A solopreneur is someone who is running their own business. It does not mean they don’t have a virtual assistant or two, but it does mean they are in charge of their business entirely. Today, I invite you to download the Solopreneur Take Aways PDF for some inspiration, smart things people said, and other business wisdom.
When I started working online, my oldest child was a tiny baby and I discovered yahoo groups. That tiny baby is now over 13 years old. I very quickly moved from a couple of yahoo groups to Mom Masterminds (now SoloMasterminds) which was a group of women helping each other figure out how to work online. The women that created MM (SM) had previously created work at home websites to help other Mom’s figure out how to work at home. One of the women even had her own internet radio show.
Back then I sold Tupperware bought Tupperware. I have been told many times that I am a great salesman because I am a good judge of what works and what doesn’t with various items, but 13+ years ago, I wasn’t a great salesman, I wasn’t confident enough in front of a large crowd. I held a couple of parties and an open house, but I very quickly realized that direct sales was not something I was interested in. I did try a couple of other direct sales companies, but neither went anywhere. But it was those other companies that I tried led to my venture into having an online business.
I knew I wanted to figure out how to work online, how to stay at home with my daughter and still make money. At that point it was so strange to not have a job – I went from working from the time I was 14 years old to staying home. I worked every summer in high school, I worked my senior year of high school, I worked in college. And then I got married and moved a couple of times and didn’t have a job to go to because daycare was just too expensive.
SoloMasterminds is amazing. It is full of people asking questions and people generously stepping up to help. It is no fluff, no “if you wish for it, your business will magically happen,” no let’s all hold hands and smile because that will make money fall from the sky. It was what works, what really works to help you earn an income from home. Kelly McCausey always said if she doesn’t feel comfortable recommending a product to her sister, she wasn’t going to recommend it because she loved her sister. Kelly didn’t want her sister to get scammed by something online, and that in turn had her looking out for us in MM because she didn’t want us to get scammed either.
Kelly (click ‘about’ at the top of that page to read her story!), one of the women that founded SoloMasterminds, quit her day job after a few years of having an online business, and she created a podcasting product (now retired) which I used to launch my first podcast back in 2007. Without her, I would not have had my first podcast. Without SM, I am sure I wouldn’t have my current podcast. I joined the Stretch Yourself Challenge last October that gave me that push to get my podcast up and running and published.
I love podcasting. I love talking to creative people about what they are doing and the business that they run from their homes. I find it a little funny that podcasting is all of a sudden a ‘new’ thing when I did it years ago and Kelly did it years before I did.
Solopreneur Take Aways is full of inspiration, smart things people said, and more nuggets of business wisdom from the awesome members of SoloMasterminds. It was scary to make myself submit something to be included, but I did. I stopped producing that first podcast after a year and 18 episodes. I stopped working online when things in my life piled on top of me. During my time away from working online, I finished my B.A., I had a baby, I raised the three kids alone for a few years while my husband did back to back to back deployments, I worked outside the home, I lived with and then near my Mom and stepdad. I regret nothing from taking that break online, it is what needed to happen.
And when I was ready to come back, SoloMasterminds was still there. Last fall the ten year anniversary was celebrated. Kelly is still providing amazing resources and the forum is still a busy place. In this age of facebook groups and social media, I love that forum because it is the place to go to find fantastic advice and assistance as I work online.
Take a look at the Solopreneur Take Aways. Page seven has ten tips to improve your focus and the quote on page 23 is three words that pack a punch.
Thanks for sharing this. Just wanted to let you know the links to the SoloMasterminds is a directory index page not a web pag,e like I’d expected it to be. I have your podcast downloaded on my phone but have only listened to a couple episodes so far. Thanks for sharing how the program was a kick in the pants for you to get your podcast up and running!