Lifestyle Design Blog | Lifestyle Design Coach

An old friend of mine, and subscriber to this blog, told me recently that she missed the honesty and vulnerability of the old “Marc’s Life and Travels”.  I agree.  There are a few circumstances in my life that cause me to be a bit less transparent than I normally like to be.  All will be revealed eventually, but in the meantime…

Early this morning, as I was reviewing the depressing gap between my aspirations and my reality, and thinking what a fraud I am (for daring to write about issues of personal development when my own life feels like such a mess)…

… I listened to this audio by Steve Chandler, one of my favorite writers, inspirational speakers and coaches:

Purpose vs. Personality (mp3 audio, 20 min)  (Courtesy of Steve - right-click and save to your computer)

This is about the choice we have to live in “Purpose” - drawing energy and inspiration from our vision – or living in “Personality”, which is the all-about-me-and-my-feelings state, or the endless battle to change other people to get more attention, understanding or respect from them (been there done that – ouch).  It’s about creating value from what is present here and now, versus being a victim of circumstances and of our emotions.

This talk got my head straight.  Let me know if you enjoy it.

This audio and many more like it, incidentally, are available as part of Steve’s subscription service Club Fearless, which is just $20/mth (and free the first month).  I originally signed-up just because I like the guy and wanted to support his mission, which is a vision of a whole world of people committed to living in their purpose and in their passion.  Plus Steve responds to email, which is always appreciated (I like gurus who respond to email).  Since joining however, the benefits have way exceeded my expectations. 

Other wonderful changes are happening in my life, in my marriage and in my community.. please stay tuned for future updates.

June 24th, 2009 | Category: Lifestyle Design, Relationships & Communication | Leave a comment

I recently came across Mark Hyman’s book “The Ultramind Solution”, which led me to Barry Sears older Zone Diet system.  Both books cover the same topic, which is how diet and lifestyle impact our bodies, which in turn impacts our cognitive capacity and personal resilience (ability to weather upsets and disappointments).   I have been playing at the edges of this for some time (raw foods and juice feasting, polyphasic sleep, lifestyle design) but I see now how directly related all this is to my primary interest in “peak performance”.  Peak Performance is simply the ability to function at higher levels of awareness and well-being all the time (or most of the time).  It stands to reason that, as physical beings, our mental and emotional state has physical root causes.  Mark Hyman even declares that many types of mental and emotional problems, from ADHD to depression and anxiety and even major physical disabilities can be cured through relatively simple lifestyle and diet changes.

This is all quite intuitively obvious.  The main question is, why do we so rarely actually do the things that we know would have such a dramatic impact on our well-being, our performance and the quality of our life?  My quick response to this question, is that we actually enjoy the upsets and ups and downs of our everyday lives!  They create excitement and make us feel that our lives do have some meaning and purpose, which is our daily (and generally losing) battle against negative upset, about which Cheri Huber writes about so eloquently in There is Nothing Wrong with You.

However this is all speculation, and of no importance really to achieving the desired outcome.  What I mean is that an intellectual understanding of the origins and causes of the types of behaviors that we engage that are not fully self-serving, is not necessary to changing these behaviors.

I invite you to join me in an exploration of the impact of diet and lifestyle on “peak performance”…

There are several ways you can do this.  You can write to me or comment to the blog.  If you live in the Philadelphia area, you can come to Trellis for our 4-part Conscious Eating course that begins Monday June 15.  It’s probable that we will form a support group around the Conscious Eating class, and you can join us via teleconference.  Or, just stay tuned for further posts…

With love,

Marc

June 11th, 2009 | Tags: Add new tag, barry sears, cheri huber, conscious eating, Juice feasting, Lifestyle Design, mark hyman, peak performance, susan aman, there is nothing wrong with you, Ultramind Solution, Zone Diet | Category: Juice Feasting / Fasting, Lifestyle Design, Ultramind Solution, Zone Diet | Comments (4)

Two days ago I wrote major post to the polyphasic sleep blog (which is where I put my thoughts-in-formation), excerpted below:

“What is gradually emerging is that the leading edge of my own development is deepening and clarifying my relationship with my wife, Rebekah.  This is an awesome yet shocking realization – awesome in terms of the possibilities, and shocking in that this had not been obvious to me before.  In my usual masculine, goal-oriented, single-pointed consciousness, bulldozer style of being, I have been speeding forward without great awareness or concern for the people around me and their needs.  Perhaps this was developmentally appropriate and timely – and I can hardly complain about the results – but the time has come to get this handled.  It may also be possible that “getting this handled” is a masculine problem-solving approach towards a situation that is likely to be a lifetime of work – oh lucky me to have such an interesting problem to solve, as the problem of relating lovingly and deeply and powerfully all the time to the person with whom I have chosen to share my life (and my business!).”

This is classic Morehouse philosophy.  Interesting how I’ve come full-circle here.

In addition I want to report some very big wins:

• We have two trial residents at Trellis right now, with a third expected next weekend.  All of them very cool people.  This is pretty wild, and it gets intense as we try and put on a good show for trial residents.  It’s a major production, but well worth it - having new people here generally ups everyone’s level of fun and attention.  I also just completed a major upgrade to  the Trellis House website.  We are on the map now and we aren’t going away.
• I wrote the skeleton website for my new internet marketing and social media consulting company over the weekend, Everyman Marketing, including two good articles – check out the lead article Why traditional website publishing is dead (and why you should use Wordpress or similar CMS instead).  Also my Project Mojave group (internet business development group) has started in earnest and I have two very committed members (PS: It’s not too late to join!)
• I am coaching one-on-one with Saniel Bonder, who is an effin’ genius
• And, I have two other high-power developmental groups going, plus one in formation:  I have a half-hour weekday Mastermind call with two friends that has been amazing; I have a group of friends from Shalom Mountain exploring awakening within Waking Down in Mutuality; and we are starting a 4-part course here at Trellis in a few weeks called Conscious Eating that I am very excited about.  I am also very excited about Mark Hyman’s book The Ultramind Solution, which is about how nutrition and self-care affects our cognitive capacity and resilience.  This is so right-on for me right now.

And yet I continue to be challenged by my caffeine addiction, relationship with Rebekah, juggling time and money, worries and anxieties about the future, etc…  Same old, same old. Why is life so complicated?

But my situation is by no means unusual.  Half the people I know are in some kind of major crisis or life transition right now…

Half the people that I am working with these days are struggling in some way – to support their families, find their passion, relate creatively and compassionately to their partners, deal with health issues… Situations that are almost surreal abound, magical encounters and synchronicities are commonplace, many of us can barely tell what is up and what is down, and virtually all of us are worried about something or other.  It would not be too much to say that life as we know it is getting turned upside down.

By comparison with what I am seeing all around me, in fact, my own life occurs as “a walk through the tulips”.  I am living my dream and I have my Beloved, after all – what could be better?

“Love and work… work and love, that’s all there is.”

– Sigmund Freud

So here is my inspirational quote for the day:

“Don’t worry, you are going to be alright.”

– Marc Beneteau

I know that of which I speak.

June 9th, 2009 | Tags: Mark Hymand, Morehouse, Project Mojave, Saniel Bonder, Sigmund Freud love and work, Trellis House, Ultramind Solution, Waking Down in Mutuality | Category: Internet Marketing & Business Development, Juice Feasting / Fasting, Lifestyle Design, Ultramind Solution | Comments (1)

The basic offer

I made an offer in yesterday’s post to join me in this course I am taking called “Project Mojave”.  This is a course for creating an internet business that will generate $4k/mth in product or service sales within 12 weeks.  I don’t do anything alone these days unless I have to, and so I am putting together a small group to take the course with me and to support each other.  I am offering my internet expertise for free to everyone in the group, plus access to my outsourcing network, plus a weekly Mastermind group.  “Internet expertise” means that I will tell you what to do, and guide you if necessary, in creating your website, mailing list, shopping cart, etc.  All you need to do is write your content and carry on the other activities within the course (market research,testing, promotion etc), and I ask in exchange is that you review any products that I will create during this time.  My products are probably going to be training videos on website development and marketing a business online, so I don’t think that aspect should be too painful for you :-).  The course costs $97/mth and this is going to be my main business project over the summer.  I have put aside 20-25 hours a week for it.  You won’t need to put aside as much time as that, but it is a serious commitment, and I do not recommend you join if you don’t have at least 5-10 hours to put into it weekly.  I cannot send you a link to the course as registration closed last Friday, but I have copied the curriculum below.  If you want to join, please reply to this mail, we’ll setup a brief time to chat to make sure that this is what you want, and then I will send you the registration link.

Is this another “Internet marketing course”?

Yes.  I happen to believe that 99% of “internet marketing courses” are cr@p.  But here is why I think this one is different.  Most of these courses teach (or suggest) that you can create a product, put up a website, do a little search-engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC), and start raking in the bucks.  In my estimation, however, about 10% of these projects ever make any money at all, and 1% generate a living wage.  And so, yes, to intend to create a product that will generate $4k/mth after 12 weeks is quite ambitious.  Which is why I want you to understand the following before you begin:

• Creating a product (downloadable ebook or training video) is an extremely valuable addition to any kind of service business.  It establishes your credibility, brings you customers, and helps you build your mailing list.  If you are starting “cold”, it’s unlikely you can make a product that will generate $4k/mth in pure product sales in 12 weeks.  However, if you are using your product in order to “pre-sell” your services, the chances that this will be worth your while financially are much, much greater.  Many of us have expertise which we have acquired over the years that people would pay for, and it’s more valuable for us to sell it as a product rather than a service, since selling product does not require incremental use of our time.  Furthermore, current technology allows for very rapid product development through PC-based video software etc.  It could take as a little as a week to actually make the product.  What takes up most of the time is brainstorming, market research and promotion.  Plus our own education of course.
• These projects typically fail for one or more of several reasons.  The first reason is that people “put the cart before the horse”, they develop a product before knowing if there is a market for it.  Market research and testing are fundamental (and ongoing) aspects of the process, and the course explain how to do this.  The second reason they fail is that people lack information (which is compounded, as I say, by the plethora of “get rich quick” courses of this nature).  I personally think, however, that the major reason is that people are unable or unwilling to put in the time that it takes, they quickly get discouraged, and/or don’t feel passionate enough about themselves or their product.  Again, the course addresses this problem.  I am of the firm conviction that all projects undertaken with love in your heart (ie., with a higher purpose in mind) succeed.  They don’t always make money, but they always bring you something precious, even if it’s “just” an education.  This is my goal in launching this project.

How did  “Project Mojave” get started?

One of the reasons that I feel so confident in believing that you are going to get value from this course, is that I feel a lot of synergy with the main author.  His name is Clay Collins, and he got his start by authoring a popular blog called The Growing Life.  He started writing about people’s passion to have lives of deeper meaning and purposes by “liberating” themselves from their regular (boring) jobs, and he attracted quite a following.  In fact, he became one of the most popular bloggers on the subject of personal productivity and alternative lifestyles, not quite a Steve Pavlina or Zen Habits, but in the same league.  Eventually, he turned his attention to the financial aspect of “liberation”.  To be perfectly honest,  I was extremely skeptical of his new direction, as I thought he was just going to turn into another “internet marketing guru” (scam artist), and I told him so directly at the time.  But so far, he seems to have maintained his integrity and he has been extremely courteous and available in any personal contacts we have had.  He has also added some pretty high-power people to the faculty, such as well-known social networking blogger and consultant Laura Roeder.  All faculty are available for phone consults at no additional charge.  I believe that Project Mojave is going to become a serious competitor to the most popular internet marketing and SEO course available (StomperNet), since it’s about 1/8 of the cost and, in my opinion, better (since it addresses the human challenges of building an internet business and not just the technical aspects).

So without further ado here is the course curriculum

If you want to join me, simply respond to this mail and we’ll take it from there.

Find Your Market or Niche (Weeks 1-4)

Understand How Freedom Businesses Work

• The “Freedom Business” Blueprint
• The Month 1 Roadmap
• 5 Online Business Realities (That No One Talks About)

Find and Test Markets

• Finding and Brainstorming Markets, Part 1
• Finding and Brainstorming Markets, Part 2
• Internet Business Intelligence 101
• Keyword Research on Roids
• How to Legally Steal (Draw Inspiration From) Other People’s Markets and Niches

Select a Specific Need You Will Address

• The Three Essential Ingredients of a Freedom Business Product or Market

Create Your Information Product (Weeks 4-6)

• Understand How Rapid Product Creation Works
• Outline Your Product
• Conduct Research
• Create Your Product

Create Your Sales Process (Weeks 7-8)

• Develop “Freeline” Content
• Build Your List
• Build a Website
  • SEO Optimize
  • Social Media Optimize
• Write Your Sales Letter
• Begin Scouting Potential JVs

Make Your First Sale (Week 9)

• Form JV Partnerships
• Create an Affiliate Program
• Run PPC Campaigns
• Purchase Advertising
• Generate Social Media Traffic and Attention

Earn $134 in One Day (Weeks 10-12)

• Improve Your Sales Process
• Optimize Your PPC Campaigns
• More SEO Optimization
• Create an Exhaustive Social Media Campaign
• Add a Backend Product
• Create an Upsell
• Create your Auto-Responder Sequence

Supersize Your Business (Go from $4k/Month to $10k/Month)

Automate Your Business (Create a 20-hour Work Week)

May 27th, 2009 | Tags: career development, financial freedom, financial independence, internet business, internet business development, internet marketing, Project Mojave, self-employment | Category: Internet Marketing & Business Development, Lifestyle Design | Comments (1)

Below is a quote from Barbara Sher (one of my many gurus :-) in the introduction to Wishcraft.  The entire book, by the way, can be downloaded for free - a very generous offer considering that it’s one of the best books on career development ever written - of the same caliber as “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard Nelson Bolles.

“As the bruised victim of every success book and program that ever promised me ten easy steps to self-esteem, self-discipline, will power, or a positive attitude, I know what I’m talking about when I say this book is different. I wrote it for people like me—people who were born without any of the virtues that made Horatio Alger great and who have given up all hope of ever developing them. Can you persevere? I can’t. There is no diet of any kind, physical, emotional, or financial, that I haven’t fallen off by Wednesday if I started it on Monday. Self-discipline? I jogged once—I think it was about four years ago. Self-confidence? I’ve walked out of dozens of seminars bursting with it. It lasted three days. I’m an ace procrastinator, I love nothing better than to watch old movies on the Late Show when I’m supposed to be doing something important. My positive attitudes are invariably followed by gloomy slumps. As a well-meaning but tactless friend once said to me, ‘Barbara, if you can make it, anyone can.’ “

Barbara Sher’s point is quite simple: that success or happiness of any kind is unlikely to come from the exercise of brute force or flawless self-discipline alone.  Maybe this works for some people, but certainly not for the majority of us.  Still, there is some good news here: which is that if we can learn to harness the extraordinary power of our loves and of our passions, and if we can enroll other people in supporting us in that, our chances of success increase quite dramatically!  And what is equally astonishing (according to Sher), is that given the right context or attitude, “self-discipline” isn’t even necessary!

Which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from Victor Baranco: that pleasure is a higher goal than performance (or achievement) because when we reach our pleasure goals, as often as not we reach our performance goals too; but the reverse is not true at all (ie. it’s possible to be very “successful” in worldly terms and yet feel quite miserable - been there done that).

Here is a situation that my friends and I are dealing with right now

There is a great transformation happening right now in the culture.  I see it every day and in almost everyone I talk to, and it is this: people are just not willing to settle any more for “humdrum” lives driven by expediency and obligation.  Everyone wants to spend their life doing what they love (and often has a pretty fair idea of what that might be); but very few of us have figured out how to support ourselves financially doing these things.

So here is the offer:

A few weeks ago I came across a program called “Project Mojave”.  This is a 12-week program for creating an information product capable of fueling an internet business that will generate $4k/mth through a combination of product sales and services.  My offer is to have you join me in this program.  The cost of the program is quite reasonable ($97/mth), it consists of a combination of training materials, practice sessions, and a support community, and I can tell you, it kicks ass.  Registration officially closed last week, but I can still get you in.  My goal is to develop information products that will help people market their product or service on the web, so here is what I can do for you: if you will join me in this program, and if you are committed to creating at least one information product of your own (downloadable ebook or training video), and agree to review any products that I will develop, I will give you free coaching on internet technology and website development, and I will give you free access to my web development outsourcing network.  I will also invite you to join a weekly Mastermind group in which we can discuss our progress and support each other.

This post continued here…

May 26th, 2009 | Tags: barbara sher, career development, internet business, self-discipline, self-employment | Category: Internet Marketing & Business Development, Lifestyle Design | Leave a comment

I recently came across this fascinating introduction to a new book called Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, by (among others) Peter M. Senge and C. Otto Scharmer. The book presents a radical new model for leadership based on a new understanding of how organizations function in relationship to individuals’ own "deep work".  Read the paper as it is very good.

One of the things that the authors did was to interview leading scientists, business people and social entrepreneurs, asking them the question: "What question lies at the heart of your work?".  When I read this, something immediately clicked and my answer came: "Then let us see what love can do" (William Penn).  What I love about this quote is that William Penn is not saying "love will solve all your problems".  He is saying, just try it and see what happens - decide for yourself.  You may have tried X, you may have tried Y, and it hasn’t worked - why not try love?  When I said this to myself, I immediately started to cry. That is "the question at the heart of my work", with Trellis, with Waking in Down in Mutuality, with Shalom Mountain and everything else that I do, even my marriage. 

One of the basic premises of the book is that reality (matter, the phenomenological world) is shaped by fields of intention, in the same way that a tiny seed can grow into a huge tree.  We tend to say that a tree comes from a seed, but think about this for a moment.  A seed clearly does not have the resources to create a tree.  However, it does contain an intention (blueprint, pattern, organizing principle) to become a tree.  From that intention, it pulls everything it needs from the environment (ie carbon dioxide, sunshine etc) to manifest its intention.  How cool is that? In the same way, the smallest force in the field of intention (as in, for example, a small loving act towards oneself or another) can generate dramatic results. 

There are some very dramatic things happening right now in my life and in the lives of many people that I am connected with. I have initiated several developmental groups in which, I believe, deep and important work is being done.  Trellis itself is, in a way, a developmental group.  As I am starting to really "get" some of the concepts in the "Presence" book and in Waking Down, and as I am actively seeking the support of peers and the mentoring of teachers such as Saniel Bonder, my world is irrevocably shifting, and my effectiveness as an agent for change is multiplying.  I will share more about this in a little while as right now it is still in its baby stage…

What question lies at the heart of your work?

May 8th, 2009 | Category: Evolutionary Spirituality, Lifestyle Design, Relationships & Communication | Comments (2)

Less than two weeks after I declared publicly, in this post, that I wanted essentially to become a "professional housemother" (owner/operator of a commune, purveyor of "a community of fun, love and transformation"), some amazing things have happened.  Specifically, 3 new people (yes, three) have approached us with the intention of doing a trial residence and eventually possibly living with us.  This raises the possibility that, without even trying, we would have a full house here by September - which would enable the Trellis business to pay for all of Rebekah’s and mine housing expenses, and in addition generate a profit that would help pay for ours and house-member’s personal and professional development (ie Morehouse courses, Shalom retreats, NVC etc). This would be amazing, and it has been a goal of mine ever since we bought the house, that Trellis would generate enough profit to pay for house-members personal development.  It would be the "deal clincher" on what is already, to my mind, an extremely compelling lifestyle proposition.  I will write more about this another time, because people don’t generally understand what we are doing here.

My own growth through this process has been equally interesting.  I remember very clearly, when I first moved into the Yonkers Morehouse, feeling that I could never be the housemother of a commune, as I lacked the necessary attention on other people, and possibly even a real deep interest in other people, in their lives and in their development.   But now this is beginning to change, and I give a large credit for this to my work with Saniel Bonder and Waking Down in Mutuality (ie, I am becoming less self-centered). 

Related to this and to what I said above "people don’t generally understand", the conclusion I am drawing is that my work now is two-fold: I need to find the right languaging for educating people about what we do here, and I need to improve the quality of our product (the product is "fun, love and transformation", which is directly related to the quality of my attention on other people and my willingness to see them / relate to them from where they are and from their needs rather than mine).  This is all intensely exciting.

Anyway, since I have now become a huge fan of publicly declaring your intention, and since Rebekah and I will still need to operate separate businesses even when the house gets full, I am declaring here my intention in solving the second half of our financial predicament:

I want to create, inside 4 months, a business that will enable me to work a maximum of 20 hours a week while billing out no less than 10 hours x $75/hr. (this would work financially, and, quite frankly, I don’t have time to run a commune and work more than 20 hours!)

Wish me luck and feel free to write to me your intention (or better, comment to the blog directly)! 

You are subscribed to "Marc’s Lifestyle Design Blog", an intimate report of my own development through the microscope of my own life and my investigation into the nature of consciousness. I hope that this will clarify, enlighten or entertain your own quest for a life filled with love, meaning, passion and contribution.  If not, please unsubscribe from the link below.  I welcome all comments, either by direct reply to this email or (preferably) via comments to the blog post, so that others may benefit from your insights!  With love, Marc

May 4th, 2009 | Category: Evolutionary Spirituality, Internet Marketing & Business Development, Lifestyle Design | Comments (2)

Here is yesterday’s quote from transformational coach Steve Chandler (one of my favorite teachers):

“If your mind is on the right path, it doesn’t matter how fast you go. If you’re on the right path, you’ll get there. Commitment keeps you on the path.”

And then:

“The hardest thing for people in western culture to unlearn is the short attention span that’s encouraged by television, entertainment,  letting the kids rule the roost, and by letting untrue victim thoughts  become our belief systems.  And this inability to be quiet and real is really just the inability to return the mind to the most important thing it can be thinking about in any given moment. It leads to a very confused life full of much unfinished business. The unfinished business then leads to drama. The drama leads to self-dramatization including wild stories about how other people are making us unhappy. This self-dramatization replaces the committed life.”

Man I relate to this (short attention span, me???  Self-dramatization???).

Steve Chandler, incidentally, is one of America’s highest-paid coaches, speakers and consultants.  He charges $50k for an internship, which I believe is worth every penny.  I am saving up for it :).

As I was reading this quote yesterday my life changed irrevocably.  It finally dawned on me that since my life purpose - the thing that I love to do, that I was born to do, that I would do even if I never earned a dime from it - is creating communities of transformation, and nurturing transformational relationships, all that I need to do is to commit to earning my primary livelihood in that way.  Nothing more and nothing less.  That is the solution to the work-life income problem that I have been debating inside for 4 months and more.

Within less than 24 hours of this realization, by strange coincidence, all kinds of powerful business ideas and opportunities opened up around Trellis, the transformational community where I live, which I will share later.  The end result was to realize that I need to take on the Trellis business on a much larger scale than I had previously contemplated.  Along with this, I need to change both my presentation and my self-image around that - to start treating it like a business rather than a hobby - a business of personal transformation, which is what it is.

Later, a friend of mine wrote to me that she was having a hard-time, that nothing seemed to be working out, she was discouraged and depressed.  I replied (among other things) as follows: State what you want and decide that nothing less will be acceptable.  Period.  And I said it too, aloud, and a strange thrill went down my spine.

I have frequently quoted the mountaineer W.H. Murray on this same topic, but it is well-worth repeating:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

More to follow…

April 22nd, 2009 | Category: Evolutionary Spirituality, Internet Marketing & Business Development, Lifestyle Design | Leave a comment

Well I have been off coffee for 48 hours - man what a difference.  Long-term coffee toxicity is deadly - I pretty well slept or rested the whole day yesterday.  But today, I am on fire!  I am drinking green tea now, which seems to be working very well (3 1/2 hours on the job and still going strong at 5:30am).

I have had some major personal shifts / insights in the last few days through the Waking Down work (I had a session with Saniel Bonder yesterday).  The book Waking Down is a profound, profound reflection and text / guidebook on the human condition and the nature and steps of the awakening process.  I feel a much greater clarity and focus around my work-life issues right now - while realizing at the same time that I exist in a fundamental state of confusion, fear, anxiety and alienation (my human condition).  This is the paradox of our "divinely human condition" - that we carry both a divine nature (unlimited freedom and power of consciousness to witness and create) and a limited human nature (stuck and contained within our messy-sticky needs, emotional reactions, relationships and finances).  So I can say now that I have "clarity" but only within certain bounds.  I have clarity that I want to move forward into the great unknown adventure, yet knowing full well that I really don’t fully know what I want, what is best for me or anybody else, and how it all will unfold.  And there are no guarantees of success.  A certain level of pretense (and maybe arrogance) has fallen away from me in the last few days.  Pretense that I know what is best for me and what I want.

I wrote the following note to a business networking group I belong to (TPNG - Technology Professionals Networking Group).  This is part of my emerging clarity around these issues.  I really don’t know if this is the best thing for me to do, but it is where my energy is drawing me now, so I feel it’s either going to be this business or something better that will emerge in the creation process.

I used to run a web design / development company for 3 years. It failed for several reasons:

1)Poor business model - insufficiently thought-out from the beginning
2)I started hating the job - too intense and no work-life balance - started feeling like everybody’s slave
3)Insufficient income in relation to time invested

However, market conditions being what they are, and since I can’t find contract work as a technical writer anyway (and, truth be told, I am extremely ambivalent about the 40 hour work model to begin) I am starting up again a different business, which will focus on internet marketing, blogging, and social networking for small / medium entrepreneurs.

Anyone else in this boat and able to provide feedback, form a support group, etc?

PROS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
1) Control of one’s hours (particularly nice for me as I have taken on a polyphasic sleep pattern that works really well - see http://polphasic-sleep.info )
2) Potentially rising salary (increasing rates as interest in the service rises)
3) Building equity - possibility to sell the business or develop products providing passive income potential down the line

CONS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
1) It’s pretty difficult to get the same level of income as a full-time hourly gig, especially initially, plus health-insurance costs etc
2) One needs to be a more "rounded person" - to have skills in different areas (especially marketing and the internet)
3) Work-life balance is more difficult.

I am looking for feedback from others who have made the transition and/or who are considering it.
Thanks!
Marc Beneteau
http://webtechnologyguru.info

April 16th, 2009 | Category: Evolutionary Spirituality, Internet Marketing & Business Development, Lifestyle Design | Leave a comment