A Guide to Post-College Life

It's been exactly one year since my Michigan graduation, and having a lot of time on my hands leads to endless brainstorming and ingenious thought about how to make a living for myself.

I have visions for various aspects of entrepreneurship, but not in the conventional sense. It's important to use the tools that are around us rather than use obsolete tactics. For example, now is not the time to have some grand idea to start a business and expect to survive. Instead, we must turn to resources that are there for the taking. The federal government is making it easier and easier to get grants for anything that will have longevity, give people jobs, and get dollars flowing again.

U of M launched a site the other day for rebuilding the economy: www.innovationeconomy.umich.edu

The Development Office is also expanding outreach: www.giving.umich.edu

Michigan also has a big government relations office: http://www.research.umich.edu/contacts/dc/dc.html

My angle? If it were me, and I had the resources to do it, I'd create an integrated online "business," but a non-profit of sorts, that could start a network of involvement with a huge public university such as Michigan. It could be an advocacy-oriented organization, with journalism, fund raising, and reporting, and my baby, historical preservation or education.

The platform is simple: a web-based blog and information service that lots of people would go to for different services. There's a lot of growth in tools of the internet, and I pride myself on being fully integrated into Google, Facebook and Twitter. They're tools to share information, and I wouldn't even think about doing an undertaking like this without those.

Anyway, random brainstorm thoughts for the win as they say.