Welcome Message

I am a Father and a husband, but first and foremost I like to think of myself a Christian. That is not always evident in my walk and I can assure you I am far from blameless, but I am forgiven. I do try to fashion my life around what is righteous, but I fail often.

In business I'm a carpenter and do reasonably well. But I'm getting older, not as fast as I use to be, my body begins to ache sooner and my back hates me more.  Fortunately what I lack in speed I make up for with experience. A Toby Keith song comes to mind.

I first started my business because the �side work� spillover from my regular carpentry "job" started getting more involved, and profitable. It got to the point where I had to make the decision, I had to begin my own business. Over the years I have had my ups and downs. I have been blesses in that  all my work has always come through referral from others, even from my former employer. I have never advertised with the exception of a Google listing and the mandatory sign on the side of my work van.

In all honesty I'm somewhat of an introvert type person and going out and selling my service is just something I'm not comfortable doing. I can only attribute my success in the carpentry business to my strong desire to see my clients dreams be realized, by focusing on their need and wants. I also surround my self with the subcontractors who have the same mindset, that the customer is (almost) always right and the clients goal must be their highest priority. I cannot imagine this principal being different in any other business.

Colossians 3:23 tells me �Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.

When the real estate market tanked and my clients needs declined, I found myself looking for alternative sources of income. My hurdle is what can I do? I have minimal skills outside of construction, and I have no products. This is when I first learned about affiliate or network marketing. Personal experience has taught me there is no better form of advertising then word of mouth or referral advertising. We are all actually walking billboards, just not getting paid for advertising the products we use.

I had really great success with my first experience promoting an affiliate company. That is until the company folded. The reason I was successful wasn't based on my experience or the product, and surely not my outgoing personality. It was because I spent a lot of money for advertising. It was at that time I discovered I needed to become more efficient in my new business. My computer up until then was basically an expensive mail box, and boy was I emailing. There had to be a more efficient way to communicate with my associates and customers. I researched and found a company called ISOR. They could  provide me a web page to introduce my products (I refuse to use words squeeze or capture pages) and an autoresponder to keep customers informed.

After that first failed company I become somewhat jaded towards network companies. But the real clincher came after my involvement with another company networking cell service. It seemed like a no brainier, low cost cell service and the opportunity to get it free.  Well that was the promise anyway.  How someone can promise something they apparently had no idea how to fulfill is beyond my comprehension. I thought it was only Doctors and Lawyers that got to �practice�. If I build a cabinet and the door doesn't swing open I can't say, �It is what it is, I did the best I could.� My customer wouldn't even see the cabinet until it was right. That cell service company finally did resolve most of their issues, but there is no way I could associate myself with them in any way.

After that, I got away from the whole notion of marketing products and decided to just focus on my love for creating beautiful and unique living areas out of wasted space. Selling is not my forte anyway. I'm not outgoing or persuasive, and I have no desire to convince people that I somehow had the product of their dreams.

But the concept of networking never left my mind. After all, it was how I built my carpentry business, and those that referred me to others always got some preferential treatment when they needed something. 

I recently decided that it was not me who failed. If I were to throw in the towel and give up my dreams, then I could consider myself having failed. Which brings me back to what I learned back with that first company. That ISOR company I got the autoresponder from way back when transformed into 12 Second Commute several years ago. I have sat idly by, watching them increase their product line and bringing more and more value to their customers. Have you ever looked for something only to find it right under your nose?

So here I am, back to square one, with just a little more knowledge. As a 12 Second Commute subscriber I have the opportunity to offer their services to others just like the 1000's of others. I recently began offering other products that have and do provide me great benefits. But again, I am out there competing with 1000's of more experienced and savvy people.

My edge in the market place;

12 Second Commute

and I thank you Darryl for providing the fresh oxygen that will allow me to reignite the embers of my dreams.