My Online Business Journey

My name is Nicole Lynn and I work at home for myself as an affiliate marketer.

I’m an introvert so this works well for my personality.

However, I can be quite extroverted in certain situations in real life with people that I know personally.

So, maybe I would be considered a “hybrid” of sorts. 😀

Part introvert, part extrovert. 🎭

But I mostly keep to myself.

I’m not an online business guru with my name and face all over the internet and I don’t want to be.

Instead, I’m just an ordinary person who makes money online as an affiliate marketer.

My online business journey didn’t start the way I had hoped and there have been lots of challenges along the way.

My Work-Life in a Cubicle

Get ready for some exciting stuff! 😄

First of all, I work at home doing affiliate marketing.

My work life started like many people in retail as a teenager and I even worked in a few “boiler rooms” as a telemarketer, which was pretty big in those days, but very soul-sucking to say the least.

I even worked in a warehouse for a time scanning boxes in hot trailers and doing inventory.

I’m so glad those days are long gone! 😌

Later I was able to secure a full-time office job, which allowed me to quit my multiple retail jobs, of which I had to have more than one so that I could scrape up 40 hours or more for the week.

Most of my background is in call center-type customer service, accounting (A/P and A/R), and various clerical jobs. 🤓

It was so much better than working in retail for minimum wage and struggling to get enough hours.

For years, I was basically a cubicle rat (although l liked when I had the cubicles with the high walls because they were more private and quiet…) 😄

The cubicle, which was sort of like a black hole in a way, was my existence for many years until physical health issues forced me out of the workplace into the online business world, which is actually what I wanted to do eventually anyway.

I knew instinctively that any real success in life for me was not going to be created from spending my days in a cubicle working for somebody else.

Of course, there are way worse jobs than being stuck in a cubicle all day…like hard labor-type jobs such as road work, roofing, and lawn care that are done in the hot sun all day.

I’ll never forget the crew that came to my neighborhood to inspect the sewer lines.

One of the workers had the unfortunate task of putting on protective gear and going inside the sewer.

I was in awe of how that man could do that because that had to be hell on earth, but he was doing what needed to be done to earn a paycheck.

I couldn’t have done it. No way! 😱

So, being in a cubicle in air conditioning wasn’t exactly the worst thing in the world.

That’s why I always tried to make the best of things and tried just being thankful for a job and a paycheck, but overall the emptiness I felt couldn’t be denied.

I really wanted to venture into online business on a full-time basis, but it was hard to know if it was just hype or a real thing that would last for the long term.

Is it Real or All Hype?

Since I mentioned it…you might be wondering as well if having your own online business is actually a real thing or if it’s all just hype.

I don’t blame you because there is a lot of hype out there plus all of the creeps out there scamming people. 🙄

You’ve probably seen them all over the internet claiming that you can make some insane amount of money in 30 days doing nothing.

They also tend to flash pictures of stacks of cash, cars, mansions, and of course all of the vacations they have taken all over the world.

I kind of cringe when I see them flaunt this stuff, sort of like the celebrities who live non-stop jet-set lives and constantly post about it online. 🙄

They are so out of touch with most people who are struggling to pay for life, due to the high costs of literally everything. 🤡

Sometimes though, things are not always what they seem…🙄

Years ago, I was warned by a couple of online business entrepreneurs that sometimes those pictures are actually of temporarily rented cars and houses to give the illusion that they are making tons of money.

Yes, some of the pics that you see out there are legit and they are just trying to show you what is possible or they are just bragging. 🤑

Others are just deep fakes trying to get as much money out of your wallet as possible and trying to make you believe that your computer will spit out cash like an ATM with no work at all… 🙄

They are just trying to play on people’s emotions and desperation. 😡

The bad news is that this type of nonsense has tainted the idea of having an online business for a lot of people.

Despite the nonsense, there are actually 6 and 7-figure earners who don’t share any pics and just make quiet fortunes online.

Maybe they are introverts or maybe they are just very private people who don’t need to let everyone know their business.

This makes more sense to me being a private person myself.

There are even more people who are quietly making a decent income online, enough to pay their bills and have some left over to take care of their other wants or needs.

They are just average, everyday people who are simply making money online either full-time or as a supplement to their regular jobs or careers.

You just don’t hear about them because they stay under the radar and don’t flaunt their success to the world.

They are out there running online businesses in many different niches, but it’s not obvious.

There are all kinds of people on the internet making money, especially as affiliate marketers.

I’m just an ordinary person myself who had to figure out a way to make an income online when I lost my job, due to physical health issues.

The point is, that having your own online business does not need to involve flash, illusion, hype, and scams.

Not at all.

The good news is that there are people who are legitimately making money online and they are not hyping or scamming to make it happen.

Now back to my story…

Forced Out of The Workplace

Just to recap…

In the offline world, I gained several years of experience in Customer Service, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and various other clerical-type positions.

I worked in many different industries for small family businesses, medium-sized companies, and very large corporations.

There were jobs that I really enjoyed and others not as much, but with each job I gained a lot of valuable skills and experience.

I always wanted to excel and be the best at every job that I ever had.

This is just part of my personality being a very detail-oriented person and wanting to master anything that I tackled. 🤓

Some employers appreciated this and recognized the work that I did for them and other employers treated me more like a number.

The unfortunate reality is that most employers have no loyalty to their employees. 🙄

That’s just the way it is out in the world and it’s getting worse. 🤡

Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and just be grateful to have a job in the meantime until you’re able to make a plan and get a better job.

At least that’s how I looked at it, but believe me, it was not easy to stay anywhere that I was unhappy, but a job is a job and the bills don’t pay themselves.

Even in places where I was happy and I thought everything was great, things turned on a dime and I was laid off. 😒

So, I knew in the long run that employers were not the answer for my life and that I needed to make my own path and not rely on any company.

As a free spirit, I always had a deep desire to work for myself in some capacity and find a way to earn income outside of traditional employment.

My dad worked for himself for much of his life as an independent sales rep making commissions so I think I got the ‘be your own boss’ bug from him.

He had worked for employers but preferred working for himself and not having a cap on his income potential or having his time controlled.

I prayed to have that same freedom someday and that prayer was eventually answered, but in a totally unexpected way. 🙏

Severe neck issues that created dizziness forced me out of the workplace.

This happened before I was ready financially, which sucked a lot and was pretty scary. 😵

It was devastating because I had a great job at that particular time, but they had very strict attendance policies.

My health came first and I couldn’t even drive safely, let alone do the job properly in that condition because of the concentration and details the job required.

The third-party company, located out of state that handled the company’s short-term disability benefits, would only approve me for 2 weeks.

However, I wasn’t going to be all better in 2 weeks and so after appealing and yet again being denied the short-term disability benefits, I was let go from that job.

Due to the attendance policy, short-term disability would have been the only thing to excuse my absences beyond 2 weeks and so they fired me.

I truly believed that I would be afforded the benefits offered by the company because it was a bragging point they used when hiring people. “Look how great our benefits are!”

I needed that important benefit to be able to heal, still get a percentage of my paycheck, and then resume my job when ready, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It was pretty shocking and unfair, but that’s what happened and I couldn’t do a thing about it.

I couldn’t exactly run out and get another job in my condition either and even if another company had hired me, I would have ended up in the same predicament.

My physical health issues made it impossible to adhere to an employer’s attendance policies.

Proceed with Caution!

So, if you are wondering why the sad story about a lost job which unfortunately is a common story these days…

It’s because it serves as a cautionary tale about not having more than one source of income in place, just in case.

My ultimate goal was to be an online entrepreneur anyway because I had already been dabbling with that on the side as a hobby.

Unfortunately at that particular time, I was not able to concentrate on anything other than getting my physical health stable enough that I could do regular daily activities, let alone build another income.

I certainly didn’t anticipate losing my job and I never would have left on my own without a backup source of income in place.

See, unlike some of the rhetoric I see online, I’m not one of those people who would ever tell someone to just up and quit their job suddenly to pursue making money online. No way!

I would never tell anyone to quit their job without having another job or another source of income available.

That’s probably not what you expected to hear from someone who makes money online as an affiliate marketer, is it?

Well, I’m not going to feed you some fantasy tale about how you can start an online business today and fire your boss tomorrow. 🙄

It just doesn’t work like that, despite some of the claims out there from unscrupulous people who will tell you what you want to hear just to make a buck off of you.

No, that is not me.

Instead, I’m going to advocate for you to make a smart, logical decision when it comes to your income and to always stay realistic.

⚠️ Proceed with Caution! ⚠️

I’ve seen people make rash decisions over the years because some online “guru” made them believe they could make 10k in just 30 days or whatever income claims they are making.

Yes, there is good money to be made having an online business and some people make A LOT of money, but it does take time and effort. It requires patience and a solid work ethic as well.

I’m not going to feed you some pie in the sky and tell you what I think you want to hear.

All that will do is cause you to get frustrated and disillusioned and eventually give up on creating your own online business.

There are already enough unrealistic expectations being sold out there in the shark-infested waters of the internet and so you have to work hard to stay focused and grounded.

I will also say this for anyone who needs to hear it…You cannot just join something and think that from the mere act of joining…that money suddenly will start coming out of your computer like a slot machine or an ATM.

Of course, that might seem like a very obvious thing.

But, believe it or not, some people (actually a lot of people) do have that exact mentality and will spend money to join whatever it is and never even log in or do the training or do the work…At All. 🙄

Then they quit a week or a month later declaring it didn’t work, when they didn’t actually do any training or work at all. 🙄

I know that probably sounds nuts or like an exaggeration, but I see this all the time.

A friend of mine who has been a 6-figure affiliate marketer for over 20 years has seen people spend thousands on private coaching programs and then never even schedule their coaching! 🤯

That seems so unreal to me but it happens.

Also, my friend said they would then complain that it didn’t work, that they made no money online and were ripped off.

Well, maybe that coaching was good or maybe it was bad, but these people never even bothered to pursue what they paid for to even find out if it was good or bad. 🙄

Personally, if it were me I would be participating in the coaching ASAP and doing what I could to get my money’s worth.

It’s a really strange phenomenon that goes on and it does not lead to success. 🤦‍♀️

You have to work to make whatever online business you are building successful.

Always Stay Realistic

Again, I want to stress the fact that the best thing you can do for yourself is to always stay realistic.

It’s better to base your decision to pursue an online business on logic, and not just on the emotions of wanting to be free from your job.

Yes, you can start an online business today, but you will not be able to earn money that fast to fire your boss the next day. I mean, let’s get real. 🙄

Starting, building, and maintaining an online business is a long game, not a lottery ticket.

It takes time to build an online business, despite the “get rich quick” liars out there that will tell you otherwise.

Also, you will be doing a lot of work upfront without getting paid.

It is possible to earn affiliate commissions early on, but you will be doing a lot of work upfront without getting any compensation.

You are building an online business and your consistent, long-term efforts will start to snowball.

Before you know it, the work that you did weeks, months, and years ago will pay you and continue to pay you for years to come.

But again, this is a long game.

I’m not going to mislead you and pretend that you can make money right out of the gate or that it will cost you zero.

You have to be able and willing to invest both time and money to start and grow an online business.

It’s inexpensive to start an online business compared to a brick-and-mortar business offline.

At least with an online business, you will see returns far faster than an offline business, where it may take years to break even, but making money online is still no overnight thing.

So, my advice is that you keep your job if you can, and build an online business on the side.

Then, once you know that you can replace your current income and better yet, exceed your current income because remember…

You have to pay all the taxes on what you earn because there is no employer to put in the other half…at least that’s how it works in the United States.

I’m not sure how that works in other countries and I’m not a tax expert either.

Once you can at least replace your income…Then and only then, should you even consider quitting your job, and only if you really want to.

Like for instance if you absolutely hate your job or need complete time freedom from an employer’s overly strict attendance policies.

Not everyone hates their job though.

So, if you really love your job or your career, then use your online business side income to build up your savings or pay off debts.

And if your job situation suddenly changes and you are laid off or something happens, then just double down on your online business.

I don’t buy into the notion that having a job or career is a negative thing if it’s something you really enjoy and you don’t work in a negative, toxic environment.

And that is a Big IF because most stories I read online are from people who hate their jobs.

It seems to be the consensus out there, but there are still people who do like their job and that’s great.

My experience with different jobs ran the gambit from super horrible toxic environments to the typical garden variety drama, to pretty decent.

My last two jobs were my best jobs, even though they had their own issues.

They were a lot better than most places I had ever worked for and I was sad to lose both of those jobs.

So, I can totally relate to both sides of the fence.

I experienced the feelings of loving my job and wanting to stay as long as possible.

I also experienced the soul-sucking feelings of absolutely hating my job to the point I was physically sick every Sunday night from the mere thought of having to go back.

I had more than one of those over the years and I never want to experience that ever again.

No More Office Drama

The Sunday night nausea is when I really started praying for freedom from employers and that prayer was eventually answered. 🙏

Now that Sunday night anxiety is a thing of the past. 😌

Working for myself from home is such a wonderful change from all the corporate shenanigans like office politics, drama, gossip, horrible bosses, indifferent or incompetent management, and annoying co-workers.

Even though my last and final job was not as bad as all of that and was a pretty decent place to work…it still had its own issues.

I had already worked for several places that had that whole laundry list of issues and I never wanted to go back to that ever again.

And I don’t mean just offices either…

Retail and service jobs have many of the same issues, if not worse.

Those were horrible experiences when I was starting out working as a teenager.

So, I don’t want to go back to any toxic environment.

The freedom to not have to ever deal with that again is something I can hardly express in words and I thank my Heavenly Father for that, even though it didn’t happen exactly the way I wanted it to.

The bottom line is that my physical health issues are not compatible with an employer’s attendance policies.

Being able to manage my health while not having to adhere to strict attendance policies is such a freeing thing because now I never have to ask anyone permission to be a human and have a life.

Some companies that I worked for didn’t want you to leave your desk (outside of your break) to use the restroom and there were consequences for doing so.

Well, nature calls when it calls and you can’t control that, but some places expect you to be a robot with zero human needs.

There are so many benefits to writing your own paycheck and being in charge of your own schedule.

With that said, not everyone wants to work from home online for various reasons.

And that’s okay too.

Actually…you really don’t have to work from home specifically.

You can work from any location in the world that you want, as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection.

Some people enjoy going to a coffee shop or even a park or the library with their laptops.

So, there is freedom of movement when it comes to working for yourself online.

This is not a one size fits all type of thing and there is so much flexibility to do whatever you want.

No matter what your circumstances are, I believe it’s really important to have multiple streams of income.

Otherwise, you are limited to the whims of the employment world and other things outside of your control.

This is the case even with having an online business.

For instance, I’ve been an affiliate for several products and services online over the years.

Ideally, you want to be an affiliate for multiple things, just in case an income stream dries up or disappears.

Again, the same goes for offline, which is why you might want to keep that job or career that you love and build an online business on the side.

Then, if something unexpectedly happens to that job or career, you will still have a stable income and savings to fall back on. You will be ready for it!

This is exactly what I wish I would have done and if I had a time machine to go back, I would do exactly that.

Wasted Too Much Time

So then, why didn’t I do this?

Why didn’t get my act together and have another plan in action to make extra income?

It’s simple…I wasted too much time and did not take it seriously enough. 🤦‍♀️

Apathetic is probably the best word because I was already employed and had a steady paycheck coming in and so the urgency to create a back-up income was not there.

I took for granted that I always had a job and a paycheck coming. 🙄

Looking back, I don’t know why I thought that way because almost every single company that I ever worked for doesn’t exist anymore.

I worked at some of them while they were being bought out or going out of business and other companies were gone not many years after I left.

However, in those days I could easily go out and have a new job within a week.

It seems like I took that for granted too because these days it’s much harder to just go out and get another job.

I had plenty of warnings and red flags over the years to know full well that there is no such thing as job security.

The companies I worked for were mostly sold to another company or closed down due to the business failing.

When a company sells, more often than not, the new company will keep the old employees and facilities around…at least for a while.

Then later they close it all down and absorb it into their own employees and locations.

This usually happens within 1-2 years after being sold. At least, that’s been my experience.

Sometimes, it happens much quicker than that and this is usually without much warning at all.

It can happen to anybody.

And it can happen whether you work for a small or medium business or a large corporation. I’ve experienced this with all types of companies.

As I said, there’s no such thing as job security because you never know what is really going on behind the scenes.

The people who own and run companies will just secretly make the deals while everyone else continues working like they have a secure job.

Then one day there’s suddenly an announcement that they are sold or going out of business altogether.

I have experienced this numerous times and each time it was completely unexpected.

Yeah, in some cases there were rumors but the powers that be are usually good at gas-lighting and will pretend like nothing is happening.

So again, whether you love your job or hate your job, take action now to grow another income stream for yourself.

Unfortunately, I did not do this and wasted too much time (years!) and did not have another income to fall back on when I needed it. 🤦‍♀️

I had dabbled in affiliate marketing, which is the online business model that I chose to pursue, on the side, for a long time.

The thing is…I treated it like a hobby, instead of a real business and wasted a whole bunch of time that I could have used to build up a proper side income.

Even though I had this desire deep inside to start an online business, I did not put in enough time and effort to make it happen. 🤦‍♀️

I just didn’t manage my time well enough outside of my job and would come home and just zone out sometimes. 😩

Granted, I had a very challenging job and was too tired when I got home from work, but if I had just spent one hour per day, this would have made all the difference.

I had made some affiliate commissions and advertising revenue with the effort I had put in, but it was nothing to write home about because I had not built it up to a solid level of job-replacing income.

However, those commissions proved to me that affiliate marketing is a real, viable business model.

Most businesses of all sizes usually have affiliate programs online these days.

Amazon, Walmart, and Target are bigger names, but there are thousands upon thousands of companies with affiliate programs, in every niche market imaginable.

My very first affiliate commission was for a guitar-playing lesson program that I recommended on my very first website.

I’ll never forget how excited I was to get that commission notification and later when I got the actual payment. 😀

I ultimately moved on from that website though because I didn’t have enough passion or interest in that particular niche to continue long-term.

My point is that I already knew that affiliate marketing worked.

If I had taken it much more seriously and not wasted so much time, I would’ve had more than enough time to build that online business into a full-time income before eventually losing my employment.

Consistently working on it an extra hour per day over the years would have made all the difference.

But, again I wasted both the time and opportunity to build and grow an online business.

So, after I lost my job, I was in a real bind.

I needed to get serious and start working full-time to make money online, but again it takes time to build an online business that brings in consistent income.

The problem was, that I was both out of time and now had physical health issues to deal with, which became the main priority.

My household suddenly went from two incomes to one income and I needed to get moving, but I really couldn’t at that time.

My severe neck issues and the accompanying dizziness from nerve damage in my C1 Vertebrae were extremely debilitating at that time. This is what cost me my job.

So, this meant that I couldn’t exactly work like I needed to because being on a computer full-time or doing much of anything was out of the question.

I had to take care of my physical health so that I did not end up completely disabled or bedridden.

I had to focus on healing and resting and having multiple neck therapy appointments per week to get things under control.

I couldn’t work at the same level that I used to before all the physical issues.

It was a very long road and the worst of it got better, but even today I still have to keep up with my neck treatments every few weeks and limit how long I work each day.

Even now, I still have flare-ups where working is not even possible some days.

Being on a computer at home is no different for me with my neck issues than from a job outside the home, except now I have the power to stop and take a break whenever I need to, without worrying about getting fired.

So again, if I had taken it all more seriously while my physical health was good and while I was still employed, then I wouldn’t have ended up with so many financial worries when I lost my job.

I would’ve had something more substantial to fall back on during times that were difficult both money-wise and health-wise.

The Online Roller Coaster Ride

After allowing time to heal, I slowly was able to start working on my online business.

Then, the online roller coaster ride began for me because I got very distracted by everything to do with making money online.

This was not a fun, exhilarating roller coaster ride either.

Being on a time crunch to try and make money online and beating my head against the wall trying to figure it all out on my own caused me to have what’s called shiny object syndrome.

This turned into a very unpleasant roller coaster ride of jumping from one program to another and flushing more time and money down the toilet. 🚽

Losing my job made me act in desperation because I wanted to make something happen right away, but again I had to wait until I healed enough to start pursuing it fully.

But going from a two-income household to a one-income household was difficult and so I was in a tailspin of worry and frustration. 😰

So, I ended up doing what a lot of people do, which is look all over the internet for something “quick” or “push button”…which is not realistic because it doesn’t really exist.

Many people, including myself, also create their own roller coaster ride with what is called “shiny object syndrome” when they jump from one thing to the next before even trying to be successful with anything.

It’s easy to do because there are a million distractions and new make-money online stuff launching every single day.

Getting off track is inevitable if you don’t take building an online business seriously.

By always looking around for an “easier, faster” way, you do the exact opposite by costing yourself more time and money than if you had just stuck to what you were doing.

Even a great “Done-for-You” type system requires time and work.

The “done-for-you” part simply means the training, technology, infrastructure, and all the pieces are already put together to make things easier.

You no longer have to build everything from scratch these days yourself, which is a blessing.

But, doing the training and then implementing what you’ve learned and doing the work is still on you.

No one is going to do it all for you and so by understanding that much, you remove a lot of the unpleasant roller coaster ride for yourself.

Affiliate marketing is a great online business model for both introverts and extroverts.

What’s nice is that there are a lot of different ways to be an affiliate marketer online, such as:

Social Media Marketing
Video Marketing
Blogging
Email Marketing
Paid Advertising

All of these work as long as you are consistent.

My favorite way is to blog directly on my own website.

Unlike using third-party platforms…having a domain and website is like having a piece of real estate on the internet that no one else can control, edit, remove, or tell you what to do with it.

This gives you the freedom to blog about anything you want, anytime you want and that type of freedom is really important to have when building an online business. 🗽

Also, a website gives you a home base or a hub for your online business, even if you use all those other methods mentioned above as well.

So, this is very important to keep in mind when creating your online business.

You Can Do It Too

So, why do I tell you all of this?

I share all of this with you so that you’ll know it’s possible to make money online.

It takes time to build an online business, but it’s worth it to build either a side income to supplement your full-time job or eventually replace your job (once you can replace that income) if that’s what you want.

Making money online is something I enjoy because I can work from home and on my own schedule, while still being able to take care of my health.

If you have found yourself in a similar situation to me or you simply want to get ahead of things and plan for the future, your goal going forward should be to not waste any more time.

As I said, whether you love your job or hate your job, it’s always a good idea to have a Plan B to supplement your income or replace your income.

The time is going to pass by anyway, whether you take action or not.

So in one year, you will either be in the same place you are right now with no Plan B.

Or you could be a full year into building your own online business.

You never know what can happen with your job or even with your health.

I had both go down the tubes at the same time.

For me, it was unexpected and I wasn’t ready for it.

But, I could have been ready had I planned and acted much sooner to have a backup income.

Like I said…the time passed by anyway because time stops for no one.

So, don’t waste time like I did. Just take action and get started.

And most importantly…keep going and believe in yourself. 😉

You can do it!

Thank you for visiting. 🙂

Cheers!

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