How Learning digital skills and affiliate marketing took me from being a weary and worried ex-Charity Worker and frustrated artist to being happy healthy, creative and thriving online business owner.
Who am I - and why would you care?
You want to break free - you've got a song to sing, a picture to paint, a creative idea develop. You're anxious your health, your wealth, your future - what's happening in the world. You wondering how you'll survive to enjoy life in retirement, or guide and care for your children and grandchildren ...
That was me ...stuck and scared, frozen with fear.
Take a look at me now ...
Still a real mother, and a grandmother, now I'm running a real business, earning and growing a good income – still creative, still an activist, still on a digital roller-coaster - and enjoying quality time with family, musicians and artists, and projects I love.
The key was grasping the digital opportunity. It got me out of a trap - from being a weary and worried ex-Charity Worker and frustrated artist to happy healthy, creative and thriving as an online business owner. If you're curious about my story - read on, or if you just want to an intro to the programe that gave me the support I needed to build the essential skills, jump here.
Life Happens
From working as an architect in the USA and London, to setting up a smallholding and craft enterprise and raising a family through a failing economy and cold war politics, it was never easy making ends meet. I scraped by, being the mostly present (albeit mostly broke!) mum I wanted to be, but it was a struggle and the world felt very unsafe. I set up projects, launched campaigns and joined movements - building community projects and social enterprises I learnt a lot, did some good and earned a little.
Putting bread on the table, doing my best to build a better world for my family, those special moments were too often missed and then simply gone. Working late, often away, I started to fall apart. Mentally and physically I was losing the will to live. Driving fast towards a stone wall one night I just wanted it all to end. But something held me back – an inner voice telling me not to give up, because I had more to give. Giving up wasn't an option, but something had to change.
Then I met Stephen. He listened. He saw something in me that I couldn’t see. He added street smarts and business savvy to my book smarts and dreamy creative idealism. We became partners on a lifetime journey – working with people in impoverished communities to find practical solutions and resolve conflicts. We were pre-internet nomads, living on the road or the waterways – making a living, making a difference, loving life … always adapting.
To cut a long story short we built an organisation, developed a foundation, trained thousands of community activists, worked with the government and launched a radio station – but it couldn’t last. We were heading for burnout,
The political winds shifted. The economy was in crisis yet again. The outlook was bleak, and we were running on empty. I was diagnosed with cancer, our primary income dried up, and once again we were struggling. I got through the treatment, and all looked good ....we shifted focus and launched a new business built around our love of music, organic products and healthy food. Then my cancer returned, with complications. I was dying, drifting away after an emergency procedure, tired of the fight.
But something urged me not to give up. I opened my eyes for a moment, to see relief on the nurse's face and my husband wiping away tears. I was alive - and I still had work to do. First step - recover; next step - renew.
Reset for renewal
Cancer impacts everyone close to it– I’d ignored the signs of stress, and we suffered the consquences. This time round Stephen and I took a radical look at our lives. We knew we had to reduce stress in our lives and restore our bodies, minds and spirits. And we desperately needed to start building sustainable income for our later years. Spending time on creativity - music for Stephen, drawing for me - and connecting with nature was the easy bit!
A pandemic. Another recession. Too many people all over the world hungrier, poorer, less safe and more divided than ever. Our children, grandchildren and families everywhere are struggling - a job for life is not where its at.
How can you create, make music, share what you know and build a worthwhile income that can replace a job you want to quit?
At any stage in life, to succeed as an artist or activist or solo-entrepreneur depends on having ability to consistently generate revenue month after month, and still have time and energy for making your art, developing your ideas and skills or engaging in political campaigns. Relying on one revenue stream – is risky. Multiple income streams can create stability for your art business and lifestyle.
Achieving a long-term income felt like a mountain to climb – comfortable retirement and sailing under the stars - an impossible dream!
Where do you start?
At our age, what could we offer or produce that someone buy might need or buy? How would we finance a new business? How would we find customers?
Of course, everything is going online, so that's an opportunity. We have the internet now, but how do you live life if you’re spending all day on a screen? And, would I EVER be able to manage all the technical stuff – and master the jargon - to make it work?
Clearly if you use the Internet for shopping, you can use it for selling - if you can ask google questions, you can offer answers ...but I simply didn’t have knowledge to build sites, the money to develop products or market our music, or enough 'presence' to be seen or heard or introduce our ‘stuff' ....
Conflicted about computer tech, and not a huge fan of social media ... this was big block. But robots are already here - so needs must!
So I took a deep breath, committed to do the work, invested in a world class education and mentorship programme. This was the start of an incredible adventure in digital discovery in the company of a global community of changemaking entrepreneurs who support and encourage every step of the way towards your success.
Now I'm becoming a master of the mouse and the trackpad ....navigating the online environment and building income with ever increasing confidence! I am equipped for what is coming and will not go gentle into that good night because, in the powerful words of Dylan Thomas
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Ready to learn more?
If you're worrying about financial security, you're curious, or if you thinking seriously about what to do next - we'd love to send you our tips, insights and free offers. Join our mailing list now, and we'll send you an invitation to a fabulous free webinar - it's the best no fluff introduction to starting an online business from scratch that we've found. It's what got us thinking - and me moving!
