I've Been Gone for Months...

...And I didn't even realize it.

Things have been a whirlwind in those months. Back on April 25, 2005, I wrote on this blog:

"30 years old and I need to be out of the "rat race". That's seven years from now. I can no longer afford to bide my time. It's time to get it done."

Today is November 8. It's my 30th birthday... And I'm out of the "rat race"!

August 19th was my last day of working the day job. Since then, I have been a full time Internet Marketer!

It was a complete shock to everyone at my old job. They couldn't believe that I was leaving to be with Natasha and "start" my own business. It was funny, though. As I talked to more and more of the older men there, I couldn't help but get the sense that there was some admiration towards me for "taking my shot". For not letting my life pass away, regretting that I didn't at least try to do my own thing.

Things haven't been easy, though. My bread and butter products seem to be waning so I've had to shift my business model around.

I'm also in the process of getting some offline clients to diversify my income. I'd be doing SEO and other work for them on a monthly basis. I've created promo videos relating to a specific niche in 22 cities. I started sending out emails yesterday and have taken care of Atlanta. Even though I'm a bit apprehensive about the idea, I think I may have to start cold calling. Just sending an email off into a black hole and hoping to get a response isn't very effective. We will see as things go on. I may end up sending all of the emails and then following up by phone a week later. It shouldn't be to painful, I used to be a telemarketer in a past life=)

I also now have 3 employees and they are all doing great. One of them is completely dedicated to building Amazon affiliate sites and doing the SEO for them. The other is dedicated to doing the SEO and Twitter work for my relationship product.

Being fulltime is great but it is true that you can easily be distracted. Staying focused has been a little tough, but I refuse to end up going back to a job like so many of my friends who tried to go full time. I just can't do that.

So I need this blog to be my accountability - now more than ever. I've said it so many times before but this time the stakes are soooo much higher.

Overall, I'm very happy. I'm with Natasha now instead of half a country away. I'm working on my own business rather than wasting away at a dead end job. Things are good=)