Posted by IA Jeff on September 24, 2004 at 07:15:09:
Quite a story! Congratulations on your success!
Thanks for sharing…you are right, the basic principles can be applied to many things.
Non-belly dancing Jeff
How I learned from CRE and made 10K this month - Posted by Je’Sennia
Posted by Je’Sennia on September 23, 2004 at 18:35:51:
I haven’t posted to CRE in a long time. I was a struggling newbie a few years ago, unfortunately persistence and desire to succeed were not enough and I bellyflopped big time in real estate. I lost a whole lot of money!
But I could not let all of that good knowledge go to waste. Does anyone else here stay up all hours of the night reading the free articles and looking through posts? That is what I did a few years ago. I bought Lonnie’s book, Steve Cook’s book, picked the brain of many here on CRE.
What I learned during that time was HOW to start a business. I learned about getting a license, about FINDING the market that needed my product or service, about using other people’s money to work for me, I learned all about advertising, basic principles of finance including budgets, ad costs, paying taxes, even how compound interest works.
I used that knowledge to create my business. It has NOTHING to do with real estate (other than I live in a nice house near the beach in San Francisco now 
My background is dance and art. I like creative endeavors but also have a logical side to the brain that can understand basic business. I purchased $10 worth of silk and dyes from ebay and started creating silk veils for belly dancers. Yup. I first started as a member on ebay, selling 5 veils a month. I used every dime of profit to put back into buying more supplies and low cost advertising on ebay. Within a year I was averaging about 1,000 a month. I learned quickly that references are everything. If anyone is still reading this far, get a woman to spread the word about your business! Women can network like no one else!
This month so far, my total sales have reached over 10 grand. My overhead is a fraction of what I can make in sales because I make the items by hand in my backyard and I have no expensive store front to rent and maintain. I’m expanding like crazy, I can barely keep up. I am now making my company name a BRAND name for women’s clothing.
I wanted to write this post today to thank people like John Boy and Ron Starr, and the many other people who helped me a few years ago when I was a student of this forum. Without all of that learning, I might not have had the business sense to make it to where I am today. I have no desire to pursue REI again, as I have a dream job now with a fantastic income. But I wanted to share my story with others and encourage everyone to learn what you can and NEVER give up. I literally lost everything I owned a few years ago, including the beautiful house I lived in (over leverage…another story!) . No matter what your situation, you all have the ability to turn it around and make REI a success
Best wishes
Je’Sennia
won’t put my website here because I bet none of you are bellydancers!!
(but email me if you want to see my site)