Unique Story-Driven Path To Income Diversification - Part Two

Last week, in part one, I introduced the poorly named Corey Story Blueprint.

It’s an exercise we can use to explore ways to become more future-proof and diversify our income by doing stuff we like doing.

In this post, you’re going to see what I’ve come up with for the introduction portion of the blueprint to give you an example of how you could create your own.

Then, I will show you the next section of the blueprint.

Let’s get into it…

The Corey Story Blueprint

Here’s what we have for the Blueprint outline so far.

The Introduction (highlighted above) is what we are covering today.

To recap, the starting point is the most impactful transformation in our lives that is also the most marketable - so we know we know there’s a good chance we can make money.

For me, it was when I started thinking of ways to gain more control over my income and get paid what I was worth.

And it’s very marketable. There are SHIT ton of people out there who want more control over their income.

My transformation has given me a ton of valuable insights, skills, and personal experiences that I can share to help them achieve that.

I just need to think it through, and, as I explained in part one, telling my story is the most natural way to do that.

So to start, we need an introduction that sets the tone.

To write the introduction, we just need to answer the questions like we are being interviewed.

Just read the questions and tell our story.

To use as inspiration for yours, here’s mine…

Introduction

Where did you start?

Back in the early 2000s, about 2004-ish, I was working as a mechanical draftsman working at an architectural lighting company.

I started realizing how much value I was creating for the company. My redesigns, product, and process improvements saved the company quite a bit of money - way more than the $1,000 - $3,000 a year raise they’d give me, along with a pat on the back.

I also took on more responsibility. I co-headed a team to research and implement 3D CAD software to migrate away from 2D AutoCAD. It was fun “playing” with a bunch of brand-new software like SolidWorks, Inventor, and others.

I started feeling underpaid.

I realized I had a couple of options;

1. I could bitch about how unfair it is and how much I’m not getting paid (while standing there with my hand out begging for money).

   OR

2. I could look for a way to make it so that I can capitalize on my value and create leverage.

I chose the latter (although I did bitch a little too).

All these revelations started happening about the same time the internet started taking hold. I could educate myself. I was able to devour podcasts while I worked. Those podcasts lead to books, blogs, newsletters, etc.

I started learning how to build websites, publish podcasts, run Google pay-per-click ads, and make money online.

These skills actually helped me move up in the company too. I spent time in a higher-paying sales support role and eventually ended up in the marketing department - helping with the website, running Google Ads and more.

All this built up my confidence.

What was the climax of your journey?

Eventually, I started dreaming of going on my own.

But it couldn’t come fast enough, and it wore me down.

Work really started to drag on.

I open my eyes, mope to the shower, slog to the car, and drive to work.

Then, at some point during the day, start daydreaming about being anywhere else but there.

All while doing everything I could to keep myself from clicking on the web browser to work on my business.

But finally, the day came.

It was July 3, 2013. It was a shocking start to a 4th of July weekend. My wife and kids were at home prepping the camper for our annual camping trip.

Just before noon, the human resource lady showed up at my desk, instructed me to pack up my belongings, and then escorted me out the door.

It was the last day I’d be showing up to work for a company, I had worked for 17 years up to that point.

Heck of a way to start a vacation (a very loooong vacation, as it turns out).

What did you achieve that is desirable to others?

Minus a few part-time jobs to make it through some lean times in 2017, I’ve been on my own for ten years now.

I have control over my days. I can for a walk during the sunniest part of the day or go to the gym during less busy times. I can pick up my kids from school or take them to events. If I want to get away with family or friends, I can go on an off day to avoid the weekend crowds. Take the afternoon off if I need a mental break.

I have more control over where I work. I love working at home, but it's pretty cool to be working out of a coffee shop or AirBNB in another part of the country sometimes, too.

I have control over who I work with. I hated office politics. Always someone looking over your shoulder, ready to throw you under the bus. Or a company client or coworker who you had to put up with. Now, if client or partner isn’t a good fit, I can just move on. I’ve actually “fired” a few clients over the years.

I have more control over how much (or how little) I earn. I make six figures and work as little as much or as little as I need to. If I want a raise, I get another client, learn a new skill, or start a different project to work on. And I’m not relying on one income source. I have income from multiple clients, partnerships, and affiliate earnings.

In a nutshell, I love the time freedom, more time with family, and just being my own boss.

What topics, interests, or skills helped get you there? 

Above all, my main interest was wanting to know how to make money online.

I started dabbling in network marketing (or MLM). Outside of picking up some sales and personal development skills, it was way too restrictive, and I didn’t really believe in the stuff I was selling (big lesson).

I eventually chose music and fantasy football as topics to blog about and build businesses around.

I learned to build websites using WordPress. To build a website you also need to learn basic copywriting and graphic design.

Then, you need to figure out how to get people to the websites (aka traffic). I learned content marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and Google Ads pay-per-click marketing.

THEN, when you are getting traffic, you need a way to keep them coming back. To do that, I learned the hard way (long story) about email marketing and newsletters.

Ultimately, you have to make money - which is the hole point- and that’s is when I learned about native advertising, affiliate marketing and how to sell digital products.

My first big payday was selling Guitar Lesson DVDs as an affiliate. I ran Google Ads to the sales pages, people bought, and I generated hundreds of dollars a day for a while (I was hooked).

Also, my fantasy football website was pulling in $300-$500 a month around that time as well via native advertising (Google Adsense) but it was very seasonal. Those were the days before daily fantasy sports so when the season was over, so was your income.

Eventually, all these skills and experiences led to the solopreneur mindset that gave me the confidence and know-how to leave my job and go out on my own. All of these develop a Solopreneur mindset.

To be continued…

More on Topics, Interests and Skills

To recap, here’s the list of topics, skills, and interests that helped get me to the Promise Land…

• Creativity

• Music/Guitar

• Email Marketing

• Writing/Blogging

• Affiliate marketing

• Native advertising

• Web development

• Content marketing

• NFL Fantasy Football

• Continuous Learning

• Personal development

• Selling Digital products

• Pay Per Click Marketing

• Search Engine Marketing

It looks like a lot, but there is a lot of overlap. Aside from the topics I was already interested in since I was a teen (music and football), a lot of skills fit together like pieces on a Lego sculpture or lines in a song.

These days, there are way more tools and resources than when I started. And, when you combine them with the things you already know and are interested in, you can learn this stuff quickly to get up and running pretty fast.

And the thing is, I never had to go back to college to learn any of this stuff. I learned it all on the web, in books, and by actually doing it.

It’s a great feeling being able to say this to people (and when the local university asks me to talk about marketing and business to their students).

I am extremely grateful to be living at a time when this is possible.

Your Turn

So, do you see how easy it is?

If you haven’t already…

1. Pick a transformation - Think of the most valuable, in-demand, future-proof transition that you can share to help others and start there.

2. Start writing - Fire up a Word document and start answering the questions in the introduction.

Just start answering the questions, and the stuff will roll off your fingertips.

Up Next

Next week, we’re going to work on Section 1: My Philosophy.

This is where we’re going to start doing some soul-searching and really getting clear about what we want and what message we’re going to put out there.

Here is the outline for that section…