Like many people out there, I believed I needed to exchange my time for money in order to make a living. Even though there has always been a part of me dreaming of a different way, a better way, most of my adult life has been spent working for money. I had moments where I tried to follow this dream in the form of different network marketing companies, only to be sucked back into my conditioned reality of exchanging my time for money.

Time went by and I went from job to job, never really developing a career path of any kind. I ended up in the education and catering fields, working long, hard and unsocial hours. As a younger man this was fine, I had plenty of energy and zest for life. So I continued spending my precious time and youthful vigour building my employees’ dream, rather than my own…

Time for Change

I eventually realized that it was time for a change. I was in my mid 40’s, so I think it was a bit of a mid-life crises that spurred me into really searching for another simpler, efficient and effective way of generating income. So I did a deep dive on-line and discovered the wondrous and marvellously alluring world of online marketing and business. Little did I realize at the time the traps and pitfalls that awaited me….

Traps and Pitfalls

I used to get pulled every which way by the barrage of business opportunities out there. It was actually quite-overwhelming as I jumped from business to business hoping that 'the next one' would be the one that laid the 'Golden Egg'. Ever hopeful, a little naïve, rather gullible and innocently believing and trusting that the business that I joined, the CEO’s, business owners and leaders had my best interest at heart…. Long story short, I became rather disillusioned when business after business went bust, scammed out or disappeared. 

Back then I was new to online marketing and business, I didn't really know what I was doing. I managed to build a few very small teams in a some of the businesses I got involved in, but nothing notable. As some of the early businesses closed or collapsed soon after joining, I became cautious, tentative even when it came to building teams as I didn't, and still don't like the idea of anyone losing money... which happens all too often in the on-line space.

The last business I promoted looked promising for the long haul. I even got close family members involved, built a good size team and business that earned me 2-3 times what I was making working full time as a chef. I thought that this was it, finally I’d found the business that I could rely on for years to come. After-all the CEO had said that this was a generational business built for the long haul... And guess what? Yup, that's right; rug pull on it's members after about 18 months. That was in March 2020, as the crypto market took a dive. This really shook me up and I was deeply upset that my team members and people who trusted me, those closest to me, lost money. 

I dusted myself off and joined another business that soon after scammed all of it’s members for a LOT of money. This particular business had been running for a couple of years already and had made all the right promises of being legal, transparent and a generational business. Fortunately I hadn’t built a team and managed to get out without losing any money before the CEO disappeared. Then another business I got involved with decided to change it’s payment plan by introducing it’s own token - which was valueless…

The Easy Path is Often not the Best Path…

To say that I felt disappointment with myself would be an understatement! Especially considering that for the most part throughout my on-line journey, I had a mentor who had coached me 1-2-1 as well as provided an in-depth marketing training program, and warned time and again of the pitfalls doing things the way I was, which wasn’t in line with my coaching and training, and I knew it. But I still chose the easy path, the path of least resistance in the hope of making money by doing the least amount of work possible.

Resist the Temptation

The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I want you to know that I understand the allure of the different offers out there, the desire to make money online by doing the least possible work, the dream of making passive income, residual income.. It's so easy to get hooked and lose sight of what's really important when building an online business.

Sure, one could argue that I’ve learned a lot over this time and through my silly mistakes - what NOT to do, how NOT to build an online business! And it’s true, I have learned. My approach is now different. My mindset and perspective changed for the better. It’s important to resist the temptation of going about ‘trying’ to build an online business the way I did in the past. You’re likely to lose money, get hurt and also hurt your relationships along the way. I can assure you, it’s not worth taking the easy, quick route.

In part 2 I continue to share my personal journey and what I've learnt...