How do you take advantage of this industry?

company man? own firm? PPC / affiliate recluse?

[The_Hat]

Being in the web industry is interesting. In very few other industries is there such an opportunity to do with your skills exactly as you might want for comparatively little start up cost.

In this industry a practitioner can
< get a job inside a web development firm
< start their own development firm
< work on his own websites using ppc or affiliates.

It really all depends upon your tolerance for dealing with people.

I wonder what sort of mix there is on this board..

Do some people only do one method? Why?

What other opportunities are there to use the skills in other venues?

What issues have you witnessed in regards to retention of employees by firms due to the other opportunities available?

I myself am currently doing all three. The region I am located in isn't a tech heavy location (much the opposite) so employment in this industry is somewhat scarce. However I look this year for the potential to make the leap from employee to self employed..

[grandpa]

What other opportunities are there to use the skills in other venues?

I ran across a mom & pop that had a need, and I convinced them that I could be an asset. Time has proven me correct, but along the way I still had to learn practically everything about a web site.. and there is still plenty I don't know. This door had certainly opened the way for other opportunities.

It really all depends upon your tolerance for dealing with people.

Mostly I work in the office alone.. again. Through the night. When no one is calling or asking questions or otherwise bothering me. This is the first technical job I've ever had where the people I work for have very little understanding of what I actually do. Sometimes my tolerance is very low - sometimes theirs is too.

Do some people only do one method? Why?

Time! There are so many hours in a day, and my retail sites take the bulk of my time. I'm at the top of my niche, and I want to stay there. I've had some limited success with affiliate marketing, and have read enough here to believe I could be truly successful. But it comes down to how much time can I devote to an aff site. I'm finally taking some time for one personal project, but my retail sites still dominate my efforts.