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Marama

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Hello! I suppose that this is the place to start. :D

I recently found Five Star, which is a shame, because I've been doing research for going on a year now on the topic of making money on the web. Seeing the quality of this forum, I can't help but think about all the time that I could have saved had I found it earlier. I hope to eventually become a contributing member here, a "giver" rather than a "taker" . . . but for now, I'm just a newbie still 90% in the dark.

I should probably provide a bit of background info. First, Marama isn't my real name, or even close. It's actually the name of a character I play in an online game. Since my first blog attempt covers the game, it's in Marama's name, rather than my own. I've had unpredicted (modest, but more than hoped for) success on that blog, so as it will now be my main focus rather than my sandbox for learning, I decided to use that handle here.

My background goes something like this. I went into the Army, and served as a linguist and Military Police officer for a little over six years. I left due to a bum set of knees. Upon exiting, I decided to use all that college money I'd signed on for, and obtained a two year degree in business with a huge side order of computer classes. Most of these were adult ed classes, covering hardware repair, operating systems, and Novel networking. I'd initially taken the computer classes because I figured I'd better learn how to use one of the darned things since I was in college and they were getting more common by this time. (This was 1993-1995) In my high school days, computers were downright annoying and intimidating. I still shudder at memories of my Apple IIe math class in my Junior year in HS. After I graduated my two year school, I made a huge mistake. I went to work, instead of going on for a four year degree.

I worked for years, right on up to the dot com burst, in computer networking, desktop support, and project management with an emphasis on new systems implementation. This was pretty good money that in my foolishness I didn't manage to hold on to much of. When the bubble burst, I was left high, dry and feeling dumb. So, I went back to college. At this point, I was getting kind of crusty in the brain pan, and creakier in the knees, and it just wasn't so easy to hold down a job and go to school at the same time.

Eventually, I met my wonderful wife. We got together when things were pretty good, and she's been with me the whole way since. I was attending a (low standards) adult university at night and working in non-computer related odd jobs part time when she found out her steady job (also in IT) was going to be shut down in the near future. So, when she transferred up to Washington state, I came with her. I attempted to go back to another adult university and finish up that BS degree, while holding down some part time retail jobs to help make ends meet. This would have gone well if I wasn't a physical wreck. I have serious asthma and allergy problems, two bum knees, a pinched nerve in my back (thanks Uncle Sam!), and no car. Humping it to work on the bus and then to school took its toll. Retail sales isn't exactly a gratifying job, either. I did learn a lot more about the sales process, as both companies I worked for were leaders in their markets, with nice training materials available.

Last September, we went to the Fair, along with the wife's parents (my future in laws at the time), to see a very good oldies concert. It was a great time. Herman's Hermits, Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees), The Grass Roots, and the Turtles were all there. Aside from the music, these were some seriously funny and entertaining folks. This would have just been a nice bright spot in my daily struggle with being a miserable wretch peddling computers and trying to go to school, had we not gone out for burgers after the show. We all came down with the worse case of food poisoning we'd ever seen the following day. I won't go into the details (trust me, you don't want to know and if you've had bad food poisoning, I don't want to give you a flashback) but suffice it to say we were all flat on our backs for six days. We all lost about ten pounds in a week. Needless to say, my employers weren't very understanding. Now, when I work for someone, I put my best effort into the job, even when I'm grossly overqualified for the job. After a year of good service, I received the run around from two managers, and finally quit in disgust.

So, last September, I decided to go into business for myself.

Boy, was that stupid!

Here I am, ten and a half months later, still doing research. Fortunately, I think I've found something worth doing.

And that's why I'm here. :D
 
Welcome to 5 Star, Marama.

That is probably the best introduction I've seen here at 5 Star and I read every last one of them.

You finally found us. You are glad you found us and we are glad to have you as a member.

You have had an interesting life. I hope you are able to learn something here that will make it a little more rewarding for you.

I think you will enjoy it here. It is a very friendly community with very helpful members.

You already know that we have tons of useful information for you to read and you'll learn a lot by reading as much of it as you can.

You are going to have questions at times. When you do, please feel free to ask so our members can help you.

You have a good positive attitude and great desire. Those qualities should take you a long way.

I hope you will find your 5 Star membership to be a very rewarding experience.
 
Hi Marama,

Welcome to 5 Star. Wow that was a nice long intro. Certainly gives me the feeling you feel like you've found a home here and plan to contribute when you can. We are here to help too. Sounds like you are about due for some good tips and some good luck. We'd love to see you succeed.
 
Very nice intro. Good luck. This forum is one of the best places to learn about affiliate marketing. Make sure to read the sticky notes on each and every one of them. Good luck!!!!
 
MI
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