Direct-

Do you feel it's wiser/better long-term to have done much of it yourself, as opposed to having outsourced from day one?

Frankly, I prefer fixing things as opposed to building from scratch, although I've done both. I've gotten fairly good at critiquing landing pages, and the feedback I've gotten is that my suggestions have worked.

A fairly knowledgeable person in the industry who's familiar with me suggested buying sites that are poorly done, fixing and keeping or re-selling. Is that a viable model?

The area that intrigues me most is offline consulting. The thing is, this area seems absolutely OVER-RUN with people. Looks like every nth WSO is related to this. And I've seen some of the dialogue on another forum on this topic and quite frankly, many of the people who are actually doing it are WEAK. These are people who are discussing their prospects and the nature of the questions they pose tells me they have NO business charging for advice, as they really don't know what they're doing.

So I'm wondering if that field is already becoming kind of a joke... "Yeah, you're the 30th person we've heard from today..." or ""We've already wasted our money with 2 other companies," etc.

What I'm saying is, it looks like a herd of people are diving into this just because it's the "hot" thing to do, not because they're uniquely qualified to do it, not because they understand what it's like to run a business, etc.

Are you noticing any changes like this in your industry?

Also on that topic... just how RELIABLE are the payments in that sector? I've done a fair amount of work with self-employeds over the past few years and I can tell you- they're financials are often a TRAIN WRECK.

I'm not sure it matters, as either is a means to an end. There's an appeal to both, as I can go either E or I on the Meyers-Briggs. With my knowledge of direct mail, phone sales, etc., it would be nice to put that to work, but regardless you're never engaging ALL of your skills.

I like solving problems and coming up with fresh applications or unique combinations, designing elegant solutions by drawing from a number of sources. Every new thing learned becomes grist for the mill. I'm a connect-the-dots type who often sees what others are missing. Of course, it's easier to do this for others than for oneself.

The thing that's always come easily to me is for me to walk into a business and quickly spot 4-5 things they could easily do to increase sales, decrease costs, or improve the customer experience. The same for websites. And keeping the Pareto principle in mind, they're often not complicated or monumental, they're just not getting done.

What I'm saying is this: the skills and abilities I have are definitely marketable, it's just that I'm not yet seeing a "screaming buy" that's a perfect fit.

The goals are: 1- get to $3k/month as directly as possible, with the ability to get to $9-10k... got to keep up with the family's appetites. 2- Scheduling flexibility so I can coach my sons in the fall and spring.

Thanks.