Disabled trying to make a Living.

I think you start by learning, and you need to decide what you want to learn. Since you will be working on the internet, one starting point might be learning the basics of the language that drive's web pages
HTML & CSS | Codecademy (popular free course)
Then you can start to understand the lingo, and even do some things yourself.

Brainster,

First, something from Winston Churchill that might motivate you -- SUCCESS is NOT FINAL. FAILURE is NOT FATAL. It is the COURAGE TO CONTINUE that COUNTS...

Second, if you really need (in say two to three weeks from now) something to do that can earn you good money, then one out of many ways to earn decent income from home is to do the following:

*** Provide telecommuting services, i.e. If you're into video games and computers and tech gadgets and can develop videos using your computer and have good communication skills (multiple languages, better) and have (or could easily) learn remote computer troubleshooting and repair, then you could search for related local companies in your area who may need telecommuting subcontractors, zone in on those with recently launched products, call or email the key persons in those local companies by searching for their contact details in their LinkedIn profiles, pitch yourself as a telecommuting content developer or remote PC technician / tech support specialist and offer a trial period agreement (of course a paid one, with or without discounted rates -- It's up to you) in your telecommuting subcontract...

Third, a story that could possibly interest you -- I've been TOTALLY BLIND for MORE THAN 10 YEARS NOW...

*** I've lived all my life in the Philippines, a developing country that doesn't offer N-E-THING significant to people with disabilities;

*** I was abandoned by both my parents when I was 14, was left totally blind permanently after being gunned down twice in 2003, was in the middle of an academic scholarship at the premiere university here in the Philippines so was unemployed when this happened and was also with my wife and daughter to support and was 23, and since I was unemployed at that time, I initially got a telecommuting subcontract with a local tri-media BPO company that became our first client, and I moved fast to close another albeit much much better telecommuting subcontract with a prominent North American corporation that soon became our first bluechip corporate client;

*** In 2008, I was recognized by our national government as the MOST INSPIRING ENTREPRENEUR of the PHILIPPINES, and our national government's official presidential consultant on business and entrepreneurship handed me this award, and this was after my wife and I along with our employees and associates helped a Canadian corporation's carrier product to be GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED as the BEST SELLING MICROSOFT WINDOWS OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE in 2007 and was after we helped a Malta-based corporation's website to be GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED as ONE of the TOP 20 TECHNOLOGY WEBSITES in 2010 and was a time when my wife and I GREW IN BARELY A YEAR a TEAM of FOUR WORK AT HOME MOMS and DADS, my wife and I included, into a GLOBAL ICT CONSULTING COMPANY with MORE THAN 140 EMPLOYEES and SUBCONTRACTORS combined, 20% of whom were PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES;

*** In mid 2011, we LOST 80% OF OUR BUSINESS to the global financial crisis as two of our corporate clients needed to ABRUPTLY CHANGE our annual contracts so as to cut down their monthly costs by 80% and reduce their inhouse staff lay-offs by 20%, and so for the next one year, we signed up many much smaller clients, expanded to other industries and kept on trying to get new smaller clients (we noticed in our 9 years of running our company that a significant number of smaller clients usually come and go due to personal reasons, especially individual Internet marketers, affiliates running one-man operations and so on), in an effort to regain the business we lost;

*** From mid 2012 up until today, our 9-YEAR OLD GLOBAL ICT CONSULTING COMPANY has NOT ONLY REGAINED the 80% business we lost in 2011, BUT INSTEAD GENERATED 300% MORE BUSINESS on top of this, upon re-focusing on our original target industries and upon expanding to the multi-lingual call center industry and upon becoming a registered Microsoft Partner and upon covering a specialized segment of the software development niche that aims to expand the market reach of our clients by the inclusion of persons with disabilities as a decently sized user base;

*** In February this year, I was invited at the 3rd Filipino Technopreneur Summit as a guest speaker and key panelist along with the principal of the largest telco here in the Philippines, A Silicon Valley pioneer who designed the first GPUs and now runs multiple corporations in 5 Western countries and other founders of the top ICT companies here in the Philippines, in front of over 600 local business owners and more than 7,000 students, educators and others from various private and public sectors of the country; and

*** Three weeks ago, I was interviewed at our new office here in Manila by Fox 5 New York and US Television London for a news documentary about the investment landscape in the Philippine ICT industry, along with other founders of a few select local ICT companies, and this news documentary will be aired in August globally via Fox 5 New York and US Television London and locally via ABS-CBN (one of the two largest media corporations here) to over 20 million viewers across the US and UK, and this will also be syndicated in an e-magazine with over 2 million subscribers worldwide, including various European territories, Japan and other Asian countries...

So, blaze new trails and build new roads to your dreams, and best of luck!

@ Marx: Great share, it's always inspiring to see what happens when we turn a negative into a positive. Great job!

@ Brainster: I do app reskinning, and if you are willing to learn I would be happy to teach you. It's perfect for anyone in your situation, or otherwise.

Don't let your disability hold you back, there are always people worse off than you...
Your back may be injured but what about your brain? Instead of waisting countless hours playing games you could start learning,reading and implementing what you've learned...

Don't wait for someone to take you by the hand and give you a step by step guide to riches, not going to happen. Start doing and don't jump around from project to project, FOCUS...

I agree with Dvduval, you really need to learn a trade or something, so you can provide a service. I always ask writers why don't they write their own content instead of selling it for $5 an article, and they always tell me, they rather have the guaranteed income.

There is no guarantees in I.M, and you could end up losing alot of money. Make a list of services you can provide, and try that first.

If you need to earn money now, such as with almost no learning curve, the easiest way would be to offer a freelance service or sell an item on an auction site, such as Ebay with dropshipping. If you have much longer to spend, you could actually take time to learn about email marketing and building a site.

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success. I hope this post brings some clarity. It's so simple when you know it -- and darn difficult when you don't! I owe my mentors a world of thanks for bringing this clarity.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

Affiliate marketing falls under both models. You can choose to market either products or services as an affiliate.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS! (And stop buying any info not related to your niche and target market, period!)

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

And remember: build a list, Build a List, BUILD A LIST!

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

If you DON'T have a solid plan or system, THAT'S when it's hard. A good system will shave YEARS (and save you big $$$) off of your learning curve

That's why I recommend investing in at least one good, comprehensive IM course (or mentor who will give you such a system) instead of jumping from one $37 e-book to the next. A lot of people here complain about not being able to make any money. But neither are they willing to invest in their business. (Buying a random bunch of $37 e-books doesn't count.)

The best thing I ever did was invest in a comprehensive IM course aimed at REAL business owners, not just other IM wannabes. Yes it was $1500. (It's no longer available.) But it was truly some of the best A-Z IM info I ever bought. Everything else I've learned (from the $37 e-books) since has simply been plugged into this system.

My two best recommendations for phenomenal IM training programs are Ali Brown's Elevate program (ElevateBizTraining.com) and Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula (ProductLaunchFormula.com)

Get a solid plan or system and then work the plan!

Hope this helps!

Michelle

Also, you're actually in a good position, IF you can focus and discipline yourself.

There are so many products and courses offering to help you make big $$$ online and too many people get caught up in chasing the next bright, shiny object. You CAN make money online, for relatively little cost (NOT free, despite what many will tell you). What most DON'T tell you is that there is a steep learning curve.

With all of your time, you're set up for success, to invest the necessary time it takes to learn this stuff. The key is to be focused: pick a path and stick to it!

Invest in one solid, comprehensive course and follow it!

Hope that helps!

Michelle

First of all, I commend you for wanting to use your time more effectively. Since you have the time, all you need is the dedication and will to make this happen.

If you want to PM me I would like to help you get started, I am a coach for online business and I think I could get you started and also help you focus and stay on task.

Start a blog, maybe about gaming. Become an affiliate and market products for Amazon.com and other sites. If you choose to do this though, really put effort into it. Traffic will find its was to you through search engines if your content is good.
Best of Luck

Brainster,

Instead of investing your time and money in an MMO / IM / online business coaching program as some suggested above -- I for one believe it could possibly be more beneficial for you and others in a similar situation to try and close a telecommuting subcontract with a prominent local corporation in an industry you're interested / passionate in, especially if you have specialized expertise in this industry and its subject areas. Why?

First, you get a good source of income in the next few months while working at home. This could resolve your primary time-sensitive concerns, such as daily living expenses and so on. This may also leave you with a considerable amount of time for doing other things like learning ways that are relevant to building a real world business -- Instead of paying for a coaching program that will also take up your time and prevent you from doing other things that can help you earn income for your daily living expenses and other time-sensitive concerns. This sounds a lot better for me if I were in a similar situation, no?

Second, if you choose to sign up a telecommuting subcontract as part of a team that executes the business development plans and offline / online marketing campaigns of a prominent local corporation in an industry you're interested or passionate in, then you'll learn real world offline and online systems and processes that work well and those that don't. This is while you get paid for your time, especially if in the next few months you'll be included in the team that formulates and tests and improves these business development plans and marketing campaigns for this local corporation. This sounds better for me if I were in a similar situation, no?

Third, you'll have the opportunity to build your network contact resources in and outside of this prominent local corporation, along with its associate real world local and overseas companies / businesses / consultants. This is while you get paid for your time. This for me sounds better if I were in a similar situation -- Instead of spending time and money in a coaching program and building a network of people who could just be trying to learn IM-related things (including staff of real world corporations and businesses that send their staff to these coaching programs) -- Well, some of these people would most likely be people looking for the quickest 0 to lowest cost-investment MMO / IM / online business opportunities to make money on the Internet, which for me if I were in a similar situation may not sound like a sustainable network to nurture, no?

Fourth, if you want to build a brick and mortar company instead of just generating good income as a telecommuting subcontractor / freelancer or as an online affiliate or a digital info product developer / author / marketer with one-man or small offshore team operations, then I for one think you'd probably in the next few months most likely have the resources to be capable of registering a company and housing a team of administrative and management professionals who could run your brick and mortar operations and help you build / train / supervise a team of telecommuting subcontractors that can provide the telecommuting services needed by the local corporation you're working with, or by its associate companies and businesses, or by the network contacts you managed to build at this point. This for me if I were in a similar situation sounds a more sustainable way to spend time and money and other resources on, no?

Fifth, how do I know these things? Well, those are EXACTLY what I did, as I described in my first post on this thread. No, I didn't just hear it from others here or in another MMO / IM / online business forum / blog / site or just read it from a WSO or an MMO / IM / online business digital info product or something or just claim these things because you can just simply Google my name or our company and read about these things in various prominent local and overseas government sites and public / private local and overseas portals...

Sixth, of course it's your play, so you decide, since it's your time, it's your money, it's your future, and you'll be the one who'd be learning from the successes and mistakes that you'd be making along the way, whatever you decide to do, anyway...

does rare condition = ligament laxity? Vertebrae/Vertebral instability

Hi Brainster,

Look at people like Jon Morrow (boostblogtraffic.com) - he's not letting his disability get him down. The guy lives down in Mexico right by the ocean. Sounds like a dream come true! In his case, he's a phenomenal writer, because that's what he does every. single. day. For several hours. He's THAT dedicated to his craft.

With that in mind, look at your own strengths. What do you do well? Are you a natural writer? graphic artist? Coder? Even then, you've got to find your specialty -- like someone who specializes in Wordpress security, or graphic design for organizations, etc. etc. Find that specialty, and then DOMINATE your market. It will be a small slide, but those customers will know that there's no one else that can better serve them but you!