PROGRESS THREAD: (WildAmbitions) Moving Beyond Layoff ...

[wildambitions]

Well, it is official. Today was my last day on the job. About a month ago I was notified that my JOB was being dissolved. If you are interested in more about my reactions back then, read this post: http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/your-goals-your-fastlane-plan/21919-careful-what-u-wish.html

I am posting today to share about my next step in moving beyond layoff and unemployment.

I have always had a passion for website design and creation. I have spent endless hours working on my computer and educating myself about website installation, setup and internet marketing.

As I became more familiar with WordPress and it's powerful applications, many of my friends regularly asked me to install and upgrade their WordPress blogs. I thought about putting together a set of instructional installation videos and selling them. But, I know my friends are just like most business owners... they don't really want or have time to learn HOW to do it, they just want it done!

So, when my employer recently dissolved my position (that job had nothing to do with computers or the internet) and I was let go, I focused my energy on a a way to help others achieve their website ideas, putting my own computer use and knowledge to use.

The rest of the story can be found at my new site. Perhaps not fastlane, per say. Right now, I need to replace the income lost from the job. And there is certainly room for moving into the passing lane from here. The best part about this for me is that as I am earning money for time, I will soon be able to use these same skills to have my money working for me.

I would love to have you visit my site. The link is in my sig-line. Input welcome.

 

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[TaxGuy]

Congrats Kerry!

I hope what we briefly discussed yesterday will help and I know I'm in the same boat, even though I have the j-o-b at the moment it is really draining as I have several projects I am working on and not enough time thanks to the 50+/wk that are swallowed up by this soul-less monster called a "career".

Either way, here's to your future fastlane success, now that you have the greatest luxury of time, the sky is the limit :coolgleamA:

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Kerry,

That is how I got my start. I started developing websites for businesses. Although it still was a direct trade of my time for money, it paid the bills and allowed me to get paid FIRST instead of the government. It also fine-tuned my skills as a designer/developer to create my own system. It was potty training!!

Please keep us posted.

 

[slim_jim]

Kerry,

How far you have come since early '08, with the payment gateway, domain registration and the vacation home rental site.

Great job! No pun intended. LOL

Good luck.

 

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[hakrjak]

I'm sending you much positive energy & hoping this works well!

We had a good thread awhile back called something like "Laid Off, what job to buy?" or something like that... it was about what the easiest ways to replace your day-job income would be in the entrepreneurial realm. I don't think that thread ever ended to my satisfaction, so hopefully you'll show us that it can be done.

I'm in one of those jobs that could constantly be gone tomorrow, so I'm always interested in staying abreast of the best ways to easily replace a day job's income!

Cheers,
- Hakrjak

p.s. -- Found the thread, here it is:

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/general-business-discussion/19299-laid-off-need-buy-job.html

 

[JayKim]

Good Luck! Im starting my own site too and thanks to the link to your it will help me out. -Jay

 

[wildambitions]

Since my last post, a lot has changed, as expected.

The site has become much more focused and organized and I think it really a site for beginners to learn from. The Ultimate Solution now carries a double meaning - the name and the acronym... as in an answer and working with "US". Additionally the site itself has a theme to metaphorically guide students along.

In the last 2 months I have added a partner. You can read about here About US if you are interested. We have much of the flow of the site finalized and are still adding to some areas as we continue to expand in other areas.

The site is primarily a service site but also has built in areas to incorporate other more passive types of income.

We have had relatively steady flow of clients and although we are seeing new clients coming in more slowly, we have started to see other clients returning for additional services. Our customer service is very much hands on, so this will should pay off as time progresses.

We are considering more growth as far as expanding out team as well. Looking for and finding new clients is NOT one of my strengths... I like the technical part of building and working with the clients once they have decided to join US. Another area that we will eventually want additional and more advanced help is SEO for ourselves and our clients. We are not sure if we will out source this or build a bigger team.

 

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[bflash98]

congratulations sounds like you are making great progress.

Looks like your about us link is not working...

 

[mkzhang]

Kerry, your about us link has a typo after "www.", you wrote "www/"

 

[James Fake]

Looks like a good start! I was in the same boat as well after getting laid off. I'll def be watching for updates!

 

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[tchandy]

If you are still wondering how to set up a site, I strongly encourage you to check out Kerry's site. I am new to setting up a site like most newbies are but Kerry has found a way to keep it simple and provide a crawl, walk, run explanation. Since her site went online a few months ago, I have seen the site go from good to better to great and it seems like the site continues to improve.

Kerry-
You seemed to be on the right track and I wish you great success. Now that I'm back I'll get in touch with you on my upcoming site.

Tom

 

[Sparlin]

Great job on the website. It takes a lot of courage to step out into the unknown (especially when you are depending on the income). Speed +++ for applying effort towards your ultimate goals.

 

[wildambitions]

Kerry, your about us link has a typo after "www.", you wrote "www/"

LOL, THANKS! So, much for my reputation of paying attention to details. It is fixed now!

 

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[LagunaLauren]

Kerry-Best wishes for your success! Excited for you in your new venture. Thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[wildambitions]

We picked up a few more clients this month at The Ultimate Solution.

I also redesigned my original 30DC site New and Used Guns For Sale - and More!. In doing so, I have been able to increase participation by more than 1000%. Now I need to focus on getting an income conversion there and that one should be established for awhile.

Add Income Stream: We created some sites with some domains that we had laying around and placed them for sale on Flippa.

Add Income Stream: In addition, another niche opportunity presented itself that we will also be working on. It is a product based authority site, and we have a full time and well known industry writer that posts for us regularly. It still remains to be seen how much income this one will produce. Again, great potential but it will depend on the execution.

Add Income Stream: I have a third website niche business that has recently started as well. Still in the beginning phase here but it should be up and running soon. I expect this one to take off a bit more rapidly as it's niche is always popular.

And just because I can, I started my own personal blog.

 

[CMCarlin]

Wow this is very inspiring. Glad to hear of your success and I look forward to future updates.

 

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[Gymjunkie]

I admire your drive and actions Kerry!! Be proud of yourself!!!! You have great future ahead)

 

[Bilgefisher]

The one thing I found very nice about US, the amount of work rolled into the package. I have converted my blog over, and I do not have to worry about maintenance. That was one of the biggest problems I had before. I want to have a nice blog of my own, but I don;t want to deal with the nuts and bolts of it. I just want to write to it.

 

[randallg99]

Kerry, this is great to read- so glad to see you making terrific progress... and keep the updates coming.

 

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[wildambitions]

WOW, another month gone by. Where does the time go? Lots going on with me.

Bad thing, I have gained all the weight I lost back, now that I am working form home. Funny thing is that I am eating less. Problem is that I don't eat regularly (I forget). And I don't drink enough water. I will revisit this and come up with my "fix" by the next update.

My personal blog has been fun. I don't write on it as often as I had hoped but it looks like it might be gaining some followers. This should help with my own branding. I write every other or every third day. I seriously just journal, stop at about 300 words (gotta love that WP counts it for you) and add a pic to and a few links to things of interest to every post. Sometimes I even just add silly stuff. I am amazed at what gets indexed. Funny thing the internet. I even have some actual comments - and I do enjoy replying to any comments that I get. Feel free to check me out, lol.

I added a few more clients to US. (Bilge, we still have more we can do on your site, get back to me whenever you are ready). I still have some work to do on the site which I have been putting off while developing other areas. I have some new premium WP themes that I am learning to use and plan to work primarily with them for custom type WP sites. Way Cool stuff. In addition to clients that needed websites we also added a few clients requesting some of our recurring payment options (could use about 1000 of this type of client). All in time, I guess. We still focus on hands on support and keeping customer service high. It seems to be working.

I have continued to expand my affiliate marketing knowledge and application and am involved in 2 very exciting projects. One is a FL spin off project similar to the thread about Affiliate Alliances that Jon posted. We have also identified some mistakes that had been made which has prevented us from collecting on thousands of clicks (damn learning curve, lol). Now that they have been fixed maybe we'll be able to report some of that addition income. Every penny counts.

Added addition income: advertising on my Twitter account with Twittad. That is an affiliate link, I would love to have anyone here use it if they are interested. PM me with any questions. It is a free service, you don't have to buy anything (I haven't). What I make here is paid by the advertiser. I don't make a ton here, and it works better, the more followers you have on your twitter account (more advertisers request you to advertise for them). After the initial set up which takes about 15 minutes on a few sites all I do is join advertisers campaigns when they email me. 7 days later, I have money in the account. I started by getting $1 at a time 3 months ago and now get up to $20. Not huge but very little effort involved. I am doing this "just because", not because it is FL - it is not.

To wrap this up and not bore you all... like I said, every penny counts. My plan is multiple streams of income. Right now they may all be small, over time they should eventually grow exponentially. As they grow, I continue my personal education, grow and brand myself. I try many new things and am no longer afraid to make mistakes. I remain true to myself, I help others, I am learning and I LOVE it. To me, there is nothing better.

 

[TC2]

Congratulation on adding new customers and making extra income. Everything starts small. Keep up with your affiliate marketing efforts, you will earn great income.

Keep up with your blog, I am a regular reader!

 

[Brootal]

Great post and glad to see you are making progress.

If you dont mind me asking:
1) What is your main source for learning the necessary affiliate marketing skills? Are you familiar with the warrior forums?
2) Are you using mac or PC

Thanks

 

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[wildambitions]

Great post and glad to see you are making progress.

If you dont mind me asking:
1) What is your main source for learning the necessary affiliate marketing skills? Are you familiar with the warrior forums?
2) Are you using mac or PC

Thanks

No, I don't mind you asking at all. I love to share.

1. Networking. Yes, I am a member of the warrior forum although I should spend more time there. My latest forum participation time has been taken up with the theme support forum for the new premium theme I purchased, the forum at abestweb.com and reading here.
2. MAC... all the way! Converted in a long time ago (in the 90's) and will never go back.

I am a regular reader!

This is going to sound weird, but why? What do you like about the blog that makes you want to be a regular reader. I want to be sure to continue whatever the draw is.

 

[TC2]

This is going to sound weird, but why? What do you like about the blog that makes you want to be a regular reader. I want to be sure to continue whatever the draw is.

I love to read blog that has personal touch. As an entrepreneur, I always want to learn from other like minded entrepreneurs. By reading other people's blog, I can see a totally different picture from other people's angle.

Of course, I usually skip very personal blog post. So write something about how you improve your life will take me back to your site.

 

[ZDS]

Hey Kerry!

On ultimate solutions, I'd reword this:

"Don’t want to learn to do it yourself?

Skip the steps and call US now!"



It sounds rather demeaning to the visitor.

Anyways, great progress!

Keep going!

 

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[wildambitions]

It sounds rather demeaning to the visitor.

Never looked at it that way but if you read it that way, others may also. Thanks, changed.

 

[Bilgefisher]

No time to do it yourself?

Skip the steps and call US now!

Now I like that slogan. For me that is a great hook. The #1 reason I have my website with you. It also makes it sound like you are on the customers side.

 

[Gymjunkie]

Now I like that slogan. For me that is a great hook. The #1 reason I have my website with you. It also makes it sound like you are on the customers side.

I agree with Bilge, I liked that slogan too! Clients are lazy and deep down everyone wants to take the easy way out! I'd keep it probably!

 

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[wildambitions]

It also makes it sound like you are on the customers side.

We are! :banana:

 

[TC2]

Just saw your new looks! Nice. Job well done!