Monthly Archives: June 2012

The other shoe has dropped in Freedom Communications' recent flurry of newspaper sales--including that of Santa Ana flagship the Orange County Register. Actually, the pink slips 66 employees just received may have to eventually be fashioned into shoes given the shitty job market they are entering. Freedom has granted mandatory employment freedom to the 66 who work at Irvine headquarters or the corporate online department housed in the same building as the Register, whose staff is not included in this round of layoffs. The sale of the Reg to a Boston investor is still pending.

Here are the recent sales that prompted the corporate downsizing:

Orange County Register Sold to Boston Investor

Freedom Fire Sale Continues as Register Owner Dumps Florida and North Carolina Papers

Freedom Communications Sells MORE Papers That Are Not the Register

Orange County Register's Freedom Overlords Sell 8 TV Stations to Conservative Concern

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Freedom Communications Lays Off 66 Workers

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL--(Marketwire -06/28/12)- Millions of workers around the world are seeking additional income, freedom and fun by embracing alternative career paths and starting their own businesses, according to new research. In the spirit of Independence Day, Fiverr, the leading global marketplace for micro services, today announced the results of its international "Road to Job Independence" survey. More than 1,100 Fiverr sellers revealed their motivations to start a business on the world's largest marketplace for the freelance service industry, providing new insights into the flourishing economy of micro-entrepreneurs.

The freedom of the Internet now allows people to work where they want, when they want, how they want. Around the world new types of entrepreneurs are channeling their talents, passions, interests and skills to replace or supplement traditional 9-to-5 jobs. Fiverr makes it easier for anyone to make money doing what he or she loves.

According to the Road to Job Independence survey, most Fiverr sellers are successfully able to increase their income by offering unique services (Gigs) not available anywhere else:

Fiverr's survey discovered 6 out of 10 (57%) of all sellers have joined in the last 6 months as they seek the site's freedom to work at their own time, pace and place. These new sellers are already making money, with 40% reporting they've earned over $100 through Fiverr. And they're making money through a large variety of gigs, including graphic design, writing, personalized greetings, voice-overs, video production, expert advice, software and web development, advertising and marketing, music and much more.

Fiverr opens a world of possibilities for global commerce, removing the need for office space, set commerce hours and a business payment structure. Fiverr provides liquidity to the global network of service providers, connecting sellers directly with interested buyers. It gives burgeoning entrepreneurs all the tools they need to get started and be successful.

A vast majority (86%) of Fiverr sellers seek job independence, and 1 in 5 report their goal with Fiverr is to quit and work for themselves. Frustration with traditional 9-to-5 jobs is high, at more than 80%. The top 6 frustrations respondents have with their current job situation include:

"Creativity and freedom are the core drivers of today's new entrepreneurial economy. Anyone, anywhere can use Fiverr to quickly and easily start their own businesses -- we give people the platform and the tools to harness their skills, resources and creativity to make money on their own terms," said Micha Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of Fiverr. "Our goal is to offer people an alternative from the traditional work structure and become their own boss. As sellers gain experience and a positive business reputation, they can charge more for their services. Now 1 in 3 gigs sell for more than the base price, and 34% of sellers report they're getting an average of 5 or more gigs per week."

So why do people turn to Fiverr?

Since launching in early 2010, Fiverr has grown rapidly and now lists close to 1,000,000 gigs priced between $5 and $150. Sales on the site have increased 600% since January 2011, and continue to rise rapidly.

An infographic of the results can be found here: http://fiverr.com/financial-freedom.

Link:
Let (Work) Freedom Ring; 86% of Micro Service Entrepreneurs Want to Declare Job Independence, Global Fiverr Survey ...

When walking around Lefrak City with Freedom, its hard not to notice the love the neighborhood gives him. Passersby frequently shake his hand, shoot the breeze and shout out Freedom! from across the street. To the Bedford-Stuyvesant transplant though, its nothing but expanding brain power.

Knowledge is infinity, its always to meet more and more people in Lefrak, Freedom says as we walk down 57th Avenue.

Having lived in Lefrak City for a quarters century, the proud activist is not only a community staple, but just one of many giving back to that community. Freedom hires talented artists from all over New York to help him paint murals on the walls of businesses in the area, specifically walls featuring wanton, cluttered graffiti. He was instrumental in the creation of the murals at the Food Bazaar and has his eye on a wall with clustered tags on 96th Street and renaming it the Music Wall as a tribute to musical legends such as Billie Holiday and Nat Turner.

[Its] to bring up the community, give them something to look at. Theyre taking the walls and then marking up graffiti and all that. Im against that. Im here to destroy that. And once they see my art, theyll say, Oomph! Freedom was here, he said, motioning to the mural behind him, which originally filled the entire wall.

He was instrumental in the murals completion in 1994. When a Popeyes replaced the previous store, the mural was painted but later taken down. The fast-food chain, recognizing its importance to the community, later restored the mural in a compacted, hanging form. In the far right section, near paintings of President Barack Obama and Kenny Anderson, is Freedoms own face. According to him, this particular block is named in his honor as well.

If you look around Lefrak City, its a very beautiful community. We just have to get out and stop the violence, the former paperboy for the Amsterdam News said. Violence will always be here, but maybe a little art might change their thinking capacity. I was a child out of the street and I had the old timers to wake me up.

The Nation of Islam member doesnt want people to think he despises graffiti art, though. Walking us across the street to another wall filled with RIP messages and a small shrine to a local young man recently shot to death, he makes an exception here. This wall is also getting a Freedom-style remake and will feature pictures of young people killed much too soon with the tags intact.

This right here, this is a young boy who just passed away, Freedom noted. I respect the dead, and all the young kids wrote all over the wall. Out of respect, I dont wanna take the art out of this, because theres art in it. Art is art. You dont destroy art.

Another block over, we find ourselves outside the Food Bazaar. The sidewall features a mural of King Tutankhamen and a stone mask face, with messy graffiti tags spliced in between. Its set to become the Falling Soldiers wall sometime this year. When its done, other departed kings and queens will join King Tut.

Another small section of wall with clustered, sprayed-on scribbles behind us isnt safe from Freedoms creative wrath either. Im going to put something over there. Were gonna put art on any wall we go to.

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Freedom in Lefrak City