Life Unravelled a Little for this IM Geek Girl

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was originally focused on creating an online business separate from the voiceovers. I had a couple of niche information products and a variety of websites and was doing OK with them, gradually building them up in my spare time.

At the same time I was becoming quite well-known as a voiceover online, especially among Internet Marketers as these were the people I was hanging out with in forums and on Twitter/Facebook etc. I was often asked for advice on both outsourcing audio work and creating audio products themselves. At the end of 2007 I was so busy working as a voiceover I put everything else on hold. I just didn’t have time for the other stuff and decided I didn’t need it.

In January 2008 I noticed my voice wasn’t sounding or working quite the way it should - nothing too serious, just cracking occasionally or sounding a little tense. I decided it must be the result of a virus I had before Christmas and did everything I could to keep it in tip-top condition. By March 2008 it was clear that my voice was not working properly and producers/clients were starting to notice. I went to see a doctor and he referred me to a specialist. After having a mini camera stuck up my nose and down to my vocal chords (ugh) I was diagnosed with Functional Dysphonia (laryngeal tension) and sent to a speech therapist. By the time I saw my lovely speech therapist my voice was so bad I had stopped being able to work altogether. She gave me daily exercises to do, and we were confident my voice would be back in no time.

Without going into too much more detail, things haven’t improved. My voice has deteriorated to the point that I cannot even hold normal conversations. Definitely no quality voiceovers coming out of this mouth at the moment! The docs think they may have found a new reason for the problem, but I’m still waiting on confirmation. I have been keeping very quiet about this problem (literally – lol) because I kept thinking it would be temporary and I’d be back voicing very soon (and I didn’t want to lose work because of it).

I don’t tell you this to illicit your sympathies or make you feel sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself so please don’t waste your own energy on those emotions. The biggest bummer of this whole situation is I lost out on a job to voice a full length video promo for Second Life in the UK (told you I’m a geek)! Oh, and I miss being able to chat like I used to (but my friends are enjoying the peace and quiet).

The reason I am telling you this is because it may explain this blog more. I have had more time to throw myself back into Internet Marketing, especially attempting to revive my online niche businesses. I continue to update my Audible Marketing blog and provide information on product creation/audio marketing there, but I find myself limited on what I post there. Those are rules I have placed on myself, but I feel that blog is better suited to remaining focused on those topics as much as possible.

I wanted a place where I could be more open about my endeavours online, and to be held accountable for what I am doing. I wanted to talk about other issues that I believe go hand in hand with Internet Marketing, such as mindset, prosperity and business management. And I wanted a place to post about my experiences of this year’s Thirty Day Challenge.

I hope this blog will be as useful to you as it is to me. It will be an evolving project and if you have any questions or want to suggest topics for me to cover here I would love to hear from you.

What this blog will not do: Internet Marketer bashing; misleading linkbaiting; endless affiliate promotions of products I have no experience of; or anything else that creates negativity. If you prefer controversy to rational conversation this is probably the wrong place for you.

What this blog will do: offer calm, reasonable (and hopefully balanced) posts on the subjects mentioned and others that may develop; include product reviews of products I use or have a good knowledge of, with affiliate links where appropriate (after all, I’m a business woman); make no apologies for the content of the blog.

I’d love you to stick around and see where this goes and help hold me accountable. This is going to be a lot of fun (and hard work)!