Barely Myself

All I want to do is make honest money. I want to do just that:

1. Make money.
2. Come by it honest.

In this post, the first of a two part series, I will be discussing my mission to make honest money as well as all the players involved. On Twitter, I have solicited a request on my first Twitwall, for how others make honest money and their helpful links.

Now, on making this honest money. I went through a few stages when I entered the profitable world of online business. First I quickly learned the strategies that would provide the most profit. I consider myself highly proficient in keyword research, search engine optimization, article writing, internet marketing, and many useful fundamentals of online business. Yet, first came the over extension - which means no profits - and then came the integrity - I couldn’t just go money first. I phased through each stage several times. I have learned a lot. I have completely halted almost all efforts because I just cannot act without my big picture mission intact.

• Holly Lisle provides the best dern fiction writing advice one could ever find. She suggests to writers who want to make a career as an author to model a career of one specific author. I have been deeply affected by her philosophy. It rings very true for writer and and any career person alike.

I have been fortunate to find Twitter, also thanks to Holly, and find some amazing people. These people are the real players in my honest money game.

• First, Maria O’Brien showed me in her eBook and her blog a valuable business model. I am a huge fan of her work and her actions: I respect her highly and always look up to her to see what she will do next. I almost peed my pants when she signed up for Bukisa under my name. Her eBook for eHow not just tells about how to make money there but provides a blueprint for all profitable online writing.
• I actual found Maria from the blog of Felicia Williams. I couldn’t believe what an amazing blog I found when I first visited NoJobForMom.com and her and Maria became my residual income role models. As you may know, I have made a move to what I call a freelance writer 2.0 and am relying on residual income. Felicia is a constant, reliable, engaging resource for information about writing online and earning residual income. I look up to her in a big way as well.
• I consider another person I found on eHow and Twitter (I think eHow came first but oh well) to be my best friend: kinda strange considering that I have never said so to her and that I have never met her. Miragi, like me, hasn’t achieved the level of success that I model after Maria and Felicia for. I view her as a very serious success in that she is always honest and committed to everything she does. She is not the internet fiend of shameless plugging, she is not the self-serving type at all. She is a courageous woman who seems to have helpful wisdom pouring fingers to keyboard whenever she has the opportunity. When I read her personal blog, I am shocked that such a gorgeous woman (inside and out) could have any issues with herself. I must admit I have a girly little crush on her as well. I get a little too excited when she updates those profile piccies! (Great! Now she will see me as her freaky fan girl stalker!)
• I am so often inspired by Nicole/CommonSense4, who suffers but lives courageously through her fibromyalgia. That is something I could probably never cope with, and yet she writes as much as she can and lives life with more spirit than one can hardly imagine: she is so full of life! She always makes me smile.
• JenNipps is someone I quickly grew to admire. She writes from her heart, works harder than most ever will, and has a steadfast determination ever-present in her words.
• Christa M Miller has always provided helpful guidance to me and helped me out in making so many important decisions. I have always enjoyed cheering for her success.
• Julie/WritingSpirit has been a countless source of inspiration that I could hardly put into words. I could never thank her enough for all that she has given me.
• Yolander is the freelance writer. I could not admire her more. I sneak off to read her old blog entries whenever I have a spare moment because she is…addictive. I cannot wait to her future adventures and successes. I also can’t wait til the day I can refer someone to her because few deserve the success she does.

And these are only some of the players in the game. There are so many great people. There are websites (Associated Content, eHow, Bukisa) that have shown me the joys of online writing income.

My mission is clear: learn from those I respect most. Always follow my heart. Monetize responsibly:readers and content first.