How I started My Internet Business

by Sofia
(RSA)

My name is Sofia and I am the owner of relationship-affairs.com and public-speaking-solutions.com web sites. I would like to share some of my experiences of being a small business person and a full-time employee; and how I broke into the business.

Ever since I could remember, I have always wanted a career that contained 3 pillars:
1. Writing
2. Inspire or help people
3. Earn money without working crazy hours

In 2005, at the age of 28, I found a perfect business that satisfied all three pillars. After having asked myself for a while about the Internet, how it works, how people build websites and how they earned money from websites - I finally discovered a product that not only provided me with these answers, but miles further by providing the solutions to the 'how to' and a perfect way to achieve results. I did not have to attend any courses, this product, which my Internet host provided, was all an amateur like me needed.

Before I continue with my story, I would like readers to understand the meaning of the third pillar above. Please do not misinterpret it. There is no easy way to earn money, and 'Get rich quick schemes' are all scams. You've got to put an effort, and doing something that you are passionate about definitely helps because work becomes play. I do not work crazy hours because of the flexible nature of my business. I can choose to work 12 hours in a week or 2 one single 12-hour day a week. It is more hard work in the beginning when you are trying to find your feet, but as the business grows and establishes itself, it is easy to put it on auto-pilot for months and it will still generate income. That is the magic of the Internet. I make money while I am fast asleep. When I am getting ready for bed, somebody could be buying a product from me; while I am busy trying to find another creative way to get my 3-year old to eat his dinner, somebody clicks on a ad that would give them more information while paying me a dollar. This is a business that never closes its doors.

More about me and my business

I am now 31 years old, married and have 2 sons. I also have a full time job. When I started my first web-business in 2005, my goal was and still is, to retire by age 35. I wanted a flexible part-time business that would fulfill my artistic, writing passion on the one hand, while blending in nicely with a full-time job and a family on the other hand. This business also had to earn me enough money to can retire if I wanted to.

In business, you've got to put in some energy. While it was not easy at first, to kick-off my web businesses, I know that this was as easy as it gets for me and probably for other people in employment who would like to become financially free and do so while satisfying their creative selves. What I like about artistic or creative businesses is that, you do not have to wait for that proverbial 'firing your boss' day - you have to start right where you are. I say you have to because the 'creatives' within you would nag you so hard if you try to put them aside for too long. They are dying to come out. You will find that, if you give your creative/artistic side a chance, you become more fulfilled and you stop stressing about issues in your formal working environment. You know that you live for a higher purpose than that.

Making the investment

The investment that I had to make financially was not hard to make. Energy/time wise, it was also easy to make. I had researched the company and was sure that I was making a good decision. The investment required and the overheads were really small and nothing to stress about.

My first site was www.relationship-affairs.com, in 2005. The site talks about different relationship topics and addresses different relationship issues/problems. This is an info-preneural and advice site and I developed it because of my natural counseling abilities and my love for helping people in their relationships.

My second site, which was registered in 2006, is
www.public-speaking-solutions.com. This site also gives information about different public speaking areas/topics, but also provides public speaking services. It is both info-preneural and a service business. I developed this site based on one of my areas of passion/interest and a certificate I got in public speaking.

I am currently working on a third service site.

My businesses have not always made a lot of money, but like I said, passion keeps you going. It has kept me going for 2 years and I can now finally say that my commitment and tenacity
are paying dividends.

Judging by the current performance, I am confident that, by the time I reach 35, I would long have been in a position to can choose to retire if I wanted to. I have been thinking about doing my full-time job as a service and something that I enjoy other than doing it to just earn a living. Much of the work-related stresses people have today is caused by people working hard and long hours to make ends meet, and it will be very freeing to work 'voluntarily', if you will. So I may not necessarily retire, but I would be free knowing that I have a business that generates way more than my job could ever promise to generate per day, per week, per month and per year.

My retirement urge of my twenties might also have diminished because:
1. The kids would have grown a bit
2. My businesses would be so well established that I won't need to be working on them constantly. They are already almost on auto-pilot as I write this.
3. The income from my site would have beaten my 'salary' by the end of 2008

Every person should earn a living doing what they like to do. And I believe that everyone should have a website of their own because we all have something to offer, be it a service, a product or knowledge/information/ideas.

"A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts."
~ Richard Branson

To learn more about my business, or about how I built the sites, feel free to contact me through my site, I'll be glad to give you more information.
Relationship-affairs.com
www.relationship-affairs.com/Contact-us.html

Sofia Matloga
Web Infopreneur and Authour
"Say It! With confidence!"
Public Speaking Solutions