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[renie408]

Hi, I am new here. I have been lurking for a few days and I am really excited. Seriously, I am not quite sure about what, but I am excited. I would like to figure out a way to make some income from the internet. I am hearing what people are saying about making a website about something I am passionate about and about which I have knowledge. Ok, here goes...I have been working with and training horses my whole life. I have run large farms and taught riding lessons. About six years ago, I burned out on the constant showing, the hard labor and honestly, the cut throat business end of horses. Since then I have basically been a stay at home mom. I homeschool my youngest child and while we still have horses, we have scaled back to just a few lessons and our own horses. I would like to take some of the heat off of my husband financially, though. He is running his own small construction business and with housing slacking off, we are pondering ways for me to help generate some income. Regenerating a large working farm would be tough for many reasons. Mainly because horse farms have enormous overhead and require generous start up capital. I am just not there right now. The one thing I do recall is that I was a member of a horse related message board and I had people tell me constantly that I should write a book about riding and horses. I cannot seem to work up the whatever to write a book, but the blogging thing intrigues me. I have also recently become interested in combining what I have learned while studying the LOA with what I know about training horses. These two things go together better than you might imagine. Horses are just giant hairy mirrors of the people riding them. You get what you give when you work with a horse.

Soooo...is there a way to take all this knowledge that is crammed into my head and dribble it out over the internet that might possibly generate some income?? How realistic is that? Or should I say, "to hell with realistic" and just go for it? I mean, honestly. If we had ever done anything practical or realistic we wouldn't have kids or horses in the first place.

I have a deep well of knowledge of both classical and practical riding and horsemanship. I would really like to do something with it. Any input would be welcome. Thanks!

[ahimel]

renie:

Congratulations on taking the first step towards your dream!

What are your goals for your website/blog? You probably can't generate income right off the bat. But if you have a lot of valuable information in your head, you should be able to generate a lot of income over the next 5 years. So decide what you need.

Here's how it works: You provide value, and people pay you for it. The great thing about the internet is that it provides a quick and easy way for people who have something of value (deep and detailed knowledge about horses) to connect with people who need that stuff.

So step one is to provide something of value. Imagine someone who could use your knowledge. This might be a rider, a breeder, a person wanting to start their own horse farm, a student doing research, etc. Think what you could help them with. That might be tips for getting the best horse for your riding stlye, recognizing good breeding stock, accounting difficulties for livestock, or what's involved in the livestock industry. Write that up, and put it on a website. Then repeat.

Necessary skills will be (obviously) writing, editing, website creation.

Then, once you have enough worthwhile stuff that you're starting to get traffic, you should be able to get money off of it. Again, you should be able to do it by providing value. Right off the bat, you should be able to ask for donations ("Found this article helpful? Please help feed the author.") Maybe you can sell feed, tack, or even horses online. Even better, maybe you can link your readers to people who sell feed, tack or horses, and get a referral fee. (Saves on shipping charges.) Maybe you can sell advertising on your website. There's lots of options, as long as you have the traffic.

Steve has an article on making money from your blog. Check that out and see if it still sounds appealing to you. Wander around the technology forum and see what you can find on the mentioned skills. Write up a few articles, or just jot down ideas for articles. As you start exploring it, you should start getting a feel for what needs to get done and what the next step is.

Then check back in here and let us know how you're doing!

Good luck! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Amanda

[renie408]

Thanks, Amanda, for your reply. I have been rolling this plan around in my head for the past few days and I think I am going to explore it more thoroughly. This idea really appeals to me, but I find it intimidating. I am working on myself to conquer some of my fear of failure/insecurity/fear of criticism at the same time that I am writing some essays. I can use my 'real life' lessons as fodder for ideas. I was thinking that I could also use pictures from the lessons (with the permission of my students) to illustrate points and map progress. Another thing which has come up with my exploring what I want to do to generate income is that I have finally acknowledged some of my own buried horsemanship goals. I haven't been riding much in the last seven or eight years. I think I was feeling a little beat up and defeated. Since I have been working on changing my vibration, those old goals have been rearing their beautful heads. I began serious work on a lovely TB horse a couple of days ago and I am aiming to compete him this year with the ultimate goal of getting him to Grand Prix within the next 3-4 years. That is a compact schedule, but within both of our abilities given proper focus. I believe this experience will also offer fodder for the blog. I am planning to take some serious clinics with some serious clinicians over the next year which will also give me inspiration. I am also forming a goal to become a clinician myself. My plan is for all of my experiences over the next few years to work together: writing the blog, competing successfully, working with successful, well-known clinicians and working on selling myself as a clinician, also. Over all, these are all doable goals. I guess the thing to do is be the Nike commercial and JUST DO IT. I am doing a lot of internal work listening to Abraham-Hicks, watching The Secret, and reading everything I can get my hands on about the power of intention, the law of attraction and how to manifest my desires. Hell, right now I am working on just IDENTIFYING my desires!! But I am getting there and feel more positive than I have in YEARS. I feel like my life is on the brink of taking off like a rocket. I have found Abraham-Hicks to be especially helpful with boosting my self-esteem.

Again, thanks for the positive reply. It makes this whole thing feel more real and more possible. I really believe I would be good at this. My next step is to check into our local community college and see about taking some web design classes.

[ahimel]

Originally Posted by renie408

I really believe I would be good at this. My next step is to check into our local community college and see about taking some web design classes.

Sounds like a good start. I'll warn you upfront -- it will feel overwhelming at times. Just keep taking the next step, and you'll get there eventually.

Keep us posted!

Amanda