I had my first major FY moment when I was 16. At that point everyone around me believed that I will go to study chemistry in the top university of the country I was born in because I was really good at it, I won some prizes and it was pretty obvious to everyone that that's exactly what I will be doing in my life. Instead, I went to a military college. That was a shock for everyone who knew me and perhaps the stupidest decision in my life. I hated so many things about the army.
Fast forward 13 years, I was a successful career officer in the Soviet Army, a Captain, working as a researcher in an advanced research facility. That's when my second major FY moment arrived. I was supposed to serve for 25 years no matter what unless I became mad or seriously ill, but I decided to quit, and I did it. For the sake of what? To pursue full time an intellectual hobby that I was very keen on then, and that I am still very keen on. I became a student again, then a few years later a teacher. I was writing books, articles, travelling around the country with lectures. But it wasn't entrepreneurship, I was simply enjoying the ride while having very little money. So it wasn't sustainable. After several years of that glorious life, I had to find a job.
Fast forward another 9 years, my job came to a dead end and I was already over 40 — too old to start a new career. So instead I started a new life. That was my third major FY moment. I moved to Scotland, became a student of a Scottish university, got my MSc with Distinction in computing, and worked since then as a Software Developer of one or another kind for different British companies. In the last years, I worked as a contractor Mobile Developer, was earning good money, enjoying new technologies but at the same time pursuing my old hobby. I have a massive complex website and a bunch of mobile apps that bring me a steady income, but not big enough to fly solo.
The fourth major FY moment took place only half a year ago. My contracts were less and less inspiring and I was fed up dealing with clueless employers who had more money than brains. Also, I am already 56 and the idea of selling my time just to get some money is becoming more and more revolting. So I stopped job hunting and returned to my old intellectual hobby, but this time as an entrepreneur.
I need to rebuild my website on a new platform (most probably MEAN stack). I need to update, and sometimes rebuild my mobile apps. This requires a lot of time and effort, and it will increase my income somewhat, but it will not bring me the kind of success I am looking for.
So I tried something different. I worked for a few months close to 24x7 and created a video course teaching the basics of that lifelong intellectual hobby of mine. I kept pre-selling this course while working on it, and that helped me to pay my bills successfully, including the expensive mortgage I got while being a contractor. But since I kept pre-selling the same course to the same list of about 10000 subscribers, when I finally launched it, the sales were underwhelming. I hoped I would expand the sales with affiliates but so far that didn't work out. In addition, I created this course in such a way that I offered my feedback on people's homework, and that wasn't a good idea as providing that feedback takes a lot of my time.
My second attempt I am starting right now is a series of webinars on a more advanced, more specialised subject. The idea is that I will conduct and record those webinars just once and then sell them as a course. I have many different topics in mind and plan to gradually build a whole online school with a wide selection of courses.
But the ultimate idea of the money tree is different. I envisage it as a membership website full of the premium versions of my apps and widgets. No AdSense, no promotions, just pure premium content. This will require many months, perhaps even years of work and I will have to do it in parallel with my courses, but they are basically about the same thing, working in the same direction, so shouldn't be too bad. I think the most vital problem for me now is to find some affiliates and to learn how to work with them effectively.
Looking forward to communicating with like-minded people here, sharing ideas and learning from you.
Fast forward 13 years, I was a successful career officer in the Soviet Army, a Captain, working as a researcher in an advanced research facility. That's when my second major FY moment arrived. I was supposed to serve for 25 years no matter what unless I became mad or seriously ill, but I decided to quit, and I did it. For the sake of what? To pursue full time an intellectual hobby that I was very keen on then, and that I am still very keen on. I became a student again, then a few years later a teacher. I was writing books, articles, travelling around the country with lectures. But it wasn't entrepreneurship, I was simply enjoying the ride while having very little money. So it wasn't sustainable. After several years of that glorious life, I had to find a job.
Fast forward another 9 years, my job came to a dead end and I was already over 40 — too old to start a new career. So instead I started a new life. That was my third major FY moment. I moved to Scotland, became a student of a Scottish university, got my MSc with Distinction in computing, and worked since then as a Software Developer of one or another kind for different British companies. In the last years, I worked as a contractor Mobile Developer, was earning good money, enjoying new technologies but at the same time pursuing my old hobby. I have a massive complex website and a bunch of mobile apps that bring me a steady income, but not big enough to fly solo.
The fourth major FY moment took place only half a year ago. My contracts were less and less inspiring and I was fed up dealing with clueless employers who had more money than brains. Also, I am already 56 and the idea of selling my time just to get some money is becoming more and more revolting. So I stopped job hunting and returned to my old intellectual hobby, but this time as an entrepreneur.
I need to rebuild my website on a new platform (most probably MEAN stack). I need to update, and sometimes rebuild my mobile apps. This requires a lot of time and effort, and it will increase my income somewhat, but it will not bring me the kind of success I am looking for.
So I tried something different. I worked for a few months close to 24x7 and created a video course teaching the basics of that lifelong intellectual hobby of mine. I kept pre-selling this course while working on it, and that helped me to pay my bills successfully, including the expensive mortgage I got while being a contractor. But since I kept pre-selling the same course to the same list of about 10000 subscribers, when I finally launched it, the sales were underwhelming. I hoped I would expand the sales with affiliates but so far that didn't work out. In addition, I created this course in such a way that I offered my feedback on people's homework, and that wasn't a good idea as providing that feedback takes a lot of my time.
My second attempt I am starting right now is a series of webinars on a more advanced, more specialised subject. The idea is that I will conduct and record those webinars just once and then sell them as a course. I have many different topics in mind and plan to gradually build a whole online school with a wide selection of courses.
But the ultimate idea of the money tree is different. I envisage it as a membership website full of the premium versions of my apps and widgets. No AdSense, no promotions, just pure premium content. This will require many months, perhaps even years of work and I will have to do it in parallel with my courses, but they are basically about the same thing, working in the same direction, so shouldn't be too bad. I think the most vital problem for me now is to find some affiliates and to learn how to work with them effectively.
Looking forward to communicating with like-minded people here, sharing ideas and learning from you.
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