Thanks to AT&T broadband I am checking in with a blog post from my vacation. I want to be clear that this is by no means a bragging post and that many out there doing what I do probabally do much better. The key with an online business is that it is never about if you are doing better than someone else, only are you doing enough to give you what you want and more.
Anyway on Wednesday the 28th of July we rolled out on vacation, just prior to that I transferred all but 200 dollars (for fuel for my F350 on the way to TN for the first part of our vacation). That was 5 days ago and I have not “worked” in any meaningful way until this morning when I checked email and did basic customer service. We drove yesterday from Huntsville, TN to our remote property near Hot Springs Arkansas. During this trip deposits continued to come in from memberships, sponsor payments and my other activities (trailing stuff from some of my older sites).
Note this doesn’t include anything paid by check such as Amazon, Google Adsense, Clickbank, etc. During the trip I ended up paying for all our fuel with the PayPal card (about 450 dollars), groceries for camping (about 100 dollars), our camp site, (130 dollars) and breakfast at the Cracker Barrel (30 bucks). This morning when I logged in to transfer what ever was left to savings and again leave about 200 for incidentals there was still over 800 dollars in my account.
Hence during this 5 day get away (and we are staying here three more) we didn’t only keep cash flow positive we actually paid 100 percent of our expenses (since it was business related it will be written off as well) and we still managed to grow our bank account.
Compare this to people that work in soul crushing jobs and spend 5 years to get up to a magical number of 3 weeks of vacation. When they take a vacation their cash flow is still negative. Why? Their income is based on a 5 day work week and their expenses based on living in their homes. Hence their cash flow remains constant and their expenses increase. I was explaining this to Dorothy in that we work as we need to but we earn income 7 days a week! Driving through the Tennessee mountains on Sunday we watched deposits come in, not directly dependent on our efforts.
We also sold 3 hosting accounts for Host Gator during this trip (from a banner on TSP) no money yet but when they “mature” that is another 150 dollars, the boy called and said there is an envelope from ClickBank on the counter for us, (perhaps another 100 bucks), a sponsors check for a full year just came in and I now have a consulting call scheduled with a large company that wants some “advice” (which ain’t gonna be free) on developing a product segment for the prepper industry.
Again this isn’t meant to brag, it is meant to inspire! There are many folks out there making 1000-5000 dollars a day, though a lot more are claiming it than doing it. There are a few rock stars doing 10K a day or more! So what I do isn’t something to stand in awe of, simply something to realize you can do too. In fact the way I do it is harder than it has to be. By doing a daily podcast on TSP, I force myself to work most days or to work really hard for a week so I can take one off. Many marketers do more in dollars, than I ever will, with with far less personal daily input.
So why do I do it this way? Because I love it! Why do “Five Minutes with Jack” because I love working with entrepreneurs! The key is even with a daily show requirement I can take what amounts to 12 days in a row off and end up with money still coming in, bank account growing and all my bills paid. Keep in mind my total financial investment into TSP is about 5K a year of necessary cost. My initial investment was 7 dollar hosting, a 30 dollar recorder, a 20 dollar head set and working like a maniac for 18 months before making one dime.
Nothing but the internet gives a person this type of opportunity, it isn’t easy but it is possible and it is very doable for anyone that really wants it and works hard to make it happen. I just wanted to reach out today and let you guys know that because I know how hard it is to keep on working at times when things just aren’t taking off yet. There are dark times, hard questions (like why am I working so hard) and sacrifices. They are worth it though, in a big way.
I promise you no one out there that follows the rules of business, believes it can be done, works really hard and insists on making it happen is any more than 18-30 months away from your dreams. Until next time, follow your passion, love your spouse and kids and work your ass off,
Jack
Why Building an Online Business is the Path to Your Dreams
Thanks to AT&T broadband I am checking in with a blog post from my vacation. I want to be clear that this is by no means a bragging post and that many out there doing what I do probabally do much better. The key with an online business is that it is never about if you are doing better than someone else, only are you doing enough to give you what you want and more.
Anyway on Wednesday the 28th of July we rolled out on vacation, just prior to that I transferred all but 200 dollars (for fuel for my F350 on the way to TN for the first part of our vacation). That was 5 days ago and I have not “worked” in any meaningful way until this morning when I checked email and did basic customer service. We drove yesterday from Huntsville, TN to our remote property near Hot Springs Arkansas. During this trip deposits continued to come in from memberships, sponsor payments and my other activities (trailing stuff from some of my older sites).
Note this doesn’t include anything paid by check such as Amazon, Google Adsense, Clickbank, etc. During the trip I ended up paying for all our fuel with the PayPal card (about 450 dollars), groceries for camping (about 100 dollars), our camp site, (130 dollars) and breakfast at the Cracker Barrel (30 bucks). This morning when I logged in to transfer what ever was left to savings and again leave about 200 for incidentals there was still over 800 dollars in my account.
Hence during this 5 day get away (and we are staying here three more) we didn’t only keep cash flow positive we actually paid 100 percent of our expenses (since it was business related it will be written off as well) and we still managed to grow our bank account.
Compare this to people that work in soul crushing jobs and spend 5 years to get up to a magical number of 3 weeks of vacation. When they take a vacation their cash flow is still negative. Why? Their income is based on a 5 day work week and their expenses based on living in their homes. Hence their cash flow remains constant and their expenses increase. I was explaining this to Dorothy in that we work as we need to but we earn income 7 days a week! Driving through the Tennessee mountains on Sunday we watched deposits come in, not directly dependent on our efforts.
We also sold 3 hosting accounts for Host Gator during this trip (from a banner on TSP) no money yet but when they “mature” that is another 150 dollars, the boy called and said there is an envelope from ClickBank on the counter for us, (perhaps another 100 bucks), a sponsors check for a full year just came in and I now have a consulting call scheduled with a large company that wants some “advice” (which ain’t gonna be free) on developing a product segment for the prepper industry.
Again this isn’t meant to brag, it is meant to inspire! There are many folks out there making 1000-5000 dollars a day, though a lot more are claiming it than doing it. There are a few rock stars doing 10K a day or more! So what I do isn’t something to stand in awe of, simply something to realize you can do too. In fact the way I do it is harder than it has to be. By doing a daily podcast on TSP, I force myself to work most days or to work really hard for a week so I can take one off. Many marketers do more in dollars, than I ever will, with with far less personal daily input.
So why do I do it this way? Because I love it! Why do “Five Minutes with Jack” because I love working with entrepreneurs! The key is even with a daily show requirement I can take what amounts to 12 days in a row off and end up with money still coming in, bank account growing and all my bills paid. Keep in mind my total financial investment into TSP is about 5K a year of necessary cost. My initial investment was 7 dollar hosting, a 30 dollar recorder, a 20 dollar head set and working like a maniac for 18 months before making one dime.
Nothing but the internet gives a person this type of opportunity, it isn’t easy but it is possible and it is very doable for anyone that really wants it and works hard to make it happen. I just wanted to reach out today and let you guys know that because I know how hard it is to keep on working at times when things just aren’t taking off yet. There are dark times, hard questions (like why am I working so hard) and sacrifices. They are worth it though, in a big way.
I promise you no one out there that follows the rules of business, believes it can be done, works really hard and insists on making it happen is any more than 18-30 months away from your dreams. Until next time, follow your passion, love your spouse and kids and work your ass off,
Jack