A Personal Update

I normally avoid talking about myself because I like to keep my blog focused on health and nutrition... the two things you come to my blog to read about.

But late last night a reader (whose name I don't know) asked me about my job. So here's an update of sorts.

If you'll recall, I left my job with Sonlight Curriculum on April 19, 2005 to pursue an opportunity with two financial planners (Scott Kozak and Mark Barrand) and a mortgage broker (Bryon Swanson).

The way it was set up, I was to earn a commission based on how many people I was able to schedule for dinner seminars.

The guys said they were getting about 80 leads per month off a flyer they were distributing through a local newspaper. They also said they were getting about 50-60 of those leads to dinner seminars (about a 70% close rate) .

They based my compensation on getting 30 "buying units" to dinner seminars every month. I thought this would be pretty easy to do given their past results. I'd only have to close 38% of the leads to "make it."

Well, it didn't pan out quite like I expected.

First, the paper they were advertising with went belly up. Advertising ceased for about four weeks. When they resumed advertising, it pulled dismal results. Since I quit my job, I think they've pulled in maybe 15 new leads.

I can't fill dinner seminars without new leads coming in! (Like that's a surprise...)

Anyway, I've got bills to pay and a family to support. So I started thinking about what I could do... besides going back to another job.

Since I've got over three years of copywriting experience and I love to write, I decided to leverage that skill. So exactly two weeks ago today, I decided to launch my freelance copywriting career.

Guess what?

In two weeks, I've landed three clients and four copywriting jobs.

I'm not totally out of the woods yet, but it looks like I may have good success as a freelance copywriter. And I gotta tell you... I love this freelance thing! Flexible schedule, get paid to write, work anywhere I want to, etc. It's wonderful.

So that's the update. I've gone from Sonlight to sales calls to freelance copywriting the last two months. It's been one of the most exciting/stressful/rewarding experiences of my working career.

If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear them.

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Comments

[Sarah]

That's pretty cool. I hope it continues to go well. How did you pull that off in just 2 weeks?!

[Ryan Healy]

I might say it was the urgency of the matter. Money running out, no income, a wife and two kids to feed. :-)

But I can really only give credit to God. I simply took action; He opened doors.

[p]

Interesting. Care to make a post about God and you? Yes, I ask because I am Agnostic and don't believe that God would have anything to do with the minute workings of our lives. I generally don't nitpick about little things like this but you started it by claiming he was the one who "opened the door." I get the feeling he is a very large/important part of your life. That's great and all. But is it not possible it was just chance that opened the door and your skills and perception that pulled you through. Personally I feel you are resourceful and clever and diligent enough to pull it all off by yourself.

Feel free to ignore this hot topic. I know that’s not what your blog is about. You have my e-mail.

[Ryan Healy]

Hi P,

I'm certainly willing to concede that it was chance that opened the door.

I appreciate your complement ("you are resourceful and clever and diligent enough to pull it all off by yourself"). I guess I just tend to think less of my personal abilities and more of God's power.

Certainly, the phrase "God opens doors" could be interpreted in different ways. For instance, have you read The 11th Element by Robert Scheinfeld?

He writes, "You're never alone in your quest for business success and wealth, even though it often feels that way. Your Inner CEO and the invisible network form a support system you can tap into to share your burden. You receive help every step of the way." (p. 21)

I don't know how it all works, but I think there is some kind of power (call it God, your Inner CEO, the life force, whatever) that transcends conscious thought and effort.

If you have any other comments, please share them. I appreciate your input.