why haven’t i been blogging?

shit hasn’t been going well so i’ll do my best to explain.  the past few months have been hell and as it’s looking right now, this business is going to flop.  we finally got rid of the stupid fucking moron that was dragging us down by not performing his duties and we found someone who was really good to replace him.  the bigger problem now is that the company we partnered up with who is supposed to be handling all of the backend work appears to have no prior knowledge or experience in doing so, even though they gave the impression they’ve been doing it for a long time.

naturally one would think, “we’ll if they can’t do it, find someone else,” and that’s what we’ve been trying to do for the last month.  the problem is that this is such a new concept that there is no one out there capable of doing it.  we found 1 guy that can, but the commissions he pays are so low that it just isnt a viable business if we refer to him, so we are stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

as it stands, we are pulling the plug at the end of this month and over 100k of commissions are going down the toliet.  this is one of those things that there is a huge market for and the concept makes perfect sense; but no one has broken through yet.  once someone does, the flood gates will open in terms of earnings and profitability but who knows when that will be.

i was forced to take a job because my original work from home employement laid me off.  my new employement is business to business sales for commercial collections and i fucking hate it with a passion.  not to mention that the money is absolutely fucking horrible.  i barely make enough to cover my monthly living expenses so i’m unable to get “ahead” working there.  the last several months i’ve just been existing and wondering why every business i start ultimately seems to fail.  it just keeps happening over and over again and i don’t know how much more of this shit i can take.

goals haven’t been updated because i have no fucking clue what i’m going to do that this point.  its hard to have goals when your life is in limbo as mine has been the last couple of months.  once we officially pull the plug i’m going to have to see what else i can do as a side business to try and earn a living because my current employement isnt going to cut it.

its incredible that when i started this blog i thought i would posting about my success and how i achieved it, and this would all happen shortly after it’s inception.  Instead what i’ve really got is a 2 year journal of my repeated failures and ongoing depression as a result.

i really dont know what the fuck i’m going to do.

2012
07/15
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Getting closer or further away???

Well shit has happened, and I’ll do my best to explain…

My existing company was founded by myself and two business partners. 1 of which (the attorney) is completely fucking useless. FYI, just because someone has a law degree, don’t assume they are smart, because the guy we are working with is not only LAZY AS FUCK, but a complete dumbass (good combo right?). He has not done a single task we have asked of him since starting this partnership several months ago and it isn’t going to work out with him.

The good news is that we found an alternative which allows us to continue working within the same market/industry. Since this business model has the potential to be extremely lucrative, one of my main concerns was wondering if we were going to have to pull the plug on the entire thing because of this idiot. Luckily that hasn’t been the case, yet..

We found another company to outsource our deals to and have been referring them business for the last month. Essentially all of the tasks that our own in-house attorney/partner was supposed to be doing have been sent to an outside firm.

My other business partner and I have been working exclusively on sales and marketing and things have been picking up in that regard, however I’m looking forward to cutting off this fucking idiot as soon as possible. We are going to give him a piece of the deals we acquired while we were in business together but anything after that is 100% ours; he isn’t getting shit. This may sound harsh, but trust me he doesn’t deserve it. If anything he has made everything harder for us and if I really wanted to be cut-throat I’d tell him to go fuck himself and not pay him on any of the deals PERIOD. However I decided not to do that. I don’t like bad karma and I’m not about to end things with him that way.

Moving on!

So it looks like we’ve finally gotten a lot of our marketing kinks worked out and are generating some consistent leads. First goal is to get to 10 deals a month, then 12, then 15, and eventually 20+. Right now we have 5 with more appointments getting setup so it looks like we might hit our goal of 10 or come very close. Regardless, we are finally starting to turn this thing around and the good news is that if we are only able to do 10-15 deals a month, we will still be in the 7+figure mark in a year or so. The only problem is I want to make as much money as possible in the next 24-36 months because eventually the market conditions will change and we will miss out on this opportunity.

So where does this leave us now?

Well the new company we are working with hasn’t been the best experience thus far. Their response time is slow and they don’t seem very organized. We know they are doing what we need them to do because they have provided proof that they’ve done it in the past. The problem is just that they don’t seem to have their shit together from an administrative standpoint and I really hope this is just a temporary issue due to rapid growth. If we are still having the same problems in a couple months, that we are having right now, there is going to be a big issue.

This idea/business is a multi-million dollar business without question. We just can’t seem to find anyone competent enough to do it. We’d handle it ourselves if we could but there are still a lot of unanswered questions and things we do not know how to do. Until we get those answers, we are forced to outsource.

I think I’m on my way – I just pray these idiots we are working with now are able to uphold their end of the bargain.

More to come later.

 

2012
04/17
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@ 30 yrs old, there is more to life than blogging

My birthday was Feb. 24th and I turned the big 3 Ohhhhhhh…

Funny how my goal was to be a millionaire at this point and I’m not even fucking close.  I’m on the right path, I’m positive about that however it’s just taking so fucking long.  I’m still broke as shit and still trying to get this company to take off.  Our marketing is still a nightmare.  Every campaign we try just fucking fails and I don’t understand what the problem is.  There is such a huge market for this service and we can’t seem to be getting people out there to see that.

One thing I’m beginning to notice is that more and more companies are doing this and I’m worried about competition.  We need to establish ourselves as heavy hitters before shit gets out of hand.  That’s not going to happen closing a deal or two a month, so we need to figure this shit out fucking fast.  I need, at a bare minimum, 100 properties on the books AND paying before the end of the year – no questions asked.

One thing that really pissed me off is that my business partner just decided to take a week long vacation this week and it’s the worst time imaginable.  For him to just leave when we are struggling with this shit really pisses me off.  We need to get this turned around and I’m beginning to think if I personally don’t turn it around, it’s not going to happen at all.

I’ve done a few small test mailing campaigns just to see the type of response we get.  It’s something completely different and I hope it generates some calls.  If it works it is easily scaleable so we’ll see.  Our last mail campaign was a fucking bust.  What else is new right??

I’m having trouble sleeping over this because once we get this one issue figured out the sky is the limit.

I haven’t been blogging much because there isn’t much to talk about other then my repeated failures.  I keep hoping that I’ll have something positive to write but it never happens.

Hopefully that day will come soon.

Apparently after Whitney Houston died, everyone was searching for “whitney houston crack head” because my blog got a shitload of traffic from that keyword.

Fuckin hilarious..

2012
02/29
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I turn 30 this month…

My birthday is Feb 24th and I can’t believe I’m turning 30.  It feels like just the other day I was partying at college just enjoying life and ever since graduating I’ve been fighting for my financial survival.  If there is anything I’ve learned in the past 7 years, it’s that this shit isn’t supposed to be easy.  If it were, then we’d have an entire nation of rich-ass motherfucker’s who don’t appreciate their wealth.

We’re dropping some money on a big marketing campaign and I hope to fucking God this is the “one” because we’ve tried so much shit – none of which has worked.  I just want that phone to blow up so I can know for a fact; it’s happening, it’s going to work…

This past weekend the Giants won the Superbowl and I’m a diehard fan so I was stoked about that!  The only problem was that I ended up drinking way to much and I’m trying to watch my budget, so for the rest of this month I have to keep a tighter lid on my shit.

Anyways, goals for February!!  Well first off, we need to get the damn phone ringing.  I guess that’s the most important thing right now because if we can do that, the deals will come.  I’d like to have almost 10 deals total by the end of the month but I’m not sure about that.  Who knows though.  If this marketing push we’re doing this week works out, it very well may happen.

It looks like my goal of being a legitimate millionaire by the time I’m 30 was an epic failure but if it occurs in the next year or two I won’t complain too much, I just need to see something positive here.  I’ve lost count of how many things I’ve tried that didn’t work out.  I’m sick and fucking tired of it.

Currently listening to PNAU – Unite Us(Xilent Remix)

I’m on a dubstep kick lately.

Will write more later when I got shit to say.  Peace…

2012
02/06
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dubstep, wine, friday night…

this is more a post on general reflection.  fuck spell check because i dont have time for that shit and i’m writing now that i’m inspired.

my business is growing but not fast enough.  we currently have 3 closed deals and a 4th on the way but we want to be doing 20-30 a month, not fucking 4.  our marketing is fucked and it feels like everything we do is an uphill battle.  you hear these success stories of people talking about how they struggled for so fucking long then it “finally took off,” well what the fuck?  this goddamn jet has been sitting on the runway long enough.  i have a business meeting tomorrow with the other principals to discuss our current problems and try to find ways to resolve them; therefore tonight i’m staying in and finishing off a bottle of cab.

all this shit drives me fucking crazy because i’m so dedicated and won’t stop at anything until i hit my goal.  the thing that pisses me off is that i feel like it SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD…  i started this goddamn blog two years ago and was working on various business endeavors for many years prior to starting my blog…  in fact, this has been a goal of mine since i moved to Arizona, which happened 7 FUCKING YEARS AGO.  What the fuck?!

a million dollars isnt a lot of money anyways so i don’t know why i’m having so much trouble getting there…  it sure as hell won’t buy you what it used to.

the company i work for currently, while i’m working on my own business is a perfect example of the type of shit that drives me nuts.  its run by a bunch of goddamn monkeys.  there is no organization whatsoever and their customer service is a fucking disaster.  the company as a whole is one of the most poorly run businesses i’ve ever been a part of, yet they are making millions…

goal was to have 500 properties by the end of 2012 and there is no way in hell that shit is happening with our current setup.  we keep spending money testing different marketing avenues and nothing seems to work.  its extremely frustrating.

i’ve said this so many times before and $1,000,000.00 is really not what i’m after.  its not the fucking money, its the FREEDOM that money provides.  the ability to do what you want, when you want.  the ability to travel, to enjoy life, to never worry about finances or bills.  THAT’s what i’m after…

7 fucking years.  i can’t believe it.  7 years and i’m still in the same fucking position i was in when i first moved…  unreal.

my only hope is the belief that all of the learning, and struggling, and growing as a man both personally and in business, has made me that much more likely to succeed now, verses in 2005.  without that, its like i wasted the last 7 years of my life.  i cant think that way.  i wont think that way…

it all has to be part of the process right?  steps in the right direction?  it fucking HAS to be…

currently listening to Lana Del Rey – Born to Die (Gemini Remix)

peace

2012
01/27
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Once a month is not enough

I know I haven’t been posting a lot lately but in all seriousness, it’s because nothing has happened that’s worth mentioning.  I keep looking forward to that post I’m going to make when i earn my first million, but that’s a good year or so away.

Right now we are moving forward and have closed 2 deals, and are working on more.  The problem is that the deals are falling much too slowly, so we need to get our marketing figured out asap.  The good news is that we are in communication with a real estate agent in Las Vegas, who happens to be a heavy hitter and she’s extremely excited about what we are doing/offering.  She said she can refer us a lot of business and we are hoping that she helps us get over this hump.  I have a conference call scheduled with her this week.

Our own marketing efforts continue to fall short but we are committed to this and not going to give up.  There is simply too much money at stake.  We can make a boatload just bringing in a little bit of business, but the astronomical money will come if we can iron this thing out and bring in 50-100 deals a month.

I’m super excited because 2012 is really going to be a great year, but I’m also anxious because things are not working out as quickly as I had hoped.  I want to hit the ground running in January and don’t want to waste any time still trying to figure shit out.  We need to have 500 deals on the books before the end of 2012, that is a MUST!  I figure we have 12-24 months before people start doing what we are doing and the competition starts to really get saturated.  I’d like to have 1,000-2,000 deals on our books before that happens.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to 2012 and this holiday season will be a laid back one.  It’s been a long ass time since I’ve been financially stable during the holidays and doing alright.  I was actually able to buy myself some Christmas gifts, which I haven’t done in years!

I’m going to enjoy this down time because int he New Year it’s on!

I’ll probably make another post before the end of the month but I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.

 

2011
12/19
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Well like I said in my previous post…

I’d be back later this week with some good news and I was right!  I closed our first deal on Wednesday and it looks like I closed 2 more tonight.  1 of the 2 isn’t 100% but I feel pretty damn confident about it so we’ll see.

Tomorrow(Saturday) I have a long day of dialing and trying to catch some of the people I have been unable to reach the last few days.  Aside from that, it’s just a standard weekend of working out and lying low.  I cannot begin to express how excited I am that we are closing deals.  I would like to have close to 20 deals on the books before the end of the year but I’m not sure how realistic of an expectation that is.  Right now we are on pace to do about 5 before the end of November and that means we would need 15 in the month of December alone.  That’s a piece a cake and 1 sales rep can do that many deals.  I know this because I’ve done it in the past for my previous employer, however we are still trying to figure out our marketing and until we are able to do that the deals are going to trickle in very slowly.

What’s almost more important than the actual deals at this point is our marketing and getting that completely figured out over the next month so we can hit the ground running in 2012.  It will be here before we know it.

On a not-so-bright note, I’m getting angry with both of my business partners and their lack of effort.  I’m up until late in the evening entering leads into our system and also doing a ton of research on different marketing methods.  On top of that I’m making all of my calls for my current employer as well as for my new company and thus far I’m the only one bringing in business.  Not only that but I was up until midnight last night entering leads into our system so we’d have people to call today and my business partner did not call 1 fucking lead.

I’d be lying if I said this didn’t bother me because that’s fucking bullshit.  If I’m staying up late to make sure we have work to do the next day and he doesn’t do it what the fuck is the point of having him as a partner?  Even if he does call the leads he is still not doing as much work as me because I’m handling the marketing as well but the fact that he didn’t even call 1 lead was just a slap in the face.

I need to have a talk with him and it’s bullshit that I even need to bring this up.  Both of my business partners are older and since I’m the young guy I think they are expecting me to do all of the work.  If that’s the case, fine, but I’m going to get more than 1/3rd of the company if that’s whats going to go down.

Anyways, I’m going to try to not leave this on a low note and just reiterate how happy I am that we’ve begun closing deals.  Hopefully we get our marketing in order and this thing takes off like wild-fire!  Enjoy your weekends people, more to come later.

2011
11/18
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2 weeks into the month, first post for November; I’m slackin!

But for good reason!  I’ve been working both jobs now since November 1st so I’m constantly going back and forth between my two computers.  With the new business we are making some progress and it looks like we should close our first deal sometime next week.  It has taken much longer then we anticipated and we are having some lead and marketing issues, however we just need to get that first deal on the books and I think they’ll start to fall more frequently.  We tried a direct mail marketing postcard which yielded no results, but we’ve been using 1 other method which has been keeping us afloat.  The problem is that there is a limited amount of leads so we definitely need to get a few more reliable sources.

The bottom line is that things are going well and I’m super excited for when we close that first deal because it will show that it is possible and this dream is becoming realized.  Like I mentioned above, I think that will happen sometime this week.

Our goal was to have 30-50 deals on the books before the end of the year and the way things are going now I’m not sure if that’s possible.  I think 20 is a more realistic number to shoot for and even that will be difficult simply because we need to get our marketing figured out and because it’s the holiday season.  If we can get 3-5 days before the end of November, and an additional 10-15 before the end of December, I’ll be happy with that.

My regular job has been extremely slow and it’s been a relatively smooth transition starting this company.  Everyday I seem to spend more and more time with the new company and less and less with my current employer.  The way things are going now I’m not sure when I’ll quit but juggling both jobs hasn’t been much of a problem so it’s nice to know that I should be able to earn a living while I’m waiting for our own company to take off.  I cannot tell you how important this is!  In the past I’d just jump in with both feet and would typically have living expenses saved for 6 months to a year.  The problem with that is that business always takes longer then you expect for it to take off and I’d end up being stressed out in a matter of months because my savings would be getting low and my business wouldn’t be producing revenue yet.

For any aspiring entrepreneur’s out there I’d say to keep this in mind when starting a company because it helps so much!  Not having to worry about bills and living expenses keeps you much more positive during the start-up phase and relieves a lot of pressure!  This, in turn, will most likely make you more successful because you aren’t as desperate to close that first deal and you don’t come across that way to potential clients!

This is obviously more difficult if you have a wife and kids to support, but if you are single it shouldn’t be hard to do both.  Keep your living expenses as low as possible and work a regular job.  Then during your free time schedule blocks that you will work on the new gig.  As the new company grows those time blocks will slowly increase while you start to cut back your regular job hours.  Before you know it, you will be 100% self-employed.

Anyways, it’s sunday morning and I’m about to leave for the gym.  It’s overcast today in Arizona and I love this weather because it reminds me of Connecticut where i grew up.  There will definitely be a post made after we close our first deal so I’d expect that later this week!

2011
11/13
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So it’s all coming together…

My home office is starting to look nice!  I received my new computer from Dell yesterday and set this bad boy up.  The thing is a beast and I’m glad I bought it.  Since it’s financed I can buy myself some time until our business starts generating some income which is nice.  I also rearranged my desk so now I have two separate work stations verses 1 big one.  I like this setup much more because it opens up my room, gives me a lot more space and it keeps my current employer separate from my own company.

Here’s a picture of my old setup, complete with lazy cat and all!

As you can see it’s cluttered with shit but that’s because I actually work my ass off and am quite busy throughout the day.  The desk isn’t just there to look pretty, I spend my entire day sitting right there.  Anyways, I broke down that desk into two smaller desks and placed them at opposite ends of my room so I have two separate work stations now.

I also upgraded my internet connection to the fastest speed that’s currently available and that should be up and running on Monday.  We are still waiting on a few final things from our business partner and we should be ready to start selling.  I’m fired up and ready to close that first deal; then from there, the sky’s the limit!

Things have been getting pretty bad with my current employer anyways so its perfect timing that we break free.  I just hope I can continue earning a living with them until the new gig takes off.  It’s been extremely slow and leads are practically nonexistent.  Also, management just doesn’t seem to give a fuck anymore.  The customer service is a damn joke and nothing gets done.  I’m fed up dealing with their bullshit and am just trying to close deals so I get paid.  As of right now I’m on pace for 10-12 deals this month.  It would be nice if I hit 12 because I would qualify for bonus and that’s another $1,000.00 in my pocket but since leads have been so slow I don’t know where these deals will come from.  We’ll see what happens next week.

Right now its saturday night and I’m sitting here typing next to my open screen door.  Enjoying a nice breeze and thinking about how much better my life will become when my business takes off.  I’m so fucking confident it’s not even funny.

So tomorrow I’m just going to relax and watch football.  I’ll go to the gym earlier in the morning and take it easy the rest of the day.  It would be nice if we could start next week but I don’t think that’s going to happen.  Right now it’s looking like November 1st will be our official launch date.

Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

2011
10/22
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Sunday night, lets write! Whitney Houston, Redbox videos, Crack Cocain

Well things are progressing nicely midway through the month so I have no complaints.  It’s looking like I’ll hit goal again with my current employer, which is good because it will keep my job secure, and we have 1 more meeting scheduled before we will start selling under our own business.  Even if I don’t hit goal, I’m sure I’ll be close enough to it, that my employer won’t throw me under the chopping block again.  I really proved a lot to them last month and definitely bought myself some credibility.  The key thing to keep in mind is that I need to be able to quit when I’m ready and not a second sooner.  I don’t want to quit and just be wondering when the cash will start to flow again.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% confident in this business venture we are launching.  However, I know from experience that things never take off as quickly as you expect them to, so it’s best to play it safe until we start closing deals.

I’m also doing a good job of staying on budget and refraining from going out and wasting money, although I must admit it’s getting harder and harder.  Now that I have some cash saved, it’s easier for me to go out for a drink or two because I can afford it.  Another problem is that I’m cooped up in my apartment all day and just itching to get out of here once my work day is done so it’s hard to just remind myself; “not yet, your time will come,” and stay at home with a red box movie.  I’m addicted to red box like Whitney Houston is addicted to crack.

I still don’t have enough saved yet, and to be honest, I don’t know if I ever will.  I would like a minimum of 6-12 months worth of expenses saved before I 100% throw in the towel with my current employer, so we shall see.

I do have a large purchase that I have to make and I’m not to thrilled about it.  I need a new computer for this new gig and I do want something that’s top of the line.  I’m not going to waste my money on another computer that will be obsolete in a year or two like this one, so if I buy one I’m going to go all out.  The problem is that this obviously costs money, and although I can afford it, that money is better off being saved incase something happens with my current job.

I honestly don’t have much of a choice though.  All of our phones go through our internet connection with work and my current job already has 1 phone stealing bandwidth.  Add another phone to that along with all of the software I’m going to need and there is no way this computer can handle the load.  I’m going to see about financing it and buying myself some time that way.  I just need time right now.

Aside from all that, not much else going on.  Final “pre-launch” meeting is on Tuesday so I’m fired up!  This week we have to get some things sorted out with our marketing so we can hit the ground running when we are ready to sell.  I’m excited and looking forward to making millions.  Its been my obsession/goal for the better part of the last 6 years so I’m ready!

2011
10/16
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