Member Stories
There is an amazing wealth of talent among the members of Wonderful Web Women. Every day I receive emails with beautiful stories. Stories of ventures that have been tried and succeeded, and stories of ventures tried without success but with great lessons learned. This is the place to share your stories with other members. Tell us what you are working on, what works and what doesn’t – and what your goals and dreams are.
Please include links to your web site, we hope to send some traffic and opportunities your way 
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I have been struggling to try to make money online for about 5 years now. I really want to be at home with my children, but I still want them to have the lifestyle that we are accustomed to. I have spent alot of money with not much success. Now I am trying some new things, but I would really appreciate any input anyone has.
Thanks
Hi Cassondra
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I truly hope that the community we are building here will help you to find a business model / idea that feels right for you. Passion is so important for success. I had a quick look at your site and love the idea of including quotes on your niche.
We interview Rosalind Gardner in a few weeks on affiliate marketing. It is a great way to get some cash and importantly some confidence so I hope you can be on that call.
With your interest in parenting, have a look at a site that is my very favourite. I am working with my local school on a project and the first product will be launched in the 2nd week of December. The product will be produced with the children.
http://www.52virtues.com
Hope to get to know you better on our calls.
Cheers
Janet
Hi Cassondra, I can so relate to your desire to be at home with your kids while still producing an income. After the birth of my first child in 2002, I decided to take my virtual business to the next level. Since then I’ve had another child in 2004 and am thrilled to say that the Professional Virtual Assistant (PVA) business has truly been the answer for me to work from home, not outlay any money other than some minimal marketing and having a web site and still maintain my family as my priority.
If you have any type of business-related skill, e.g. typing, transcription, web site maintenance, writing, editing, etc. the list is really endless; becoming a virtual assistant could be your answer. You are truly your own boss; you use the resources that you have available, internet, computer, a desk and your own experience and talents. And best of all, generally a PVA charges rates from $20-$70 or more per hour CDN depending on your area of expertise.
I went through the process of trying various other entrepreneurial ventures but it finally dawned on me that my best chance was to market myself and what I know best and what I do best that I learned while working for Private and Public sector employers for nearly 20 years.
I sincerely wish you all the best with your goal to be there for your kids, it’s the most rewarding job there is; but let’s face it, unless you’re holding the winning lottery ticket, we Mum’s still need to make some kind of income.
If you’d like to hear more, please do not hesitate to contact me for more information.
Karen
Hi Cassondra,
What is the industry where you are try to make money online and what are some of the things that you are doing. I would like to know just in case I have some feedback for you that would help.
Here’s to your success!
Kim Beasley
The Blog Queen (www.TheBlogQueen.net)
The Ouch Factor Doctor (www.TheOuchFactor.com)
Hi Cassondra,
I can relate to what you’re going through. I have been trying to succeed in the internet business for two years now but not there yet. I built two of my websites but nothing happened. Three months ago, I decided to hire a coach. With his guidance, I wrote 26 articles for my website and blog and finished my ebook.
Right now, I’m writing my salesletter. I think in order to succeed, we just have to be persistent in pursuing our goals. I hope for your success.
Alma
http://www.diabetestomorrow.com
http://www.healthnwellnessarticles.com
<p>Hi Alma and all you wonderful web women. Excellent advice about the coach Alma. A lot of times we know what we need to do but can feel really unfocused because of the choices we have. Coaching is a great way to get that clarity. I am working with a few women 1 0n 1 at the moment on a 30 day coaching program I am running and I’m amazed at how much people can achieve when they have a deadline and someone to keep them on track and make them accountable. And as a coach it is incredibly rewarding to see someone really take action.
A coach is a real commitment (but guaranteed really to make you get results). Another great way is to use peer mentors. This is the beauty of the mastermind as you can have 2 or more people who hold each other accountable. It is not as intense as coaching but I’ve found it to be invaluable in creating success.
If any of you are interested in forming a peer mentor mastermind (and you are gold members) let me know as I am keen to help faciliate this for you.
To your success!
Janet</p>
This is a new post relating to today’s phone call. I wanted to share some more ideas with Marnie regarding Alaska. But before I go into that I should introduce myself. My name is Connie, I live in Sydney, Australia. I have been part of a couple of mentoring programmes regarding emotional direct response marketing and also how to write and publish e-books. For various reasons I have not applied a lot of my knowledge. I am in the process or writing an ebook and I have not got a website up yet. One of my passions is Yoga and I have just gone back into teaching a couple of classes a week as I love the interaction with people and to see them change and blossom. I love teaching people skills that improve their lives and also move them towards doing things they believed they never could do. I have worked in women’s health and parent support and designed and taught a number of courses over the years. I had a child very late in life so spending time with him has been my top priority the last few years. I am just starting to spread my wings again.
Back to Alaska: As I mentioned, my brother is a rock climber and he also does ski touring in very remote areas like Greenland, Iceland etc. He usually goes by himself or with his partner, not in a group. What attracts him to these areas are the following things: Wilderness, unspoilt nature, loneliness, getting away from all the hustle and bustle of civilasation, getting away from pollution and getting very fit in the process. There is also a certain degree of risk involved which gets the adrenalin pumping: dangerous weather conditions, treacherous glaciers (crevices you can fall into and die if you are not careful), having to carry all your supplies, food, cooker, tent, sleeping bags and having to be completely self sufficient for a number of weeks (depending on what route you take). So if there is any injury or the weather turns really bad or you misjudged the route or time it will take there can be serious problems. There are also dangerous wild animals in certain regions.
What I was thinking Marnie – all the above can be sales points and you can solve problems. My brother belongs to a small group of people who take risks like that and so far he has survived – but he has had a few close shaves. I don’t think that this market is big enough – they are absolutely passionate about their pursuits and spend top money on top equipment but I don’t think the numbers are there to make it a viable business to cater for that group. (These people would be only too happy to be able to hire all their gear when arriving in Alaska, buying their maps and dehydrated food etc. – but because their life depends on the equipment it would have to be absolutely top quality, faultless and the newest technology…again as a business proposition I don’t think the numbers would stack up but I might be wrong).
BUT: There MAY be a substantial number of people who would like an extreme experience like that, that takes them to the edge WITHOUT taking all the risks, having to do all the planning and shopping etc. I don’t know whether any agents offer tours along those lines, provide the gear etc. If they don’t it might be worth a try. Also, you should contact Rock climbing associations (all over the world, they always look for new and exciting climbs, they are another mad and passionate group that does spend money). Are there exciting rock climbs in Alaska? It might pay you to find out.What time of year is best?
Bushwalking groups, Scout groups? School leavers? Teachers?
Your market has to consist of people that are either very passionate about something and spare no expense or a group that has serious problems, are very emotional about it and need an answer to their problems right now.On top of that there have to be sufficient numbers.
I know nothing about Alaska except that it is cold for a lot of the time, that there are bears, lakes and trout. It would take something exceptional to attract me to visit. But if there was tour for parents with young children and the children would be taught skiing while the parents do something else I might be interested. Or if there was a snow yoga retreat. I hope you get my drift, you need to be very specific about your target market and know what they need, what their problems are. If your really want to work with agents maybe you could pick agents that specialise in travel for baby boomers, or adventurers or parents with kids, or young people, or gourmet tours or whatever else might be out there. Maybe you could put a package together to cater for one of these passionate groups and then sell that package to agents or lead the first one yourself to test it out, to make sure it works and get people’s feed back. Make it a cheap inaugural tour so you cover costs, get testimonials and feedback, improve it and then sell it.
I am sure the inhabitants of the various villages have lots to offer too – maybe people could go for a week to a village to be taught a certain skill or philosophy. People who go on long cruises ususally have lots of money and time and often are bored – maybe they would want to fly inland for a day to a village to do something different.
I hope this is helpful and also if anybody else reads this post, try and transfer those ideas to your area of expertise, you might surprise yourself what you can come up with.
I will keep you informed of my progress and may eventually need some feedback myself.
Connie
Hi All – What a wonderful concept. I have always been active in promoting and assisting women to suceed in “non-traditional” fields.
I am a qualified Electronics Tech and hold a MBA specializing in Internet Marketing. I have just about always been the only woman working in my office, with the exception of administration staff. My current role is to build the profile of a local IT company to the Australian Federal Government – I do everything from Business Development to Project Management at the moment.
Prior to this, I owned and ran several retail DVD stores. Very rewarding but time consuming. As a result, I have a strong Entertainment focus and knowledge base.
I have two children, a boy 13 and a girl 11, and I’ve
been actively building my online businesses for approximately 6 months and things are slowly coming together.
My main goal is to build income to support the family so that I can spend more time with the Family doing “fun things”.
My daughter is most interested in what I’m doing and has set up several Squidoo Lenses and is now starting her mailing list for Recipes. Of course, I’m helping her – but this will be her own thing.
My sites are:
http://dvdunlocker.arvoreentreasures.com
http://theentertainmentgiveaway.com
http://theentertainmentgiveaway.com/moviesandmusic.htm
http://homebusiness.arvoreentreasures.com
http://removespyware.arvoreentreasures.com
http://xmas.arvoreentreasures.com
Cheers,
Charly
Hi Connie and Charly
Thanks so much for sharing your stories with us. Connie, I have left a comment for you in the forum at http://www.wonderfulwebforum.com . It is great that you have taken the time to leave such valuable feedback for Marnie. I”m always amazed at the amount of help members give each other, especially when we get together for our member masterminds after each interview. You just never know where the conversation will lead – even to Alaska.
Charly, great to have a techy person on board. I love how you are working with your daughter to create her own business. How powerful to start your own mailing list at 11. She is very fortunate to have such a great role model.
Looking forward to getting to know you both better through Wonderful Web Women.
Cheers
Janet
Hi everyone
I am new to this website as well as internet marketing. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in viewing my website(which is brand new) and giving me advice on how to make it happen. I want sales, sales, sales! I am planning to keep adding and changing product as well as adding an affiliate (or 2 ) to my site. please be as critical as possible. I want success!
Thanks so much
Monique Gerber
Hi there everyone, another new member here to introduce herself.
I am 47, married, no children and based in the UK. I have a lot of experience, more skills than I ever realised and more ability than most people could want. I wish I could use some of it to my advantage occasionaly!
I work full-time as a teacher when I am not suffering from depression and sitting at home feeling sorry for myself.
I have been dabbling in internet marketing for nearly 3 years now. I have never really got anywhere much, just a few extra dollars here and there and some huge bills on my credit cards for stuff I bought.
Things have to change and change soon. I cannot continue this dabbling. I have to turn this into a proper business or stop. I am setting myself some goals but could really do with an accountability partner who will kick my butt when I don’t get things done.
Anybody out there up for the job?
regards
Jean
Hi Monique
As a gold member you can submit your site for me and any other members to review in the mastermind call we have at the end of each interview. Just send me an email and I’ll make sure I take the time on the call to talk with you and give you feedback.
Another great place is to use http://www.wonderfulwebforum.com as there is a place there to ask for feedback from members.
Great to have you with us.
Cheers
Janet
Hello everyone… I’m Jeanne from Perth, Western Australia. I signed up for this website a few days ago but haven’t really done much yet. My dad passed away last week so everything has been on hold for quite awhile lately.
I’m a psychologist and I have a website and also blog… I’ve created both myself — website is a product of two online courses which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both have had to take a bit of a backseat in terms of energy and commitment… but I’m starting now getting back!
One of the problems I have is that I work on my own… and no one I know has either a website or blog… it would be really good to connect with like-minded people!
A couple of months ago, my second book “Outer Mongolia… no longer a fantasy” was published and I have enjoyed the whole process. I know I would benefit from a few marketing techniques — it is not my strong suit but I’m a quick learner!
I’m really looking forward to becoming involved… I’m interested in assisting people to uncover their dreams and achieve their goals. I believe anything is possible.
Take care and thanks for having me
Best wishes
Jeanne
Hello everyone…I’m Helen from Hampshire in the UK.
For 25 years I worked in the finance and business sector for Corporate banks until 2 years ago when I joined a small company that helps entrepreneurs access finance to start or grow their business.
I have spent a large proportion of my time over the last 18 months supporting female entrepreneurs with mentoring and coaching to get their business started or progressed. It was at this point I sat back and realised in all my years with the banks I had only ever worked with a handful of businesswomen. This is largely due to the fear of finance many women have which in turn prevents them from ever realising their dream of working for themselves.
It became clear to me that there are barriers to women that men don’t encounter.
Through my experiences I have created the “Knowledge Is Power Toolkit” specifically for women who want to start their own business but lack the confidence or self belief or need some inspiration to help them with that 1st important step.
This is an opportunity with a difference. I am passionate about helping as many women as I can realise their dreams. My website launched this week and I’m so proud of my product, I just know it will help so many women.
Let me know if I can be help, I’ll gladly see what I can do for you
Thanks
Helen
Hello Helen here again…. If anyone wants to contact me they can do so at http://www.kipsecrets.com
Thanks
Helen
I just signed up for this website, after hearing about it through a marketing newsletter I sometimes read… it received high reviews from a fair number of people (unlike the other sites in the reviews) so I had to check it out and see what I might be able to gain from it.
I am a web designer and have been one for about 11 years now, but while I have been self-employed for a couple of 2-3 year periods during that time, I never seem to be able to get beyond survival mode. I was a single parent, my daughters are now grown, and I now work part-time for an SEO guru to make ends meet.
I am interested in branching out into other lines of business–web design requires an incredible amount of constant learning, and while I do like learning, I would like to change over to something along the lines of a personal virtual assistant, where I don’t have to be learning at such a prodigious pace all the time. At the same time, it would also be nice to have a business where I don’t need to be putting in the hours to make money (like the hosting business I also keep), but which needs only a limited amount of input most of the time. A regular income is a luxury I really appreciate, one that is produced by a personal venture would be wonderful.
I am looking for ideas, what has worked for others, new roads to travel, and that’s what brings me here. Not just to learn more about marketing (although I have learned a great deal from my associate), but also about what has worked for others at a similar crossroads.
I will never give up web design–I really love it–but I would like to scale back on it a bit. Any and all ideas are welcome! –Pat
Great to see you here Pat and welcome. It is interesting that you mention the role of a virtual assistant as well as hosting. Kathie Thomas who I interviewed a few months ago, pioneered the virtual assistant industry in Australia and I know that Kathie also runs a successful hosting service which really complements what she does. They are certainly 2 fields that can work well together.
Looking forward to getting to know you through here as well as the forum.
Cheers
Janet
Hi – I have been a free member for some time – but just signed up today to upgrade to Gold. I have only been working online for about a year. I run a pet sitting busieness in Dallas TX as well as working full time as a technical instructor for an oilfield company.
Last August I started my blog http://www.workingwithpets.com as a way to help others to start and grow a pet business. This year I want to expand this to begin coaching other pet business owners and release several e-products for pet entrepreneurs.
This past week I launched a forum – http://www.petbusinessforum.com as a place where pet professionals can network and share ideas. I also plan to launch an e-zine this month.
I would love help to gather ideas about how best to find pet business owners online and communicate with them about my blog and forum.
Danielle
Hi Danielle,
I would suggest that you start with a friend of mine, Kim Bloomer. You can reach her at http://www.aspenbloompetcare.com/
Thanks Kim – I have been in contact with Kim Bloomer and we are going to set up a time to meet on the phone and talk about helping each other.
Thanks very much for the referral!
Hi ladies, I am still defining myself. I am in the US, which explains such. Wow time flies.
Kristi Sayles introducted me to this site about a month ago but I was so busy I hadn’t time to really examine it. However I knew it was something I wanted to come back to after reading that Jam Packed colaborative effort by many of the women on this site with some extremely valuable information.
This is a really exceptional site. I started my serious internet experience on the internet some 7 years ago. Like Jean, I had dabbled in internet marketing for to many years — to many to remember. The businesses and sites I created where really niche sites in health with themes of self improvement.
I also ran a business in Note Brokering. This provided my bread an butter so I didn’t really get serious about the internet until I had a bout with illness.
This really got me thinking about where I had been and where I was to go.
Looking back at my career I had equal amounts of failures and successes in the businesses I operated. These were businesses primarily in the IT field. I also, attended CoachU and pursued coaching for some time.
Back to My illness, it was one of those fluke incidents that defy reality. But I came to grips with the limitations and started anew.
One of my first successes on the internet was a study I did. I participated in many internet marketing activities, especially Joint Ventures Giveaways.
At that time i noticed there was a kind of insensitivity by some of the big name marketers online that over and over my subscribers would share with me.
This prompted me to really investigate these claims. I went underground and came back with a popular CRM review of internet marketing. This book was called, “Are You Guilty of… Leaving money on the table”.
It showed what was happening in the online marketplace and it illuminated case stories of marketers who provided, not only good Customer Relations Management (CRM), it provided a starting point for improvement in the marketplace as it related to customers. No customers — No business, right?
My thought was this. If customers are not getting what they need they will certainly find it somewhere else. In fact I spoke of IM, transformation, then, as many are speaking of it now.
I continued to focus on Joint Ventures and collaborative activities that could in some way improve the marketplace.
One area that affected my subscribers was a niche market called “Resell Rights”.
This was a big secret clan but many were making huge amounts of money doing it, then early in 2006 the bottom started to fall out.
This was largely due to market saturation and a misunderstanding of what Resell Rights were and how exactly they were used.
There had been many successful launches using these products but they were fairly high priced for the beginner. Most had to obtain them in groups of 10 or more, then sell them to their list.
By the end of 2006 this market was well saturated and people had begun to stop buying. There were a number of businesses that sprung up and started selling these products for pennies on the dollar.
Something had to be done! After a successful firesale to raise capital for another project I had interest in, I Joint Ventured and formed a collective called Masterresellrightsblowout.com. The purpose of this collective was to provide valuable products that worked and sell them for a fair price, with the right, “rights”. But also to introduce the concept of Market Positioning. This was done successfully offline, but there was nothing online that met with success on the broad scale.
So I figured we could do an experiment and see if it would work online. Well to my amazement and joy it was well recieved dispite a few setbacks with the collective.
Today Masterresellrightsblowout.com can claim credit for starting the “Resell Flipping” craze that is sweeping across the internet like Wildfire.
There is now domain flipping, website flipping, blog flipping, product flipping, click flipping and of course my favorite “resell rights”. Can you believe it folks are earning 6 figures doing this and many are newbies!
At present I am engaged in another first. It is the C-C-F-M project. Myself, my partner and the masterresellrightsblowout.com are in development of an exciting piece of software that we believe will set a presidence in how folks manage the numerous memberships they hold and allow for long term revenue via a Joint Venture with Membershipsite owners.
I have written far to much at this time so if you are interested to know how you may participate as a membershipsite owner or even an affiliate, you can read about it here c-c-f-m.com. We also have a buzz going on our blog to guess what ccfm stands for and win premium access to the advanced features of this software when we launch.
I have really enjoyed reading the stories on this blog and as soon as I can free up some more time will look to becoming an active part of this community.
lol
K
P.S. WWWTeam, please contact me I/We would love to have this site integrated into the software. It will allow the “membership finder” to be diverse and very exciting for the users.
Hey K
It sounds like you have some pretty exciting things happening. Looking forward to hearing more about what you do and the capabilities of your new software.
Cheers
Janet
My name is Terrie Routh. I began Internet marketing in 1998 after injuries from work forced me to go back to college. I was a welding inspector building rail cars for 10 years and before that was a quality assurance professional in industrial applications! After my injuries, I finished my degree in business and went to trade school to become a certified welding inspector.
After I became certified, I fell ill with multiple diseases which took a toll on me both physically and emotionally. As a single mom who raised 3 sons by herself with no support from their dad, I had become totally self reliant and had not prepared for something as devastating as illness.
To make a long story short, I have learned that my strengths are English, writing, quality control, quality assurance management, and welding inspection
I continue to work online but only earn enough to pay utilities since I’m on dial-up, and disability today is but a dream with all the government red tape, but I will not allow that fact to get me down.
I live in the Ozark mountains and am lobbying my Senators to back implementing legislation to bring DSL into the Ozark mountain rural areas, as dial-up Internet in this day and age is not an option for home business.
My name is Linda Corby. I have been around on the internet for over 19 years now. I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands, about 16 miles off the coast of France.
I live with my hubby Brian and youngest daughter April who is beautiful, Brian isn’t bad either, in fact he is a wonderful guy, laughing, we wouldn’t have been married for over 35 years otherwise.
My oldest daughter Clarissa lives in Perth WA with her husband Marc and my two grandsons, Jamie and Jude-Ben.
My dream is to move with Brian and April to Australia and live within a reasonable distance of Clarissa so I can spend time with them. I actually love it in Australia and I am the one who wanted to move and live there originally before Clarissa went, I love the Australian way of life and think the people are great or at least all the ones I have met there have been.
I have done all sorts of jobs from being a member on the board of a blue chip company, to running our family (My hubby Brain and self) owned 24 Hr Recovery Service, where I did every job from management to driving the trucks. We sold the Recovery Service in 1997 after Brian had a heart attack in 1996. I then took a job at a retail outlet, had a horrendous accident at work and ended up partially disabled through it.
I have been a writer since I could hold a pencil, was first published in the 1980’s and have written a number of books over the years, some published some not as yet.
I had three ambitions in life from a child, one was to have a happy family with children I have done this, two was to show-jump and I have did this to Grade A standard under B.S.J.A rules (British Show Jumping Association) and three was to be a published author, which I am now.
I tend to take up good causes, am politically motivated and stood for election in Jersey Channel Islands in 1999, hating injustice of any kind. I am the type of person who isn’t frightened of their own shadow and have been a guest speaker at some political events.
I think Wonderful Web Women is a great community, with a warm feel to it, which is why I upgraded to a Gold member, keep up the good work Janet and if I can ever help anyone just let me know.
I am not perfect I don’t always get things right, but then who is? Here is a little something I wrote, enjoy, and may all your future dreams come true, Linda
FOR FUTURE DREAMS
See your dreams up in the sky
Grasp them quickly don’t be shy
For in your dreams you may well fly
Don’t let them go or you will Cry.
Hold those dreams of your minds eye
They’ll call just once and then say bye
Look into your past and you will see
Just how well those dreams could be.
See your future in the past
Then you will catch on really fast
That your own mould you do cast
A new future you could well start.
Remember this when you are blocked
When those around you become shocked
Hold your ground and don’t be rocked
Then you’ll be free unlike those docked.
For the future dreams I wish you well
That from them you will good luck spell
You will find that time will tell
If you come out of your shell.
Hi people
As newly registered user i only wanted to say hello to everyone else who uses this board