In 2006 I found myself divorced, with custody of my young sons
I was facing a total collapse of the real estate industry where I had made my livelihood for 20 years
I had to make a choice between going backwards to practicing law again (which I hated)
Or forwards to try something else
But a 42 year old single-dad was not being offered any “handouts” in the middle of a huge recession
And I couldn’t afford the time or help to be away from home or my children
So my choices were very clear
I had to “reinvent” the game so that the odds were in my favor
To make my livelihood fit the needs of my life
Instead of making my life fit the needs of my livelihood
I started with the skills I already had as an entrepreneur
And applied them to a new medium. The Internet
My love of flying and photography led me to seek out a new way to combine the two activities
That’s when I discovered the earliest “build your own” tools. Before Facebook or YouTube
These allowed me to invent and share solutions for building social networks online
Suddenly I was known as the “Evil Genius”, with people wanting to pay me for my solutions
I could suddenly work from anywhere, earning a recurring revenue, any time day or night
People were thrilled to find someone they could trust to make complicated things easier
I didn’t matter that I had virtually no previous experience regarding these solutions
They only cared that I had answers to the pain they were experiencing, and was willing to help them
But there were limits to what I could do because everything was on privately owned SaaS platforms
Then, after a few years, I discovered WordPress and everything changed
Suddenly all the pieces came together!
I was now able to show people not just how to solve their pain
But also how to own and control their own solution
And in doing so, to grow their own livelihood around their life, just as I had done
Flash forward sixteen or so years later, and I’m known as an authority in WordPress
I have 40k+ happy clients, customers and students, who gladly pay $300/hr to work with me
My audience continues to grow, because I’m constantly sharing new and useful knowledge
Because technology continues to evolve and confuse those without time to keep up
But people, and their needs, remain the same
We ALL want a relationship with a trusted friend or expert
Someone who can help us to move forward by solving our pain
This universal truth helped me to make the life I wanted for my kids and myself
And it will help you to build a new or improved business around your own skills or interests
In doing so, you too can achieve a true “lifestyle” business that can never be taken away!
I publish regular free content at WPLaunchClub , software at LaunchFlows , a free newsletter at WPLaunchKit or you can have a call with me for free at WPLaunchify