A Whistleblower’s Journey Through Technology

Technology to me, the internet in particular, is what shopping is to women. It’s why I use a browser online.

Over the last month I held 5 jobs, attended college classes, and lived in a van while balancing my yoga practice, some activist projects, and personal time. I spend a lot of my day online, so I searched for ways to make money while traveling in the van. Here’s how the web helped me become more productive during my downtime:

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is like looking down: we all do it when we’re told not to. We’re not allowed to use it for any school or work project, yet it’s the top search result for pretty much anything. It occurred to me the best way to get an honest criticism of myself is to write about myself and post it to Wikipedia. They immediately rejected my article, calling me irrelevant.

This is unacceptable; I did some homework and found existing references on Wikipedia to Black Monday, the assault on Bank of America I orchestrated with Anonymous. I rewrote the blurbs, adding my name, and fixing the citations. My changes were rejected, but this time I was smarter. I noticed I was only rejected from the BofA page, but not the Timeline of events associated with Anonymous. Once again, Anon saved my life. I knew the editor was a BofA contractor, so I disputed my case and continued escalating it over a period of weeks until finally enough editors agreed with my logical reasoning…

Your mom’s irrelevant, Wikipedia…

Help A Reporter Out

If you’re an expert at anything (and by 20 you should be), create a profile on helpareporter.com and select categories that interest you. Journalists use this site when they want to find a source for a quote, to gather ideas, interview, etc for various small and large blogs and publications. Sometimes they’ll contact you based off your profile (so make it good). You’ll also get email updates 3x / day of what projects are available in which categories. I used the site to appear as a Force-Placed Insurance expert in blogs, the NY Times, and more.

This got my name and keywords published in reputable media organizations. From there, I had the clout to guest post on other blogs. I wrote a few free pieces for friends and aimed straight for the big leagues:

The Huffington Post

Getting on the Huffington Post is easier than it looks. The best parts about writing for them are the huge audience and helpful community. I found the staff (even the editors…and Jenny Churchill…my sworn enemy as a cat-lover…), readers, and creative talent to be positive, constructive, creative, friendly, etc.

The Huffington Post is a society within itself. You rise up in the ranks by doing more work. I started writing for them back in October. I was making my rounds contacting journalists writing about various mortgage, insurance, and business topics, when I was contacted by a Politics editor wanting content for their Off The Bus 2012 campaign coverage. My workload at school was picking up, so my first piece is so boring, even I don’t read it. It encouraged me to push the boundaries of my writing skills though. Once I developed a voice, I found each piece I wrote for the Huffington Post garnered more traffic for my personal blog than anything I could write on my personal blog.

Professional Freelance Writer

I wrote on my personal blog for free for nearly 2 years. I still haven’t made enough in ad revenue from it to meet Google’s minimum withdrawal limits. Blogging on HuffPo is free too, but at least I have a shot at a bigger audience here. It pulled me up the search ranks for Brian Penny, whether on my own or when associated with yoga, Anonymous, whistleblowing, Bank of America, and much more.

I was feeling blue one day when Ally woke me up about placing value on my time. I didn’t realize I reached the level I could legitimately do that as a writer. I scoured the net for freelance work and found my way to elance.com. I signed up for a free account, did some targeted searches, and within a week, I had 3 paid writing gigs, including one to hide an ad in a blog (which I decided to do as hilariously obvious as possible here). I’m officially a professional writer and have a legitimate voice in business, technology, yoga, fitness, and other media verticals. The breadth of my ability knows no bounds

I can finally progress as a whistleblower. No longer do I have to even think about my past. I said my piece. It’s written in history. I can focus on the skills I picked up as a professional interior painter, a van dweller, a yogi, a writer, and more. I know how to live happy with no money. I’m street smart and have connects in a lot of places. I live comfortably in a small space. I’m technologically savvy. I have no fear…because the more time passes, the more legitimate my voice becomes…and every new skill I pick up leads a breadcrumb trail back to my life from 2005-2011…in that shady corner of finance known as Force-Placed Insurance…

Stay tuned…because soon I’m headed to Miami…to converse with a world-renowned Yoga Goddess…and become grounded….

Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst at Bank of America turned whistleblower, freelance consultant, and troll. He’s a frequent contributor to The Street, Cannabis Now, and Fast Company, Huffington Post, Mainstreet, Lifehack, and HardcoreDroid.

4 Free Ways to Promote Your Brand Online

Losing my job for blowing the whistle on Bank of America felt like the entire world got turned upside down. Cut off from Corporate America and facing financial ruin, I dove headfirst into the internet, where I broke bread with Anonymous and studied the science of SEO. The transition from corporate cubicle-monkey to freelance consultant taught me a lot of valuable lessons about the internet I’d like to relay to you.

Here are 4 free websites and services that can assist in growing any brand:

1 — Google

Just about everyone uses Google, and you’d be a fool not to pay attention. Google’s Maps program is on every Android phone and a significant portion of iPhones — updating your business profile with Google will ensure you’re listed on GPS navigation systems in the hands of millions of potential customers, literally leading them straight to your business’ front door.

Registering your website with Google provides better search engine results for your brand, while Google+ is essential for integrating and tracking your profile across all Google platforms. If you’re interested in finding out more about the search engine benefits of Google+ and how it competes with Facebook, my colleague, Ryan Howard, recently wrote a great piece about it.

2 — Wikipedia

If you want to be relevant, you need to be listed in the encyclopedia. These days the crowd-sourced, non-profit Wikipedia project has all but obliterated all other encyclopedic sites, becoming one of the most widely visited websites on the internet. By getting your brand listed on Wikipedia, you’re not only establishing yourself as an industry leader, you’re gaining a valuable web presence and SEO assistance, as links to your pages are indexed on the site.

Be wary when creating a page, however. Wikipedia is closely monitored by a slew of editors waiting to pick apart any PR fluff pieces, so ensure you familiarize yourself with their neutrality policies before you begin.

3 — Craigslist

Craigslist is a great place to build a street team for growing your brand. Whether you need fliers, transportation, extra hands, or equipment, the classifieds are the place to look. On an SEO level, the links don’t last long enough to help your SEO strategy, but any publicity is good publicity, and Craigslist is a valuable site to help you build brand awareness behind the scenes.

4 — Amazon

If you have something to sell, Amazon and iTunes are great places to do it. Once you have a UPC code or product SKU, you can sell an ebook or mp3 on both of these sites. Where Amazon trumps iTunes is in the ability to ship physical merchandise. No matter what business you’re in, there will always be a market segment that prefers a physical product over the digital equivalent. Amazon helps you bridge the gap, and the free shipping included in their Prime membership makes it a worthwhile business expense.

In addition, Amazon’s mTurk program is a great way to outsource repetitive or mundane tasks, such as finding business contacts, data entry, and transcription. This crowdsourcing platform allows you to create tasks and pay pennies per task to have them completed by mTurk’s worker pool.

Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst at Bank of America turned whistleblower, freelance consultant, and troll. He’s a frequent contributor to The Street, Cannabis Now, and Fast Company, Huffington Post, Mainstreet, Lifehack, and HardcoreDroid.