In my late fifties I left my career behind, underestimated how hard it would be to start my own business in the lovely warm country I wanted to live in, and then everything I was working towards got ambushed by a global pandemic.
I decided I could either panic and sink, or search for something that would help me swim.
I found the answer online and now have three websites generate online income alongside my real-life business.
Best of all, those online businesses now allow me to live the life I had envisioned when I stopped working that big corporate job and went out on my own.
If you’re in a similar position to where I was or are just thinking about making a change that can bring you more freedom, what follows is how I managed to do it.
Hello, my name is Mitch.
I used to be a guy who moved from a corporate career in London to an idyllic part of Portugal to run a B&B with my wife, Vicki.
I’m still that guy, running that B&B, but now I also make an income online from three websites that I have built and marketed online myself.
The funny thing is, just a few years back, I had no idea and none of the skills to do any of the internet stuff I am now so comfortable doing. This article is a bit of a re-cap and a review about how I went from a complete online beginner to earning a significant income online, and how you could too.
Read on, and I’ll tell you more of my story and also point you in the direction of a lot of useful stuff I have discovered along the way.
The problem
The plan was simple.
Move to Portugal, work a little by welcoming guests to our wonderful B&B with a castle up the road and our own olive grove down the hill.
We soon learned that running a B&B is hard! Cleaning, cooking, doing the accounts and budgets, taking care of everything guests need, it all adds up. And then, a few months after we set up and were just about finding our feet, it got worse. Running a B&B was hard, but the arrival of COVID made it impossible. Suddenly, no travel meant no guests meant no money.
So, I found myself in a position many older people find themselves in towards the end of their career, but probably worse. No money coming in, not so much having to dip, but rather scoop, into what capital we had saved. Never mind living the idyllic life we had dreamed of, it was hard enough to just live a life of any kind for a while there. I thought about going back to work in London, but the kinds of roles I would be looking at were now almost all filled by younger, cheaper, more digital-savvy people than me.
The future looked uncertain future.
I felt like I was on the outside, looking in at a world of work that I felt had left me behind a bit. I think a lot of people in their fifties can probably relate to the situation I was in.
But here was the thing. I knew that I knew a lot of stuff. I had 30 years in different corporate jobs behind me.
I had (even if my timing was incredibly bad) set up and run a B&B (including a restaurant) in a country that was almost entirely new to me. I had learned a lot, and I figured my experience and knowledge could be useful to other people looking to do something similar. While the B&B hopefully weathered the COVID storm, I just needed to figure out other ways to make my experience pay.
The first place I looked for answers is where everyone looks for answers these days. The internet.
Funnily enough, the internet didn’t just deliver the answer, it turned out to be the answer.
An online solution
I did a lot of research online.
As you’d expect, there are a lot of people out there who promise you the world in an instant. I’ve always followed that old adage that says if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So, I avoided those folk.
Instead, I looked for ways of getting an online education rather than a ‘get rich quick’ scheme as the first step.
A programme that would teach me how to use the internet, because that’s what I needed to do, to get up to speed digitally.
I had already done the hard work of gathering a career’s worth of experience and the knowledge of how to set up a viable B&B business, I just needed the tools to connect people to my experience and knowledge.
Hello Launch Pad
This search led me to a programme called Launch Pad.
What really caught my eye about Launch Pad is that it wasn’t just a bunch of videos telling you how to do stuff online. It was a whole framework for building and maintaining an online business. And not just any online business, but your online business. One that is unique to you, that lets you work – and earn – in the way that you want.
To do this, Launch Pad teaches you how to use Authority Marketing, which is building your business around your experience and what you are an authority in (to use me as an example, I have some authority when it comes to speaking about setting up a B&B business, but it works with any work- or life-experience, from jobs you have done to hobbies you enjoy).
It works especially well if you use your real life experience and offer this to other folk who are about to start that journey – life experience like getting through a divorce, coping with bereavement, or how to manage when your kids leave home. (Finally).
In short, Launch Pad sounded like exactly what I was looking for. A way to use my experience in the real world to earn an income in the online one.
But how does it work?
With Launch Pad, the first thing that caught my attention was that it looked like a programme that tied in with my thinking around using my experience to generate an income online.
The second thing was that I could see it dispelled any worries I had about starting from a place of pretty much zero digital skills.
Launch Pad is a step-by-step education in everything internet and online Authority marketing. It was modular, which meant I could go at my own pace with no time pressure. If there were things I didn’t get first time around, I could just do that module again until I did get what it was teaching me.
There are a number of other key things that are worth mentioning:
- You literally need no tech skills to start with. If you can turn on your computer and access the internet, you are good to go.
- Launch Pad puts everything in one place. You find a website name, host it, build it, and market it, all using the same ecosystem.
- Launch Pad gives you the tools, resources and training to build the business you want. You and your experience are unique, Launch Pad empowers you to make your web presence unique too.
- Each module is designed to teach you a specific thing. Finding your ideal customer (your customer avatar), marketing on Facebook or Instagram or YouTube or any of the other channels online, building a website, using SEO, and much more – these are all things you will learn, and it really is not as intimidating as it seems with the help you get from Launch Pad.
- Speaking of help, it was always there when I needed it. There’s an ‘Ask a Question’ tool for advice from successful entrepreneurs, 24/7. You also get access to literally thousands of easy-to-follow courses on everything from having a positive mindset to growing your social media reach. And then there are frequent Live Webinars where you can ask experts questions and share ideas. Lastly, I joined a WhatsApp group where members could share their experiences, tips and triumphs which was really encouraging and helpful.
In summary, the positives
If you’re like me, it’s a lot to take in, going from zero digital skills to making a good online income, so here’s a little re-cap:
- The Launch Pad programme will take you from on-line beginner to having a working and earning website, with all the steps in-between, all in one place.
- It is a modular programme. You learn step-by-step at your own pace, rather than getting buried under an avalanche of stuff all at once.
- Each module will explain and teach you one key component or skill you need for online success, until you have all the components and skills for online success.
- You will be guided on how to find an idea for your business that you are not just interested in, but passionate about. Which is a lot more satisfying than punching the clock every day in a job that you are just doing for a wage.
- You will learn how to operate on all the key online channels (YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google) and how to identify which of those channels will work best for your idea.
- You will have help at hand as and when you need it, from experts who have done all of this successfully before
- You will join a community of people who have decided to take their future and their happiness in their own hands. Be warned, the excitement of discovering you can earn online is contagious!
… and the things to watch out for
Like I said earlier, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. I didn’t find any major issues with Launch Pad, there are a few things worth noting.
- One of Launch Pad’s best features is that it gives you all the tools to choose your own path to success. But when you start out, you might not know which path to take. What I would say is stick with your choices, rather than jumping about. The sheer amount of choice on Launch Pad is brilliant, but it can also be a little overwhelming. Spot something interesting? Note it down and you can always go and check it out later.
- When you start out, be methodical. Build your idea on solid foundations and it will make for a more robust business. And if you don’t have an initial idea yet, learn and practice the techniques as an affiliate marketer so that when your idea does come, you’re up to speed and ready to take it to the world.
- You will be pushed quite a few upsells on Launch Pad. It is a business after all. What I would say is don’t feel pressured into taking them. Launch Pad will work for you using just the original features and resources. If you do feel you need additional help – maybe with design or specific one-on-one training – then maybe look into an upgrade. But only if you feel you need it. I have upgraded on two occasions and, to be honest, they were both brilliant decisions. I paid more – but I got advice and coaching on steroids which shaved months off my learning curve.
Anything else?
If you’re still reading, thanks for sticking with me.
The last thing I would like to say is that working through the Launch Pad training has really exceeded my expectations.
Vicki and I have gone from a place of real worry about what kind of future we would have (thanks again, COVID) to one where we are not only secure, but thriving.
This year, we’ve even decided to close the B&B for a few months so that we can go travelling! That’s the kind of choice you can make when you build an online business (or three) that pretty much looks after itself.
I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you have any more questions, you can contact me at mitchwebber@builddigitalfreedom.com or check out Launch Pad for yourself at THIS LINK.
Thanks!
Mitch
