You know what? Life outside Facebook’s garden wall is just fine! There are plenty of things to do, and to look at, and to listen to, and to watch.

There are tons of businesses getting started and growing despite the myth that only way to market your business online is on someone else’s website.

There is plenty of other social media to use and benefit from. Twitter is one I am just finally beginning to enjoy.

Come on out! The sun is shining on the other side of the wall too. And it’s real light, not the saccharine deceptive light inside the Fakebook.

Are you ready to venture out into the real internet? Here’s guide on how permanently delete Facebook accounts.

It takes a little effort but it’s very doable.  I promise, you’ll feel much better after you do.

Do you know what the internet is?

The Interconnected Network

What kind of stupid question is that? Really, humor me, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “internet” ?  Facebook? Twitter? Apps?

The internet is a NETWORK. Things connected to other things. Just as important as the things is that there are connections in between. Yes there are some big important things, like Facebook. But without the connections to other things, like little web sites, there is no network.

There is a generation emerging that is simply unaware that anyone can control a node on this network. They’re ignorant of the fact that you can use this network to make your life and the lives of other better without ever tweeting or ‘liking’ anything.

The big things that the emerging ignorant generation equate with the internet are like walled gardens. But guess what? There is a whole world outside the garden walls. It’s a free world where you can express yourself without first getting the approval of someone else’s terms and conditions. It’s a world in which you can create and produce rather than promote and consume the output of others.

It get’s even more scandalous. Did you know that you can use the internet without touching the World Wide Web? The WWW, itself becoming a bit of an obscure notion, is something that exists on top of the internet but it is not the internet.

So what? So, don’t limit yourself to thinking the internet is limited to just one place, idea, one technique. Remember that it is a network and don’t overlook any part of the network as a way to serve people or make your life better.

This is the point I was at where I decided to trash the post. I guess I lost my train of thought. So I am going to wrap up with a few simple reminders:

• There is more to the internet than Facebook and Twitter. Try searching Google to find millions of independent web sites that your can connect with.
• The web is not the only way to use the internet, don’t forget email, IRC and other protocols.
• The internet is a direct medium for connecting people. No matter how different it looks, there is nothing really new here. From a media perspective, you are communicating one on one with other real people with needs, desires and passions.

Okay, that’s it. Now I am going to hit publish.

P.S. one more thing, if you want to experience the freedom of running a microbusiness then sign up for my daily email. I will not sell, lend, or rent your info to anybody.

In a blog post today, Godin emphasized how crucial typography is to conveying a message. We ignore it at our peril.

Agree.

Now I can’t say that I am a master at typography, I am not, but I am very enthusiastic about technologies that enable web designers to use fonts more creatively. At the recent WordCamp SF 2011,  I was introduced to web fonts. And even before the session was over, I’d redesigned one of my web sites to use a web font for the logo/title.

You have plenty of options to choose from in selecting web fonts.  Try Google Web Fonts for a collection of free and open source fonts for use on your pages.

Commercial options include a site Godin mentioned, TypeKit. Who also, by the way, presented the session on web fonts at WCSF 2011.

Combine web fonts with CSS3 techniques for drop shadow and border and you can say good-bye to image based typography. Of course the big deal, is that you get pretty words that are still words, searchable and index-able.

Click over to www.solar-home-power.com to see my fledgling foray into the world of web fonts and CSS3 text effects.

“WordPress is like a dial tone” – Matt Mullenweg

That quote sums it up for me. WordPress is a steady platform, ready to be built upon.

On the back end, it’s good to see programmers thinking about unit testing and putting it into practice. My overall impression is that in the WordPress and php realms unit testing and TDD still has a long way to go. We’re off the a good start though.

I find myself wanting more WordPress focus rather that web technology focus, but then I reflect that in many ways WordPress and the web are synonymous. Not the least of which is the fact that nearly one third 14.7 % of the web runs on WordPress. Amazing!

On the technical side, Mark Jaquith’s talk on Coding, Scaling, and Deploys was a home run. This was followed by deep WordPress technical Q&A.

On the “user” side, I was pleasantly surprised by Steve Zehngut’s talk on how to hire developers. He had some real gems of knowledge for business owners.

Can you believe I didn’t know a thing about web fonts? This is the best thing since sliced bread. I’ve already put web fonts to work on one of my sites to make it typographically more interesting. Hey, they don’t call it WordPress for nothing, it’s all about the word.

Saturday should be just as awesome, if not awesomer!

I look forward to meeting WordPress movers-and-shakers and connecting with other humans in the WordPress-O-Sphere.

I’m fired up about the concept of creating businesses that really serve, built entirely on the WordPress platform. My goal is to take away from WCSF 2011 lots of ideas and connections I can use to promote this idea.

Naturally I will share what I learn with you. Stay tuned!

You probably guessed that when I say unemployable, I am not referring to your inability to get or hold a traditional j-o-b. But rather, unemployable from the standpoint that you don’t fit easily into the role of employee.

Some people are perfectly comfortable as an employee and that’s totally okay. It matches their personality style and they are content performing that role.

I bet you are not one of those people. For one thing, if you were you probably would even be reading this letter.

You might be unemployable if…

• you desire freedom more than the “security” of a j-o-b.
• you feel deep down that your time is worth more than money.
• you discern the purpose for which you were created.

Let’s unpack this a little bit. It should be abundantly clear by now…

Job security is myth

This may sound hypocritical coming from somebody with a job, but it’s true. Look at what’s happened over that last 40 years in the United States. Nearly all of the companies that promised lifetime work and a cushy pension for retirement have either let go of vast numbers of people and ditched/raided their pension funds or they’ve folded entirely.

Truth is, companies cannot guarantee employment and it’s naive to think that they can. Change is constant and businesses built around a static, immutable human resource will stumble and fall.

I mentioned before that I actually have a job. This job is with a “good company”, they have a corporate culture that is friendly toward the people that work there. I am not ungrateful. On the other hand I know that when the business climate changes, when the world changes, even if Wall Street changes its opinion of our company, I could be let go tomorrow. It is nothing personal, it’s just a fact.

But even in the best of companies, you may find that you are restless. Dare I say it? Bored. You work hard, you apply your talents but you know that…

your time is worth more than money.

That’s what a job is. You trade a portion of your time for money. How’s the exchange rate? I’d venture to say that the time you spend working a job is not fully redeemed by the time your money buys you.

Let’s look at it another way. Starting with the saying that time is money. A company has to pay you less for a unit of your time that it is actually worth. Otherwise they’d be better off just keeping their money. Even if you perform at the highest level, you have to be creating more value than they are paying for. How does that make you feel?

Furthermore, a company is not you.

Huh?

A company is an organization with its own motivations and goals, and guided by a relatively small number of people. You may share some motivations with the company but, by definition, no job with a company can fully satisfy…

Your reason for being here

If you are blessed with a clear understanding of the purpose for which you were created, then you cannot possibly be “employable.” You must pursue your calling. Not everybody has a clear vision of their vocation, but those paying attention and gifted with average intelligence surely see the need to work on the discernment of their calling.

So are you unemployable?

Work is always necessary, but a j-o-b is not. For some, business is the expression of your calling. If that’s you then sign up for my daily tips on creating and running microbusiness.

www.pacificmountain.com/tips

Matthew Bye

P.S. if you find this letter inspiring or thought provoking, please share it.