Employee Vs. Independent Contractor... Hmm.

One of the appealing factors of driving with Uber is the independent aspect of it... the tagline of my first Uber book is "Treat It Like a Business" and Other Tips to Good Income (notice it is not Treat It Like a Job...)

However, I found a interesting little article about the push to make Uber drivers employees in some states...

Check it out!

Push to Make Some Drivers Employees

Give Me A Shout!

Hey guys!

A number of my readers have questions about one of my books, or maybe about a concept within one of them...

Perhaps, you do too!

Or maybe you are simply intrigued by either Uber or direct sales with Amway, and you'd just like to ask a question...

Feel free to shoot me a text message! I'll be glad to chat with you, and answer any question I can!

My contact number is 502-251-4294 .

I look forward to hearing from you! Take care, and many blessings!

Game... Set... Match...

As I was gearing up for my evening's work, I had the opportunity to finish the wrap-up of the women's quarterfinal at the US OPEN tennis tournament...

#1 Ranked Serena Williams VS. (Big Sister) #23 Ranked Venus Williams!

Venus Williams is my girl! And, she gave her little sister a run for the money... but Serena was just too much for Big Sister! Serena won the match in three sets...

I have a bit of an "underdog" sensibility. And, I have such tremendous respect for what Venus has accomplished in the sport... I was pulling for her, and I hope she has another win or two, before she calls it quits...

But, wow, look at that Serena! With the win tonight, she advances to the semifinal. And, she is on track for a grand slam... winning all four tennis majors in a single year!

Serena's match point... an effective "Ace!" against her older sister... was bittersweet, to be sure...

For Serena, the victory is in sight! For Venus, there is always next year (at least, I hope so!)...

And for me, time to hit the streets... let the games begin.

STOUT BURGERS... GOOD STUFF!!

Recently, one of my passengers was the owner of STOUT, a new burger & beer joint in Louisville KY...

We had a good conversation. He invited me to check out the new place.

I just had lunch there today...

The burger ($13 bucks!) had great flavor! The beer was good. And the atmosphere was cool...

If you're in Louisville... or Hollywood, CA... Check it out!

FAIL TO SUCCESS

My wife's hairdresser, and good friend, has a daughter... Chelsea Ellis.


I remember Chelsea as a little girl... I remember her as a toddler...


Now, Chelsea Ellis is a young woman with something to say!


Check out her new book, FAIL TO SUCCESS... and the message she has to share... at Amazon!


http://www.amazon.com/Fail-Success-embrace-failure-success-ebook/dp/B013CIL5LY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439873588&sr=8-1&keywords=Chelsea+Ellis


YOU GO CHELSEA!!

Common Sense... Ain't.

The other day, a passenger described to me the worst Uber experience she ever had...

It happened to be a female driver. When she arrived at the point of origin, the driver had her boyfriend in the front passenger seat of the vehicle...

In the rear seat, there was the driver's pet dog... the two passengers actually had to get into the rear seat with someone's pet dog beside them.

Apparently, the driver thought that was okay... she tried to reassure the passengers with the words "don't worry, she doesn't bite!"

Talk about unprofessional! Needless to say, that driver got a poor review from the passenger (she got one out of five stars, and an email to corporate, for her efforts!)...

Think about this... If you have your boyfriend in the car with you... that's one thing. But if you have your boyfriend AND your dog... you don't need to be driving for Uber. You need to finish up your family outing!

Now, this should be common sense, right? But guess what...

Unfortunately, common sense... just ain't these days.

Poor Jeanne...

I just dropped off one of my passengers, while doing my thing with Uber. Jeanne is what I would call a regular... I've transported her multiple times over the past few months...


Jeanne shared with me a story that just broke my heart. Apparently, her daughter has been searching for an automobile. Well, she found one... so she thought... on Craig's List...


The "owner" of the auto lives in Missouri. Jeanne's daughter saw a photo of the car on the Website. The price was affordable... $2500.00.


The "owner" gave instructions to purchase five Amazon gift cards, $500 each card. Jeanne's daughter did this. She was then instructed to send $2500.00 in gift cards to the "owner", at a particular address. The auto was to arrive this morning...


The automobile has not arrived.


What did arrive was an email. The email, addressed to Jeanne's daughter, explained that the vehicle had now arrived at the state border. And, in order to transport it across the state line, a $1000 "border fee" was being imposed (the words "border fee" were actually in quotations... Jeanne showed me the email)...


The email stated that two additional gift cards ($500 each) should be purchased and forwarded to the appropriate address. Not to worry, however... the "fee" would be reimbursed with the auto's final delivery (shaking my head now)...


Fortunately, Jeanne's daughter did not forward the "border fee". She did, however, lose $2500.00 to this obvious scam...


I hated hearing this news from Jeanne!


Injustice angers me. Abuse and mistreatment sicken my heart. I hate dishonesty and deceit!


There is not necessarily a lesson in every experience. But, if I had to draw one here, it would be...


Whatever it is... Uber, Amway, a new automobile, whatever... investigate everything thoroughly, BEFORE getting involved. And... for me... I must be sure never to treat anyone this way.

EIGHT-LEGGED LESSON...

I just got home from driving with Uber. It was a good night. Friday nights are usually pretty steady...

When I walked up to the back porch of my condo, I noticed two spiders and their webs. One spider had woven a very beautiful orb web... you know like the one in Charlotte's Web, or like Spider-Man spins to catch crooks, or maybe good guys when they're falling from the sky...

That web was very symmetrical, very pretty.

The other spider's web was not so beautiful. It was just a dense mass of webbing gathered together in one corner of the awning over our back porch...

It was not very impressive.

Well, I watched the two spiders for about thirty-five minutes, just to see if they'd catch any food...

The spider with the attractive orb web was zero for three with his attempts. Three times an insect flew into the web. But, each time, the insect was able to escape by flying through the gaps in the webbing... the holes in that spider's beautiful plan were just too big!

The other spider, with the unattractive web, caught two insects in thirty minutes! His webbing was so dense, there was no room for the insects to escape... that spider's plan was airtight!

There are a lot of attractive careers we can pursue... ones carrying status, prestige, and the promise of a great paycheck! But in today's economic reality, that plan may have a few holes. It may not quite be working out as promised...

There are other pursuits, however, that may not be so attractive... maybe Amway or Uber, for example. But the endeavor may be worthy. There may not be prestige or any real status to speak of... but, the plan may be pretty solid, or airtight...

There are no guarantees for anything that we do... that's called life. But we should never discount the real opportunity that may exist with some of the less attractive, less glamorous pursuits...

After all, when it comes down to it... it's not how attractive your web is... it's did you catch any food!

Adelle...

Adelle requested an Uber at about three o'clock in the morning. She was on the other side of town; it took me about twenty minutes to get there. About five minutes into the drive to pick her up, Adelle texted me: "Hello Michael. Please make sure you text me when you get here." OK, sure; no problem...

When I arrived at the pick up location, I texted Adelle, informing her of my arrival. I waited in front of the building... it kinda looked like a library. A few minutes later, Adelle slowly opened the door, and exited the building. She closed the door, turned around, and extended out in front of her a walking stick. The stick was white, with a little red on the tip, at the bottom. She started to walk very slowly, tapping the stick against the ground as she walked...

Adelle was blind... I got out of the car, and asked if I could be if any assistance. She said yes. So, I trotted up to the top of the steps. I stood on the porch beside Adelle. And I led her down the steps, to the curb, and into the car.

The ride was smooth. It was about a twenty-five minute drive. We talked about a lot of different things (Valu-Mart grocery makes deliveries! I gotta keep that in mind!)...

On the ride, though, Adelle made a noteworthy comment. She said, for blind people, "Uber is not a luxury". For the blind, "Uber is a service that provides desperately sought after quality of life"...

A very intriguing statement! I asked Adelle what she meant by that. She explained: "until Uber came to town, we had no spontaneity in life. If we wanted to go to the grocery, or to the local McDonalds, or wherever... we had to plan it a day in advance. And we couldn't change our plans! Now, with Uber, if I get hungry, and want to go to Wendy's... twenty minutes later I can be on my way! You guys are a valuable service to the blind community!"

Wow! Really... Wow!

You know what? It's so easy to simply think, "I'm just an Uber driver." But that's not the reality of the situation. You never really have to be "just" anything. Because everything you do... whatever it is... can add value to someone's life.

I do a lot of things... I drive with Uber... I sell Amway products... I do Bible instruction courses... But I don't "just" do anything! In everything that I do, I try my utmost to add value to someone...

So, what do YOU do? And how do you do it?

I encourage you, don't "just" do it, but go ahead and really do it. Take pride in what you do. And do it in a way that shows that pride. Because, you never know... what you do may be a "valuable service" to someone. What you have to offer may just be "desperately sought after" by someone in your community.

IN THE NEWS...

Check out this article from Forbes...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/harrycampbell/2015/03/24/just-how-far-is-your-uber-driver-willing-to-take-you/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Technology&linkId=13095562


and this interesting look at Lyft...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/harrycampbell/2015/03/19/has-lyft-actually-overachieved-in-the-war-against-uber/

The Only Thing We Have To Fear...

CLIMACOPHOBIA: fear of climbing...

BATHMOPHOBIA: fear of stairs or slopes...

I don't know which one she had, but one of my passengers tonight suffered from one of these extreme fears! She is simply terrified of climbing stairs!

Her name is Cheryl... As I was driving with Uber tonight, I picked up Cheryl from Norton Audubon Hospital on Poplar Level Road. She seemed quite nervous, and she wished that she could have remained in the hospital for the night... but no luck with that.

On the ride home, Cheryl and I talked about many things. However, as we got closer to her son's home (she is living with him and his wife), all of her thoughts turned to those stairs...

Cheryl began to explain her extreme fear of climbing and descending stairs. And her son lived above a pawn shop...

The stairs were made of wood... though they were stable enough, the stairs had no backing; and you could see between each step exactly how high you were...

This was not going to be easy...

As we got closer to home, Cheryl got more and more nervous. Her nervousness became real anxiety. And when she saw those stairs, Cheryl was on the verge of a bonafide nervous breakdown!

I wanted to help her up the stairs; I offered to do so, and she gladly accepted my offer. But, then her son came down the stairs to help Cheryl. And I could clearly see one of her challenges...

Cheryl was getting no love from her kids on this matter with the stairs! Her son told her to calm down. He grabbed her by the hand. And he proceeded to basically drag her along up the stairs to the first landing...

By that time, the daughter-in-law was loudly repeating "you're doin' this to yourself!"... her son was threatening to just pick her up and carry her the rest of the way... and Cheryl was petrified!

To be fair, I can understand the frustration of the children... they have to deal with this unusual fear every single day. But right at this moment... when Cheryl is standing there, frozen on the landing and wailing with terror... right at this moment, Cheryl did not need frustration. What she needed is understanding.

I asked the son to let me help her the rest of the way...

I wrapped my right arm around Cheryl's waist. I took her left hand into mine. And, with her right hand, Cheryl held tightly to the banister. I spoke calmly, and I said, "OK Cheryl, you ready? ...then, here we go."

Slowly we climbed together... one step... two steps... three steps... and so on. Eventually, we made it to the top. It was kind of weird, but immediately, Cheryl's body completely relaxed!

I put my arm around her shoulder, and I said, "you did it!" She hugged me and said, "WE did it! Thank you so much!"

The son offered me a tip... this time I did not accept. I just said, "no worries sir... glad to help"...

Some people say that fear is an illusion. Cheryl's daughter would say, "we are doing it to ourselves"...

We may or may not be doing it to ourselves... but fear is no illusion... it is an absolutely real thing!

And, just as it was the case with poor Cheryl, what we may need to conquer the fear is NOT for someone to say, "it's all in your head"...

What we may need is a little understanding... a little patience and support from someone who cares.

I just dropped off The Lion King!

My adventures continue with Uber...

I just picked up a passenger from a local hotel in Southern Indiana. He came out from the hotel with his girl in his arms... they looked very classy and pretty sharp.

Well, as we got on our way, the couple began to ask questions about Louisville KY. They also made some comparisons...  of what they saw in Louisville, to other places they had visited.

I took the couple to a particular bar on Bardstown Road. The place had an interesting mix of people, but it's definitely one of the classier places on the strip.

Since this was the gentleman's first trip with Uber, I gave him the code for a free trip... they appreciated that. When they got out of the vehicle, the lady expressed appreciation for the good conversation and pleasant trip. Then, as the gentleman waited outside the vehicle, the lady leaned in and almost whispered to me, "you should go see The Lion King... he's playing Mufasa."

She thanked me again for the ride... and they were off to enjoy the rest of their evening.

Wow... I just gave an Uber ride to The Lion King!

Life Happens... Are You Insured?

This is just a random plug for a colleague's new insurance service...

"Tony" Tytorrial Threets
Modern Woodmen of America
kznking98@yahoo.com
502-802-4646

Life, Health, & Disability Insurance,
and Retirement Planning

Listen, life happens! We want to be prepared financially. And we want to be covered outside of that...

Check him out!

Multiple Streams of Income...

Last night, we had a big snow in Louisville Kentucky.

I am at home with my wife right now; we are about to have breakfast...

It is 11:30 am on a Monday morning.

There are some benefits to having multiple streams of Income (I have four distinct income streams, all of which are self-employment related)...

I did not have to 'call in' this morning. I can still do some measure of work at home. And I was able to work a little more this week, in order to get ahead of the snow financially (I made more money earlier in the week, so that I would not miss the income loss from the snow)...

To be sure, I am NOT rich... but I do have the benefit of being IN CONTROL of my own income.

New Regulations...

I had my first experience with the new regulations for UBER drivers in Kentucky...

Today I went to Goodyear for my first annual third-party vehicle inspection. UBER has a contract with Goodyear. We can have our vehicle inspected for $34.95. They pretty much check everything... and then I have to email the inspection document to UBER...

It was not painful at all. And I feel this gives us a lot more credibility... because it increases the 'security/safety' factor with the public at large...

If all the new regulations are this reasonable, I think we'll all be fine.

Stop... in the Name of the Law...

I was driving along, on my way to the usual spot... the place where I normally wait for pick up requests to come through. I passed a police car that was waiting to make a turn about...

After I passed the officer, he pulled out behind me a little too aggressively. I remember thinking, "he's acting like he wants to pull me over, but I haven't done anything."

Well, the officer pulls up behind me, and he lingers back there a little too long. I was about to pull over in order to let him pass, when...

Sirens... Red and Blue Lights Flashing... he pulled me over!

I was completely in the dark about why the officer stopped me. When he came up to the window, I rolled the window down. I asked if everything was okay. The police officer said that one of my rear bulbs was out.

I thought that was strange, since I had just sent the car to the shop for maintenance. Well, guess what?

Was it my brake lamp? ...No.

Was it my tail light, or turn signal? ...No.

As it turned out, the peace officer pulled me over for the license plate bulb... you know, the one that shines on the license plate... that one.

This cop actually pulled me over for the license plate bulb (really!?)...

He told me to get that bulb changed as soon as possible, and he let me go with a warning...

"Thank you officer. Have a good evening..."

smh!

P.S. I just checked the license plate... I don't even have a place to put a bulb!!

High Rollers!!

Last night was very interesting, to say the least...

I had quite a few pick up requests with Uber; there were several business conventions in town. One of the guys I picked up, from a local hotel, was speaking at a direct sales convention this week. He was a young hispanic guy... late twenties...

He told me that he earned his first million dollars in multi-level marketing at 24 years old! He lives in a beautiful home in Florida... drives a 2015 Land Rover (with 24's on it!) and an M6 BMW (600 horsepower!)... and his family just got back from Paris (his hotel was right by the Eiffel Tower)!!

Later that night, I took four guys to the local casino (they sold pre-fab homes)... they gave me forty bucks to pick them up two hours later. When I returned, everyone was laughing... looked like a good time was had by all! Well, one guy came out a couple hundred bucks ahead. Another had lost a few. The other two... the two laughing the loudest... they both lost $10,000... ten grand... each!!

One of the guys said he has seen those two lose $40,000, in fifteen minutes, in Vegas!

I drive with Uber. I sell Amway products. I've written books. And overtime, these pursuits may yield significant income... but, no matter how much money I earn, I don't believe I would ever LAUGH at the size of the 'pill' that those guys swallowed tonight!

...and honestly, because of the work it takes to earn that much... I don't think I ever should.

Rescue Uber 911...

Last night... New Year's Eve... I had the single most interesting trip in my short career with Uber...

I got the pick up request from someone in Jeffersonville IN... it was three o'clock in the morning. When the guy hopped in, he said "just head toward New Albany IN."

En route to New Albany, the passenger revealed the nature of our 'mission'...

Somewhere in New Albany... near Hazelwood Avenue... close to a cemetery... there was a young lady walking around outside... in the cold (not dressed for weather), in a somewhat drunken state... waiting for my passenger to come pick her up.

The young lady had been at a party, but her friends (who had taken her to the party) had left her there... and several guys at the party had started to harass the girl... so she left the party.

Our mission, should we choose to accept it... was to find this wandering soul, and rescue her from a very intimidating... maybe dangerous... situation.

Well, we found her... the hard way. My guy's phone had just died during the trip... so we could not call the girl. So our search included...

multiple trips around two different cemeteries...

a trip to the gas station, in a failed attempt to buy a phone charger...

the successful purchase of a $3.95 city map from the same gas station...

an uncomfortable confrontation with three intimidating guys
(not me, my passenger... but I feel like I would have had his back... lol)...

and one lost smart phone (the young lady's)..

But we found her!

After that, we took the young lady home to Memphis IN (did you notice how many different towns I have mentioned?). Then, I returned my original passenger to his home in Jeffersonville. By the way, he was just a friend to the girl... someone she could call on if she needed him...

Last night she needed him.

The guy had a few drinks earlier (hence his need to have me do the driving). And he was headed back home to get some sleep. The total trip was 56 miles... 1 hour, 56 minutes... and a $90.25 fare.

When he got out of the car, the guy asked me if I was done for the night, or if I would take on more pick up requests...

I said, "I'm done. I don't think I can take much more emotionally this morning..."