This year I have decided to do something new and that is to have a monthly Spotlight for one of my customers and/or students. These are people who have taken action and are creating their own home business income stream. This might be publishing books on Amazon, creating an Etsy or Shopify store, starting a new blog or setting up their own website or planner business.
Our next Spotlight for May 2022 is Patti Stafford who I have known for years. When we were both new to the internet we did several projects together.
I am so glad to see that Patti has a new store and am excited to share it with you all. Here's her responses to my questions.
Solopreneur
Patti Stafford
1. Please share with us your background, where you run your business from and a bit about yourself.
First off I am honored to be part of Sue's monthly spotlight. We've known each other for a good ten years and even share the same birthday. We've worked on projects together in the past and had a lot of fun.
I started online as a freelance/ghostwriter. I've written for some of the top PLR sellers online. I enjoyed that but then I wanted more time freedom and more control over my own life. I opened a PLR store and loved doing that.
At 49 it occurred to me that one of my life-long dreams was to write fiction. So I closed my PLR store and spent the next five years writing fiction full time. I've published a dozen works of fiction.
Financially it was not a good move, but I got to live the life of a full time fiction author, I marked a huge thing off my bucket list and I did something that most people only dream about doing.
I decided I wanted back into Internet marketing and having an online business. I looked around and saw that creating journals and planners was a hot new thing. I'm more practical than creative, but I enjoy creating useful products and I personally journal every day so I love journaling. Many of my products have been created out of a personal need and I love the idea that I can share those with others and help them build their own business.
2. What made you want to decide to start your store? What types of products do you create?
I still love written PLR content and I write on topics that interest me or that I want to gain knowledge about. Selling the content to a larger audience is just a big plus in my book.
I also love journals and planners. I don't have a great design eye, but I love creating pretty things. I love printing things out and putting the pages in my binder.
And I love that I can share those things with other people.
3. What’s your favourite tool for creating your content?
My favorite tools for creating my content is PowerPoint.
4. What advice would you give to anyone just starting out?
Decide on the lifestyle you want. Yes, running a business is about making money and affording a certain lifestyle, but the lifestyle you want should be one of the main priorities and thoughts before starting a business. The hubby and I love archery, so having the time freedom to get out to the archery range anytime we want is a huge motivator and reason for the business models I've chosen and how many hours I put in each day. I love being done with my work day by noon, so then we have the afternoon/evening to do things we enjoy.
You also should love what you do. You don't have to love every aspect of your business day, but if you can find an angle or twist or spin on your topic that you absolutely love---it makes building a business much easier. I don't absolutely love the online business market....but I do love time freedom and location freedom, so that's my twist on creating and running an online business. That's what I want everyone to have and I get to share information that can help people start and build a business they love.
5. Where do you see yourself and your business in the next five years?
For my personal life, I really miss living in the country. I want a small farm, close to my grand kids, with chickens and goats and maybe some pigs. I want an archery range in our backyard and I want hubby to have a shop so he can do woodwork and archery projects.
We have a good life now and it's the life I wanted five years ago...but sometimes your dreams change, so you set new goals and work towards them. Of course, grand kids coming into the picture has had a huge influence on what I want now and where I want to be.
The included picture shows us enjoying our biggest hobby---shooting bows. There's also a picture of Gus, our cat, who thinks he's the office manager.
For my business life, I just want as many people as possible to get excited about creating and building their dream life. Whether that's traveling the world or having a small farm their grand kids enjoy. You get to choose. You don't have to be stuck in society's rat race or hampster wheel. You can design and create your own life.
6. Please share anything else you would like us to know about your business.
My main business is blogging, sharing information and running a Membership Lifestyle Club. I desire that everyone is able to live the lifestyle of their dreams and have a business they actually love doing.
I do create PLR content, but it is more of a secondary branch of my business and website.
7. What’s the name of your store?
8. How can people sign up to your affiliate program?
The sign up page is here: https://digibizlifestyle.com/shop/amember/aff/signup
I pay 50% commission.
Patti was kind enough to set up a special coupon for us as well. It is set for 50% off in her store. Use the code below to select your choice.
COUPON CODE: suesfriends