Long Intro from a former Lurker

[sadlerj]

I love internet forums, if you find the right one there is no greater source of information and community out there on the web.

Instead of lurking, like I usually do, I want to turn over a new leaf and get more active.

Here's my story:

I'm pushing 40. In my 20s, in the 1990s, I skipped college and went to work for an internet provider - Mindspring, in the days of dialup access. I worked technical support, which was low entry, low skill. I didn't have much ambition other than to maximize pay and minimize work. My goals at the time were getting drunk and meeting girls.

I ended up working for some various startups, and it took me from Pennsylvania to Seattle. I freaked on 9/11, moved back home, and before I knew it I was 30. I decided to go back to school, but at the time we were still reeling from the dot-com crash. To my perspective all computer jobs were destine to go overseas. So instead of computers, I decided to go into medicine. Medical imaging for cardiology to be more specific. It's not bad work, 60k a year, but now I'm married and I have a kid, a mortgage, a car payment, and a student loan payment. Making ends meet is hard.

My professional skill lacks a lot of scale and control. It takes me 45 minutes to scan a patient. Also, my scan isn't complete unless it is interrupted by a cardiologist. The equipment I use is very expensive. I see no feasible way I could work for myself. I simply lack the connections, education, and capital (especially capital) to start my own imaging service. Competition is pretty fierce too.

I've always been a hustler. I remember when I was a kid a candy shop took over an old automotive warehouse and they sold candy at the door wholesale. A kid at school offered me $.50 for some Pop Rocks I paid a dime for. Ding-Ding! By the end of the week I was making $3-$4 a day and on the weekends I had a candy stand instead of a lemonade stand. Unfortunately my enterprise seemed to bother every adult in my life, and between teachers and neighborhood parents I was eventually shut down.

There have been a lot of ventures between then and now, publishing, craft shows, Ebay, Amazon... Last year I read MJ's book and I started reading the forum. Biophase inspired me. I got my shit together, got a business tax ID, paid for a Worldwide Brands subscription. I settled on a product based on google analytics - Sheepskin Rugs. I did all the backwork for a dropshipping ecommerce website, got my merchant account, established a supplier…

Right before I launched the Sandy Hook tragedy occurred. I am a gunowner, and I've had a particular obsession with Cold War weaponry. Prices of guns, bullets, and so on, nearly tripled overnight. Ding-Ding, my hustle light went on.

The gunworld online is pretty primitive, a lot of suppliers still have Anglefire websites with phone numbers to call and order. I bought a ton of rifle magazines (Clips as some of you may call them) and I started a better website than my competition. Firearm magazines (clips) and great to sell online because Amazon and Ebay won't touch them. One morning I woke up and noticed I had over a dozen orders waiting. Things exploded over the next couple of days more and more orders piled in. I was staying up until 3AM packing and shipping orders. At the rate I was going I was suddenly making more money than my dayjob. My sheepskin rug website went on the backburner.

I traced my sudden popularity back to a mention my website got on a blog. I had done zero marketing, everything was driven to me by one blog. I reordered supplies, bought a second product, and... my orders dropped off. I fooled around a little with Adwords, but my advertising expenses soon overtook my profits.

Immediate success also brought to light some problems with my business plans, my inability to expand, my lack of a solid supplier, and the fact that firearms were in a panic bubble. Also, I wasn't especially thrilled with dealing in such controversial products. So, I shut down my gun site, and I shut down my sheepskin site, and I've been re-assessing ever since.

Quickflash success whet my appetite, but now I am looking for something better, something scalable and sustainable.

I have been inspired again by HeldforRansom's success with Kindle publishing. I am also considering another ecommerce venture. Presently I'm trying to organize my time a little better, having a little taste of success has given me perspective on what I need to do to make things work.

One of those things is to involve myself in a like-minded community. Here I am. I will update my progress when I have some, and being an older dude with some experience I hope I can help answer a few questions too.

 

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