My Boring Story of How I Started Working From Home

I think my story of how I started working from home is much like everyone else's. I was working at a job I really hated. It paid very well and the benefits were a dream.

I might as well tell you now that it was a Government job. I worked at a Post Office.

My Husband's job pays well also and his benefits are good. Not as good as the ones I had, but nothing to sneeze at either.

We have two children. One was in daycare and the other was in 2nd grade. I always felt like I was missing out since I was working all the time.

So Many Choices, Which One Do I Pick?

Ever since I bought my first computer back in 1998, the thought of making a living online has interested me. I've must have tried everything I could think of and spent a lot of money looking for the right online business opportunity.

It finally dawned on me one day that all I was doing was making the "Guru's" rich. I needed to stop chasing every deal and ebook that came along. I knew people were making a good living online and I wanted a part of it!

So it was in December of 2006 that I decided to pick one thing and Master it before I moved on.

I had been making websites for myself and friends since 2001. So I knew I could do that. The one really big problem I had was getting traffic to my websites! Yeah, like no one else has that problem!

I decided to use Adsense because it seemed the easiest to make money with. I didn't buy any ebooks or sign up for any Guru training. I knew my subjects were interesting and other people would find them interesting as well. I just needed to know some more before reinventing myself!

I read everything I could about optimizing sites for Adsense. I dropped any of my sites that were not ideal for Adsense and only focused on those that were.

I tested different layouts, positions, fonts, etc, etc. I become an A/B tester Guru! I just had to know how I could get the most bang for my buck!

Now How Do I Get Traffic?

Once I figured out I knew quite a bit about Adsense optimization, I started learning all I could about search engine optimization. This was the most frustrating thing of all because everyone has a different opinion on what works and what doesn't. Who are you to believe?

Finally, after researched anyone who I thought remotely knew what they were talking about when it came to SEO. Finally, I found two gentlemen who talked the talk and walked the walk. I read everything I could from them. One offered a email newsletter and I joined for free. Those newsletters provided me the information I needed to finally get an idea of how to optimize my websites.

Just like I did with Adsense, I tested, tested and then tested more to see what worked and what didn't.

It took nearly a year for my first two websites to break $100 a day with Adsense. But I had finally done it!. The funny thing is, now that they pull in over a $100 per day, the click through rates seem to increase nearly every week.

Dodging Roadblocks Others Throw Up

During this whole drawn out process, I was the butt of many peoples jokes. Even my Husbands! Many people would want to know "Hey, you make a million off of the Internet yet?" or they would call me "Dawn the Internet Mogul". Most of it was tongue and cheek, but there were some who really meant it in an ugly way.

I've noticed over my 39 years that there are people who always want to see others fail. Don't give them the satisfaction!

I don't know any online program that will make you rich overnight. Just as in the real World, having an Internet company takes time and a lot of work. Many people simply lose Patience and quit just about the time they would start seeing money come in. That's sad seeing them so close and then give up. You must persevere!

The Big Day Arrives

One night earlier this year as my Husband and I were sitting down doing the bills, he said "Darn Hun, do you realize you're making more from the Internet than you are at work?"

I have to admit, I knew I was doing about the same but I wasn't at a level where I'd feel secure in giving up my Rat Race Postal job.

"Yeah, I thought I was pretty close" I said.

"So does this mean I can quit and work from home?" I asked half jokingly, half serious.

He stopped what he was doing, put down his pen and took off his glasses and looked at me and said "I know you hate your job. I know it's very stressful on you and to be honest, I know you don't mean to, but sometimes you bring it home. If you want to quit, go ahead."

You could have knocked me over with a feather!

After I regained my composer, we finished the bills and had a nice long discussion about it. The Children and I could be put on his Insurance for very little money. I had already racked up some retirement from the Post Office, so I had a retirement nest egg started.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was nothing stopping me from quitting!

And I did just that a month later, March 2008.

It was scary to begin with. But I was able to stay home with our youngest and save the Daycare bill. I also was able to start doing things with my Second Grader. And the funny thing is, I some free time and have been taking advanced Photoshop classes at our local college along with some advance Photography classes.

If all goes as planned, I'm going to start taking photo's and submitting them to Stock Photography websites for additional income. I really love Photography (two of my successful Adsense sites are over photography) and would love to earn extra income that way.

Well, there you have it. Boring I know but many of you asked! It's not for everyone, but if you have the drive and patience, I believe a person can make a living online. I'll keep you updated as I continue down this path they call Working From Home!