My pattern business went okay, but was not the smashing success I had hoped for.  My advertising consisted of a link at the end of my email signature and my market niche was very small.  Only the nursing mother who favored plain style dressing would be interested in my first designs.  Still I managed to sell patterns a few at a time and brainstormed ways to get the word out for free.  (More on what I did to increase sales in a future post)

Right before my first line of patterns was printed, we became debt free by following the steps in the Total Money Makeover.  Because of the unusual way we sacrificed, we won the Total Money Makeover Contest and a trip to the Bahamas with an interview on the Dave Ramsey Show.  I thought if he would just ask me about what I did to make money, I might be able to spread the word about my tiny company on national radio and sell a few more of the 4,000 patterns that were just delivered to my door.  He never asked, so I tried to sneak it in only to be interrupted many times.  The most I could get out was….”I’m trying to start a home business…”  He Interrupted, “You need to start a home business teaching others to be you.” 

What? Me? I was a young mother struggling to figure out how to get my children cared for and educated, a meal on the table, and clean clothes in the drawers.  My house was a perpetual den of chaos as I tried to find a balance between my household duties and bringing in a little income on the side.  What did I have to teach?  Then I thought about it again, he was talking about those things.  How we did those things while living bottom dollar to get out of debt.  When we got home, I decided to write a book and write down the frugal things that I did out of necessity in a step by step process than anyone could learn and do.  The only problem, publishers weren’t ready for the book.  They wanted to see me build a blog with a following and prove there was a market for yet another money saving book.  Then I needed to be willing to travel the country promoting my book if and when they decided to take it.

I looked into self publishing, but the costs involved would prevent me from moving forward on my other dreams and I would have to find a place for the thousand of copies of hard back books beside the 4,000 patterns I had just ordered.  As I researched I found that many real authors urged against self-publishing since it can brand the author as inferior for the rest of his career.  So,  I burned the book to CD and offered it on my pattern design site as a full color file to be read on screen.

While I was working on all these things, my children continued to grow and their needs did with it.  They had dreams that needed lessons to develop and it all took money.  When my grocery ads came in the paper, there was a notice that they needed a carrier to deliver the ads to my neighborhood for $20 a week–just the amount I needed to buy the lessons for my children.  I was hired on the spot and delivered the ads on foot to my neighborhood, carrying the papers in a double stroller, for over a year.  On sunny days it was wonderful to be out in the fresh air.  But when it rained or snowed, I had to be out there just the same.  I became pregnant and fell on the ice.  That was enough for me.  There had to be an easier way to earn the money I needed for the lessons.

About that time, I had my first Mary Kay facial with the famous Andrea Shields.  I don’t know why I said yes, I didn’t wear makeup or do much with skin care.  My clothing style was very plain and frumpy and I didn’t have money to spend.  But I really liked the girl on the phone.  After the facial she asked me if I’d like to join her team.  She said I could make $200 in one show in less time than it took me to throw 200 papers for $20.  “Me?  Did you look at me?”  She said she liked my drive and could teach me what I didn’t know to succeed.  I looked at my datebook and told her I would be available to start a new business in 6 months and I penciled her in.  She thought she’d never see me again, but in 6 months I signed the papers and order my beauty case. 

Andrea was true to her word.  I did everything she told me to do and began selling product and using it myself.  I loved how my skin looked.  I loved my new confidence and that I had a better option to making money that didn’t involve slipping and sliding on the ice.  The optional weekly meetings taught me a lot of business skills that helped me grow my other 2 businesses to new levels.  I made new friends, and some of them took the time to show me how to style my own hair.  All of a sudden all people were the same in my eyes.  I didn’t need to be afraid of the “pretty girls” that used to tease me or shun me in Jr. High for my lack of style know how.  They were people just like me, made and loved by God, with dreams and fears.  I used to sit in the meetings and just cry, because for the first time I felt as valuable as any other person in the room.

Awhile after that, a local mother who purchased and read my Grocery Shrink ebook, read it and loved it.  She called the local news station to suggest a story and they followed up right away.  The local area responded enthusiastically to the story about the Grocery Shrink and the station came back for a follow up.  Soon another station asked for the story, then a radio station, and the National Enquirer.  During all that media coverage I was struggling to figure out how Internet business worked.  My website stunk, my blog was 2 hours old, and I was just learning how to capture a lead.  I’m ashamed that most of that media coverage was wasted as far as my business building went…but I hope I can help others learn from my mistakes.

So here I am with a 10,500 subscribers  waiting to hear from me each week.  I average between $50-100 a day of passive income as I teach other women to sew or shrink their bills while carving out time for my family.  The rare times I need a sitter for work is when Darren and I get to fly to a new city for a television appearance or when I teach a live conference.  I have a lot to learn yet to building my business and income to where I’d like it to be, but I want to share with you what I know now in the next few days ahead.  I’ve also asked other home business owners to share with you too. 

Tomorrow we will talk about skills and lifestyle.  We’ll use the answers to the questions I give you tomorrow to help build your first business plan.