4,100 people.

In contrast, nearly half of American workers worry about their jobs and feel pressure. Almost one in three people say they are “always” or “often” under stress at work and 35 percent are thinking about quitting. Despite the generally improving economy, workers today worry more about money and feel more insecure than ever before—and with good reason: a recent poll conducted by The New York Times revealed that 56 percent of respondents had been laid off once in the last fifteen years, 25 percent had been laid off twice, and a startling 14 percent had been laid off three or more times.

Being laid off, fired or quitting a job results in an increased risk of having a heart attack after age 50, according to a study by Duke University of 13,451 men and women, ages 51 to 75 from 1992 to 2010. The risk is equivalent to smoking, hypertension and diabetes. The risk increases the more times a person loses a job.

Outside of job insecurity, what is the cause of this stress? One recent study found that people cite heavy traffic as the number-one cause of stress in their daily lives. Number two is frustration from interruptions at the office. Another survey indicated that the most frequent work-related stress for women is balancing work and family demands. Working from home reduces or eliminates all these major causes of stress.

Research also indicates that the more control we feel we have over our lives, the less stress we experience. Perhaps that’s the reason the one thing that people most want from a manager is autonomy. Being your own boss is the ultimate in terms of autonomy. Despite working harder and longer hours, most people report their stress level goes down once they are in charge.

Recent medical studies confirm these reports. Despite the hard work and increased productivity involved, working at home produces less stress than working at similar tasks in the office. For example, a woman told us that having the flexibility to adjust her hours and her work pace is relaxing. “It’s almost like magic. I can tailor my work to what I want to do. I can stop and take a TV break and still get more done. I feel great at the end of the day.”

Common office-related stress factors, like fluorescent lights, ringing telephones, clattering equipment, buzzing conversation, and cafeteria junk food are also avoided. A financial consultant explained how the difference has affected him: “When I was commuting to and from work, I had to have a glass of wine when I got home to unwind.” Now that he works from home he rarely has a drink outside social occasions.

Often small things make big differences in reducing stress. Open-collar workers can work in postures that are most comfortable to them. Negative attitudes of co-workers, the gossip, and the office politics that interfere with getting work done, not to mention the frequent meetings that consume a reported 45 percent of managerial and professional time, no longer need to be contended with.

A recent survey of home-business owners and telecommuters found, among other things, that telecommuters do not smoke, drink, or use drugs as much as people who do not work at home. Telecommuters also receive promotions at a greater rate than non-telecommuters.

It’s well established that lower stress means better health. Stress lowers the white blood cell count and the immune system’s resistance to disease. Heart disease and high blood pressure, which affect one in four Americans, are acknowledged to be stress-related diseases. Not only do people working from home experience fewer of the major causes of stress; they also have more time to exercise and more control over what they eat. Better health is one of the greatest benefits of working from home.

If you are seeking a change in your life and want some advice, for an initial free consultation to explore a sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.
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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Green Burial Services as a Sustainable Livelihood

November 18, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 4 Comments

Green burial is done without embalming so bodies can naturally recycle. Plain caskets instead of metal caskets, concrete burial liners or vaults are used in a cemetery without tombstones. Historically over the millennia cultures and communities have buried their dead in many ways. For example, burial in the United States was without toxic embalming for nearly 300 years. In ancient times, the Egyptians embalmed their dead kings, placed them in elaborate sarcophagi, and buried them in massive vaults. Less affluent families – the 99% of their time -wrapped their loved ones in a skin or a cloth and laid them in the ground. While green burial saves survivors money, its rationale goes beyond financial considerations.

Among the many drawbacks to modern burial practices (and many ancient ones as well) is the rate of decomposition. Buried in a relatively simple wooden coffin, a body may take decades to return to the earth. Green burials provide a solution to this by using pressboard or cardboard coffins and having interment in open fields that reduce the decomposition time to fewer than eighteen months.

Burials are regulated in most jurisdictions, and the services of a licensed funeral director are often required. The green burial movement has already given rise to large operations that offer fairly traditional services of a coffin, a memorial, an actual burial, or cremation. There is, however, room for people interested in providing a necessary service to people at their most vulnerable.

If green burial services appeals to you as a livelihood, the services you provide directly, and the ones you refer mourners to, determine some of the skills required for this field. If you’re a funeral director, usually licensed but always trained, you will be called upon to transport the deceased, prepare the body for burial, secure the selected burial container, oversee the process from beginning to end, and address the needs of the mourners.

If you’re not a funeral director, there is a role for spiritual directors or celebrants. As a spiritual advisor to those who have lost a loved one, you will need to guide mourners through the process, perhaps lead the memorial service, and provide links to other service providers.

Becoming a spiritual advisor may require little or no investment where a funeral director is a licensed, trained individual with a place to conduct his or her business, including taking care of the deceased..

Green burial service providers need to be able to feel empathy, express sympathy, and simultaneously transact business. The complex feelings of survivors will give you much to respond to and much to manage. Social workers and those with similar skills will find themselves comfortable providing the emotional support needed for this career. Physician’s assistants, registered nurses, physical therapists, and massage therapists bring skills that make them comfortable and confident around the human body

The potential rewards are not only financial but emotional as well and green burial contributes to communities’ sustainability because of its contribution to land restoration and conservation of resources.

Check these resources:

Spiritual Directors International links to over 200 training programs.

The Green Burial Council

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Astrology and Psychic Services as a Sustainable Livelihood

October 10, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

As the economy stresses people, the more they turn to psychics, astrologers, palm readers, Tarot card shufflers, numerologists and other paranormal specialists. So it’s not surprising that one out of our people from all walks of life believes in astrology and consults astrologers to get advice on their personal, marital, financial, and business issues. This includes Wall Street traders. To paraphrase one astrology Web site:

Astrology reveals your cosmic blueprint, divine intent and cosmic gifts for fulfilling your part in the cosmic plan. Astrology is one of three major factors (cosmic, genetic and environmental) that determine who you ultimately turn out to be. Any one of these can have a dominating influence over our life, so it is very important to know the dominating astrological influences in your life, body, business and world view.

Astrology dates back thousands of years to ancient civilizations, probably to about the time humans observed that the moon causes the tides and the sun causes the seasons. Ancient Greek and Chinese sages studied the stars and planets, and decided to correlate their alignment and position in the skies with predictions about the events in people’s lives and their fates. The art or science they created is based on interpreting the relationship and position of celestial bodies in the twelve zodiacs to the day a person was born and where those planets and stars are now. Some people who accept astrology believe that personalities and fates are predestined by the cosmos, and that astrological readings help them understand what the heavens have destined for our lives; others believe the cosmos influences our lives and that readings can help us to put those influences to good advantage.

Preparing a person’s astrological chart is complicated and until recently time-consuming, in that it requires research and many calculations regarding the position of different stars and planets. The adoption of computers has completely changed how astrologers work because software has been developed that greatly facilitates the mathematical calculations, reducing the time it takes to produce a high-quality forecast from hours to minutes.

The field of astrology is filled with two types of people: those who stick to reporting what the chart reveals and those who take a more interpersonal approach, rendering their readings taking into account their subjective impressions of their clients.

Dell Norwood, for instance, is an astrologer who focuses on natal astrology and two other branches: horary (meaning of the hour) and ephemeris (meaning of the earth). In each of these cases, she uses different types of charts to perform readings that assess the compatibility between two people or the birth of an idea.

In contrast, Robert Corre works closely with his clients and tries to learn more about who they are and what their goals are. In his mind, astrology is an art, not a science. Much of what he forecasts, he says, lies not only in the chart he prepares but also in the relationship he establishes with his clients. He learns to read his clients using his senses. As he says, “I am good at conjecture, making an educated guess—deducing and speculating what my clients need to know.”

Getting started in astrology as a career begins by taking courses at local colleges or hiring a tutor to teach you, as Robert Corre did. There are also various on-line at-home study programs.

Once you have learned the craft, it can take a considerable time to build up a large-enough clientele to make a reasonable full-time income in this business. It took Robert Corre seven years to build up his practice. He points out that now that he’s established a reputation, he has access to a steady pool of clientele because he lives in the New York City area.

The range of potential clients you can seek encompasses most areas of human concern. Corre says that most of his clients are women who have similar questions about relationship issues. But all kinds of people consult astrologers for business and personal decisions, such as changing jobs, getting married, moving, and making investments, and more. Parents of newborns want to have their babies’ charts done to help them understand their children’s personalities and guide them in rearing their children. And you have undoubtedly heard that many entertainment celebrities, politicians, and famous businesspeople consult astrologers in making important career decisions, financial investments, or even for political advice. Some businesses use astrologers to assess the compatibility of new hires with their current employees, for strategic planning, new-product evaluations, team building, and one-on-one management counseling.

Check these resources:

American Federation of Astrologers, Inc.

Internet School for Astrology

Kepler College of Astrological Arts & Sciences

http://www.kepler.edu/home/

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us. mailto:paul@elmstreeteconomy.com

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Customer Support while Working From Home as a Sustainable Livelihood

October 5, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

With the rise of the web and social media, superb customer service is a necessity for companies. Seven out of ten consumers are willing to spend more with brands that provide great customers service, according to a 2011 American Express survey. While most customer support and customer service are jobs within companies, the growth of home-based customer service agents is increasing at a compound annual growth rate [Read more…]

Paralegal and Legal Assistance as a Sustainable Livelihood

October 2, 2012 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 3 Comments

Paralegals have assumed more of the work lawyers do, such as research, drafting contracts and pleadings, and preparing for trials. At the same time, paralegals make basic legal services affordable by people who cannot pay the high costs of hiring a lawyer. Today more [Read more…]