1 Year of Hustling in the Offline Business Game – This is My Story

This is my story; unedited and as real as it gets.

I’m sure I’ve ran into some of you in and around the web, but for the most part – I’m not very well known. Back in early 2009 I was in the upper echelon of sellers on Sitepoint and along with other heavy hitters, like SuiteJ and Kate Anderson, I made my living flipping niche websites on the Internet.

10 hours a day, 7 days a week. I absorbed everything I could and was the best at what I did.

The cash was rolling in, month after month. Eventually I started NicheOnDemand.com and really took my business to another level. If you visit Google and type in “Customized by NicheOnDemand” you will get almost 7000 returned pages indexed – this is just a taste of how hard I was hustling.

Type in “Customized by NicheOnDemand” into Google and you’ll see what I mean.

No bull**** – I was working for myself and had cash for whatever I needed. I even flew out to Vancouver to meet up with SuiteJ in person for the first time! Life was good…

Then one day…

I get an email from Sitepoint informing the users that the Flippa switch was green.

I don’t know if it was being unprepared, or simply having a shotty business model, but many of us full-time flippers got lost in translation, so to speak. Sales started to slow down and I immediately began to panic. I mean, my girl was working full time and everything, but not making enough to sustain our lifestyle.

(When it rains it pours)

On top of this sudden drop in income, my internet went down all of a sudden…. For 6 weeks! No word of a lie, it was so bad that I was sleeping on friends couches just to hoard some Wi-Fi and maintain what little business I had. Our rent checks started to bounce and the ship began it’s slow decent into the dark and cold oblivion…

I had to find an exit strategy fast.

During my couch surfing sessions I ended up getting hired to do copywriting for a few websites (which I’ve always done on the side) by a local SEO guy here in Toronto. I told him about NicheOnDemand.com and that I could build him any type of site he could think of - on Wordpress of course.

I told him who I was, showed him the hundreds of websites I’ve built and how I’ve developed a system of getting these niche websites ranked and automating them.

It didn’t take long for him to start sending me cash to build sites for his clients, and it definitely didn’t take long for him to start breaking down his system to me.

This was around October of 2009, so now let’s fast forward a bit…

What have I done in the last year…?

I’ve spent the last year being taught by one of the best SEOs in Canada. Together we dominate the entire Canadian search market online, across multiple industries.

I’ve helped countless small to medium sized businesses crush their competitors and add chunky numbers to their bottom line.

I’ve trained lawyers on Wordpress and SEO. I’ve taught salon owners about blogging and business consultants about social media. I work for clients who have 60+ first page rankings, sometimes 4 or 5 properties ranking per search result.

I’m not making millions, but I’m on my way with steady feet and I felt the need to come out from the shadows and share my story with whoever cares to hear it.

If you read any of this rant, please make sure to read this last part.

I am coming out of the shadows today because what I didn’t tell you is that for the last 12 months, I’ve been lurking in the Warrior Forum on a daily basis. I’ve purchased every autoblogging, offline consulting and video marketing method by all of our favorite WSO champions.

For all of you who are still struggling (I still am some months) and all of you who can’t seem to find enough time to make it happen, please stop listening to what other people are telling you and start to get out there and do things for yourself.

I’m not saying to stop buying ebooks and video training – because I wouldn’t be where I am without learning tricks and tactics by guys like Gene Pimental, Jamie Garside and Mario Brown. I buy everything these guys come out with because every time I learn something to use with my existing system.

WHAT I AM SAYING is when you think it can’t get any worse it will.

WHAT I AM SAYING is when you have no internet, find a friend with a couch.

WHAT I AM SAYING is you can buy every system that is launched in the WSO forum, but you could also be taking that money and buying domains, or links, or food.

Just don’t give up before you even get started. I’ve been working from home for 2 years and it’s not easy but I’m not about to stop – and neither should you – ever!

Don’t ever stop dreaming and having ideas – because like someone once said, somewhere…

“You can trade hours for dollars or ideas for millions.”

And I truly believe that - Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Elijah

P.S. True story.