Carolyn Schweitzer

 The Early Years

Why do most of us look so bored in this picture? Well, we know it's going to be a looong time before we can log onto the internet, text our friends or play with our Wii remotes! I came of age in the 70's. When this photo was taken, we were still using slide rules in math class (if you're not a baby boomer, you might have to google that one!).

We had no cell phones, no cable TV, no video games.   

The Daily Grind  
Flash forward thirty years. After four years of Ivy League education, four years as a doctoral student, a year of hospital residency, and eight years working for other doctors as an associate, I bought my own dental practice.  I was focused. I was determined. I worked hard to build the practice and in 2000, at age forty, I hit two milestones; I got married and built a brand new state-of-the-art practice in a prestigious community.

I wasn't the greatest business woman. I wanted all of the latest and greatest technology, the best materials to work with, a well-paid staff, and happy patients. But I made the same mistakes many of us make in internet marketing; I wasn't watching my numbers or tracking my results. I wasn't generating enough income to justify my expenses, either financial or emotional.
 Hard work without sufficient reward was starting to take it's toll, and my dream practice was becoming a daily grind.
 
Literally! 
 I loved dentistry and it was a great way to make a difference in people's lives. But I soon realized that the long hours and headaches of owning a traditional business just weren't for me.  
 I often felt like the business owned me rather than the other way around...  

Along Came the Internet

 When the internet first became a phenomenon, I was convinced that one day I would find the perfect business, where I could satisfy both my desire to help others and my desire to earn a substantial income working from home as an internet entrepreneur.

I figured it would be a "No Brainer". (That's how "NetBrainer" came about.) I was a late bloomer though, and didn't get online until some time in 1992. From then on, I was what you might call a "tire kicker" when it came to home based businesses. I was always "looking". By 1997, I had already tried and failed at five different MLM's, beginning with Amway while I was still a dental student (I even tried that one again 8 years later!)  I wasn't going to do network marketing ever again.   A New Chapter
Finally, fate forced my hand; I became quite ill and after 20 years in dentistry I left my practice and began to explore my options.  After about 18 months of rest, contemplation, and healthy living, I found myself pregnant at age 45! My husband and I are now the proud and incredibly lucky parents of a beautiful little boy. That's  the power of stress reduction! Meanwhile, after failing at a couple of online business ventures , I had become an avid student of Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, and eCommerce. I learned from some of the best while participating in a program called "NitroIncubator" in 2004.  In less than a year, I built a website that reached number three on the Yahoo search engine without spending a single penny on advertising. Ken Evoy's "Site Build It" was instrumental in getting that result!  Even though I had to give up my website (being a new mom was all I could handle!), the affiliate commissions it generated have continued to trickle in. How do I continue to get commissions from a site that doesn't exist anymore?  That's  the power of viral marketing! 

But I missed dentistry, so I returned to it on a part time basis. I missed my old hobbies too, like knitting, sailing, karate, and cross country skiing. It just seemed there was never enough time! I was still convinced there was a "no brainer" out there that would allow me to spend more time with my family and hobbies while earning a substantial income from home.

It all started again when a regular-looking guy sat down in my dental chair and began chatting about his private life. He was retired, and told me that right after his appointment he was going home to play with his granddaughter. 

He told me about a fantastic business he and his wife had started from home that now afforded them the luxury of retirement with an ongoing residual income. And the business was based on the principles of making money by helping others and using the power of the internet. Network Marketing, of course! He and his wife had tried 9 other MLM's before finding this one. This one, he told me, was different.

Well, I'd tried MLM before (four of them!) and been burned, but I was willing to try again, especially when I learned that his wife was the number one income producer in the company.

 Some Things Never Change

This company was different indeed, but I was still the same old me. I still didn't like bugging my friends, family and anyone who would listen to me to join my opportunity. One day I was searching the internet for one of my old MLM buddies. Well, one link led to another, and I wound up at Mike Dillard's seven day boot camp.  The rest is history. I'll keep you posted!