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From YouTube: Kimberly Palmer: The Economy of You
Description
Author and entrepreneur Kimberly Palmer speaks at the Arlington Public Library about her book, "The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life". Ms Palmer discusses the benefits of starting your own side business, even it it only generates a small amount of income at first.
A
Good
evening,
everyone
I'm
Alexandra
Fox
I'm,
the
business
librarian
here
at
the
Arlington
Public
Library
and
before
we
get
started
I'd
like
to
let
you
know
that
Arlington
television
is
taping
tonight's
program
and
will
it
will
be
available
for
streaming
on
demand
and
also
we
run
on
Comcast
and
Verizon
FiOS.
So
there
will
be
a
question
and
answer
period
after
the
talk,
but
that
will
not
be
taped
to
ensure
your
privacy
and
then,
after
the
Q&A
you'll
be
there'll,
be
a
book
signing
opportunity
as
well.
So
let's
introduce
our
speaker.
A
Kimberly
Palmer
is
the
author
of
the
new
book,
the
economy
of
you,
discover
your
inner
entrepreneur
and
recession-proof
your
life
and
is
a
senior
money
editor
at
for
US,
News
and
World
Report,
where
she
writes
the
popular
alpha
consumer
blog.
She
has
also
created
Palmer,
Palmer's
planners,
a
line
of
digital
financial
guides
and
money
organizers
for
major
life
events
and
goals
with
which
sells
on
Etsy
Kim,
also
wrote
generation
earn
the
young
professionals
guide
to
spending
investing
and
giving
back.
A
She
appeared
on
NBC's,
Today
Show,
it's
the
NBC,
CNN
and
local
television
and
radio
shows
across
the
country
to
talk
about
making
smart
money
decisions.
She
has
written
for
The,
Wall,
Street
Journal,
the
Washington
Post
and
the
International
Herald
Tribune
in
Tokyo.
As
the
Henry
Luce
scholar,
she
holds
a
master's
degree
in
public
policy
from
the
University
of
Chicago
and
a
bachelor's
degree
in
history
from
an
her
scampers
college.
Please
join
me
now
in
welcoming
Kimberly.
B
Thank
you
so
much.
Thank
you
so
much
for
coming
I'm
so
excited
to
be
here
and
to
talk
with
you
all
tonight.
So
my
main
message
for
you
tonight
and
what
I
hope
you
all
leave
with
is
that
launching
a
side,
business,
some
kind
of
side
gig,
is
probably
one
of
the
most
important
things
you
can
do
for
yourself.
Financially,
it
can
supplement
your
income
so
help
you
earn
more
money
than
your
currently
aren't
earning.
It
can
also
be
your
plan
B.
B
So
basically
I.
Think
side.
Gigs
are
the
holy
grail
of
personal
finance.
What
we're
all
searching
for
that
thing
that
can
really
give
us
a
sense
of
security
in
an
economy
that
can
be
so
uncertain
and
so
stressful
and
with
the
job
market.
That
can
be
you
really.
You
might
not
know
if
you're
gonna
always
have
your
current
job.
So
first
I
just
love
to
know
where
you
all
are
coming
from.
B
Do
you
mind
raising
your
hand
if
you
currently
have
some
kind
of
side,
gig
or
some
kind
of
business
on
the
side,
anyone
so
what
I
have
to
work
really
hard
to
convince
you?
This
is
a
good
idea.
You
do
okay
awesome!
Do
you
want
to
share
what
it
is
lobbying,
okay,
awesome
and
anyone
else
have
any
kind
of
side:
gig,
yeah,
okay,
oh
okay,
keep
it
to
yourself!
Don't
share
it!
Yes,
okay!
Is
that,
on
top
of
some
kind
of
full-time
job
that
you
do,
okay,
okay,
okay,
great
awesome,
okay,.
A
B
The
rest
of
y'all
have
to
work
harder
to
convince
me.
This
is
a
good
idea.
So
first,
let
me
start
by
telling
you
my
story:
how
I
I
decided
to
launch
a
side
gig
of
my
own.
It
was
back
in
2009
which,
as
you
all
know,
was
a
very
stressful
time.
I
mean
I
work
as
a
journalist
to
me,
it
felt
like
layoffs
were
happening
every
day.
All
around
me,
I
felt
like
I,
could
I
mean
I
felt
like
I
could
get
laid
off
at
any
time.
Basically,
at
the
same
time,
I
became
a
mom.
B
My
my
older
daughter,
Carina
and
the
picture
was
born
and
so
I
felt
an
added
sense
of
responsibility.
I
felt
like
I,
had
to
make
sure
I
was
supporting
not
just
myself
but
my
family
and
around
the
same
time,
I
was
doing
an
interview
with
a
woman
who
had
launched
an
incredibly
successful
business
on
Etsy
you
heard
of
Etsy,
it's
basically
a
handmade
marketplace.
So
it's
where
people
go
to
sell
handmade
goods.
She
had
designed
cutting
boards
that
were
shaped
like
state.
B
So
if
you
were
from
Michigan,
you
could
go
and
buy
a
Michigan
shaped
state,
thriving
business
I
mean
she
was
making
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
a
year
from
this
business,
and
so
as
I
prepared
to
interview
her
for
an
article,
I
was
browsing
around
Etsy
and
I
came
across
a
section
called
calendars
and
planners,
and
as
soon
as
I
saw
it,
I
really
felt
like
you
know,
I
could
belong
here.
I
could
make
these
things
myself.
B
If
other
people
were
making
money
selling
planners
for
your
grocery
shopping
list,
I
could
do
the
same
thing
for
a
money
planner.
So
that's
really
how
I
got
my
idea.
It
happened
very
quickly.
I
went
home
that
night
and
I
started
drafting
my
first
planner,
which
is
the
baby
planner
to
get
ready
for
having
a
baby
financially.
If
something
I
had
just
gone
through
myself,
so
it
was.
You
know
fresh
on
my
mind,
so
I
created
that
planner
started
selling
it
and
that's
how
my
Etsy
shop
grew.
B
So
today,
I
have
about
a
dozen
planners
off
of
my
Etsy
shop,
and
you
know
it's
really.
It's
really
fun.
Do
it
on
the
weekends.
In
the
evenings,
I
create
these
new
planners
around
different
life
goals.
So
that's
my
side,
business.
Let
me
tell
you
one
more
story
from
the
book
about
a
great
side.
Digger,
since
we're
in
the
DC
area.
Do
any
of
you
any
of
you.
Remember
fear
ins.
It
was
a
restaurant
in
Georgetown.
It
was
really
great.
B
It
shut
down,
unfortunately,
in
2010,
but
I
used
to
go
there
all
the
time,
because
my
office
is
in
Georgetown
and
this
this
man
Chris
Buren.
He
worked
there
he'd
actually
worked
there
all
his
life,
because
it's
his
dad's
belly,
so
he'd
been
making
sandwiches
at
Piron.
Since
he
was
a
teenager
and
as
costs
were
going
up
at
urines,
he
realized
the
deli
was
going
to
shut
down
and
he
had
no
idea
what
in
the
world
he
was
gonna
do
because
you
know
he'd
been
there
his
whole
life.
B
So
what
he
noticed
is
that
the
deli
had
been
getting
a
lot
of
requests
for
custom
cakes-
and
this
is
when
you
know
TLC-
has
all
the
cake
design
shows.
Very
competitive
people
wanted
gorgeous
Hermes
bag,
looking
cakes
for
their
birthday
parties,
so
he
started
taking
those
orders
and
in
the
evenings
on
the
weekends
he
made
these
gorgeous
custom.
Cakes
I
mean
he's.
Actually
you
know
he
loves
he's
an
artist
at
heart.
He
has
always
loved
drawing,
and
this
became
his
thing.
So
he
built
off
this
huge
following
and
now
today.
B
So,
if
you're
in
shutdown
back
in
2010
and
now
today,
he
he
took
his
side
gig
when
it
shut
down
made
it
a
full-time
business
started
out
in
his
kitchen.
I
actually
visited
him
a
couple
years
ago
when
he
was
making
these
kegs
in
his
kitchen
today
he's
moved
into
a
professional
kitchen.
His
business
is
thriving,
so
his
side,
gig,
is
really
what
saved
him.
B
So
her
skill
is
basically
helping
people
with
Facebook
and
Twitter,
and
she
used
to
be
my
colleague
at
US,
News
and
World
Report,
and
she
felt
as
I
did,
that
she
didn't
have
a
ton
of
job
security,
so
she
basically
started
picking
up
so
small
business
owners
freelancers,
who
wanted
help
being
more
present
online
and
she
designs
their
social
media
pages.
She
now
has
seven
employees.
B
So
the
biggest
question
is
often
how
how
you
get
started
or
how
you
think
of
the
idea.
That's
may
be
best
for
you
and
I
I.
Think
one
of
the
best
ways
to
get
started
is
just
by
browsing
some
of
these
sites.
Now
some
of
you
said
you've
already
been
on
Etsy
right.
You've
have
you
purchased
things
there?
B
It's
a
great
site,
I,
really
like
their
jewelry
their
scarves,
but,
as
you
can
see,
they
have
all
different
kinds
of
categories.
So
if
you're
at
all
of
an
artsy
kind
of
person
you
enjoy
crafting,
you
can
get
a
lot
of
ideas.
I
really
found
that
people's
ideas
kind
of
fall
into
two
different
categories,
so
either
they
come
from
their
career
or
they're
a
professional
experience.
B
So
this
is
this
is
fiber
another
site
to
give
you
some
good
ideas.
Fiber
is
all
about
services,
and
the
name
is
a
little
misleading
because
you
do
start
out
selling
services
for
five
dollars
each
and
it's
oh,
it
sounds
like
you
know
how
in
the
world
are
you
gonna
make
any
money
doing
that?
But
you
once
you
make
a
few
sales,
you
ramp
up
the
price,
so
you
can
actually
charge
up
to
$500
per
gig
and
that's
how
chris
hardy
the
voice-over
man
that
I
just
mentioned,
that's
how
he
makes
$10,000
a
year.
B
So
it's
a
great
site,
you
can
see
really
any
so
many
different
services
are
offered
on
here.
You
can
see
here
highlighted.
Is
the
office
assistant
drawing
a
cartoon
crocheting
a
Easter,
bunny
hat
I
mean
there's
quirky
ones
too,
so
you
can
get.
You
can
get
ideas
that
you
might
not
have
ever
considered.
There's
a
lot
to
do
with
pets.
So
if
you
are
any
kind
of
any
kind
of
talent
or
affinity
for
pets,
there's
a
cat
coach
on
here,
it's
a
nice.
B
If
you
know
you
can
help
people
train
their
cats,
so
many
so
many
options.
Here's
another
one
of
my
favorites
eel
ants.
This
is
really
for
people
who
have
a
professional
service
to
offer.
So,
as
you
can
see
a
lot
on
here,
if
you
are
from
ru
you're
good
with
computers,
you
know
ton
of
options
lucrative
options.
Do
they
pay
really?
Well
writing
translation.
This
is
the
place
to
go.
B
If
you
have
some
kind
of
professional
service
that
you're,
you
know
up
for
freelancing,
one
thing
I
want
to
say:
oh
well,
first,
let
me
tell
you
to
this
site.
You
probably
recognize
this
yeah
Craigslist.
A
lot
of
us
spend
a
lot
of
time
on
here
for
when
we're
trying
to
spell
things,
but
it's
it's
not
as
sophisticated
as
the
other
e-commerce
websites
I
just
mentioned,
but
you
can
get
some
ideas,
so
people
are
selling
all
kinds
of
things,
photography
website
design
and
it's
a
good
place
to
test
out
ideas.
B
I
mean
you
have
to
be
careful
cuz,
it's
Craigslist,
but
you
know,
as
long
as
you
are
not
sharing
your
home
address,
there's
a
few
safety
precautions
you
want
to
take,
but
it
can
be
really
good
for
testing
ideas,
seeing
what
other
people
are
interested
and
also
kind
of
doing
your
market
research
see
how
other
people
are
making
money
on
there.
Well,
one
thing
about
e-commerce
platforms,
I
think
is
so
powerful
is
that
there
are
these
sites
today.
The
ones
I
just
mentioned.
B
Freelancer
is
another
one
that
basically
do
so
much
of
the
work
for
you,
so
you
don't
need
to
make
your
own
website.
You
don't
need
to
figure
out.
How
are
you
going
to
collect
people's
money?
I
mean
you
don't
have
to
worry
about.
Any
of
that.
All
you
have
to
worry
about.
Is
your
product
or
your
service?
What
you
have
to
offer?
What
do
you
create
and
then
all
the
complicated
logistical
stuff
is
out
source,
so
I
think
that's
the
really
powerful
thing
about
using
these
tools.
B
What
I
will
add,
of
course,
is
that
you
are
paying
for
that
service.
So
every
time
I
make
an
Etsy
sale,
for
example,
I'm,
paying
I
think
it's
about
2%
of
the
sale
to
Etsy.
But
in
my
opinion,
it's
so
worth
it
because
I'm
not
worrying
about
credit
cards,
I'm
not
worrying
about
any
of
that
stuff.
So
it's
a
way
of
outsourcing
some
of
the
works.
You
could
literally
launch
your
side
business
this
weekend.
It
makes
it
really
easy
and
low
cost,
which
is
so
key.
B
So
second,
big
tip
is
to
find
your
people
find
your
tribe
online
I,
really
like
looking
for
the
people
that
are
maybe
a
few
steps
ahead
of
you.
So
whatever
it
is
that
you're
thinking
of
doing
you
can
find
the
person
that
is
already
online
doing
that
and
see
what's
working
for
them.
I
really
love
this.
This
woman's
blog
Blacksburg,
Belle
she's,
basically
a
creative
entrepreneur
and
she
specializes
in
marketing
and
telling
people
how
to
get
word
out
about
their
businesses
and
I
am
a
huge
fan
of
hers.
B
I've
also
purchased
her
her
ebooks
about
marketing
and
she's,
taught
me
so
much
so
she's,
basically
who
I
thought
of
it's
a
few
steps
ahead
of
me
and
then
I
learned
from
her,
my
my
weak
spot
or
what
I
you
know
feel
uncomfortable
with
is
marketing
I?
Think
it's
really
hard
to
to
sell
it's,
not
something.
I
had
a
lot
of
experience
with
so
finding
someone
like
her
could
really
help
me
and
you
can
find
I
mean
whatever
you
know
field
it
is.
B
You
can
find
those
people
that
are
already
doing
it
and
learn
so
much
for
them.
I
mean
people
are
so
incredibly
generous
with
their
expertise
online.
They
often
are
tweeting
their
best
ideas
writing
about
them
on
blogs.
You
don't
even
have
to
have
personal
interaction
with
them
to
to
learn
so
much
I
mean
they're
like
virtual
mentors,
and
then
you
might,
you
know,
be
surprised
in
how
how
much
you
do
get
to
know
them
eventually
and
they
become
your
friends.
I
mean
now
this
woman,
April
and
I.
B
B
Failure
is
such
an
part
of
doing
anything
entrepreneurial.
So
this
is
actually.
This
is
an
image
from
my
paint,
my
my
book
page
on
Amazon
and
you
know
an
objective
person-
might
think.
Okay,
it's
not
so
bad.
You
know
mostly
good
reviews,
but
you
know
guess
what
I
spend
the
most
time
obsessing
about
and
feeling
terrible
about.
The
one-star
reviews
I
mean
that
can
ruin
my
day.
I
feel
awful
when
someone
leaves
a
one-star
review
and
you
basically
have
to
find
a
way
to
push
past.
That
I
mean
I
will
admit.
B
I
do
feel
terrible
for
about
half
a
day
each
time
it
leaves
a
one-star
review,
but
I've
learned
some
coping
technique,
one
one
woman
I
interviewed.
Actually
she
really
wanted
to
be
a
professional
organizer
and
she
was
so
good
at
it.
She
got
her
business
off
the
ground.
She
got
her
first
client
that
first
client
did
not
pay
her,
just
you
know
never
paid
and
that
stopped
her.
She
never
got
her
next
client
because
she
was
so
destroyed
by
that
and
I
think
that
is
so.
B
It's
so
sad,
but
it's
I
mean
that
kind
of
failure
or
having
a
slow
sales
week
or
bad
feedback
I
mean
it's.
It's
kind
of
it
kind
of
inevitable
and
I
think
we
all
need
to
find
ways
to
rebalance
I
like
to
rebound
by
going
over
to
my
Etsy
page,
where
people
are
so
much
nicer
than
on
Amazon
another
technique
that
I
will
share
with
you,
the
Sun
Also
Rises
by
Ernest,
Hemingway
and
probably
all
agree
pretty
good
book.
B
Maybe
one
of
the
best
books
best
American
novels
and
look
at
these
mean
Amazon
reviewers
boring,
boring,
boring,
incredibly
overrated.
What's
the
point
I
mean
if
people
say
that
about
Ernest
Hemingway,
then
you
know
we
can
feel
a
little
better
about
whatever
mean
things
they
say
about
us.
So
this
is
my
secret
feel
better
technique.
Go
to
your
favorite
book
page
see
what
main
things
they're
saying.
B
So
some
some
questions
I
always
get
how
in
the
world
are
you
gonna,
find
the
time
for
this
I
mean
we're
all
so
busy
full-time
jobs,
families,
even
our
jobs,
I
mean
they
are
so
demanding
in
themselves
and
the
more
demanding
all
the
time.
So
where
do
you
find
a
lot
of
people
that
I
interview
so
I
interviewed
about
a
hundred
people
in
the
book
and
I
would
say
about
a
third
of
them
are
just
really
early.
Risers
I
mean
they
get
up
at
5:00
a.m.
B
B
Other
people
are
just
really
good
at
multitasking,
so
working
on
your
iPad,
while
you're
commuting
to
work
I
personally,
like
grabbing
little
slivers
of
time
throughout
the
week,
so
I
feel
like
it's
virtually
impossible
to
find.
You
know
like
a
three
or
five-hour
chunk
to
you,
know,
sit
down
and
do
solid
work,
but
finding
stealing
like
20
minutes
here,
half
an
hour
there
during
the
week
and
the
evenings
on
the
weekends
can
be
a
little
easier
and
I
think
it
can
help
to
have
the
steps.
You
know
you
need
to
take
kind
of
broken
down.
B
B
Also,
you
can
you
know
employees
who,
on
their
own
time,
are
learning
new
skills.
They
actually
have
are
they're
bringing
that
back
to
their
job,
so
it
can
really
be
end
up
being
a
win-win
situation.
I
know
in
my
psyche,
get
ended
up
learning
how
to
make
an
e-book
I
learned
more
about
marketing
and
then
I
did
turn
around
and
that
at
my
job.
So
you
can
make
that
case
that
it's
really
a
win-win
situation.
You
can
avoid
some
of
those
conflicts.
Of
course
there
are.
B
So
how
much
can
you
really
earn
I?
Think
or
I'm?
Not
sure
everybody
told
you
exactly
how
much
your
information
up
so
for
my
Etsy
shop
right
now,
I
earn
between
two
hundred
four
hundred
dollars
a
month,
not
a
lot.
Certainly
nowhere
close
to
replacing
my
you
know
my
salary
or
paying
my
mortgage,
but
it's
so
helpful.
I
mean
you
know:
I
have
two
little
kids.
How
these
you
know:
diaper
costs
and
all
sorts
of
cost.
So
it
helps
so
much,
of
course,
supplementing
my
income,
but
also
even
more
even
more
than
that.
B
It's
just
knowing
that
I
have
this
income
coming
in.
So,
if
you
know,
God
forbid,
I
were
to
lose
my
job
I.
My
income
wouldn't
plummet
to
zero
and
I.
Could
you
know
turn
around
and
put
more
more
time
into
growing
my
business
so
I?
Think
that's
really
the
key.
Do
you
have
you
heard
of
David
Bach
in
the
latte
factor?
He
has
this
interesting
idea,
the
latte
factor,
which
is
that
we,
if
we
spend
$3
a
day
on
a
latte,
then
we're
wasting.
B
You
know
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
over
our
lifetime
because
that
money
could
have
been
saved.
It
could
have
been
invest
and
I.
Think
that
the
reverse
is
also
true.
So
if
we
are,
you
know
earning
three
dollars
a
day
or
$100
a
month.
That
money
adds
up
over
time
and
it
can
be,
you
know
so
so
useful
to
us.
So
I
think
there's
no
shame
in
earning
a
small
amount
a
month
and
I
think
that
it
can
actually
give
us
a
lot
of
stability.
B
So
the
real
the
real
reason
to
launch
the
economy
of
you.
Of
course,
there's
the
money
and
I
think
a
lot
of
us.
You
know
start
being
finance
start
out
being
financially
motivated,
but
what
I
found
is
that
an
even
deeper
reason
and
what
comes
to
have
even
you
know
more
importance
to
us
over
time
is
the
incredibly
dissatisfaction
that
we
get
creatively
and
professionally
and
most
importantly,
feeling
that
we're
helping
people.