Internet Marketing Made Me FAT or HELP! I'm a couch potato!

Yes, it's true. Internet Marketing has made me fat!

Let me start out by giving you a little back story, then I'll go into what I plan to do about it.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I became an Internet Marketer in on May 16, 2008. I remember the exact day because on May 15, 2008 I was laid off from my job with absolutely no warning. I guess I should say I was laid off with no warning from my employer. I should have had plenty of warning if I had paying attention to the economy a little more closely, but that's neither here nor there.

The point is in one fell swoop I went from clearing almost $900 per week to the prospect of unemployment insurance, which would end up paying me $240 per week. You can hardly live on that. Believe me, I know.

That brings me to Internet Marketing. I actually got into Internet Marketing because I liked to play roulette and video poker. The very next day after I had lost my job I had been messing around online in one of the roulette forums I belonged to. I saw that he had banners and ads that led to online casino sites. I clicked on one. They happened to have a tiny banner at the bottom that said "Have a website? Make money with us!" I clicked on that and landed on their affiliate page. I guess you can say the rest is history.

I decided to set up an online forum just like the one I belonged to. I expected it to be hugely complicated and super difficult. It wasn't. Now, getting people to actually visit my site -- that was just a little more difficult.

Long story short, I failed miserably. However, I had caught the bug. I wanted to make money online. I wanted to live the "laptop lifestyle." And so I did. I can proudly say that today I make a comfortable living from my Internet Marketing business.

That brings me to the meat of the story. Making money from my living room has made me lazy and fat! I am 5' 7'' tall. My ideal weight is somewhere around 145 pounds, depending on which formula you use. Well, as of this morning I weigh 263 pounds! It's a problem, for sure, especially since there is a history of diabetes and high blood pressure in my family.

My saving grace is that I have always been a pretty healthy eater. I never drink soda, or "pop," depending on what part of the world you are from. I don't eat candy. I take vitamins and supplements. So why am I fat? It's because I don't exercise. I have gotten lazy because I can sit on the couch all day and still make plenty of money.

So, now that I have identified the problem, what do I plan to do about it? Well, I'm pretty sure one of the biggest problems for me is the fact that I no longer have to get up at a certain time and go to work. My former job required that I was always on my feet and walking all over resort grounds. I probably walked 3-5 miles every day and never even realized it.

My plan to beat the "laptop lifestyle syndrome" is simple. I am going to get out of the house and start doing some "offline" marketing.

I recently purchased everything I need to shoot some great video. I have a nice camera, microphones, voice recorder, etc. I am going to start by putting that stuff to good use.

I plan to set up a tourism blog that will focus on events, activities, and tourist attractions in the Phoenix Metro area. There are lots of great mountains that you can take day hikes on and not only get exercise but also enjoy some of the most scenic views in all of the southwestern US.

One of my plans to grow traffic and popularity will be to utilize my video equipment to actually get tourists involved, meaning that I will be speaking to local tourists about their experiences on the sites that I'm going to visit. These will make fantastic videos for my blog posts. What better way for folks to decide if they want to visit a landmark or event than watching video of it and hearing from others who have made the same trip?

I plan to print up business cards for the blog and hand those out not only to the folks who will be appearing in my videos, but also to others who are visiting tourist attractions while I'm there. As you can see, I have made it so that the entire success of this venture depends on me getting out there and physically letting others know about my blog. I'm sure I'll get some organic SEO traffic because I know how to do on-page SEO, but that will just be extra.

Now, the whole point of this venture is to MAKE me get up off the couch and get moving and exercising again. Like I said, my diet is fine. I'm actually a healthy eater. One lesson I've learned from this experience is that when you get older your metabolism slows down, and even if you eat right it's not enough if you don't exercise as well.

I decided to create this thread because I just know there are other marketers out there who are having this same problem. I hope I have inspired you all to GET MOVING and stop being lazy! Yes, I love Internet Marketing, but not enough to let it KILL me!


P.S. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas for the blog!