I can relate to your questioning and frustrations.

I am late commenting on this post as I have only just had access to high speed internet which has enabled me to catch up on my emails. I spend chunks of time each year in the UK (my home is now in Canada) with an elderly mum. This is why I gave up a successful corporate career to work from home or rather – not be location-specific.

As I say, I can relate to your questioning and frustrations. My guess is that these people are not all making shed loads of money – that is just marketing hype. I also bet that a lot of them would not have the track record, qualifications and senior level experience to go get a decent corporate job if the internet and working from home disappeared – you would and I would.

Stick at it teresa – harness the power of Facebook etc but maybe get more into coaching private élite clients at high fees. Sell yourself at a higher price and keep your wonderful blog as a mechanism to get known and build credibility and maybe achieve a level of passive income with it.

Gillians last blog post..Carbonite – or backing up your e-business

My wife and I run a small food delivery business. We were once full of energy and enjoying the excitement of our new business and the freedom it gave us. That was 5 years ago. But now, there are days when the routine gets to my wife. I find myself reminding her that even as we find ourselves “struggling”, we are still a lot better off than when we were despairing 5 years ago at the possibility of me losing my job.

Somehow, as a home biz owner, your passion can easily turn into a “job” and that’s when you start feeling claustrophobic. I think in a way it has to do with your own personal goals and your internal “threshold” of contentment. The fact that I can work at home, be with my kids, lunch with them and just jump in the kiddie pool with them at 3 in the afternoon is enough for me. Despite the ups and downs of running a home business, I am truly contented.

As for folks preferring the “reverse funnel system”… it’s all about the perception that “making money online” is easy. In fact, most of my friends think I have it easy with my websites. When they ask me how to do it and I tell them that there is work involved, they turn off. People think if they have to work to make money, that’s what their job is for. The internet is for making quick easy money.

I come across this post a week late, and many people have said things I very much agree with- so I’ll add my personal empathy for your frustration- ugh! That’s so painful to be spending more, but not seeing the business grow to make it easier for you, especially with all the love and care you are pouring into it.

The other thought I want to add is that I’m wondering if you are rejecting certain ways of providing information, some of them fee-based, because certain others have done it without integrity?

In other words, are you throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to use a well-worn cliché?

When I read this paragraph: “I mean, I could create SHIT to sell. I could fill up SparkplugU classes with reworked blog posts and charge a small fortune. I don’t. I am charging way less than the classes are worth because I want them to be accessible to large numbers of people – large numbers that AREN’T buying my product, but ARE buying the Reverse Funnel Ponzi Scheme System.”

I was thinking there is a third way (and a fourth, fifth, and sixth way) that isn’t about charging so little you can’t support yourself easily, and on the other hand isn’t about breaking integrity or scamming people.

As George said above, I’m happy to brainstorm with you sometime, if you’d like.

Because you rock!

Mark Silvers last blog post..I’m a bit of a blogging bozo

Don’t lose your faith. My wife asked me a question last night that might pertain here, so I am going to throw it at you:

“If making money wasn’t important, what business would you be doing?”

I am still working on answering that one…

Please feel free to call or email if you want to talk. I will go take your survey.

Blessings,
George

Georges last blog post..To Make Big Money Selling Online You MUST Have A USP

I honor how honest you are being in your blog.

Remember to take time to treat yourself kindly.

jillys last blog post..THIS is why I do the Low Carb

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/08/the-secret-of-t.html

Well worth a read when feeling in need of a boost.

Paul in Ireland.s last blog post..Need an SMS marketing system for your website?

Des Walshs last blog post..First Web 2.0 Executive Bootcamp in the Southern Hemisphere

That is why we all love you!!! MWAH

Ambers last blog post..DIY Wants To See Your Ugly Yard!

Org Junkies last blog post..Back to School with a Backpack Station

You`re learning one of the lousiest lessons about business, though. The good ones don`t earn the most.:( But I love what you`re doing here, with integrity and I know thousands of other people do, too.

My thought is that maybe you could add some more advanced courses (charging more) or even produce some info products. I know I`d buy an ebook from you on business.

Genesiss last blog post..Do You Have a Sick Day Backup Plan?

It’s tough going against the instant success crowd. There are so many people out there promising their custom… err, victims, the world that they can’t see that any business takes real effort.

Stephanies last blog post..Go On a Bug Hunt – Free Fun Friday

I took the survey but I’d like to add a suggestion. How about creating a screencast of a class, so that people know what to expect. The online conferencing app that you use is pretty slick. I was impressed.

Thanks again, and I’ll be signing up for another class in September.

Anthonys last blog post..NatureMill Composter

10% off through Sept 9th – so for any of our readers who know us well enough to find this coupon code – it’s yours for the taking!

Enter SPARKPLUGGER at checkout.

ALSO – VERY IMPORTANT:

I have created a survey to help me get past the “I just don’t get it” part of this post. If you have 5 minutes to answer 9 questions, you have a 1 in 100 shot of winning a Nikon CoolPix 8 megapixel camera.

Sherri Caldwell – The Rebel Housewifes last blog post..Happily Ever After – Twenty Years

However, I am also noticing that this is a rough time of year for introspection: With the kids going back to school and all the busy-ness of new schedules and homework and routine and all of that, once I get them all out the door in the morning, I’m here thinking, “Okay, I should be back to something, too…now what?!” And that’s contributing to the angst — let’s give ourselves a week or two (one week per kid? I still have a week to go!) to settle down and re-focus.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, and, honey, look how far you have come!

Happy New (School) Year,
Sherri

Sherri Caldwell – The Rebel Housewifes last blog post..Happily Ever After – Twenty Years

We adapted over time and found that people valued our software platform and multimedia services as much or more as the content we were producing in the niche. Ding! Adjustment. Now making money and helping SMB’s stand out/be memorable/be different. (Thought I was doing that in the other niche but…oh well).

Not sure if this helps but it was our opening up to alternative variations of what we were providing that unlocked the interest in our stuff, profit, etc.

Still neophytes but on the rise.

Dougs last blog post..Article by me from the Business Record

I really do admire you and your work. If someone were to ask me my top 3 inspirational people when it came to starting my business, you would be one of them.

Aprils last blog post..Make networking work for you