Google Conquest Review; Alex Goad

It arrived into my email inbox ... another ‘Super Launch’ that guarantees you success and an income fit for a king! ... or so I thought.

Google Conquest stuck me as different from the other gazillion emails that I receive informing me of yet another new launch.

It came through Michael Rasmussen’s list and an amazing bonus was offered in order to entice me to purchase through his affiliate link.

I read the sales letter and watched the videos promoting Google Conquest and was impressed with the way Alex Goad seemed to care about his followers. He’s certainly had success in the recent pass with at least three top sellers on ClickBank and a couple of ‘systems’ that he’d set up.

There were no ‘millionaire’ promises on this promotion just an honest to goodness promo video from Alex along with the chance to leave a comment about what he spoke of.

Very little was given away until you paid the upfront fee of $997.00 with a sign-up to commit to $97.00 per month thereafter. There is a 60 day money back guarantee, though.

I couldn’t fault his promotion of the product and did like the way he seemed more concerned with us than getting rich by people joining. Obviously, this could be taken as simply ‘sales talk’ but, in my experience, nothing as dedicated as this has been shown to me on the Internet before, so I decided to join up and pass on any successes to my customers and, of course, Working Hours magazine subscribers.

By the time you read this the doors will be closed on this business but will re-open in a few months time to ensure the 1000 member limit is kept topped up.

Early signs are fantastic.

The training and support is second to none, I know, I’ve used it all and the response is almost instant. Any early queries were sorted right away. Alex Goad himself replied to two of my emails ... I kind of liked that.

OK, so what’s it all about?

Well, you’ve no doubt purchased the books, the products, the downloads, the software, the membership, the subscriptions, the services etc. etc. etc. of all things ‘Internet make money fast ‘how to’s’, and so have I. All that knowledge is great to have because you can use bits of it to help build your business here and there. But, unless you can use all your knowledge to work the techniques required in order to run your Internet based business so that it actually earns you MONEY and an income to live on, what’s the use?

There are hundreds of people that I know of who have great business knowledge and who go online and use Internet marketing to promote their services and products, whatever they may be. The problem is, the knowledge doesn’t all come together at once, when you need it. There are so many aspects to becoming a success, from building your first list of subscribers, researching, building blogs and websites, making videos and audios, RSS feeds, social networking relationships, building products, writing eBooks, search engine optimisation, joint ventures, launching products, linking, article submissions ... the list goes on and on.

How can anyone become successful unless they can do all of the above and more, and yet do it over and over again for each product niche and get them earning an income ... a decent income that one can live on. Making your Internet business a business that provides your main income is an uphill task to say the least.

Enter Google Conquest. Sounding like another black-hat system Google Conquest couldn’t be any more legal if it tried. It’s an automated system where your niche is built, marketed and sold to a worldwide audience at an extremely fast rate. Once set up, the system is over 97% automatic. I’ve tested it, too!

One of my old websites stopped being shown up on the search engines because I used a few ‘grey areas’ to promote it. I ‘fooled’ the search engines into thinking my site had more content than it did and, for a while, it worked. Then another site popped up with the same URL as mine but without a hyphen in the middle of two words. This immediately put them top (their content was better, I have to admit) and my original site eventually went down the listings to below 100.

Training inside Google Conquest meant that I’d have to watch 5 ‘getting started’ videos before I dare try to go it alone. Guess which site I tested the system with? That’s right, the one with the hyphen in it.

I deleted the old unlisted site and rebuilt it using Google Conquest. Within hours I was number one for my keywords in Yahoo and MSN. It took minutes to build the website. I’ve not added proper content yet or put anything up for sale but it proved to me that the system worked to get you to the top in your chosen field.
Many top UK entrepreneurs advise that you don’t go for the latest ‘thing’ on the Internet as you’ll only be wasting your money, however, GC bucks this trend and walks all over it.

Google Conquest is a portal that becomes your one-stop factory for outputting blogs using the Word Press blog engine. Once your niche idea is ready, you can automate every aspect of building and promoting it inside your dashboard.

It’s beautifully laid out and easy to use, anyone could do it. There are training videos throughout and you simply click to view or you can download the videos for viewing at your leisure. PDF file transcripts of training are also available if you prefer to read all about it.

It’s all step by step with only the ironing out of slight glitches experienced by any new launch of this scale, to be done.

The forums are full of questions with answers where I’ve learned more about the Internet in the last few weeks than I have in the last five years outside of GC. I really didn’t realise how far behind I was with using the old fashioned UK way of doing things.

I must admit, I did know of several of the things that Alex Goad speaks of but it’s the way they become automated that impressed me. I can reach tens of thousands of visitors at lightning speed using these tools.

I’m not going into deep detail about it all because, as most others won’t know how or have the tools to do all this, the members will gain a huge advantage over them. You’d need to pay the entry price to know that. What I am going to do, though, is build many blogs and get them earning for me. The facts and figures will be passed on to subscribers in an honest and genuine way in order to let you know if it’s worth joining once the doors reopen and you can, once again, have a chance to launch your Internet career.

GC passed my first test with flying colours. I’ve got plenty more to go. So far though, it’s been worth every cent I’ve spent on it and, therefore, I give it full marks.

Why they should give short sellers a gold medal

Why have 'short sellers' suddenly become Public
Enemy number 1?

Since the sell off of HSBO, the fall of Lehman
Brothers and the collapse in investor confidence,
the government both here and in the US have
introduced a ban on short selling.

I'm talking about those individual traders and
hedge funds that borrow shares, then sell them
and hope to buy them back later at a lower price.
They pocket the difference between the price at
which they sold the shares and the price at which
they buy them back.

Short sellers are an essential part of a healthy free
market. They keep companies and investors
honest.

I mean, if informed investors believe a share is
over-valued they're performing a vital service by
selling it short and pushing down its share price.

They are simply expressing an opinion in a free
market in the hope of making money from being
correct. And if that means that the banks should
pay for their stupidity, then so be it.

The actions of short sellers deprive a company of
capital and can be a signal to others in the market
that the company might not be as healthy as is
generally believed.

Is that such a bad thing? Or is it like the
messengers of old, who would be executed for
bringing bad news from the frontline to the
emperor?

Think about it - all this financial chaos could
have actually been avoided if MORE short sellers
had been in the market, aggressively selling the
shares of unsound financial institutions.

Why are we demonising those who are doing the
right thing and deflating an overvalued asset?

I mean, if short sellers were actually encouraged,
they could have pricked the property bubble
before it got out of hand and trillions of dollars
worth of bad debt had mounted up . . . and we
wouldn't now be facing the effective
nationalisation of bad debt and government
intervention in the markets.

The decision to intervene against short-selling
goes against free market principles and the
'wisdom of the markets'.

Of course short-sellers can be wrong and depress
share prices more than is justified by
fundamentals, but so what? And anyway, in the
long term, they would be proved wrong and
would lose on the trade.

The government doesn't intervene when it thinks
investors have exaggerated the true value of a
company's shares. In fact they bask in the feelgood
factor of economic booms - even if the cause is
the greed and dodgy dealings of banks.

And how many homeowners moaned about the
rise in property prices as easy credit created a boom?

It's all rather hyprocritical if you ask me.

What's more, short selling improves market
liquidity. By that I mean that short sellers not
only provide stock to those who want to go long
(buy), but also people who go short often do so as
the counterpart of long positions elsewhere
(hedge).

As one blogger put it so succinctly:

"People seek refuge in the stupidest ideas before
they admit that they were wrong. Holders of bank
shares, rather than face the fact that they are bad
stock-pickers, want to blame short sellers. So of
course, do banks' bosses. After all, they'd do
anything before admitting that they are just lousy
at running their businesses."

The real villains are the stupid greedy banks who
thought they could make money from bundling
up worthless debt into complex packages - the
same people who flooded the market with easy
money to people who could never really afford to
pay them back . . . and now face negative equity
higher mortgage repayments.

Right, that's enough of my rant . . .

By the way, the good news is the ban on short selling
does NOT effect spread betting currencies, so anyone
who is trading systems like The Ultimate FX Predictor,
can carry on profiting from shorting! More details
here:

http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=104461&AdID=406155

Regards

Nick

==============================

Nick Laight is editor of 'What Really Makes Money' Go here to for a very special subscription offer ..

http://www.ctpoole.co.uk/wrmm.htm

==============================

Freebies – A good deal or a waste of time?

By Jorge Chavez

There are a great number of "free" things available on the Internet. Some of the offers are real and some aren't. There are legitimate reasons for free offers. Sellers give away free samples, for instance. That's why there are wine-tasting rooms, test-drives for cars and the opportunity to try on shoes before you buy them! Sellers want you to buy their products and are willing to let you try them out to some extent to convince you to buy. And so there are promotions of various types out there, which can be a good deal for the participants. But tread carefully! There ARE nuggets to be found, but all that glitters is not necessarily gold!

For example, a search on "free antivirus" at www.dogpile.com, yields 100+ hits. They run the usual spectrum of most free offers, from genuine giveaways to outright "sucker traps" that just want your address so they can drown you in spam! They can be categorized as 1.Genuine, 2.Free but donation requested, 3.Time Based, 4.Free but paid for by others, 5.Free Sample, 6.Marketing key word tricks and 7.Bait and Switch address thieves. Let's look at each of these categories.

1. Genuine. For anti-virus software there are some programs out there that are really free, just for the downloading. Some perform very well against the well-known annual-fee offerings, even beating them in various ways.

They give good advice, "...when picking out your antivirus solution...first of all you want to make sure you get an antivirus program from a trusted source. Doing a little research on the internet (websites like this) will help you identify who the trusted providers of antivirus software are. Always find multiple sources of information, that way you are more than likely to find a software product you can get help with and that won't be filled with spyware and adware."

2. Free but donation requested. These are free, but they ask you to make voluntary donations. Also in this category are those that offer a limited capacity version, such as do Note Tab (text manager) and Zone Alarm (firewalls) for free, then try to get you to upgrade to the paid version. These are legitimate marketing ploys, and maybe the free version will be all you really need.

3. Time Based. Free to try for 30 days, $30.00 if you decide to keep it! Not unreasonable. Like a test drive. Many software products use this approach. Some will just not work after the trial period; others will periodically degrade their capacities, encouraging you to buy. For example, www.goodsol.com has a solitaire program that starts degrading after 30 days. After 60 days or so they shut down the take-back-the-last-move feature! Maybe by that time you are addicted to the game and go ahead and buy the full-capacity version. Or maybe you just play VERY carefully!

4. Free but paid for by others. Paid by advertising (like yahoo mail and hotmail) is legit. Like commercials on free TV. Somebody's got to pay the cost of providing the service! Spyware and adware are not O.K. Their purpose is to track your Internet movements for marketing survey purposes or deliver pop-up ads to you at random unexpected times. If you download any program of which you are at all suspicious, run your anti-spyware program(s) after using them.

Spyware and adware must "call home" to report and get new ads, so you should severely restrict which of your programs you allow to access the Internet.

5. Free Sample. Fair enough if it is legit, but remember the fisherman offers the fish free worms! In anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, many vendors offer a free online checkout of your system to see if it has viruses or spyware on it. Most are honest. Some will "plant" a few of what they are supposed to protect you against, and then "find" them, to great fanfare, just to prove that THEY are finding things that your current program can't!

6. Marketing key word tricks. The word "Free" sells! Marketers know this and put the word "Free" in their headings and where search engines will look. So when you search on "free anti-virus download" a marketer's "Download a free scan" offer will match on two words, free and download. The majority of hits on your search will probably be from this type of word trick site.

7. Bait and Switch address thieves. The Internet is cracking down on spam. Pushy salesmen are getting desperate for email addresses to which they can "legitimately" mail offers. To get addresses they offer all sorts of outrageous (and some almost reasonable) free offers. "Congratulations you have just won a Sony laptop computer!", followed by a request for your home and email address so they can send it to you (sounds reasonable enough, to get your Sony laptop). This is followed by requests to answer a "survey", then questions about your interests, occupation, etc. etc. What is really happening is that they are getting a profile of you to help them sell your address to their customers! Finally, it turns out that to "finish qualifying" for your gift, you have to buy something, then something else, etc. The free laptop (the bait) has been switched to being required to buy junk you don't need that ends up costing you more than it would to go out and buy the laptop!

And the next day there are 40 or 50 new emails in your inbox offering things that they claim that YOU asked about!

In summary, with a little research you can find worthwhile free items on the Internet. Using common sense you can avoid most of the problems. Ask yourself, what's in this for the seller? How can he give it to me for free? And remember, that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true. Even a fish wouldn't get caught if he looked, and avoided worms that had a line going from them up to the surface!

Otherwise, use caution and enjoy the many GOOD freebies that are out there!

What is PageRank?

By CT Cheltenham

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value.

In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyses the page that casts the vote.

Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search.

Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.

Integrity:

Google's complex, automated methods make human tampering with their results extremely difficult. And although they do run relevant ads above and next to their results, Google does not sell placement within the results themselves (i.e., no one can buy a higher PageRank).

A Google search is an easy, honest and objective way to find high-quality web sites with information relevant to your search.

Google's PageRank Algorithm

Google's PageRank algorithm may look extremely complex if you're not a mathematician. However, in reality, its beauty lies in its simplicity!

PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

PR(A) is the PageRank of a page

A PR(T1) is the PageRank of a page T1

C(T1) is the number of outgoing links from the page T1

d is a damping factor in the range 0 < d < 1, usually set to 0.85

PageRank is therefore calculated as a sum of the PageRanks of all the pages linking to it (inbound links), divided by the number of links on each of those pages (outbound links).

PageRank & Search Engine Optimisation

What does Google's PageRank algorithm tell us about Search Engine Optimisation?

Firstly it demonstrates that that the number of inbound liks to a web site is very important. However, more importantly it tells us that no inbound link can have a negative effect on a web sites PageRank!

Therefore, the worst thing an undesired inbound link can do is have no effect whatsoever on the PageRank of a web site / page.

Secondly the algorithm shows that the fewer outbound links on a single page providing an outbound link to a web site / page the better.

i.e. a link from a web page with only one outbound link is better than a a link from a web page with 10 outbound links on it.

Thirdly the algorithm demonstrates that it does not take into account any keywords / keyphrases whatsoever!

This is important as it shows that the algorithm itself is only part of the ranking process.

REVIEW: Project Quick Cash

I do like these ‘no fluff or filler’ ebooks, they’re terrific.

When you first download them you think, “Is that all I get for $77.00?” but, after you start reading it, you realise that it is all good solid content and worth every cent you pay for it.

Alok Jain had done a fantastic job of putting this ebook into a format that just earns money for the reader quickly and efficiently. Just do exactly what he suggests and you’ll be away. I promise you, it works.

One clever Google ‘trick’ is worth the price of the book on its own.

No, it’s not a black hat method, just a way of researching what is hot on the market and then building a product around it. You don’t actually have to make the product yourself, just use some wise techniques that are suggested in this book and you won’t fail.

Although these are genuine quick cash systems, they do involve some repetitive research in order to be completed. However, you can join the Project Quick Cash Automation Membership Site to enhance your profit-making experience as everything mentioned in the book is automated which saves you even more time and brings in the cash that much quicker.

Techniques like ‘Cashing The Spike’, ‘Underground Niche Profits’, Super Placement Targeting’ and the amazing ‘Leeching On A Launch’ are all great fun to get involved with because they do work.

You see, sites like Google give you tools to check on certain things, like trends in the market etc.. However, most people don’t know how to profit from the information gained. Alok Jain DOES know and he tells all in this ebook.

I’ve tried out all but one of the options at the time of writing and, although patience and a little dedication are required, I must admit that they are very effective.

I have even written a couple of articles on one technique (for other publications) that is so easy to implement and profit from, I reckon that anyone can do it ... even those with little or no Internet marketing experience. Just follow what the writer suggests and you can’t go far wrong.

I have found, over the years, that there are some extremely useful tools available for no cost or low cost, that it amazes me how some software developers get away with selling their wares when it can all be done without their programs. This Quick Cash Project is very simple, yet uses techniques that you just wouldn’t know about until you read the book.

It’s $77.00 to buy (with bonuses, of course) which sounds expensive for an ebook but, to be honest, I’d sooner pay more and get a class act like this than some of the absolute drivel I’ve downloaded for much less and never earned a penny from.

Project Quick Cash by Alok Jain gets my thumbs up and I recommend you go there now.

www.martynbrown.com/Recommends/quickcash.htm

Tools For Your Web Site - And They're Free!

It does not have to be expensive to get started with Internet marketing. There are so many free tools available, including HTML editors, graphics programs, and competition analysis.

Free Blogging Program

Blogs have become very popular, and the most popular blogging platform is Wordpress. Wordpress is a powerful blogging program that is also a content management system (CMS).

A content management system manages the content on your site. Why is this important? It makes it simple for anyone to set up a site, add content to it, and not worry about it any further. The program manages the content for you, setting it up in archives, categories, and so forth.

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of free plugins available to make Wordpress incredibly powerful and easy to use. One of the best places to find free Wordpress plugins is at wp-plugins.net.

There are also thousands of free Wordpress templates available. Many of them can be found at the Wordpress.org site under Themes. There are themes that are 2 columns, 3 columns, that accept widgets (which make it very easy to modify the sidebars), and themes of every color and design.

Free HTML Editors

The two most popular free HTML editors are NVUdev.com and Notetab Lite (available at Notetab.com). NVU is comparable to Dreamweaver. It might not be as powerful as Dreamweaver, but provides enough power for most of us who just want to create some basic Web sites.

Whether you use NVU, Dreamweaver, or Frontpage, having Notetab Lite on your computer is highly recommended. Many people use it for editing existing HTML files. It is quick and easy, and it is freeware.

Free Graphics Program

Probably the most powerful free graphics program is GIMP. With GIMP you can edit photos and other graphics. Most people will find that GIMP has all the tools they need.

GIMP supports the most popular file formats: GIF, TIFF, PNG, PSD, and JPEG. It works with Windows XP and Vista, Mac, Linus, and Sun. You can check it out at GIMP.org.

Tutorials for HTML, Wordpress, NVU, and GIMP

All of these programs have tutorials available. There is also a Dummies book for Wordpress if you find it easier to gather information in book format.

Some tutorials can be found at the sites listed above, or you can do a search for "nvu tutorial," "gimp tutorial," or "wordpress tutorial." A popular HTML tutorial can be found at BoogieJack.com. One of the great things about the Web is all of the free tutorials available.

Get Started Today

With these powerful free tools available there is no reason not to get started online today creating Web sites. If you are completely new, try setting up a Wordpress blog first. It is easy, it is free, and it is a great way to get started.

Martyn And His Rumours! by Patricia Jones

In issue 43 of Working Hours Magazine, I mentioned Patricia Jones, a 'work from home' entrepreneur from the past. Trish used to publish a magazine in the UK for a number of years which included some 'in yer face' advice and comments. They were nothing short of fantastic for entertainment, for putting the record straight and for becoming a downright 'Must read' for all those invovled in working from home in the UK.

It was a shock to learn that Trish was closing the publication down.

Well, she's back. But not as I originally thought. Trish has written an article, which I've published below. It does put the record straight, puts me in my place and, well, I'll let you decide for yourself.

Patricia Jones is one to watch, take a look at her websites and watch them skyrocket her to success, once again. You've been warned!

Martyn And His Rumours! by Patricia Jones

After Martyn mentioned me last month I thought that I’d better put things straight. No I’m not back in biz ops but I am back on the Internet exploring different ideas.

Credits Ta Ra
For those who have never heard of me I ran a mail order business for 5 years and built up quite a little empire. I take credit for a fun adsheet called Dump That Ad and a guide called Simple Ideas Sell. A small home made magazine called the Busy Bee Advertiser, a leaflet, booklet and cassette cover design service, print and mail service and the beginnings of a web design service, a full time job, 2 evenings a week working in a pub but no partridge in a pear tree. It was no wonder that Andrew Watton (a magazine editor) called me a busy bee, causing my sense of humour to convert it into a title.

Modest Advice
It’s nearly 5 years since I dropped out of biz ops and when I look back I realise that I built up an astonishing presence in the biz op arena from nothing. I was totally broke, my wages were dropping and I feared that I would lose my house. They used to say that only 10% made it in biz ops, I guess that I was lucky.

For those of you who don’t know me I’ll tell you how I did it. For those who remember me don’t get bored, skip to the end.

As luck would have it my first contacts in biz ops were mostly good ones. I was eager to learn, listened, thought about everything and came up with ideas myself. Perhaps all of that gained me help and respect from those who were the big names around at the time. Good contacts are important, but also I tried to help others whenever I could.

I also stayed completely ethical. Honesty didn’t always get me sales but money isn’t that important to me.

I soon realised that the best way forward for me was not mailing out envelopes – I couldn’t afford the stamps. I placed low cost ads everywhere, which was more cost effective. I then felt that becoming a prime source and service provider would do 2 things for me – make money and more important if you are in it for the long term you need to get your name known.

Becoming a Prime Source
After 3 months I had the idea for Dump That Ad. I didn’t have a computer but I got round it with a contact that offered to design and update it for me. His designs were excellent but it wasn’t long before I found out that he was a nutter. He wrote extremely nasty, insulting letters to all of the magazine editors who had given Dump That Ad excellent reviews. He was dumped quickly and as I had copy write I took up the generous offer of another contact called Paddy to design the adsheet.

I got a computer a few months later and after learning fairly quickly was able to take over the design myself and offer a design service. Eventually the leaflet design service got my work and contact details into a very high percentage of biz op mailings. The outcome being more orders and when you think about it my satisfied customers were happily advertising my business for me.

Simple Ideas Do Sell
A year after entering biz ops I wrote and self published Simple Ideas Sell. It got brilliant reviews and did quite well but I made a mistake with it. In my haste to publish I didn’t know enough to package and promote it properly. If I could go back I would have delayed publishing and asked the advice of those who were more experienced than myself. The best advice comes freely from those who aren’t trying to take your money off you at the same time.

Free Publicity and Advertising
After publishing SIS five magazine editors asked me to write regular articles for them. I chose to write for Money Master. It was the best biz op magazine at the time, had the widest circulation and offered me full page advertising in exchange. It also had a brilliant editor called Shirley Garlick. She taught me a lot in our regular conversations, it’s just a pity that we never got that girly night out that we threatened.
If you do come up with your own idea it will have a better chance if you let magazine editors and those who are in a position to give you free publicity see what you are doing.

The Busy Bee Buzzed
My next baby was the Busy Bee. It started out as a single then double-sided A4 advertiser. I got 1000 print and mailed and advertised it in the magazines. It got response and paid for itself but I became embarrassed when people responded to my ads asking for a copy of a magazine. I solved that problem by adding some more pages of ads, folding it in half and stapling it.

I was then able to offer full-page A5 ads and as more money came in it grew into a tidy little magazine that always paid its way. I always got response for my advertisers because I was careful in who I targeted. I added subscriptions for advertising packages and used the money to pay for article space. I had regular article writers, wrote reviews, fun pieces, useful info and I think what Martyn really liked – the scam warnings. ‘Watch Out They’re Out To Get You’ the section was called. I was bad; I had some pretty acerbic goes at scams and scamsters.

The Millionaire Nasty
The articles came before they were planned. One of my subscribers was a retired millionaire businessman who was playing around in biz ops. I met him and we got on well until another of my subscribers sent me a copy of a new and expensive money game to see what I thought. I warned my subscriber that it was illegal and she dropped out. The next day I got a call from my millionaire ‘friend’. It turned out that he was part of the prime source and I had lost him money. He threatened to sue me and close me down if I wrote about him in the Busy Bee. He must have forgotten that I didn’t do articles there. For a day or two I was very shaken by his threats but then I thought ‘why should I be frightened of telling the truth and why shouldn’t I warn others not to lose money on something that was illegal’. The articles and scam warnings were born. He never sued me and a few weeks later I was delighted to read an hilarious article about this scamster in one of the Sunday papers.

I exposed many scams and scamsters but I always had positive proof of what I was saying before I wrote a word. I had many a threat but they couldn’t touch me.

Winding Down
As this is getting too long I’ll miss out my Internet ventures except to say that I became fascinated with web design and promotion, which took up an awful lot of time.

I’m sure that you can all see that I had far too much on. I realised that I didn’t have much of a life and tried to run the business without working outside but I needed more company than my own. I dropped some of the more time consuming things and instead of copying, collating and stapling the magazine myself I paid a local printing company to do it. They were a week late and the printing was terrible beyond words. The little magazine that I took hours of painstaking effort to design and put together with little or no errors was brutalised. I didn’t pay the company and after that wouldn’t trust anybody else to print and not spoil something that I took pride in. I carried on for a few more months but I had no real life and didn’t have the heart to continue. I felt that I had nothing left in me, refunded all of my customers and sent them all a letter to say that I was closing down.

Even though things ended this way I learnt a lot in biz ops and discovered that I could do more than I ever thought. They call it a journey on TV nowadays but I call it blooming hard work. Despite that if you have the ideas and patience you can do it all too.

I would like to apologise to any of my previous customers who are reading this. I feel as if I let you all down and I know that many of you were also friends who I walked away from. I would love to hear how you are all doing but please don’t send me your promotions.

My Life Since
I continued writing and posted reviews on Ciao for a while. My nickname is Shewhosmiles if you want to check them out. I work in a local Co-op and love my job. I’ve been promoted once and am happy with what I’m doing. I have gained 2 lovely grandchildren called Harrison and Isabella and adore spending time with them. I’ve been to America – wouldn’t have gone that far with the business. Rode a horse in California and picnicked up a mountain by Big Bear lake. Spent £1 on the slots in Las Vegas and got chatted up by a very tall baseball coach. I get out and meet people and have more fun. I have a life now and am happier than before.

Even so I got bored a couple of months back and started to search for something more on the Internet. I’m relearning web design and by the time you read this I should have 3 sites up and running. Hopefully I’ll learn my lesson from the past and not take too much on.

As Martyn seemed to be hinting about an article I thought I’d give him one. Bet he didn’t bargain on all this!!