Yep, that’s the question that always stops me in my tracks.
Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask us “what do y’all do again?”
I pause, wondering exactly how to phrase my answer.
I usually go with something like, “We sell digital products online. You know, like eBooks.”
As they stare at me like I have three heads, I realize that most people have no idea what I’m talking about.
It’s really hard to sum up what we do in just a couple of sentences.
As we’ve become more and more successful, we find ourselves answering this question a lot more often lately.
Almost everyone we talk to has follow-up questions.
I thought I’d take some time to answer those questions here today.
“Can you help me get started selling stuff online?”
We’d love to.
Really.
There’s nothing that gets us more fired up than the light in the eyes of someone who can see the potential of online business.
The bad news is that we can’t just meet every interested person at the coffee shop for several hours because we’d never leave.
That’s why we started the Flip Your Life e-Course.
It’s a set of video modules you can complete on your own time that walks you through creating a digital product step-by-step.
You don’t even need a website!
So, if you would like some help, we can get you started right away.
Isn’t it a bad idea to tell people how much money you make?
No.
We aren’t being boastful, but we feel that it’s necessary to show people a real-life example of what can be possible through starting an online business.
You won’t find detailed income reports on Flipped Lifestyle, but if we feel it’s necessary to use our income figures to support a point we’re making, we will do it and be proud of the work we’ve done to get where we are today.
How can anyone else know how awesome online business is if we don’t tell them?
A lot of people tell us we are crazy for showing people what we make online. “What if they try to compete with you, or steal your business.”
In truth, it doesn’t work like that.
Besides, if we listened to other people, we never would have quit our jobs to pursue online business full-time.
So when we tell people we made $36,000 in August of 2013 or $142,000 in July of 2014 there is a good reason for it: to inspire, motivate, and help other families do the same.
What are you doing with that money? Can I get a loan? 🙂
First of all, you have to remember that it’s not all profit.
We pay a percentage to the government for taxes, we give a percentage to our church as a tithe, and we have business expenses just like a brick and mortar business (just not as much).
We also have two kids who need food, shelter, doctor visits, school supplies, and may go to college someday — these are kind of expensive.
Right now, we are in the process of paying off our debts.
Our short-term goal is to have zero debt.
Once we accomplish that, we have a long list of needs like home repair projects, a new vehicle, and maybe even a vacation since we haven’t been on a real one in years (I guess that’s more of a want, but we’ve been working hard, so I consider it a need).
At that point, we can’t wait to start sharing what we’ve been blessed with to people in need!
What if I start an online business and nothing happens?
We’ve been there before.
We have started a number of websites that failed.
There are no guarantees in life, so sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.
The one constant we have seen in online business is this: those who start, and stick with it, have a great chance to make money online.
We feel like everything you do in life is a learning experience. We’ve learned as much in the last two years from our failures as our wins. Just keep in mind, “if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.” You may be surprised what happens next.
So, there are a few of the questions we get on a daily basis.
Do you have a question about what we do? Ask us in the comments, Shane & I would be happy to answer them for you.
You can connect with S&J on social media too!
Thanks for reading! If you liked it, make sure you share it with your friends and family! Our goal is to help as many families as possible change their lives through online business. Help us by sharing the show!
If you have comments or questions, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post. See y’all next week!
Crystal ~ Fine Art Mom says
I love following your journey and I’m so lucky and appreciative to have met both of you in person! You are both wonderful inspiration for families to see what’s possible and the other ways out there to make a living! Keep on doin’ what you’re doin’!
Shane Sams says
Thanks Crystal! I’m so glad we got to sit by you at the 1dayBB! Can’t wait to see what the online has in store for the “Fine Art Mom” in the coming years! -Shane
Amanda says
Hi Shane and Jocelyn,
Just discovered you on AskPat – Pat Flynns podcast. It was such a great story, and i’m grateful to have now been introduced to Flipped Lifestyle.
I really just wanted to say thank you. I commented on your podcast session on SPI and not only did you respond to my comment, but you also commented on my blog.
You would have gone out of your way to do that, and from the podcast I know you have a lot going on right now, so thank you for being nice… just because!
Shane Sams says
Thank you Amanda! So glad you came to the site 🙂 I had a moment of downtime today as I drank a cup of coffee and spent it on your blog. We have been traveling a lot, so seeing how you guys went on the road with your carry on was very helpful. Keep up the good work! PS: Love your “don’t wing it, explore with us” tagline on the plane wing haha. Very clever! 🙂 -Shane
Amanda says
Thanks so much Shane! Thats made my day 🙂 You guys are too nice, very glad I stumbled across you both! Will definitely be following along with flipped lifestyle and the podcast!
Mandy
Samantha says
Hi Shane and Jocelyn,
I just wanted to drop by and say how inspirational your story was on Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn. So inspirational that I wished I had been a librarian and was tempted to go and review all the NRL plays (that’s one of our Australian football codes) – just so I could start a digital product on it!
Your six free videos are fantastic and just what I needed to get my butt into gear and start my digital product. It is currently 12.43am here and I’m so inspired I may just sign up for your digital product course before the sun rises!
Thanks for all that you are doing and for helping some of us see the possibilities.
Warm regards,
Samantha
Jocelyn Sams says
Thanks Samantha! We’re so glad you are taking action! 🙂
Shane Sams says
SO happy we could inspire you Samantha! That is our goal, to show people what is possible and motivate them to take action!
We would love to see you in the next session of “Flip Your Life.” We are keeping this one small, so there will be a LOT of personal attention 🙂
See you there https://flippedlifestyle.com/flipyourlife
Ruth says
Jocelyn,
I discovered you and Shane in an interview on an Entrepreneur on Fire podcast. I like what you have to say in this post. It’s so true that when we fail, it gives us a chance to learn, make adjustments, and try again more intelligently. If we don’t try, we don’t get!
Christopher says
Hi Shane and Jocelyn!
I love your website! I have a similar story, where for years of failures building websites I came across some podcasts and influential players in the blog and niche site game that led me to several successful websites in my portfolio. I literally went crazy went I first had earnings in my adsense account, much like you Shane! Today, I wake up every morning with Amazon affiliate sales from my websites. It has gotten so much that I almost make double my full-time salary, as I work in healthcare and work on my websites mostly at night as a hobby.
I have told many people about your story, mostly because my friends and family don’t believe my story. Once I tell them how much I make on the side, I can tell that they think it is some sort of scam. LOL, it isn’t though! I love what I do and after listening to your podcasts and reading your content, I have started dabbling in digital products. And a week after I finished and began selling my E-book, I got my first sale! It was so exciting! I celebrated that night!
Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for what ya’ll do. I love your approach! Very inspirational and it is so true that if you take the time to learn and research, and not be afraid to fail, you will finally find success if you stay patient.
Christopher Hale
Shelley Hitz says
Love this. I often struggle with how to explain to people what I do and right now I’m going with “author coach” or “author coach and publisher”. I’ll explain more at times and sometimes leave it at that.
If I try to explain that I am self-employed and have an online business their eyes glaze over – ha!