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Don't Call It A Comeback...

2011-04-23T16:28:00Z

"Don't Call It A Comeback, I've been here for years" ~LLCoolJ

These quoted lyrics might not be familiar to everyone reading this but for me it's a reminder I hold very close.

I was raised in California, where life flew by and the rat race was something most folks scratched and clawed at to keep up with.

I realized at a young age I was going to have my work cut out for me if I planned on getting ahead.
My father was a General Contractor. From watching him, it became obvious that working for yourself was the answer.

What I didn't exactly see was his struggles. He did everything. He hustled, did the bidding and the work.
He had no help to speak of so at times he was stretched pretty thin. All in all though, he seemed happy to be doing his own thing.

This is exactly what I wanted for myself. I knew it wouldn't be easy. I didn't even have a skill set yet.
I did however know that hard work and training in the right areas would be the answer.

Growing up over the years, I began to pick up on how to do certain things in the construction trade.
Obviously I started out as a laborer, breaking my back for chump change like most people do.
But as I got older and more experienced, I began to get the confidence that is expected of a craftsman.

I quickly realized that I needed a specialized trade if I wanted to stand out from the pack.
I had enjoyed carpentry, concrete and roofing but still wasn't as good or as knowledgable as others.
There must be something I could excel in above everyone else.

One day I walked into a Mom and Pop Flooring Shop.
I was there to pick up some vinyl flooring for a project at my aunts house.
At the time, I had never done any flooring except for carpet and that was as a helper, not an installer.
I met the owner (was a nice 'ol guy) purchased the materials and soon was on my way to installing my first floor.

When it was finished, I had to return a roller I borrowed (used to smooth out the gas bubbles in vinyl flooring).
The owner asked me how it went and asked if he could see the work I had done, knowing it was my first vinyl job. Hesitantly I agreed and took him to see the floor. What happened next I wouldn't have expected.
After leaving my aunts house the shop owner turned to me and congratulated me on a job well done.
A minute later, he asked me if I'd be interested in learning the trade while working for his company.
It really didn't take any thought, I simply said Yes.

Over the next 10+ years, I worked for several other flooring companies and eventually started my own business. Finally I knew why my Father had always preferred working for himself.
Freedom, control, good pay and only customers to answer to. What could be better?

I honestly thought I had found my niche and worked hard and long to establish myself in it.
I was good at what I did and was respected among my peers and other Pro's in my industry.
Nothing at the time would stand in my way of being successful.

At the end of 2002, I decided to try my hand at installing new mediums like natural stones, granite and marble.
Not only was I installing floors but now I was also installing counter tops, building fireplace surrounds, hearths, mantles, etc.

The work was very similar to what I had done as a Flooring Pro, so It was an easy transition to make.
The company I was now working for was owned by a friend of mine. I felt good about my place in the company and did all I could to add incomparable value to what we offered.

I soon was becoming one of the best in my local industry and customers would ask for me by name.
That is something most people could only strive for but for me it was actually a reality.
I felt as if I discovered a new me. I was better than most at my job and soon was the #2 guy in the company.
The sky was the limit. The best part was that the company was only a few years old at the time and was on track to surpass a Million Dollars in Production. My position was definitely secure.

The wife and I bought our first home and paid off all our debts(but the house of course).
We were very happy and had many plans for the future.
In Sept of 2004, all that changed.

One morning while moving slabs of stone around in the yard, I was crushed by nearly 2000lbs of falling stone.
Talk about a hurt! I had never experienced that kind of pain in my life. I was battered, bruised and had torn ligaments in my leg. At the time, we weren't sure the extent of the damages or if I'd ever make it back to working there again.

I immediately underwent intensive physical therapy which continued for 3 months or so.
I was determined to do what I could to make a comeback.
In Dec of 2004 I returned to light duty status and was very happy I made it.

Over the next 8 months, I struggled to perform my normal daily duties as the install foreman.
It was difficult and at times nerve wracking and painful to keep up.
I should have purchased stock in "Aleve" as I was taking 5 or more tablets a day just to keep the edge off.

That year, our company had done work in 5 of 7 Parade of Homes entries and I had personally been asked to work on a 6th for a millionaire homeowner who desperately needed a fossil stone repair made the day before the judging of his home.

After the Parade of Homes had ended, and to me, feeling that I had reached a pinnacle of sorts, decided to resign my position. No one was happy about that but I just couldn't see continuing on in so much discomfort and pain. I also was afraid at times, of hurting my coworkers by dropping or slipping while carrying heavy stone.

It was time to look into other areas of possibilities.
My employment would be dependant on the amount of labor required to do a job.
I began to think about what my future work potential would be.

Soon after, I took a position with a local building contractor who put me into management.
I was now doing no-brainer stuff as a shop manager. I ran a forklift, took inventory, handled shipping and receiving, etc. Wasn't much to it, especially nothing really custom. I worried that I wouldn't be happy there.

As the months went by, I started having more and more discomfort and pain.
I knew there was an underlying problem but couldn't put my finger on it.
Everyone around me began to doubt my integrity and wondered if I was truly hurt or playing lazy.
And it wasn't just at work, it was everywhere and everyone, even my family.

I was becoming the person that people talk about behind their backs because they couldn't tell if I was faking or not.

Things around the house weren't getting done, money was no longer coming in like we were used to and on top of it all,my marriage was beginning to pay the ultimate price.

When are you going to get off your ass and do something?
Don't you think you need to get back to work already?
Your wife shouldn't have to support both of you!

The comments were coming in from everywhere.
My closest friends and peers were doubting me.
I was slipping into my own great depression.

At this time it had been nearly 2 years since my stone accident.
It was obvious that I was no longer improving. I couldn't figure it out!
Doctors began dismissing my pains by saying it was all in my head and began pushing pills at me.
Screw their pills! That was not the answer as far as I was concerned.

I knew there was a reason why this was happening and I needed to find someone that would look into deeper. A good friend and local Chiropractor was just the person I needed to see.
After placing some IFC (a type of electrical stim) on my neck, he noticed something that was seriously not right. He immediately called another doctor and demanded that an MRI be done right away of my entire cervical and thoracic spine.

What we discovered, changed my life forever.

We will consider that enough for today. Please come back again to read Part 2 of this Comeback Story.

Thank You and I Appreciate Your Support.

To Your Health and Success

Flippa Makes Selling Your Website As Easy As 123

2010-12-01T15:21:00Z

In the world of Website Auction Sites, 1 place in particular stands out for me and my business...

It's Flippa.com !

Over the last year, my partner and I have been creating niche sites in order to test certain markets.

Some of these sites received Page Rank, 1st Page listings and better yet, brought in monthly revenue.

Obviously our main goal in creating these sites was to eventually make some money, so the PR and Rankings were merely bonuses along the way.

Unfortunately, as many website builders and bloggers are aware, not every site built will hit it's desired target goal.

Then again, some sites do but require too much manual work to maintain on a daily basis.

For the websites that performed but were high maintenance and for websites that we built as test sites in particular markets, we decided to list them at auction to see what they would do and to free up our time for other ventures.

As you may have read in earlier posts, I am a member of the 30DC. As members of "The 30 Day Challenge", we were introduced to Flippa by it's promoters.

So, what is Flippa, you ask?

Well, Flippa is an auction house for websites, blogs and domain names.

Simply put, it brings together buyers and sellers in one convenient and secure location.

Everyday, hundreds if not thousands of potential buyers search through listings in order to find sites that match their specific criteria.

On average, I believe there is around 2,000 or so people on the site at any given time looking to buy or sell. And on a monthly basis they receive over 400,000 unique views to the site. That's a lot of potential views for your listing!

Those are excellent numbers when you think about it!

Something I really like about flippa, is their simple layout that allows you to fill in the blanks to complete a listing quick and effortlessly.

In 6 easy steps, you can be listing your site for auction or even a private sale, depending on what you prefer.

Here are the 6 steps:

Site Info
Basic Listing Details
Pricing Options
Upgrades on Listings
Confirm Details
Payment Info

The standard Listing Fee is $19 with a Success Fee of 5%, which in my opinion, is definitely a reasonable price to pay to sell a site.

As I mentioned before, you can have an auction or a private sale.

Auctions can run for several lengths of time from 3 days to 30 days where as a private sale allows for a longer sale.

So no matter what time frame you are dealing with, there is an option for you at Flippa.

Our Experience...

Our experience with flippa auctions has been great. Our first site was bought for the "Buy It Now" price we set.

Our latest site, has had around a 100 views and has 10 people watching it. That's a 10% follow rate!

With another couple days left to go, we have nearly hit our Reserve Price.

Assuming this continues, we should get well above what we needed to make a profit from it.

Use the following link if you'd like to see a sample of a flippa listing that we put together.
The pic is below.

If you look through the listing you'll see all the stats that Flippa includes dircetly below the listing plus the additionals that can be added on your own including attachments, revenues, images, personal stats and analytic reports.

When you are ready to sell your website, blog or domain name, be sure and give Flippa's Auction a shot. You will be happy you Flippa'd it!

To Health And Success,
And Happy Flipping!

Copyright 2010 ComebackMarketing.com All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Matt Cutts' Search Engine Slip Can Help You Avoid The Slap When It Comes To Website Rankings!

2010-10-23T14:24:00Z

Search Engines are like the HP's of the interent highway.

They regulate, control website traffic and at times, slap the heck out of rule breaking users on their highway.

For some of you, this may be something you have experienced first hand, while others have yet to deal with it.

For those of you that have not had to deal with this, consider yourself lucky, be thankful and don't forget to knock on wood.

Nobody wants to find out that their website and the work that went into it is unacceptable in the eyes of search engines like Google.

But how do you avoid making these costly, time consuming mistakes and starting over?

Don't worry, Google's Matt Cutts just slipped! And when I say he slipped, I don't mean he fell.

In a recent video, Cutts explains what Google expects from site owners, builders and the like in order to achieve website rankings.

Now honestly folks, is there really a better resource for this type of information? I don't believe so. Read on...

So What Does Google Expect?

Read what Tim at TakeOverPageOne had to say about Search Engine Management Tips And Getting Google To Love You

I consider their insights to be a step above the rest.

Applying these tips will undoubtedly help boost your site rankings.

After reading, please "Comeback" and let me know how helpful it was or what your personal take on it is.

To Higher Rankings, Health And Success