Want to leave corporate America for a content site career

[kmb40]

I've followed this and many other forums for several years. I recently have become much more active in them because I am interested in leaving the corporate world and entering the online word permanently.

Like the agent in the matrix talking to Morpheus; "I must get out of this place"

I have several sites and have tested many ideas. Including, seo, directories, online marketing. I have enough programming and business background to get it done. I do however understand the value of a good team and community. Thats where this forum comes in.

I'm thinking a how to type of site with constant fresh content that will be complimented by a network of relevant supporting sites.

Any advice from anyone who has made this leap? Or anyone who has not is very welcome. Thanks.

[mrbo]

I did not want to deflate your balloon at all. That was not my attempt but I read and re read lots of people on here giving you advise and I rarely put in my 2 cents worth but this was something that I knew almost no one in this entire thread had the experience I have, and to me, that makes me a expert, at least in my book. Don't let me stop you, in fact if you do try something I would love to see it. My story is long and kind of fun to think about today. My family told me that I was crazy in the Christmas of 1994 when I told them what I was doing. I went to Wal-Mart that year and purchased a computer for my nieces and nephew's simply because I knew they needed to learn about computer's. My family agreed but when I told them I was going to pay to have a modem (14.4) installed in it and I was going to pay for 6 months of dial up for them my brother declined the offer of the modem because it was going to cost long distance charges to dial up a provider in downtown Chicago to log onto and yet, I was paying the fee and thought nothing about it because I was getting 50,000 visitors a month to my site and my counter was just going crazy each month. I actually hated it when Microsoft rolled out Windows 98. It forced me to completely re write my entire web site. I was so angry I refused to up grade to it until Windows 98 SE came out and I was forced to.
Today everyone tells you about what to do, how to do it and I get daily emails telling me about their guarantee of making money with their way. Not a 1 is telling the truth, if they were, then they would never give up their secret.
I keep my domain going today (I think sometimes to brag) because I was one of the first) and I still update it but it does not make me much $$ any longer. I do wish you the best and hope it works out for you.

[Makaveli2007]

It would be great to gather some actual stats on this topic (how many people succeed with an online business and how many don't)...

I wouldnt be surprised if neither the "it is so easy to make money on the internet!", nor the "you don't even have to try" - crowds were right.

I would be less than surprised if the success rate is similar to the one of offline-entrepreneurs. Most fail, but many of those who are smart and willing to put in the effort succeed. And those who end up making hundreds of thousands or millions every year being as much of an outlier in the online world as in the offline world..

[kmb40]

I did not want to deflate your balloon at all. That was not my attempt but I read and re read lots of people on here giving you advise

Not deflated. At this point I cant be. I appreciate your feedback.

It would be great to gather some actual stats on this topic (how many people succeed with an online business and how many don't)...

That would be a nice source of data. The success stories are plentiful. The failures, not so much but actual facts for this type of scenario would be interesting.

[mrbo]

Let me ask some questions. First of all I just joined this forum because I like reading about what other people are doing now. When I started my service provider gave us a class for $50 that was 2 hours long and basically all they did was give me a few pieces of paper with HTML codes on it and showed us how to use note pad and then how to dial up to their computer to load it on. I remember it so well because I wanted to use a graphic photo and it could only be 72 pix and no larger than a 50 X 75. Even that took a great deal of time to up load.

My question is what type of web site are you trying? If you can't say I understand. What type of code are you trying to use? How do you plan on getting it listed?

I decided about 4 months ago to try to re vitalize mine and found I was out of date. I thought I would get a little up to date help ( I thought that would be difficult or cost a bunch ) so I posted a little note on craigslist and offered a mere $100 which I thought would be silly to get a current professional at but my god what a surprise. I got people from Yahoo and Google not to mention hundreds of others. I was amazed. Got to close for now but will return.

[dpd1]

I don't think there is such a thing as "failure" in business... There's succeeding, and there's quitting. It's just a matter of how long you're willing to suffer before you do one or the other.

[Makaveli2007]

Hey mrbo - most people who are willing to help you with your website for 100$, are probably not worth hiring...better be aware of them..

[kmb40]

@mrbo

My question is what type of web site are you trying? If you can't say I understand. What type of code are you trying to use? How do you plan on getting it listed?

I appreciate your quest for knowledge however a lot about what I am doing and planning is listed in this thread and in many others on this and other forums.

If you've learned what to do with notepad, then you got a good foundation, then again, I'm not sure how much can be taught in 2 hours.

You will always get responses on the net if your offering money for something but that doesn't mean you will get good service.

I would say decide exactly what you want and do some research, you will find your way.

[aegir]

I made the leap two years ago. My advice is don't leave your boring job until you're making the same amount from your web job. Otherwise you risk blowing through your savings and wind up back there. Don't quit your job until you're making the money.

This is the way I did it and it turned out well for me.

[mrperfect4all]

My advice is don't leave your boring job until you're making the same amount from your web job. Otherwise you risk blowing through your savings and wind up back there. Don't quit your job until you're making the money.