That's swell of you to take what I said so well Monna. That shows a lot of maturity in that you accept constructive criticism even if that criticism suggests that you find an entirely different niche to work into an internet business.
I would like to suggest two things Monna for what they are worth.
Unlike some of the input you have gotten I would not suggest that you try and make a niche money making thing out of the grief you feel at your husband's passing. I read some of the first link you left us and it was heartfelt and may I say a beautiful tribute to the love you felt for your husband. Some subjects are best left as is without trying to make money from them. I think this is one of them.
Not to mention that I don't think it would be good for you to continue to focus on the pain you felt when your husband passed away. To try and make a money making niche from that is going to remind you of that pain every time you look at your web site. That's not good Monna. A person can only take so much pain.
I would try and find something else. Something you feel some passion for but which does not revolve around the kind of pain you felt at your husband's death. Don't get me wrong Monna. There may come a day when you could indeed create some kind of money making website centered around helping others cope with grief but I don't think that day is now.
You are still in the grip of that grief. The feelings are still too raw for you. We all grieve when a loved one passes away. I don't think I've ever in my entire life experienced the kind of pain I felt when my father passed away a couple of years ago. It was an emotional pain like no other.
But if I can also say Monna...in the very midst of that pain God spoke to me. "I know what I am doing and you need to trust me" were the words He impressed on my heart. Those words cut through the cloud of pain I was feeling and enabled me to love my dad and those around me as he passed away. They enabled me to have the strength to go on and not only to just survive but to soar as an eagle above the natural paralysis of pain I had been feeling.
The Lord might want to give you that same peace Monna. To look to Him that you might receive the grace to let go of your husband and go on with your life. Forgetting what lies behind and looking forward to what lies ahead.
In any case Monna I would not suggest making a web site to try and monetize the pain you are still feeling. I don't think that would be good.
I hope I have not been presumptious in what I have said. My desire has been to give you the best input I know to give you. I hope to some small degree I have accomplished that.
Anita, thank you for your advice also. One day I hope to go to one of those workshops.
Carlos, It is amazing how much we think alike. I had considered advancing with the grief blog at one time but thought of the same thing. I used that to get through my grief and still do and I was not sure it would be a good idea to keep on with it and have that be my only thoughts day after day on the screen even though it's in my mind day after day anyway.
I do have some other interests but they are also very highly competitive; scrapbooking and quilting but since my husband has passed away I have yet to become interested in them again.
My husband and I both were Sci-Fi nuts, so I thought of something along those lines. I guess I will spend the next couple of days making a list of things and just see what I come up with.
I am involved with a couple of MLM's. One I signed up for myself and one a friend payed my way in. I guess I could concentrate on those completely and ditch the website all together.
I do have another website http://www.doubleweddingringquilts.com/ with an Ebook I wrote, making the quilt a little different than traditional but getting pretty much the same results and that has been up for quite a while and I rank pretty well on that. I made 3 sales from that yesterday. Some weeks I will make quite a few sales and then sometimes it will be weeks in between before making another sale.
It just seems so easy for other people to make a decision on what they want to concentrate on and I have such a hard time making up my mind.
I want to get something going on the internet and do well at it so I can quit my medical transcription job. I have done that for 18 years and I am burnt out on it.
BTW, I agree with you also that Lynn is the best. I started following her back in 2003 and have always come back to her and this forum for advice.
I have something to share with you on that note, Monna. I actually have it on my list to do this week as a video, but I think you'll enjoy the topic specifically. I am headed out for a lunch meeting, but I'll post more when I return
And thank you both - your kind words in this thread made my day!
For whatever reason, I happened in on this thread tonight for the first time. My deepest sympathy to you on the loss of your husband.
My husband died 21 months ago today (I hadn't marked that connection 'til right now), so I can understand a bit of your thoughts in working in the area of grief and "monetizing" it. On the other hand you may be "ripping" yourself and others off by not sharing what seems to come so easily to you and could possibly be of extreme value to others as well as yourself.
I don't understand the whole Squidoo thing. I did read a few of your articles on eZine articles and was quite impressed with the tips you offered. Also moved by your blog posts --- the blogspot ones. I'm thinking that you could some keyword research to determine needs, are people buying? (are other sites reprinting your articles?) You could probably put them together into an eBook, maybe for sale or for download leading to something else.
I was blessed that Sam and I had wonderful 47 years together. The last 5 were marked with challenges as Parkinson's Disease took it's toll on him and us. Coincidentally I just posted the following comment today on a post on grieving on the Self-Growth blog... just signed up responding from a Tweet. I wrote:
"I used writing Haiku to gain control over anger while grieving what Parkinson's disease was doing to my husband and us.
When he died, I created a memorial website in the depths of grieving - http://www.sheilafinkelstein.com/sam.html As the first year of his passing came I used writing and adding more pages, now celebrating his life and sense of humor to help me through it.
My http://www.writingforhealing.com blog has a link for my Haiku for Healing PDF and assorted writings during different times these past, almost 2 years. I invite anyone to share their writing there."
When you go to the memorial page, check out the link to SAM SMILES and on that page to ROB Story and the Joe Story.
Bottom line to all of this, Monna, is, in my opinion, is that should you choose to do some investigating and consider working in this area it may be something that could move you forward. Setting that as an intention would have you coming from a place of power rather than driving yourself into a state of morass.
And you may have a niche, I'm thinking, of sudden losses, or losses, in short-term (not exactly the right word) relationships.
OK, enough wandering. I'd be glad to talk with you if you wish. I have friends who say my writing in the area of my grieving would be making a difference and I've wondered who would buy and I haven't researched it because I'm focussing on other areas now.
To conclude - Aileen Bennett, speaker at NAMS, Tweeted the following in relation to the several links on the my site mentioned above: "yes, that whole site blew me away... I cried, I laughed - I hope that we all get to be loved that much"
Maybe this is what people want.
Hope this helps you in some way.... a lot longer than I intended.
Your video was very thought provoking and gave a different perspective on things I hadn't thought about again (as you usually do and makes a lot of sense).
Sheila:
I thank you so much for your concern and advice and I am also sorry for your loss. I will look through your pages today.
Everyone has given me a lot to think about and decide on.
I am not sure if Lynn remembers or not but I have been struggling to find my way on the internet for quite a while and with a 3 to 4 year break, I am just getting back to internet work in the last 6 months or so.
I have learned a lot from Lynn in the past and a lot of new things from Lynn and some others and I do have a better understanding; much better than I did years ago even with the new changes on the internet.
I will figure out a plan one way or the other because I am motivated and determined; much more than I ever have been.
With my different things out there, testing, etc. I do have money coming to me such as from ClickBank but I have not yet met the criteria to receive the payout (5 different credit cards and PayPal doesn't count). I am happy to say this time around I am not in the hole money-wise like before, I have made some profit (when I actually get the payouts) but I want to increase that and have residual that I can live on (like every one does, LOL).
I would love to get back in to Lynn's Elite group but that is not possible right now but soon, I hope.
I just appreciate so much each and every one of you taking the time to give your advice, opinions and suggestions.
I will be spending this next week assessing what I have going, what is working, what is not and then start deciding "where the money is" as Lynn suggested in her video and forge ahead.
I know my name is not recognized like Lynn's is and so many others but it will be one day. I WILL find my place on the internet and be there to stay.
Thanks for asking. It is doing okay (one of those small passive income sites), just a few pages I put up and have not really done anything with it since.
Some weeks I get quite a few sales, some weeks nothing. I had 3 sales the other day. Not tremendous traffic but sometimes up to 100 per day, sometimes way less. http://www.doubleweddingringquilts.com/
I will leave it as it is, unless I decide to go that direction which right now I am not sure what direction I am headed in.
Believe me, I will ask for help when I need it. LOL and I am sure glad everyone is/has been there for me willing to help and advise.
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