I wanted a job that provided some income, lots more flexibility, could be done from anywhere, and so I wouldn’t have to take another bar exam in each state we moved to. An online business seemed ideal.Taylor Flanery
Welcome to A Christmas Carol – Sitesell-style! Each day we’re going to re-introduce one of our successful SBIers and their amazing stories. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, we’ll revisit these tales of old and see what lessons we can glean.
For this first Christmas story, we’re visiting with Taylor Flanery of household-management-101.com who, in 2008, was married with three kids and a full time job as a litigation attorney.
Imagine for a moment that we’re able to listen in as Taylor and her husband discuss their plans for their family. While Taylor’s job is with a local law firm, Taylor’s husband expects to have to move around a lot.
So what’s the problem? Attorneys have to take the bar exam in each new state and it takes a while to get established in each new practice.
It was all taking too much valuable time away from her children.
Taylor was unhappy and knew she needed to make a change. An online business that offered flexibility, income, and the ability to work from home, wherever that was, seemed ideal.
That’s when the Flanerys discovered SBI!.
Taylor recalls:
I don’t remember now how I discovered SBI!, but I’m so glad I did. I had no idea how to start a website or a business, and SBI! helped with both of those things. I started the Household Management 101 site in 2008. Over the coming years I added the other two sites: Stain-Removal-101.com in late 2009 and Home-Storage-Solutions-101.com in late 2011.
The reason I kept adding websites is because I learned things with my first, and wanted to do a better job with the second and third, but also because I was finding success and wanted to keep growing all three!Taylor Flanery
Build an Online Business From Your Passion
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that Taylor’s first site was about Household Management? You’d think someone with her education and experience would find a natural fit in providing an informational site related to her legal expertise. Many do, of course…
But not Taylor.
Instead, she focused on a topic that had been much nearer and dearer to her heart in recent years.
You see, as it turns out, maintaining a clean and organized household wasn’t exactly Taylor’s strength. In fact, she says, “I was a bit of a slob, and that continued as I grew up and moved out on my own.”
So what changed?
Necessity.
She got married, got a job, and started to grow her family… and keeping up with the demands of the home grew more and more challenging. At one point…
I found myself in a repeating cycle — my home would get so unbearable that I would clean and organize like a mad woman. Then, after expending all that energy all at once I was so exhausted I didn’t have the energy to do any more organizing and cleaning for a while.
So, the cycle would repeat and things would get unbearable and filthy again.Taylor Flanery
That’s when she started to get serious about improving her organizational skills. She made a number of breakthroughs.
First, while reading David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, she discovered the principle of taking things in small steps in order to achieve next actions. This was later deepened by studying the Japanese principle of Kaizen (continuous improvement).
Then, over time, she began to experience the incredible snowball effect that Household Organization can create. By making improvements in one area, other areas, and the entire household, would reap benefits.
Taylor learned more and more about organizing a household. She saw the fantastic impact it was having on her and her family, It became an obvious topic of information she could share with others and build into a business.
Taylor now enjoys three successful online businesses thanks to SBI!, and you can too!
So when the traffic starts arriving in volume, it’s usually a stronger idea to spend time increasing your “#-per-visitor” ratio. Some folks, though, prefer it this way. Hey, if an SBIer is happy, then we’re happy.
Taylor’s household-management-101.com is now in the top ⅓ of 1% of all sites at Alexa, is approaching 9,000 visits a month from organic search, and boasts a Facebook Page with over 1 million fans. She’s achieved the level of success that most solopreneurs dream of, yet is far more common among SBIers. Following the right process with the right tools makes online business success DOable.
As we’re whisked away by the Ghost of Christmas Past, back to present-day, overlooking the streets crowded with busy people hustling through the Christmas Season, we’re reminded of how important things like Family really are.
Just like Ebenezer Scrooge, we sometimes need to be confronted by such stories in order to truly recognize what’s important to us, and what we need to do to change.
Do not let another Christmas pass by while your dreams of owning a business fester in your belly like a bit of undigested cheese. Throw open the curtains and renew your lease on life! It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, now is the time to get started.
Read More Successful Online Solopreneur Christmas Stories:
- How A Successful Attorney Transitioned To A Successful Online Mompreneur (You are here)
- How An Army Veteran Launched A Golden Online Business
- He Leveraged His Pain And Achieved 100k Visitors To His Website
- How An Oil Worker Brewed Up A Profitable Side Business
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