My Online Business Adventure

OK, the world economy may be in decline. In the past I might have found this depressing. I may even have worried about redundancy (that happened to me a couple of times too) and how to pay the mortgage. But now that I am working from home these things just don’t affect me. I quit the rat race several years ago, and never regretted it.

Working from home benefits you in many ways. For a start there’s the savings in petrol (woops, sorry US people, I mean gas!). It also feels good to know that I’m doing my bit for the environment by working from home. I don’t have to buy my lunch, buy expensive suits AND there are some tax benefits to working at home. However, these are not the main reasons I feel good about my home business.

Having an online home business makes you constantly aware of ever increasing income generating opportunities, in particular, methods of creating residual income. Residual income is where you get paid repeatedly for something you only do once. For example, if you write an e-book, you would be paid every time you sell a copy. This is passive income, and every time you do something else, it can build and build. In other words, you get paid for what you did rather than what you do.

The majority of people work in a job where you perform various tasks and then get paid for it. The next day is the same, and then the next day. Unless you get promoted, there is very little opportunity to build your income. And even if you do, there’s usually a limit as to how much you can earn.

I’ve always loved the idea of being my own boss and having the potential for limitless earnings. I have tried being self employed once or twice before, without too much success, but now I’ve discovered working online for a living I feel secure about my future.

But I have to say, it’s hard work, and not for the faint-hearted. Especially on a day like today when the sun is shining and the garden beckons and I can hear the birds singing. All the same, at least I’m not stuck in an office all day - and I can sit in the garden with my coffee and at lunch time if I want to.

OK - I shall stop staring at the back of the pub from my window and get back to what I was saying.

Some work at home jobs are a little too linear. I mean, you do something, get paid for it and then try to find the next person who will pay you for doing something. This is far too much hard work for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love life coaching and doing the occasional bit of freelance writing, but these are things you have to work at constantly.

No, the best way to grow wealth is with passive income. I like the idea of initial work and then being able to earn a constant, steady income from it. I like to think that I might be earning money while I’m asleep, or on holiday - or even sitting in the garden sipping coffee, or a Pimms… (now you’re talking!)

So I am so glad I found a way of doing this online. In affiliate marketing, once people subscribe, you have started a passive income. When they renew, you earn money. When they recruit someone else, you earn money. Yes, it starts off slow, but it builds - and the possibilities are truly limitless.

I don’t have to worry about my financial future any more. Soon, I will be living the dream I’ve always had: to be a writer - and without the writer’s worry about income (after all, J. K. Rowlings only happen once in a blue moon - though I’m not ruling that out either!).

I will always be glad I quit the rat race. Working from home benefits are just so beyond anything a job can offer.

Now, did someone mention Pimms….?

Ros Bott

Financial Freedom Online