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The Homeschool Place and Prosper Inc

I started The Homeschool Place on October 14, 2003. I don’t really remember how I originally got information about Prosper Inc, but I know that after an extensive interviewing process, I was accepted into the program.

Once in the program, I went through an intense 10-12 weeks of coaching with Dane Ing. The classes were challenging for me for several reasons. First, I was working a full time job. I was also homeschooling my son and I was learning Website design with minimal previous programming knowledge.

When I first started with PMG, the Prosper system was not a WYSIWYG (‘what you see is what you get’) system. Everything had to be done in HTML code and then toggled to see the results of your efforts. When we got to the lessons on website design, I had exactly two weeks to learn HTML code from the ground up so I could start building me website. This was a whole new language to me and I had no one (friends or relatives) who knew anything about HTML code or how to use it. I was virtually on my own, except for my weekly coaching sessions. So, I bought all kinds of books on programming in HTML and buckled down to learn as much as I could, in this very short period of time, so I could get my website built as quickly as possible and keep up with my coaching lessons.

Once my site was built I started looking for product suppliers. My product providers where (and still are) a combination of direct suppliers and dropshippers. After I got my product suppliers in place, I started adding products to my website. This was a long, arduous process that took me several months to put a couple hundred products into place. Then, on March 3, 2004, with much fear & trepidation, I launched my business, TheHomeschoolPlace.com , to the World Wide Web.

I used many of the techniques learned during my coaching sessions to try to draw traffic to my site. At first I used Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. Then I found other similar, but complimentary websites to swap Links with called ‘Reciprocal Linking’. (This use to be a very important website component to have as Google & other Search Engines (SE) felt that the more ‘Reciprocal Links’ you had, the more popular your site must be, therefore giving you a better SE Ranking).

I proceeded to take more on-line classes from well-known ‘Website gurus’, so I could learn as much as I could on how to make my website business as successful as I possibly could. I took classes on how to drive traffic to my site, classes on how to write good ‘soft sell’ copy advertising, and how to use the ‘Law of Attraction’ and Associations to help increase web exposure, build a large email list, and increase sales. I’ve also attended several EneryRICH™ ‘Business Entrepreneur Boot Camps’ where I learned a tremendous amount of priceless information on how to convey my homeschooling passion & enthusiasm to others in regards our products & services. Over the past few years, I’ve proceeded to learn as much as I could about successful Internet businesses and read a lot of business & web building ‘white papers’, books, and articles.

In April of 2005 I applied to the Better Business Bureau to become a BBB Accredited Business and receive the BBB OnLine Reliability Seal. When applying to become an Accredited BBB Business, you must meet a stringent list of requirements. According to the reviewers of my website, “They spent almost 2 hours on my site and could not find even one flaw or missing requirement from my site.” And that “was the first and only time (up to that point) that that has ever happened!”, because they “always find at least one thing that is missing from the website that must be there to be BBB Accredited!” I was ecstatic that my website was ‘up to code’ by BBB Standards, and I have to thank Dane & PMG for their terrific training program! Without the rigorous and well laid out program provided by PMG, I am sure I would have had to make changes, additions and/or corrections to my website to be able to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau. So, ‘Thank You!’ Dane & PMG!!!

I, also, started writing my own Homeschooling articles and submitting them to my local Homeschooling group’s newsletters and magazines. As a result of my articles I was subsequently asked to be a homeschooling product vendor & ‘expert’ guest speaker at several Homeschooling conferences, book fairs, and conventions.

In addition, I began sending out my own newsletter, The Chalkboard News™ , to those who had opted into my newsletter. And I also began placing ads in physical & online Homeschooling magazines that were targeted at both local and national homeschooling groups.

Furthermore, I began working with other complimentary companies to provide Affiliate Links to my customers. These links not only provide my customers with more educational products that may help them as they homeschooled their children, but they also bring in additional income, via the affiliate programs, without having to carry the products myself.

On December 31, 2005, I left my full-time corporate job and started 2006 on a great note . . . going full time in my own business and becoming a ‘Stay-At-Home-Mom’ for the first time in my teenage son’s life! Since then I have consistently added more products to the website and we now carry over 100,000 products by over 600 publishers. I have grossed over $19,800 and sold over 900 products.

This year I produced & released a new service, Homeschooling ‘Smart Start’™ , to help my patrons successfully navigate their way through the curriculum selection maze. This service came about as a result of personally homeschooling my son for the past 9 years and after working with both new & veteran homeschoolers over the past 3 ½ years. I saw a need that was not being filled in the Homeschooling community, and decided I needed to be the one to fill that need.

Because of my love of books, my personal knowledge of homeschooling, my desire to serve my customers & find solutions to their homeschooling challenges, and my willingness to help my patrons find what they are looking for, The Homeschool Place is slowly, but surely becoming a household name, not only locally, but also nationally and internationally.

‘Thank you!’ PROSPER INC for getting me started on this exciting road to success! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you!!!

Sincerely,
Cindi Erickson

$18,000 Net Profit on First Deal!!

FYI My lawyer’s office deposited $44,330 dollars into my account today. This is after closing costs for my first townhouse (bought on March 31st- Closed on July 31st, which makes $18,000 net profit as I deposited $26,000 including closing cost on March 31st).

Not bad….Thanks Prosper Inc

Lina D
Kincardine, ON Canada

One Month Makes 43% Gain for Stock Student thanks to Prosper Inc

I just realized that Monday will mark one month since I placed my first live trade. I have realized a net gain of 43% on my initial capital, while the Dow is currently down 5% from its close on July 13. So, in my first month of trading I’ve outperformed the market by nearly 50%. I wonder if Bear Stearns is hiring…

Brian H.
Aurora, CO

My life prior to Prosper Inc was ok I suppose. I only had one credit and 4 months left on my car payment. I was planning to pay everything off, well except for my mortgage because I thought that was good debt. I was investing in my 401K but really didn’t pay attention to it. I worked as a contractor for IBM for 9 years. I was making about $52,000 a year. I felt like I was doing ok until I lost my job. That was a really tough situation for me. I had a little bit of savings, but I didn’t have 6 months to a year of savings. Fortunately the day I lost my job, I had a job interview. I was really hoping this would turn out. Well it did. I found out that I got the job after two weeks being without a job. I thought I was saved. I was with the same contracting company and still working in the same building at IBM but in a different department. I was hoping to make the same salary. Well that wasn’t the case. My contract company cut my salary exactly $20,000. YIKES!!!! It felt like somebody slapped my face and punched me in the stomach at the same time. I had to use all of my savings, plus credit cards just to keep up. When I made $52,000.00 I was living slightly below my means. Now making $32,000.00 a month, I was living way above my means. I just couldn’t make ends meet. So now I’m racking up credit card debts. I got consolidation loans to consolidate my cards and car payment. I just panicked. After a year of failure to control my finances I was ready to try anything. I got a school loan so I could possible start a new career in Web design. Even though it put me more in debt, it did increase my salary about $10,000.00. Now I’m at $42,000.00. Now I’m kind of breaking even. Still, I was so use to using credit cards to get by, I got deeper in to debt and didn’t know how to stop this downward spiral. I prayed a lot and cried a lot. I couldn’t believe how much debt I had gotten into within 2 years. I’ve never in my life had this much debt.

One morning when I was driving to work, I would hear the commercials for John Commuta’s Transforming your Debt into Wealth. What interest me was getting debt free with only the salary that you made. I believe that commercial aired every morning on the radio until I called and ordered the books and CDs. I signed up for the coaching sessions because I knew that I needed more help. I thought I was going to learn how to get out of debt, but it has been much more than that. Not only am I learning how to get out of debt with the accelerator margin technique, I’m also learning how to invest after I get out of debt. Now I know that I need to save a certain percentage of my salary in my savings account. I’ve learned how to manager my little side business better. I’ve learned the right way to prepare my taxes. I can’t wait until my coaching sessions start on wealth building. As of now, I have two credit cards paid off. I will have the third card paid off in November. My fourth and final card would be paid off in 2008. I can pay off my house and loans within 8 Years or less. I never thought I could do that. Just knowing that I will be out of debt very early, I’ve set new goals in my life. I would like to run my own web business and retire from corporate America. I would like to have over $5,000,000.00 or more in investments when I retire. I want to travel and do charity work with my church. I would also like to help others get out of the same rut I was in. I would like to be a coach to them to help them through it. This program has changed the way I view life. I’m going to keep my car as long as it runs and gets me from point A to B. Now I can say NO!!! to telemarketers with giving in to their guilt trips. I’m honest with my friends about my finances. If I can’t afford a dinner and a movie, I just would invite them to my house and let everything chip in to rent a movie and ask everyone to bring a snack. I spend my money wisely when I go grocery shopping. I bring my lunch to work everyday. If I want to go out to eat, I will put some money aside and plan the best date to go out. I track my expense in a excel spreadsheet so I can see how much money I’m spending in a given month. These little tips have been very helpful to me when it comes to being in control of my finance. I’m very grateful for my coach and to this program.

April Gibson
Apex, NC

I think in July and August, I did not believe the severity of the Credit crisis and played primarily Calls and did not balance them with Puts. Looking back, I should have stayed on the sidelines during those summer months and played the Virtual Trading account until I understood the volatility of the market. I could not overcome my emotions during that time and I got out of trades too early when I had a good run and played the losing trades too long. The one thing I did not understand during that time was the charts looked great on the majority of my trades but they all turned on a dime and I was losing money. I should have looked at the Index charts more closely and not solely rely on the Chart information. Looking back, I should have played only Puts. 

In September, I decided to balance the portfolio and started taking the profits more quickly.I decided that each week my goal was to increase my portfolio by $1000 a week. I looked at the Index charts and remembered what you taught me, trust your knowledge and your gut. I started to inch my way back because I was only trading in the $500-$800 range. I finally had a profitable month. 

In October, I increased my trading range in the $1000-$1500 range because my confidence level was increasing. I still took my profits when I could and moved on to the next one. I stopped trying to hit the home run but started scoring with singles. As a result, I made $3700 since October 1st. 

I remember you guys at Prosper Inc told me that you have to have a feel for the market. I did not understand what that meant last summer. I understand it now.

Thanks for sticking with me,

Tom B.

O Fallon, IL

I’m a single mother and own my waterfront condo in Vancouver B.C. Canada and am learning to leverage the equity in my property to build my real estate portfolio. I’ve just closed on my first investment property, which is a 5 Plex in Rochester NY. It’s been an exciting and challenging experience but not without feelings of tremendous overwhelm throughout. Buying real estate can be a stressful experience even if you are local and able to handle things personally but when you have to build a team remotely from another country it ups the ante significantly. My real estate mentor Michael Sites was very encouraging throughout however, and I’m clear on the fact that it never would have happened without his guidance. This property was a cash deal so I was successful in buying the property for $105,000 even though the asking price was $119,900. This property has a CAP Rate of about 29% and an annual NOI of $31,174. I’m now working on getting pre-approved for a mortgage in Pennsylvania so that I can negotiate my 2nd Real Estate Investment purchase. I’m confident that the 2nd property will come so much easier as I’ve learned so much over the last few months. When I started with Prosper Inc my goal was to supplement my income and add to my retirement nest egg but my goals have now changed focus to building my investment portfolio to the level that I can manage my properties full-time (goal of 10 properties) and build my wealth significantly by no longer working by the hour as a consultant. I also want to teach my two sons so that they will also understand how to make real estate work for them.

While working with Michael I’ve learned how to easily assess properties for profitable investments and also discovered that there’s an abundance of opportunities out there. I also learned how to build a strong team of people remotely that can assist me in locating, closing and managing real estate properties. I’ve experienced a clear shift in my thinking that totally changed my reality and expectations where I feel like I embraced the concept that abundance is totally achievable and only limited by my level of commitment and desire. I feel that this shift is what is referred to as “The Millionaire Mind” and once changed I don’t think you are ever the same again. I understand now how I can leverage the equity that I have in existing real estate to buy other investment property and build significant wealth for myself and my family.

There’s an abundance of information provided by Prosper on the website, weekly conference calls, access to mentors via phone and of course the weekly calls with your mentor are invaluable. The weekly calls with your mentor can be more productive if you gather your questions before the call and set goals for the next week that you commit to completing before your next call. Your progress is only limited by the time, effort and commitment that you’re willing to invest in your future. Thanks to Michael and Prosper Inc I’m eagerly looking forward to the real estate deal to build my portfolio.

Janice Charlton

Vancouver, BC, Canada