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Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Beginning of the Entrepreneur Years

My journey to financial independence was not so much chosen by me as it was thrust upon me. I remember it well. The day was Thursday. News was flying across the country. Like a rolling wave it started back east andended right here in the west ... at least that's the way it was for the company I was employed by. Employees were being ushered out the door faster than you can say Jimmy crack corn and I don't care. I knew my fate - it would be the same as the man who hired me. Usually is.

No one had done anything wrong. This was the era of multi-nationals buying other multi-nationals to become multi-more. Re-egineering. Redundancy. It seems like such a long time ago. It was. Today this same scenario is repeated time and time again. The reasons may be different, but the outcome is the same. No matter how they try to spin it, redundant, re-ingeneering, downsizing, streamlining; it still boils down to one thing: NO JOB.

I decided right then and then that I did not want another job. I understood at that time that business had just undergone a major shift and would never be the same again. The multi-national I was with was already exporting its call centers to third world countries. There were other changes blowing in the wind. I decided that I wanted a business of my own, one where I could control my own financial well being.

Off I went to meet with my accountant. I thought perhaps some of his clients might be selling their business and I was right. How much did I want to pay, my accountant asked ... hundred thousand? half a million?

As I picked my jaw up off the floor, he asked why I wanted to buy a business. We both laughed when I told him that he would be the first one to tell me not to start one. He then looked at me straight in the eyes and said something that I will never forget "Valentina, the reason a business is for sale is because it is not doing too well or if it is, its going to cost a lot of money. Either way, it will cost and no guarantee of success. Why don't you look at direct marketing?"

He didn't quite have the terminology right, but he did give me some criteria by which to judge such a business. I left feeling deflated, like someone just blew the wind right out of my sails. Oddly enough, several weeks later I was introduced to a business which I could work from home and it even met my accountant's criteria set. Aha! Said I to myself. This is what my accountant is talking about.

This was a business that gave me the best of both worlds: my own business without the risk of starting or owning one. I liked that it did not cost a hundred thousand, not even a thousand ... and, I thought, if this does not pan out, well I've spent more on bad dinners and clothes that didn't fit. Success was there for the grabbing and thus began a new chapter of my life: The Entrepreneur Years!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Rip Along With Me

Every day the promise of fast, easy money lures people into starting a business on the Internet. Promises of big bucks and the lifestyle of the rich and famous flood the Internet. Many fall prey to this siren song of instant wealth.

You know what I mean.

Frustration and the feeling of having been taken soon set in.

But the lure is strong and somehow you feel that there's got to be a way ... I mean, look at all the gurus making truckloads of dough!

"If only I can find the silver bullet" you say to yourself. "I'm not looking to become a guru, not looking for a truckload, gosh, just a steady stream of a grand or two a month would do."

And so you can.

On this blog I will share with you my foils and foibles, my successes, the stumbling blocks along the way, the wins. There is no silver bullet --- at least I have not found one. What there is is an honest and true business that you can work from anywhere in the world, any time you want. It can pay you enormous sums of money, and it can provide you with a lifestyle that others only dream of. IT CAN. But it requires time, effort, and money.

Money?????

Yes, MONEY.

Let me explain.

Unless you are a brainiac, you need to spend some money and start with a basic course ... now if you've got lots of money, then you can leapfrog ahead of others by working one on one with one of the successful gurus. No seriously, if you have the bucks, there is no better way than pull out the plastic and taking on a mentor. Guaranteed: you will develop an income stream and it may even be a truckload or two within a year.

I did not have the big bucks. Mine is not the story of the lure of the siren song of instant riches. No, mine is a story of turning to the Internet to further my network marketing business. You see, I already had a successful network marketing business that I had built up the old traditional way. As the Internet began to gain prominence I felt that I had to turn to this method of marketing to promote my business. I became an instant freebie junkie!

I have a degree in marketing. I'm smart. How much more difficult, thought I, could it be to market on the Internet. Look at all the free information! I began to download every free e.book, subscribe to every free newsletter, attend free introductory teleclasses and webinars. I thought that I could go through the free material, pick out that which was appropriate, create a system, and voila! Quicker than you can say Bob's your uncle, I would have a system that would drive hungry schools of fish to my opportunity!

I soon came to the conclusion that if I am indeed smart, I am not smart enough to develop such a system. By now my computer was loaded with the largest e.book library (and some not so free e.books) in the world --- I know, I know, others lay claim to the same title. At least I was smart enough to realize that I needed help. Now, to be honest, there was undoubtedly some good content in all that free stuff, but most of the time I was jumping from one freebie to another and not really implementing anything at all, but more to the point, there are many freebies that I did not even open, and which to this day, remain unopened. I finally bit the bullet, scraped up enough shekels and signed up for a course!

I don't know why you decided to pursue Internet Marketing but I venture a wager that some of what I have just written rings a familiar bell for you. So join me in my venture. No promises of any sort. Along the way I have learned some basics which I will share with you. I am still learning and as I reach new gateposts, I will share those with you as well. An ocean surfer's battlecry is "Let 'er Rip" ... It should be that of an Internet Marketer as well. This is your invitation, to "Let 'er RIP ALONG WITH ME!