Bouncing

Hey, can I bounce a couple completely unrelated things off of you? Good...

First...(Mr President, if you are reading) I don't think your bank bailout is going to work. Crazy, right? Here's the thing. You are handing (in some cases *Northern Trust* begging) banks to take the bailout money. I understand the hope here is to get the credit markets going again. I get that. Here's the problem...the banks aren't passing that on to us, the consumer. It seems to me that this trickle down concept doesn't work.

Why not (let's step outside the box here) go the other direction? Stay with me here...Let's knock off, for my point let's say $15,000, off of everyone's mortgage. The money, goes straight to the bank, not the mortgage holder...In passing it from the homeowner's mortgage to the bank, the result is immediately felt by all homeowners. If you have a $100,000 mortgage, it's HUGE. If you have an $800,000 mortgage, maybe you won't feel it as much. That said, it's fair. It frees up money for the little guy, and the money is still going directly to the bank. Win-win. I'm just saying...

Second...I have been kinda working on something on the down low. I'm going to share it with you because I need feedback/encouragement. I have no idea if this is going to fly. I can't tell if I'm wasting my time. So I'm putting it to my blogosphere...

You remember my Istockphoto trials, right? Here's the thing about Istock...the illustrator only gets to keep 20% of the take! That kinda got me thinking...Why do I want to bust my ass illustrating, for them to get 80%? Now, I get it. I get that they have exposure. That said, I wondered what would happen if I started my own Illustration Stock Site?

Yes, I'm going up against the big dog. What if I just target my site to my niche, the Mommy blog designers? Yeah, yeah, yeah...babble, babble, babble...go look at the site I've been working on...

What do you think? I'm not sure about the name? Once I pick a name, I gotta get it on my own url. I want to get a couple more illustrators on it. Right now, all the work is mine. I have a few other illustrators in mind. I don't know...what do you think of my project? Am I way out of my league here...or am I on to something? I just can't think anymore:P

29 comments

  1. I totally agree with you on the bailout front.

    And secondly that is an awesome idea!

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  2. I've always been leary about the stimulus. It just doesn't make sense. Even from the whole "let's spend money we don't have and make the taxpayers give it back later" standpoint.

    And go for it, girl. You can do it. What is there to lose?

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  3. I love the name. And the site looks awesome. Do it.

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  4. DO IT! That's all I have to say.

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  5. I'm not an illustrator, so you probably aren't looking for my input, but I think it looks great. What a faaaabulous idea. The name rocks too.

    F those F'ers for taking 80% WTF?! I think if the consumers have a choice and they KNOW that the artist is getting more of the cut they will go for it.

    Good luck!

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  6. definitely go for it, take ownership of your stuff. One suggestion, if it you actually do it, leave blogger, you really want to own your stuff 100% and with a blogger blog, they could pull the plug on you!

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  7. I love your idea. the one about the stock illustrations. I checked it out. it is fabulous. :)

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  8. I am with you on the bail out. I don't see how it can work, when the banks don't want to let loose with any of the money they get.

    Go for the illustration business, really there is nothing to lose. Well, your time, but it could be well worth it. I have always loved your illustrations!

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  9. The part about all the bailouts that annoys me is that there are parts of it that are already working. Commitments to infrastructure improvements (highways, bridges, dams) are already leading to increased hiring in construction, which will certainly contribute to a trickle-down effect with a little time. In that case, everybody "gets something" with the money--better roads, safer bridges, stronger dams. All of it is money that would have gotten spent anyway, it's just a commitment to do it sooner rather than later. How the bank money is going to help, I just don't know.

    Oh, and doooooo it. Why not, y'know?

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  10. LOVE IT!!!! I'm so glad that you're going for it, YAY!!!

    Laughed at the Bailout thing because I like your idea ;-)

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  11. Hey Burgh...Commitments to infrastructure are not what I'm talking about. I am strictly talking "bank bailout". Yes, giving money to states and creating new jobs is a step in the right direction. Straight out giving almost a trillion dollars to a failing industry that got fat by lending at insane rates to folks who had no business borrowing the money they got is what lead to the bank crisis, and the housing slump. The way to fix one is to prop up the other. It seems to me that just bailing out the banks is in no way addressing the housing crisis...or helping homeowners who are currently at insane interest rates.

    EatPlayLove...I will leave Blogger once I see if there is any interest there. Plus I have to figure out the coding of an if/then for ordering through Paypal. As far as blogger owning my pics. The pics on the site have a huge "NW Designs" through them. The stuff that gets ordered is the goods, and that is not hosted anywhere. I get your point. I just want to see if it flies first:)

    Thanks for you opinions!

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  12. Love the idea of your own website!!!!

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  13. Love your Stock Yard and that name is really cute too!

    I have had an issue with Bailouts from day one. One of my main concerns is that the folks that got them in trouble (CEO's) are still in charge. FIRE THEM! And did you see this morning that the government is now going to OWN part of Citibank?

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  14. Great bailout idea! I love your illustration idea too, I think it's an amazing idea and can see it being so huge! Well done!! I love the name 'the stockyard'.

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  15. I love the new website. Great idea. I hope it works out for you. My kids really liked the little dog. They think you should do more like that.

    I totally agree on the bank bailout proposal. I think you should approach to president with your idea. Oh wait, you already have. I am sure he reads your blog.

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  16. Love the new site. Such a great idea! I think it will really take off if you can get a few more designers on board. If you can get some mom-designers then you'll really be able to market it "to moms by moms"!

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  17. I say go for it and the bank stuff drives me nuts. Did you hear awhile back that the porn industry was asking for a bail out?!

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  18. I don't really know anything about either of these topics, but it seems to me they are related. I say do it! Take on the big guy, because if anything is clear in our society today it's that the big guy's greed is hurting the world and it's up to the little guys to do good for themselves and make the world right! YOU CAN DO IT!

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  19. Whoot! The Stock Yard is faboo! Do it! Awesome!
    The bailout? No clue, but I would lurve any reduction on my mortgage!

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  20. Love the bailout idea! I hope Obama reads this.

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  21. the site you are working on looks great!!!! do it.

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  22. Not too keen on this bailout crap either!

    Love the stock yard! Go for it!

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  23. The site looks wonderful! You really have quite a bit going there. Love it!

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  24. You should totally go for it. The name is awesome.

    The bailout? Meh.

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  25. maybe if you don't have a mortgage, they could give 15k towards paying off student loans :)

    totally awesome name for the website! i think you should go for it!!

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