Oh yes it’s live!

You know that feeling when you want to stand on the mountain top and shout at the top of your lungs? This is one of those moments.

It’s been 11 months since I decided to buy Tiffany Dow’s PLR ATM and build my own PLR articles store. And now it feels so good to finally complete this project. It’s like putting a big checkmark on an almost a year old To Do list.

PrizePLR.com is now open and ready for business.

The real work actually took just a few weeks. The rest of those 11 months were spent procrastinating working on my full time job and taking care of my family. And yes, I got to admit, I still got distracted by other things.

What pushed me to finally finish it?

My contract at my previous job ended last month. That’s another way of saying I am now jobless.

The good thing is I was able to save up a buffer fund for two months. And the best thing is I get to be home, I get to be with my kids and I have a lot of time to work on this business and other careers I want to explore.

I’m excited and a bit scared at the same time. I guess it’s because I have people depending on me to make this work. A voice inside my head goes: Are you crazy? You’ve got kids to feed. Go out and get a job!

I was at the Warrior forum the other night and saw a thread about members under 30 who were starting their online businesses. Some were as young as 16, 17. And I thought, they’re lucky to be starting this when they’re still young. At that age, my focus was getting into college so I could get a job because I always believed that was the only way to go.

But as I always say, as long as you’re alive, you have the opportunity to change your direction and your goals. It might be a bit tougher at times, but you can do it.

I’m just grateful I have this chance to get out of the job world and try having my own business for a change. When my kids grow up, I want them to get a job only if they want to. I want to show them that they have options and they can pursue their passions.

Can you do me a favor?

If you use PLR or know people who do, can you spread the love and tell them about my site? Sign up for my priority list here so I can notify you when I release new packs. Make sure to type in a topic suggestion if you have one.

All article packs cost $5. Right now, I have:

• Law of Attraction PLR
• Flat Abs PLR
• Hypnosis PLR
• Gift baskets PLR
• Twitter PLR

The PLR on flat abs has 5 articles and three of them have 800++ words (yeah, I got carried away) but I kept the price at $5 as part of my opening special. Yup, I love my customers even those who haven’t bought yet.

Next steps

I’ll be adding more packs and studying other ways of promotion. I’ll consider doing a special offer at the Warrior Forum when I’ve added more to my inventory.

In the meantime, I’m posting at the WF and promoting my packs through Twitter. If you haven’t already, connect with me there @SuperWahmmy. I’ve been answering some questions from newbies at the WF and I realized some of my answers were long enough to be blog posts here.

I’m actually thinking of blogging more often, this has always been therapeutic for me. It helps me put things in perspective and just release almost everything inside my head.

The “Thank You” list

I want to thank Tiffany Dow for giving me the idea to start a PLR site via her ebook PLR ATM. Her 30 – day PLR writing challenge was also a huge boost for me to keep going and finally launch the site.

I’m also thankful to Peggy Baron who shared her PLR expertise through her ebook Become a PLR Writer. I gleaned a lot of useful tips and great ideas to make my PLR site grow.

Finally, I’m grateful to Ruth who was kind enough to check out my site and notify me of some bumps. She’s also my first list subscriber. Yay!

And did I mention all three ladies have their own PLR stores? Yeah, this is the community I want to belong in. I believe in the power of collaboration. and the abundance mentality: there’s more than enough for everybody. Always.

Here’s to thriving businesses!

When I began blogging in 2004, I never even thought that you could earn money online.

Back then, all I wanted to do was write. I was more concerned about recording my bloggable moments and tweaking my blog theme than anything else.

I only had a vague idea about making money from blogs when I saw Adsense on my Blogger dashboard. I also came across Adbrite and placed it way, way down on the sidebar of my blog. They were more of an afterthought rather than an intentional thing. I even remember being slightly annoyed at the ads.

My online world changed when I stumbled on paid blogging four years later. I got myself my own domain, taught myself how to set up a self-hosted blog and I applied to all the paid blogging sites I could find.

I almost couldn’t believe it when I received my first $35 dollar payment in my Paypal account. Wow, this is actually the real thing, I thought.

That’s when I started to scour the web for other make money online opportunities. I tried paid to click sites and survey sites but at .01 cents per click, I never made enough to reach the payment threshold.

But I continued to focus on paid blogging and my Paypal balance was steadily growing.

Click, click, click!

It’s funny how the web works, you just click, click, and click some more and before you know it, you’ve come across a whole slew of information you’ve never known before.

That’s how I stumbled into affiliate marketing. One click after the other led me to blogs and lenses about selling other people’s products through Squidoo. I bought a couple of ebooks about making money on Squidoo. I made a handful of lenses but I still couldn’t quite figure out how everything works. I wasn’t getting any visitors so I wasn’t making any sales.

Like most newbies, I gave up and moved on to the next big thing. More than a year after setting up my Squidoo lens, I received an email from the affiliate manager of a course I promoted previously telling me she was sending me a commission check for $500. I must have read her email a hundred times.

When I received the check two months later, I opened my first ever dollar account and deposited it there. Until now, the money is intact and untouched. It was great that my efforts still paid off and the commission I earned was worth more than the ebooks I bought. So I still considered that  a profitable venture.

Dabbling with Fiverr

The first time I heard about Fiverr, I signed up and launched a WordPress set – up and troubleshooting gig.

By this time, I had already set up dozens of blogs as part of my real job as a web producer. I wasn’t a WordPress expert, but I knew more than enough to set up sites within minutes. I knew enough CSS, HTML and PHP to make the sites look the way I wanted to. I also learned how to spot WordPress problems and fix them in a jiffy.

I took the time to craft a good description for my gig and I got clients on the first day. It was fun to get paid for tasks that were easy for me to do. I also got some extra work outside of Fiverr from clients that liked my work and they willingly paid my asking price.

But my enthusiasm for Fiverr didn’t last long. At some point, it felt too much trouble for very little pay so I closed my gig and looked for another income stream.

Navigating the Amazon

Since I had some funds in my Paypal account, I decided to invest in building Amazon niche sites. I made one as an experiment in June 2010. I wrote articles and built links every day.

Two weeks after I published my first post, I made my first sale. It was $2.32 — my first real taste of passive income. With such a small commission per sale, I thought I needed to build 20 or more sites to make a decent income. It wasn’t particularly appealing to me since I was already burning out just writing and building links for one site.

I put it on the back burner knowing the potential was there. I decided that once I had more capital to invest, I would go back to making Amazon sites, maybe automate the tasks I didn’t like and find ways to work smarter.

I mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to sell my Amazon site to get some seed money. But after writing that post, I saw that made another 5 sales in my Amazon account. So I’m still on the fence about selling it. Maybe not yet.

Lessons I’m still learning

Perhaps my biggest lesson — I won’t call it a mistake — was buying too many shiny things.

I signed up to too many guru email lists and I blindly bought almost every product they threw my way. Every time, I would justify my purchase. I would tell myself, This is it, this is gonna be the method I’ll make money online. Surely I’m gonna earn back what I spent and more.

The thing about Paypal money is it’s too easy to spend. I can’t even look back at my Paypal transactions and see how much I’ve spent over the years. I’d probably kick myself.

I was like an ebook junkie always looking for the next make money online high. But more money was coming out, and less was coming in. I kept buying and buying, banking on the promise that this will be the last ebook you’ll ever need.

It took me months and hundreds of dollars later to realize it was only these gurus who made bank. I had to stop when I saw all the ebooks in my MMO folder. Slowly but surely, I unsubscribed from IM mailing lists and only retained the ones who offered real value.

A new start

Looking back, I can’t say they were all wasted because I learned a lot. A whole lot. I learned things I never even thought I would. I used to be a technophobe, but now I actually consider myself tech savvy.

It was only after trying too many things that I finally realized I need to zone in on one income stream first until it is profitable.

Other people can give you advice about these things, they can tell you this is what you need to do. I will tell you what I know so you can avoid my mistakes.

But it’s only after you experience it, after you make all those “mistakes” yourself, that you actually learn the lesson.

Now it’s only a matter of keeping focused, applying what you learned and taking action.

No matter how many obstacles you face on the way to your goal, as long as you keep going, you’ll eventually get there.

It’s time to let go… or is it?

I’ve been thinking of selling my first and only Amazon site.

I built this site last year to practice what I had learned from all the courses I had bought about making money online. Because of this site, I had learned about search engine optimization and how to land your webpages to Google’s page one. I had learned about link building, writing effective productive reviews and article marketing.

For the first three months or so after I built it, I was actively promoting, writing articles and building links to this site. I can still remember the first time I saw my first sale on Amazon on July 6, 2010. It proved to me that I can “make money online even while I slept.”

Why I’m hesitant to sell…

I guess just like any mom who has watched her baby grow, it’s kind of hard to let go.

As you can see from the site, this is something I created with much care and thought — something that you could be proud to call your own.

I made a custom header and designed the site. I wrote comprehensive product reviews and articles. I crafted my own call to action / buy now graphics. I made comparison charts for the different products.

And while this site just earned me $158.97 in the course of one year, it still earned me money. Passive money.

The rankings fluctuate a lot of times, but as of this writing, this site sits on Number 2 for the search terms eco friendly yoga mats in scroogle.org.

Why I want to sell…

But then, this site was also an experiment. The topic was only something I was slightly interested in. And it wasn’t long before I ran out of steam to write articles and build links.

I know this site has great potential especially since much of the total earnings I mentioned above were accumulated even when I was no longer building links and doing no promotion whatsoever.

It makes sense to think that this site will earn so much more when you build more links to it. Right now, I still don’t have the motivation to continue working on the site because I am focusing on my PLR store.

Which leads me to the major reason I want to sell: I want to gather seed money for my PLR store.

My Paypal balance needs a big boost so I can continue to pay for hosting, to set up a shopping cart and to sign up for an autoresponder. Ever since I learned how to make money online, I’ve resolved to keep all my online properties to be self – sustaining so what I need to spend online, I must earn online.

Selling my Amazon site is a win – win situation: you get to add a quality site to your portfolio and you help me fund my business.

Would you buy my site?

I am giving myself this weekend to decide whether I will sell my Amazon site or not. If ever I do, I will do it via an auction on this blog.

Perhaps, more than where I’ve been, the big question is: Have I achieved my goal of working from home by April 2011?

The answer is: YES and NO.

YES because…

I resigned from my regular job and started working from home on February 1, 2011 — my self-declared independence day.

It wasn’t how I expected things would turn out, but I considered it a goal achieved nonetheless.

In January, I talked with my boss and asked him if he would allow me to become a “talent” in our company. That simply meant, I’m still their employee and I’ll earn a regular salary every month but I won’t have to go to the office everyday.

The tradeoff was I had to take a huge paycut. Honestly, I was hesitant at first, my pay would be just enough to cover my share in the family expenses. There would be nothing left over for my personal expenses.

Thankfully, my hubby was very supportive. And I also realized my free time was worth more to me than money. So I accepted the deal and on January 31, I punched in the bundy clock for the very last time.

I was home every day of the week and had more time to spend with my kids, just what I wanted. But money was a little tight and hubby had to shoulder some of the expenses I usually take care of.

But I remained grateful for how things turned out. I always say, when you find yourself in a situation that did not exactly go your way, the right question to ask is:

What’s the opportunity in this?

I thought that with my reclaimed free time, I can actually have the opportunity to make more money.

And I was right.

By the end of February, I got offers for other talent jobs that more than made up for my paycut.

By April, I had already surpassed my target earnings of $1,000.

NO because…

One of my jobs (the highest paying one) requires me to report to the office around three times a week. That’s still a good deal considering I have the rest of the week off and I don’t have to punch in the bundy clock. I can leave when my work is done.

Besides, this job has been a tremendous learning experience for me. it challenges me every time. And that is very good in my book.

But one realization, I had last week was, I’m still an employee. I’m still working for other people. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I realized the ultimate goal is to be an entrepreneur, to be my own boss. And of course, to increase my income doing work that I enjoy.

So now that  I’ve accomplished this goal, I am setting a new one:

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, I am becoming a thriving online entrepreneur earning $3,000 a month while working from home.

The qualifier in the beginning was something I learned from the book “The Greatest Secret of All” by Marc Allen. Pretty good read and very motivating.

The plan

Since I am going to do this on top of my current job, I plan to keep things simple and focus on one strategy: I will continue working on my PLR store until I get it up and running.

I’ve written some packs previously that are ready to go and my site has already been set up. I just need to write a couple more packs and set them up in a shopping cart.

I am giving myself another six months which means I intend to accomplish this goal by October 1, 2011.

I will also continue blogging here about my progress and some things I learn along the way.

I’m actually excited to accomplish this new goal because this time I’m making it more specific. I’m confident that I can achieve it. But, if ever things don’t turn out exactly the way I want it, one thing I know for sure, it will be something better than what I wanted.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to come along for the ride.

When things don’t turn out the way you want them to, try to look at it from a positive point of view. Ask “What’s the opportunity in this?”

This was my Twitter status a few hours ago. I planned to launch my PLR site today but I had to postpone it due to some unforeseen circumstances. Suffice it to say I’m still making mistakes and learning along the way. But I will keep moving forward.

What’s the opportunity in this? I have more time to write more packs and refine my PLR site.

One word rules them all:

I’m also moving forward with my PLR ATM review. I have finished going through Step 2 and Step 3 which contain crucial information you need to know before you actually begin writing articles. Step 3 is quite hefty but by the time you’re done with it, you’ll have a better understanding of what to write and how to write it.

Step 2: Know What PLR Specs Your Customers Are Seeking

Tiffany discusses the length of each type of PLR product, the quality of writing, the format your articles should be saved in and the extra services you can offer with your PLR.

It’s good to have a guideline about the article lengths because I tend to write long articles. Knowing the standard number of words helps me manage my writing time and efforts better.

The video for this step runs for a little over 13 minutes. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of putting out quality products and how word of mouth can help you get more customers.

She also demonstrates some of the processes she mentioned in the PLR ATM PDF which is good because I don’t know how to do some of them yet. While I learn pretty quickly on my own when it comes to tech stuff, it’s still great to see beforehand that it’s pretty simple.

I got a lot of ideas about the extra PLR services she discussed because I know how to do most of them.

Step 3: Get Your Content Created

It’s the lengthiest part of the ebook and it’s also the step where I am spending the most time on. Of course this is the most important part of the whole process. No writing, no product.

Tiffany goes extensively into outsourcing in the first part; she walks you through placing a job request on freelance sites, giving instructions to the writer, and checking the work once it’s turned over. This is useful for PLR sellers or marketers who already have budget for outsourcing.

It’s good to know I have this option down the road, but right now I prefer to create my own content.

She does give a short guide about how to create the content yourself. There’s an actual article sample with her notes about how she wrote it. She also gives other writing tips for crafting your own content.

Then she briefly describes the writing process for other types of content like autoresponder emails and she also gives outlines for writing ebooks and salescopy.

This part of PLR ATM can get quite overwhelming as it is. If you have no experience writing ebooks and salescopy like me, you may want to read more about it. It might take a whole report to explain how to write each type of PLR product but Tiffany covers the basics here pretty well.

The Step 3 video is 7 seconds over 22 minutes. Tiffany shares her go – to outsourcing site which I’m a bit familiar with. She shows how to find reliable freelance writers and she also gives a tip about how to save a bit of money and still find good freelancers.

I really like her tip about how to get ideas for your ebook outline. It makes sense to do this and it makes research much easier and faster. I think even if you’re just writing articles or blog posts, this technique will work nicely as well.

Near the end of the video, Tiffany addresses exactly what I’m feeling: don’t be intimidated about writing different types of PLR. I like that she’s very reassuring; I love that her system is very flexible. She even says if you don’t like it, don’t do it. You can still succeed just by being very good at writing one thing.

My lesson

Honestly, my biggest challenge at this point is creating content. It’s ironic because I know I am a good writer, I’ve earned a degree in Journalism and I’ve been writing since forever.

But there’s something about writing with keywords and internet marketers in mind that kind of puts a stop gap in the creative flow.

The only way I get through this is just to keep writing anyway. I will do the type – delete – type – delete routine until it’s all typing from then on.

Later on, I’ll share more tips about how I get over the writing funk, but for now, if you ever feel stuck in the writing process just keep on typing and you’ll get to the end of that article soon enough.

Remember this: The more you write, the easier it gets.

As I mentioned in the last PLR ATM review post, it helps a lot if you pick a niche you’re interested to learn and write about. If you’re interested in your topic, it’s easier to research for information and to find possible angles for your article.

I’m not saying it will be easy to write that first pack. For me, it wasn’t. I spent one day writing one article!

But I got better with my second and third packs; I averaged about three articles a day. I aim to bump that up to 5 articles soon.

Again the key is:

FOCUS.

Things I am grateful for

A huge “thank you” shoutout goes to Oliver of Aluminum Profile Shop for giving my first ever donation! I wish you’d seen the smile on my face when I saw Paypal’s notification email in my inbox.

After going through quite a frustrating time yesterday, you absolutely made my day. So thank you so much.

I’m also grateful for the people who continue to respond to my thread on the Warrior Forum. I’ll make time to respond to all of them in awhile.

For now, off to writing more articles.

Disclosure: All links to PLR ATM are my affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you buy from my links. If you do buy PLR ATM from my link, thank you so much. Your help means a lot to me.

Part of my Plan B is reviewing Tiffany Dow’s PLR ATM and building my PLR articles site as I go along. I know there are a lot of reviews out there about PLR ATM, but I’m doing this anyway for three reasons:

1. To keep track of my progress
2. To help inform any interested buyers who may still be on the fence, and
3. To share some extra tips that I may learn in the process that’s not included in the guide

This is my first time to put up a PLR site so I’m an absolute newbie when it comes to this. I will be building this business from the ground up, so it would be interesting to see how this course will work for me and more importantly, whether it will actually make me money.

A key thing for me right now is I’m enjoying this process. And whenever I feel good about something, that’s always a good sign that I’m going in the right direction.

If you’re interested in buying PLR ATM or you’re currently putting up your PLR site, come along with me, maybe you’ll learn a thing or two and we can share ideas too.

Tiffany Dow is known for her honest reviews and for “ripping products apart.” While I won’t be tearing up her product, I’ll be honest about the things that I like and the things I find lacking or needs improvement. So let’s go and dive right in.

PLR ATM: What’s inside

After purchasing PLR ATM, you’ll be able to download the following:

1. How to read this course (Read first) txt file
2. PLR ATM e-book PDF
3. Seven instructional videos in FLV + HTML document you can click on to watch videos on your internet browser
4. Bonus: List of 446 topic requests for PLR txt file
5. Bonus: Instructional video of how to set up a PLR site using WordPress
6. Bonus: Video of Tiffany and Mike Long discussing profit possibilities with a PLR site

Downloading the videos may take a long time depending on your internet connection so I suggest you download the TXT files and ebook first so you can start reading while waiting for the videos.

For $67, I’ve got to say PLR ATM is worth the price. The list of topics alone is an awesome bonus because you get to cut your research time in half. The topics are already there waiting to be written and you know people want them.

I read the bonus topics list first and already got a lot of ideas right off the bat. But the best way to go about the course is to alternate reading the PLR ATM PDF and watching the video for each chapter because Tiffany discusses additional tips and processes there.

Here’s a snapshot of the Table of Contents:

I like that the guide started with an FAQ. I’ve heard about PLR and more or less know how it works, but Tiffany discusses other concerns like article rights, duplicate content and my lightbulb moment question: “As a seller, will I make more money ghostwriting or selling PLR?”

I love writing but at the end of the day, I want something that will give me the most return for my efforts. Tiffany’s answer just affirmed what I had figured out all along.

I also like the step by step format of the chapters because as I read along, I also feel that I’m making progress.

Step 1: Know what PLR topics will sell best

Tiffany gives tips about where to look for niches and topics to write about. With all that’s available, the possibilities are endless. She also guides you through keyword research which I absolutely dig because it’s so simple and doable.

Knowing that there are already a lot of PLR sellers around, including herself, Tiffany also gives a valuable tip about how to “spy on your competition” and make your products stand out.

The video for this chapter is almost 16 minutes. Tiffany goes through the whole process described in the PDF and she shows you how she does her research before writing a new PLR pack. She also conducts a little competition check to see what products are already out there.

I think this chapter is pretty comprehensive and by the time you finish reading it, you’ll be able to do your own niche and keyword research quite easily.

The good thing about this step is, with the bonus list that comes with the PLR ATM package, you can just pick one and start doing some keyword research right away. Then when you’ve got your list, you can proceed to Step 2 which discusses what kinds of PLR you can write and how long it will be.

My lesson

Just go ahead and pick a topic. It’s easy to over complicate this one step and be finicky about niches and keywords.

Choose the first thing that catches your attention, something you know something about or you’re interested to learn about because that will prove helpful when you start the writing process. I won’t go there yet but trust me, a little interest in your topic can go a long way.

Compile your keywords and save it, then read the next step.

My progress

I’ve already finished three article packs and I’m starting to work on the fourth one. I plan to finish a 5th one by this weekend.

I’ve also given myself a deadline to launch my PLR site by November 17, 2010.

I initially thought of just waiting until I get to 10 packs but I realized I need to give myself a deadline to get things going. That will be a big milestone that can push me to write more articles. And fast!

I’ll be going through the other chapters in my next post. Off to write more articles.

Disclosure: All links to PLR ATM are my affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you buy from my links. If you do buy PLR ATM from my link, thank you so much. Your help means a lot to me.

In my last post, I talked about moving on to Plan B which is putting up my own online business. From last month’s experience, I learned that freelance writing is not my thing, but writing is. PLR ATM operates on the concept of writing content and being able to sell it over and over again, which sounds really good to me.

I can’t remember now exactly how I stumbled on Tiffany Dow’s blog. I do remember that I liked her honest opinions about internet marketing and her helpful pieces of advice to people trying to make money. I never bought any of her previous products but when I got wind of PLR ATM, something about it just seemed to click with me.

Another MMO product?!

I’ve bought several “make money online” products over the past year, enough for me to spot a hyped sales letter a mile away.

Everything about it is familiar to me now: the catchy product titles, the big bold letters, the sob / rags to riches story, proof of income screenshots, photos of fancy houses and cars, customer testimonials raving about the product, the long list of bonuses and the crossed out prices suggesting the product is marked way down from it’s original price. Oh, and be sure to “buy it now because I will raise the price later and you’ll never see this great offer again.”

Of course, there’s the $10 discount when you try to click away with a message saying you’ve qualified for a special offer or this is a special page dedicated to so and so’s friends. Either that or they tell you to download a free report so you can opt in to their email list, after which they’ll bombard you with email after email filled with product promotions.

Cynical much? Not really, I have to say this kind of marketing works and I am proof of that because I’ve bought these kinds of products one too many times.

BUT, and that’s a big BUT, after a while (in my case, more than a year), you recognize these things for what they really are: cash suckers. You learn your lesson, you move forward and you tread these one column sales pages carefully from now on.

This one’s different

The moment I landed on PLR ATM‘s sales page, I knew this one was different. Yes, the big bold letters are still there but there was none of the usual sales page tactics I used to see in crap info products. Finally, just a straight to the point sales page that I can breeze through easily.

When I watched Tiffany’s video on the top of the page, I knew right then this was the real deal. She is a real person who wants to share a business model that works, not some sleazy internet marketer hiding behind a fake name and photograph trying to make me hand over my money.

Her copy is short and sweet. No sob stories, she just told it the way it is: she shifted from ghostwriting to PLR, she earned $470 from one of her first packs and she earned thousands more just by writing more packs. This was a lightbulb moment for me because I could skip the whole ghost / freelance writing phase altogether and just go straight to PLR.

I like how she mentioned that there’s a method for those with money to spend and for those on a budget. This is very reassuring especially for someone who wants to start a business but has a very limited budget to work with. I loved the fact that she had one real testimonial from a newbie who tried her methods and had the actual PLR store to prove the system works.

Most product bonuses cause more information overload on top of the main product. But in PLR ATM’s case, all three bonuses look like useful complementary information to the main product. Not to mention, it includes a list of PLR topics that will help you kickstart your business.

At $67, this product is not cheap, and I appreciate that Tiffany admits that in her sales letter. Aside from the money back guarantee, I also appreciate Tiffany’s reminder, plea to really put this system to action because it does work.

I have to admit it wasn’t easy parting with $67, especially now that I need all the back up funds I can get for my WAHM goal. But I looked at my purchase as an investment. And I made a commitment to myself that I will put this system to action and focus on it until it works for me.

Focusing my daily actions

I’ve resolved to focus on building up my PLR ATM business for the coming months. I will follow Tiffany’s course and review it as I go along.

To help me focus, I’ve done another round of unsubscribing from marketer mailing lists and my inbox is even quieter than before. This is absolutely good for me, since there will be less email to check, hence less distraction from new products and other shiny objects.

It feels liberating to finally find one thing to focus on. I no longer worry if it’s worth my time to build up this business, because I have faith that it works. I cannot prove it myself just yet, but I am jumping in with both feet trusting that I will land on solid ground.

Now I can see a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, I might stumble along the way but I’ll keep walking. Thankfully, the signs are pointing to “financial freedom.”

Here I come.

Disclosure: All links to PLR ATM are my affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you buy from my links. If you do buy PLR ATM from my link, thank you so much. Your help means a lot to me.

…find out what you want to do.

This has been a BIG realization for me this past week.

I mentioned before that I will give freelance writing a go. So I underwent a writing internship. I also signed up for Elance and submitted some bids. I even had a freelance writing site on standby ready for development. I was all set but…

Do you ever get that feeling that something’s not quite right? That was how I felt as I wrote articles during my internship and searched for openings on Elance.

I ignored the feeling at first, thinking that maybe I was just having some jitters. I also felt like I was letting down the people who helped me out and I thought, that maybe if I try harder, I could do it and learn to like it. But eventually, I just had to stop and ask myself if this is really, really what I want to do.

The realization

I liked writing and I didn’t mind researching and learning about new things. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but I realized that by going into a freelance writing gig, it would just be like working for another boss. Again.

I would spend time writing content, I would get paid a fixed amount, but I knew that I could have used the content I just created to earn more. Does that make sense?

Aside from having more time to spend with my kids, one of the reasons I wanted to work from home was to have the freedom to be my own boss. I want to work for myself, not for anyone else.

I’ve always believed that you can achieve financial freedom not by working on a job but by having your own business. I already have a job now. I want to replace it with my business. I want my content working for me.

Still, I’m thankful that I got to try freelance writing somehow. Now that I know it’s not the route I want to go, it’s time to explore another avenue toward achieving my goal.

It just dawned on me that if I’m going to pour my time and efforts into something, it should not only be something that I enjoy doing, but something that will give me the most return for my efforts, as well.

Next steps

On to Plan B, meaning plan Business. I’ve got a few ideas tossing around in my head. But I am focusing on one of them in the next month.

I’m just grateful that I have a job right now, I am still earning money and, somehow, I have the liberty to try out different things until I find out what works for me.

I know time is ticking but I will just keep moving forward and taking action, making mistakes and learning from them. I will definitely keep trying, and trying until I finally succeed.

Over the past months that I’ve been researching about making money online, I will almost always find one entry from the Warrior Forum appearing on the Google Results page.

I would browse the threads for a bit and sometimes I would get lost in reading the discussions. It’s a vibrant community of internet marketers and most of them seemed like genuinely helpful people.

I never joined the forum before because I didn’t know enough about making money online and I might not be able to contribute much. But as I began this work at home journey, I realized it was wiser to ask for help especially from those people who are, more or less, already where I want to be.

Asking for help

After I signed up, I started a thread asking people for advice on the best way to start working from home. I was crossing my fingers that someone would respond.

I waited for an email notification for responses but nothing came. I thought people just ignored my question and I was ready to move on. But when I logged in again, I was surprised and overwhelmed by all the helpful responses I received.

As it turned out, I forgot to subscribe to my own thread so I wasn’t getting notified when somebody posted.

Some Warriors suggested creating niche sites, selling my own product, Adsense and CPA. While others suggested offering services and even running a Warrior Special Offer for my blog design services.

As I read through the comments, the path I wanted to take became clearer and clearer.

I can see clearly now

I realized offering services is the best way for me to begin my WAHM goal and to earn some active income from home. Then when I’ve got more than enough funds coming in, I can then start to explore other avenues for passive income.

It made so much more sense to me than spending money and time on niche sites which can’t bring in any income, yet.

No, I’m not abandoning my sites. As I mentioned before, Amazon niche blogs will still be a part of the money making plan. They just have to be relegated to the back burner, for now.

Focus one

What I will focus on are two things I love and I’m good at: writing and designing blogs. I’m also focusing on them in that order.

I am now inclined to try freelance writing. I know it’s gonna be challenging to write about niche topics I may not be an expert on. But as my Journalism professor used to say:

There are no boring topics, only boring writers.

Google is my friend. I know I can write about anything. Besides, I won’t know if I will like freelance writing unless I try.

Either way, there’s still blog design and a host of other options I can still explore. The important thing is I’m doing something.

Setting a goal

One thing I know for sure, setting goals is a really good thing. it’s true, the moment you decide what you want to do, the Universe moves to deliver the right people and resources for you.

Though they did not respond to my thread, two Warriors reached out and offered to help me get started with my freelance writing. Cindy Bidar and James Druman are such angels.

Cindy took me in as a paid intern while James offered to mentor me as I try my hand at freelance writing.

I’ve completed my first article assignment from Cindy and I’m still in the process of accomplishing my assignment from James to create an article portfolio on the topics I’m passionate about.

Honestly, the past week had been tough on me and I was barely able to accomplish everything I set out to do. Just when I needed time and energy to complete my assignments, both my kids got sick and my brain was too drained to write. But that’s another story.

Always grateful

Thankfully, my girls are recovering now and I’m just getting back on track. I keep reminding myself that nothing worthwhile is easy. And this WAHM goal is definitely worthwhile.

I’m just so grateful for all the support and encouragement I’ve received. It warms my heart to “meet” Warriors who truly care about helping others.

Someday soon, I know I’ll be one of those reaching out from the other side of the fence, helping others, offering advice and giving back.

I’ve been pretty productive the past few weeks. In my previous post, I mentioned that I needed to resume work on my current sites. And I’ve been able to accomplish two out of the three tasks I set for myself.

Tasks accomplished

I was able to save a bit of money from doing gigs on Fiverr so I invested it in having backlinks built for Site #1.

I have to admit, building backlinks is one of my least favorite things to do whenever I set up a site but as I’ve been learning so far, backlinks are the lifeblood of a money site. Either I do it or I outsource it. I outsourced so I could focus my attention on Site #3.

Site #3 is a directory listing site and I’ve already finished building it. I also outsourced the backlinks for it with some good results which I’ll describe later.

I have to plan my next steps for these two sites. But right now, I want to focus on Site #2, another Amazon site. I’ve gotten some related keywords I will use to build the site’s pages as well as products to feature. The remaining task is to write the content.

After building Site #2, I will then focus on backlinking the three sites.

Some positive results

After the backlinking efforts, I saw some favorable results in Site #1 and Site #3′s rankings.

Site #1 was hovering between #8 – #10 on the first page of Google. But when I checked on Scroogle.org yesterday, it jumped to #6. I checked again awhile ago though, and the site seems to have disappeared. Oh well, I guess the juice from the other backlinks are just starting to kick in so my site might dance for awhile.

Site #3 showed a big jump from the #38 – #39 rank to #10 – #11. I checked awhile ago and it was at #11. The goal for this site is to hit #1 so I can start selling ad space.

Incidentally though, Site #2 is already ranking at #29 for it’s main keyword. That makes me really happy because the site has no content yet. I’m hoping it will continue to rise in the ranks once I add the content.

As for the sales front, Site #1 made six sales on Amazon for a total commission of $14. Yay! It’s not a huge amount but sales like these boost my confidence that this money site thing actually works.

Despite the seemingly small commissions, I still like to include Amazon as a main part of my income strategy. I like the idea that I can make sales anytime, anywhere from these product sites. I just have to be diligent enough to backlink them.

Make Money From Writing

Debbie didn’t reply to my second email, but I did receive a special offer through her autoresponder for a one month free trial of her mentoring program.

I jumped in to see what it’s like inside. I’m supposed to receive one e-class a week and each one has a corresponding assignment. There were also helpful resources about freelancing sites and answers to FAQs about freelance writing.

The two e-classes I received so far are great but I wish there was a way to advance the classes if I wanted to. (I have a deadline, remember?)

Considering the monthly fee, I’m not sure though if I’m gonna stay once the trial is over. Maybe if I get a writing gig before the trial ends that would more than cover the membership fee, then I could stay.

I’ll have to wait and see.

Reasons to be grateful

To be honest, I’m still feeling anxious. September is almost over and though I’ve accomplished some, I still feel I need to scale things up even further.

But there are some things I am very grateful for as I go through this journey:

1. I’ve been receiving a number of orders from Fiverr. Yes, they’re just a few dollars per gig, and sometimes I do feel shortchanged for the quality of work that I do, but it all adds up.

2. Some of my clients hire me for repeat work and they generously pay me higher rates. These earnings help me to invest a little in my online ventures and outsource stuff I know I’m not good at.

3. I’ve been coming across inspiring people and gathering more ideas to accomplish my goal. I’ve been making the rounds of some make money online blogs and I like to read their earnings updates and results. It motivates me because I know that my work at home goal is possible.

I read this post on Problogger which couldn’t have come at a better time: The Power of Not Giving Up.

Yes, sometimes, I feel like giving this whole thing up and just stay within the secure walls of my 10 – 7 job. Not to mention, support is not that abundant since I haven’t been able to “show the money” yet.

But that’s just that small part of me who gets insecure and scared.

The bigger part of me is someone who is determined, focused and brave. Someone who knows she deserves financial freedom. Someone who wants to give her family a better life. Someone who loves her hubby and kids so much, she has to try, no matter what.

And emerge successful.

I can do this!