*** Offline Gold - How a small $350 job lead to a million dollar partnership! ***

Greetings fellow warriors!

2008 was an incredible year for me - I started a simple side business doing web development that has mushroomed into my main source of income, I had a new baby and had many other adventures.

But, I thought I would share a particularly interesting story of how I was invited to become a partner in a growing company that is poised to do over $500k in sales this year.

Last December, I started doing some web development on the side. I was a bit burnt out on Real Estate (I am a broker, and have 9 agents), and wanted to go back to my roots doing web dev and let my real estate biz coast a bit.

One of my first side jobs was building a small 5 page website for $350. I got the job on RAC and only took it so I could build my reputation. With some good reviews and ratings, its pretty easy to climb the ranks and be able to get $10k+ jobs (that can be outsourced!). This is one of the things I teach in my "cash cow" training.

So, I built the site for a small company that provides services for water supply companies. They were pleased, and then came back and wanted me to take their software engine and put it on a website. So, I outsourced the hard part for $400 and then proceeded to charge several thousand over a few months while I put it together.

By this summer, they had me put up a few more small sites, and at this point I was simply charging $50/hour for my time.

By the end of summer, the owners approached me and asked me if I would like to join the company as a Partner for a percentage of the profits. Their goal is to build things up over the next 2-3 years and then sell the company for several million (they have been through this twice before).

So, they flew me to Vegas and put me up in the Luxor. There was a Water Conservation convention going on and they wanted to let me get to know the industry... as well as meet me face to face! All this time, we worked together by email and phone... and they offered me a piece of the company without ever meeting me!

The trip went well, I learned alot, and we hammered out the details of the arrangement. In a nutshell, I get:
- 25% of all net profits paid out annually
- $60-75 per hour for work billable to clients
- Up to 25% of the final sale of the company
- The opportunity to take over management when the company is sold

These are great folks to work with, and we have a ton of new clients coming on board... one sale can range from $20-80k and we are working on long range subscription pricing.

The point is this:

You never know how things will go, so you should always do your best and take care of your clients. That one little "throw-away" job of $350 could have just been a footnote in my life... now its a full chapter!

If you are an internet marketer, you should seriously consider getting into "offline" consulting. There is a huge need and enormous potential. Thats precisely why I have put together a program for training/supporting IM developers.

I see many newbie/fledgling IM folks that try to make a go of it strictly online, and its tough! But offline there is very little true competition... its because there is so much work available.

So - take heart from my tale, and keep your eyes open. Do your best and soon opportunity will knock on your door. I have no idea where this partnerhsip will lead, but I am currently only working 2 days a week on it while I continue my other business... Its a great setup!

best regards
Ron