Your story: Why do you work for yourself?

TommyCarey

When Is started, back in 2003, I was only dabbling online and trying to make a few bucks. I was trying to post adsense on my pages and figuring out how I could get a few clicks to make some cash. I would do research on what the highest paying keywords were in adwords and that generally was a rule of thumb on how to identify the best niches to build websites in and slap some adsense code on. At the time I didn't know that the higher the price per click you had to pay, the more difficult it was to rank in the search engines, usually. I thought I was going to make an extra $20 a day just putting ads on high paying niche websites that I slapped together, but I was so wrong

In 2004, I started to get into SEO because I now knew that I couldn't just put ads on my websites and profit, I had to bust my ass and do some work

So I started to get my websites ranked and eventually got the taste of a few clicks and made like $0.10 per click in a high paying niche, which destroyed me slightly. I knew these advertisers were paying $10 to $15 a click because I did the research in adwords, but I only made a few measly pennies.

In 2005, After busting my ass working online for my own websites I thought I could set up some test websites and hone my SEO and Marketing skills. I told myself that when I made, on average, $50 a day from sales and client sign ups, I would start selling my services to others who needed help with their rankings. After about 6 months of working online part time, I was hitting my $50 a day mark.

In 2006, I launched my own SEO and Online Marketing service and the website looked horrible, but people paid me anyways because I was quick to respond to any questions they had

They stayed signed up for months because I was continuously getting them top rankings for their keywords and bringing in the traffic. My longest client was almost 4 years and the only reason they stopped paying me for work is because they sold their company, retired and moved to Arizona lol. The new owners had their own SEO and Online Marketing team I guess, or they just didn't trust us to do the work since our company wasn't 10+ years old.

Fast forward to now, I'm the founder and CEO of my company and we're going strong

We now have a few people working with us to generate leads and I've got 10 to 20 dedicated freelancers that will help us out on any of our projects when we need it. I don't have any staff besides the lead generators since I can pay my freelancers per project

When Is started, back in 2003, I was only dabbling online and trying to make a few bucks. I was trying to post adsense on my pages and figuring out how I could get a few clicks to make some cash. I would do research on what the highest paying keywords were in adwords and that generally was a rule of thumb on how to identify the best niches to build websites in and slap some adsense code on. At the time I didn't know that the higher the price per click you had to pay, the more difficult it was to rank in the search engines, usually. I thought I was going to make an extra $20 a day just putting ads on high paying niche websites that I slapped together, but I was so wrong :D In 2004, I started to get into SEO because I now knew that I couldn't just put ads on my websites and profit, I had to bust my ass and do some work :D So I started to get my websites ranked and eventually got the taste of a few clicks and made like $0.10 per click in a high paying niche, which destroyed me slightly. I knew these advertisers were paying $10 to $15 a click because I did the research in adwords, but I only made a few measly pennies. In 2005, After busting my ass working online for my own websites I thought I could set up some test websites and hone my SEO and Marketing skills. I told myself that when I made, on average, $50 a day from sales and client sign ups, I would start selling my services to others who needed help with their rankings. After about 6 months of working online part time, I was hitting my $50 a day mark. In 2006, I launched my own SEO and Online Marketing service and the website looked horrible, but people paid me anyways because I was quick to respond to any questions they had :D They stayed signed up for months because I was continuously getting them top rankings for their keywords and bringing in the traffic. My longest client was almost 4 years and the only reason they stopped paying me for work is because they sold their company, retired and moved to Arizona lol. The new owners had their own SEO and Online Marketing team I guess, or they just didn't trust us to do the work since our company wasn't 10+ years old. Fast forward to now, I'm the founder and CEO of my company and we're going strong :D We now have a few people working with us to generate leads and I've got 10 to 20 dedicated freelancers that will help us out on any of our projects when we need it. I don't have any staff besides the lead generators since I can pay my freelancers per project :D

9 years ago

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Everett

Wow, it only took 3 years for you to develop your strategies and start your own online business. This is very remarkable. Surely 3 years seems like a long time, but all the knowledge and experience you gained helped you to start up. *claps frantically*

Also, I wouldn't worry about that company that stopped using your company because it wasn't 10+ years old. It seems to me that you were probably really good, but they wanted their own team of experts, and didn't want to have to go to another business for their SEO work to be done.

You probably didn't need that client anymore anyways, as I'm sure by reading multiple posts of yours that you are very successful now!!

9 years ago

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TommyCarey

Yeah, I look back on it a lot though since it was one of my first bigger clients

I don't mind now, it was a learning experience and maybe that is what spurred me to start making a name for myself in the IM world

Obviously "Razzy" isn't my name, but I use variations of this pen name when working online. A few places I use my real name, but not many

It took 3 years, maybe 4, but it was a hard road because I was working online at least 12 hours a day not making much. I would be happy if I broke even when playing around with my websites. I would have profited if I didn't invest my profits into books and courses to learn how to work with websites

But hey, I look at it like I paid for my education as I went through it. Now a days college kids don't save a dime and then get hit with a $40,000+ bill after 4 years of school

I have no debt, I have a great lady by my side and a beautiful daughter. I don't have a college education because I decided to pave my own path and become the boss I wanted when I was working a 9-5 in order to pay my bills

I think I'm almost there, maybe in another year or two I can pay my people a ludicrous amount for being so loyal to me over the years

Only time will tell

9 years ago

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hitmeasap

Hey bobjoehax3,
This was a great topic. And I appreciate that you share your story.
I really can't share everything here because the whole Community Discussion would explode by my entire story, so I'll go a bit easy on this one.

I mentioned in another CD that I started out by selling my tactics, from when I was a Counterstrike player. But I didn't realize what I was doing back then. Not until a couple of years later actually. I found cool stories out there, about fancy cars and castles. Stories about vacations on tropical islands, drinks and private jets was also very common.. And these things we're probably the very first reason I started. I got interested because of these BS stories.

That being said, I've always been "slightly different" compared to my childhood friends and compared to other "normal" kids in school. I had tons of friends, I were one of the "cool" guys and I was never bullied or something like that.. But, I also had a different sight on things.

Honestly speaking, I've never been that "ordinary" guy. I have always felt like doing my own thing. Run my own show. And I've done that, through my entire life. In good times and in bad. I've made tons of mistakes and I've failed more times than I could possibly count on my fingers. When I went in 9th grade. I was a bit "rebellious" during a lesson and my teacher started to yell at me.

I didn't listen to what she said, I didn't care, and I did my own thing.. Until she screamed "WHAT WILL YOU WORK WITH WHEN YOU DON'T LEARN A SINGLE THING!?" - My answer got me kicked out of the classroom. I simply told her: "I'll be a postman" (mailman).

The thing is, I had no intentions at all, I wasn't interested in becoming a postman.. But, I never looked down on a postman, as it's a job and everyone should appreciate those people, as they deliver your snailmail. - She did however, apparently, as she kicked me out of the classroom.

Anyhow, this is starting to get a bit weird, to think of all these things, and this posts will never end.. Long story short. Even back then, I saw things with a bit different eyes compared to others. I could stand up for myself. I never backed down. I walked the walk and I talked the talk so to speak. When I finally started out working online, I started as a reseller. I sold social media services.

Today, I focus on brand building, which is my main business, but I do invest in various projects several times per year. Although most of them are pure crap and doesn't earn me a dime. I do it for one reason. I think it's fun, and that's important for me. I want to have fun and if I would be able to generate income by helping others, I wouldn't say no as long as I could afford to help them.

With all this being said, I love my freelance career, I work full time and I've been doing that for a few years now. I have one goal in life, when we're talking business, and that's to set up multiple income streams, and even though I haven't succeeded yet, I've had some ups and downs and I've gained knowledge and experience along the way.. And I'm not talking about selling services on multiple marketplaces or anything like that. I'm talking about investments and passive income.

Who knows, one day I might come across something so appealing that I'll invest everything I've got.. And, suddenly, I'd just disappear due to a bad investment... Or.. You'll see me on the news as a new Hugh Hefner in a Playboy Mansion.

Best Regards,
hitmeasap Hey bobjoehax3, This was a great topic. And I appreciate that you share your story. I really can't share everything here because the whole Community Discussion would explode by my entire story, so I'll go a bit easy on this one. :) I mentioned in another CD that I started out by selling my tactics, from when I was a Counterstrike player. But I didn't realize what I was doing back then. Not until a couple of years later actually. I found cool stories out there, about fancy cars and castles. Stories about ?vacations on tropical islands, drinks and private jets was also very common.. And these things we're probably the very first reason I started. I got interested because of these BS stories. That being said, I've always been "[i]slightly different[/i]" compared to my childhood friends and compared to other "normal" kids in school. I had tons of friends, I were one of the "cool" guys and I was never bullied or something like that.. But, I also had a different sight on things. Honestly speaking, I've never been that "ordinary" guy. I have always felt like doing my own thing. Run my own show. And I've done that, through my entire life. In good times and in bad. I've made tons of mistakes and I've failed more times than I could possibly count on my fingers. When I went in 9th grade. I was a bit "[i]rebellious[/i]" during a lesson and my teacher started to yell at me. I didn't listen to what she said, I didn't care, and I did my own thing.. Until she screamed "WHAT WILL YOU WORK WITH WHEN YOU DON'T LEARN A SINGLE THING!?" - My answer got me kicked out of the classroom. I simply told her: "[i]I'll be a postman[/i]" (mailman). The thing is, I had no intentions at all, I wasn't interested in becoming a postman.. But, I never looked down on a postman, as it's a job and everyone should appreciate those people, as they deliver your snailmail. - She did however, apparently, as she kicked me out of the classroom. Anyhow, this is starting to get a bit weird, to think of all these things, and this posts will never end.. Long story short. Even back then, I saw things with a bit different eyes compared to others. I could stand up for myself. I never backed down. I walked the walk and I talked the talk so to speak. When I finally started out working online, I started as a reseller. I sold social media services. Today, I focus on brand building, which is my main business, but I do invest in various projects several times per year. Although most of them are pure crap and doesn't earn me a dime. I do it for one reason. I think it's fun, and that's important for me. I want to have fun and if I would be able to generate income by helping others, I wouldn't say no as long as I could afford to help them. With all this being said, I love my freelance career, I work full time and I've been doing that for a few years now. I have one goal in life, when we're talking business, and that's to set up multiple income streams, and even though I haven't succeeded yet, I've had some ups and downs and I've gained knowledge and experience along the way.. And I'm not talking about selling services on multiple marketplaces or anything like that. I'm talking about investments and passive income. Who knows, one day I might come across something so appealing that I'll invest everything I've got.. And, suddenly, I'd just disappear due to a bad investment... Or.. You'll see me on the news as a new Hugh Hefner in a Playboy Mansion. Best Regards, hitmeasap

9 years ago

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Everett

I love stories like these because they show your passion for succeeding when people say you can't do something. Your story is very close to my own actually. I was also lead on by promises of fancy cars, and mansions.

At first I didn't know where to start, or what to sell. I started to sell graphics, because at the time I wanted to be a graphic designer but it didn't work out. I guess I lost my edge, and that passion quickly faded away. I then dabbled in PHP scripts, and got an idea to start my own online text-based MMORPG. I then later quit that, but still started to code, and I learned more and more, and then offered social services on this marketplace and then later stopped that and now offer my own PHP scripts.

9 years ago

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CryptoGuru

I have pretty much worked for myself since I was younger. I hustled in my own way. I tried working for retail companies and even consulting firms, but I always felt like I was just a number and was not appreciated.

Since then, I have dipped into all kinds of different businesses. A few years back, I was selling refurbished printers and copiers on ebay, and then that turned into wanting to have an online store. So my wife and I started buying merchandise in bulk and would sell it all on ebay and Amazon! It was definitely a lot of work though, having to package things up correctly so it wouldn't get damaged during shipping, driving to the post office 3 to 4 times a day to send the packages out. We soon got very tired of doing all of that.

And then I came across SEOCLERKS...I started off with 1 service and then that was it. I now work from home on SEOCLERKS everyday, full time! It can definitely be stressful at times but to be my own boss, nothing can compare!!! Thanks for the great question!!

9 years ago

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anwebservices

Well, first thank you for mentioning me

happy to know that i inspired you

and it's quiet nice story shared by you here.

So why did i become freelancer?...
Hmmm first of all it was always challenge for me to do my own things and implement my own ideas. In the school i was average graded kid, but my visions were far further then what i was learning in the school, i was creative and interested in most of the things. So when i bought my first computer, jumped online and browse for few weeks, i started getting like billion ideas how good freelancing can be and how many things i could do my self...
Other then that, i rarely find that my previous bosses appreciate my work enough. I knew what i was doing and it was much more then required, but they were always pushing for even more for same money. Since i didn't have right degree i couldn't beat them, but most of time i felt smarter then them, so long ago i thought, i will work harder but for my self, i will work longer but for my self, if i am wrong with my ideas i am prepared to fail and yet try again... After all, today i am very happy freelancer! Working in freedom and enjoying it every single day. I was failing and succeeding, but every failure just made me stronger and smarter. So i have nothing to regret yet. Big kiss to my previous bosses but i would never let them make me feel bad and sad again...

9 years ago

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ajlancer

Hi bobjoehax3 thanks for your sharing your story. I think be a successful or to do something special behind has some reason. And humane nature is always make freedom. And I think I do all from my feeling of freedom. I am not going to say all story for myself. But, I can say I belongs from moderate family and where always require to do something for supporting family and there is no time as much and after having my Masters, I was seeking job here and there but I could not manage as my expectation. And in the mean time I tried to do something alternative and special which may give me freedom of work as well earning money and I heard about online freelancing. Suddenly I decide to do such as freelancing And I started freelancing job from 2007-2008. And from that time I never look behind as freelancer and specially after joining on SEOclerks my life has changed and now I am working only here and obviously fulltime basis. And I never think instead SEOclerks and instead freelancing.

I believe it is the best way to earning money with freedom

Hope it is short enough about myself.

Regards by Ajlancer

9 years ago

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EliteWriter

I used to work at home a few minutes every day, which was only because I had very little time to spare because of my actual job. Back then I was loving that little time I spent online and hating all the hours I spent at work because of ridiculous tasks I had to do and bosses which I just could not stand. Then as time went by I started to increase the amount of time I spent online and my 'popularity' with clients increased. I got busier and had more work, and now I basically am online most of the time writing!

9 years ago

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Lynne

Well my younger years were a mess because I am an addict and an alcoholic. When I got clean at the age of 29 I just landed up doing freelance bookkeeping. Some friends and family needed their books done and well I am quite good at that so I just did it.

Then I got married and had my first baby. In the beginning it was fine, I could get some work done and manage with my baby but very soon it became clear I would have to send my baby to day care so I could work. I realized then that I detested bookkeeping. I wasn't prepared to send my baby away during the day to do something I didn't enjoy.

So when my baby was a few months old I set up an online baby store, then I started selling wholesale online too and by the time my second child was 2 years old I had them both in full time day care. I suddenly realized that if I kept with an online store my kids would always be in full time care because there is so much admin and work involved.

So in February this year I just closed my stores and I am only blogging now.

9 years ago

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Corzhens

I have a full time job ever since I graduated from the university. This is not to brag but I have a good position in a bank that gives me a high salary. I am into freelancing to have an occupation when I retire. It’s scary to think that I will not be doing anything when that time comes that even if I will receive a substantial retirement pay, it’s not all money there is life. We need an occupation to feel productive. And although the earnings in my freelancing are meager, I feel that it’s still good enough for my efforts.

7 years ago

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SEOClerks

Your story: Why do you work for yourself?