A Letter from the Editor/Chief of The Bakersfield Interest,
The Time has come to say Goodbye, to all our company...
It's been a good ride! But times in our Economy are changing, as is with this industry. We at the Bakersfield Interest have willingly put our strengths to other uses needed in our Great State of California, and Country in support of innocent people. We have been working on a project called www.MyCrimeNet.net so we do invite you to join us in our journey to stand between innocent victims, and dangers of intrusion burglary, and crime as best we can. You can continue supporting us with the Bakersfield Interest on a social website at www.BakersfieldInterest.ning.com which will give you the voice you might need to express how you feel about our site.
The Bakersfield Interest will be up on the Internet untill August 2009. It will sadly dissapear but we are not gone. We will be back in other forms. The idea has come up to put the rights of our business up for sale, or begin charging for our services in what we usually do for free. I have rejected the idea for charging simply because this has been a family, community magazine. I invented this from my heart, and never-the-less that is where it will stay in any case. If there is an offer out there for the rights of the Bakersfield Interest, the buyer may indeed have some big shoes to fill.
In our good-byes, I would like to say Thank You to our community for the wonderful support you have given us, and your warm open arms to our aid when we were active and there.
Sincerely,
Christoph Carter and the Staff at: www.BakersfieldInterest.com
(We have not given up, simply applied our talents to other much more needed parts of what we call "A Greater Good".)
Who are we?
I have often been told, "Who are you, I have never heard of you?". The answer is that we have been on the internet for 3 years. We started a CD-ROM magazine in 2004, and followed up with our new video magazine on the Internet in the summer of 2005. We have been working in the Community of Bakersfield for the total of 3 years. Of coarse you see what we do by now. Getting the word out is harder than getting the work out. If we have someone who will trust us to do the work, then we are happy to oblige, while we are finding more work as we do what we promise. However, the thing is the WORD that thing that gets the work. For the first year we have been in the trenches of our craft, creating, developing, and discovering what people want to see, as well as be involved in. I will not claim seniority by any means, there are many who have done this much longer. We are forever involved in newly discovering what
happens in Bakersfield and adding this to our magazine. The key word is, entertainment. We look for family friendly entertainment, and find a way to get in to video it so our viewers can see possibly what they have missed, that they can enjoy it here. Another thing we do is give them ideas to go, do and see when they are looking for something to do. Maybe video on the internet is not such a bad idea. Our sponsors like it.
C.
After a Budget Crash
Since we have begun, we have defined our project as Bakersfield's First Live Magazine. And in the past year, we have had many setbacks in buget and technical problems with showing support for our community. Walking boldly into the future of media, and advertising is quite a challenge when sometimes we have had to operate on little funds because of these problems we have had to endure. What has come from it is the "Grit your teeth, put your head down, and charge as though it doesn't matter." rule taken from a friend who was a marine who served next to me in my Helocopter Squadron in the early 1990's.
Hard though it may have been, I have had no choice but to keep motivating my crew, and finding new ways to make things happen to keep us above the red line. But now, lets talk about Bakersfield. Bakersfield is full of the same type of Entreprenuers. Those bold and daring individuals who take steps to make their businesses work, and keep normal operations at a smooth running pace that from the outside seems there is nothing wrong. Bakersfield is full of these brave spirits. They are for the most part the individually owned businesses that operate in Bakersfield and surge forward when they can to maybe not outlast, but to gain notoriety from their competition. Some do. The thing is that for as many large corporations here that have taken root, there are at least twice as many of us. These businesses are here supporting the community, and more ready to do so than some of these larger corporations. They are family owned, or driven by a single entreprenuer who has deligated as much as he can to his faithful crew. Yet we still stand ready to help support our community in as far as we can. We even look well at new entraprenuers who come into the field of business.
We believe in ourselves, (Though, many true entreprenuers waver at some point, its human). We believe in our product. We believe most of all in what we do is going to help our community be it business, community, or something else with the community.
So, after the budget crash, what do we do? There are always two choices. We either give up and find a job, or keep going untill we have no choice but to succeed. I once met a man who became a good friend. I met him at a time when his print shop was going under. He declared bankruptsy. For a long time he was not happy because he had put so much work into his business that it drained him. He slowly began to realize that he lost his marriage, and house because he turned into a work-a-holic. What was he to do now that it was gone? (What I call a hard come to Jesus talk.) Sometimes it takes a little dissapointment to see the truth in what your life is telling you. He found himself a job, and worked his way into a business that paid him little for his talents. What he took from learning this business was the concept.
Long story turned short, my friend is worth about seventy million dollars today because he had learned a few things that every entreprenuer who has succeeded knows, but usually only learns when it happens.... The first thing is, always remember family. The second is to find one good profiting idea and stick with it. The last but not ever least is, NEVER GIVE UP. It is not as easy to follow those directions once the cold wind comes knocking at the door or the wolf is at the door along side of the wind. However, it is a decision for the entraprenuer to make, and only he is the master of his own destiny. My personal best to all entraprenuers in Bakersfield and Beyond.
Inserpt from: A mile in my shoes
A mile in my shoes, have you ever heard that from someone? The measure of the length of time it takes for an entreprenuer to be respected in the business world, and at the same time to find out you have a product that can sell can be an eternity. You find out usually when someone else copycats you, or decides to put your business down to your own clients, and friends. Even in Bakersfield we find this can happen. Its the (Not-so-Popular) syndrom called "Fultons Folly syndrom". The explanation is that Mr. Fulton believed he could solve Mississippi's import and export problem with a faster steam driven ship that would go up and down the Mississippi River with speedy routs without getting stopped by sandbars in the river which were an ever changing challenge. Most predicted the boats would sink or be rendered unusable by getting grounded. He proved them wrong as well. The reason the nay sayers were wrong is simple, its not that they were afraid of new inventions. It was simply because they did not know how he was able to do it, which he never revealed his theroies and secrets. All of a sudden there were steam boats floating up and down the Mississippi River impoving the economy for the whole state.
What do you want in the next magazine YOU read?
If we follow through as a group of businesses with one Friendly Bakersfield in mind, our town will grow with the friendship that spurs more business growth, and business competition will be friendly competition. The situation will be a win, win.
-----
We have taken special care for those who have missed last issues and if you go to the Magazine ARCHIVES page you will see what you have missed over the last issues of us being on the INTERNET.
We have worked hard to
make this magazine a memorable experience for all our viewers.
Please understand that it is our community advertisers
who make it possible for our viewers to see this
magazine here for free. That means everyone, all over the world can
view this magazine and it is FREE. Our advertisers believe in their
community, and The Bakersfield Interest is a community magazine. We
stride to make this magazine an experience that our viewers can
walk away with-- the feeling that the Internet is a place to enjoy
good things.
Till next month,
Enjoy Bakersfield,
And
Enjoy The Bakersfield
Interest
Sincerely,
Christoph
