I've spent most of my life trying different business ideas. Some have succeeded.  Many have failed. But that hasn't stopped me yet and I continue to learn from my mistakes, educate myself and look for new opportunities I can chase. I love the process of trying new things and have plenty ideas left to keep me busy for years to come.

It all started in Grade 7 when I developed a new game similar to hockey except that it could be played on a gym floor. Funny. Looking back now, I actually got some traction. I had the Vancouver School Board pay me a visit to get a demonstration. I made a demo "puck" along with fancy packaging but it never got past that.

Later, I entered a writing competition and ended up placing in the top of my province. The article described the assembly process for a new custom sled children could use on the slopes. The unique thing about the product was a single ski, situated below a seat you could sit on. That way, you didn't have to sacrafice your view when sliding down the hill. My dad and I built a prototype but was incredibly difficult to ride. Another idea scrapped.

In Grade 11, I did a radio show about youth driving safety that led to a youth board member position on the Vancouver Safety Council. That later contributed to an opportunity to represent my region at the "Adventures in Citizenship Program" sponsored by the Rotary Club. It was held in Ottawa, the nation's capital, and led to my selection of Carleton University (also in Ottawa) two years later.

In my third year of university, I ran for the Presidency of the on-campus residence association. I usually tell people I came in third but the fact is, there were only three people running. Yes, I came in last. But my platform was pretty revolutionary because it abolished the VP position, saving the association a bunch of money. Admittedly, I suffered through some public humiliation thereafter but have never regretted the effort.

After university, I wrote my first book entitled "The Complete Employment Guide" and spent four months traveling from one university to the next, selling individual copies for $10 each. It came with a disc, containing various different resume formats and a big business directory. That project taught me a lot about writing and the credibility that comes along with it. Fact is; few people are willing to share their opinions publicly and for better or for worse, I've never had a problem with that.

Two years later, I wanted to start my own private label jean business. I had a great name. They were going to be called RE-BAR jeans and logo was awesome.  The design was an exact knock-off of the 1990s popular Diesel Saddles. I worked at a denim manufacturer at the time and I got pretty close to pulling the trigger but, alas, it never happened. Probably a good thing. Size charts are nasty and the upfront investment was north of $8K - big money for me at that time.

That's when I started traveling a lot for work. It was fun. I was seeing the US for the first time and it was all free. Tradeshows, hotels, restaurants, rented cars - it was great. I ws only 27 years old. And then, in 1998, I discovered I qualify for US citizenship. What?! That was a no-brainer! I moved to LA in August and continued my newly-fortified career focus, at least for the time being.

In 2002, I went back on my own and started a small business liquidating seller-financing business notes. Wow. What a colossal failure that was! I mean; that's not entirely true. I wrote my second book entitled "Strategies for Seller Financing; a Guide to the Secondary Market for Business Notes" and continue to get calls about it to this day. But the revenue stream was pretty meager and completely unpredictable.

Next, I got my notary commission and started doing mobile notary stuff. This was by far my biggest marketing success to that point and it all centered around peanut M&Ms. Long story. The point is I was billing over $1800 per week within 6 months and everything looked great. Except for the fact that I totally HATED what I was doing. I was a prostitute of sorts, driving over 850 miles per week with absolutely no control over my own schedule. I hated it and so did my girlfriend at the time.

I got my Real Estate license in 2004 and started originating loans. It was a whole new world and I was learning a ton. Business was pretty good and I learned a lot about marketing. I was holding seminars, sending out mailers and participating in local festivals. Nothing seemed to really pay off - until the podcast series. Wow! That was unbelievable. Beyond the Rate really took off and I was sold on the online world. Talk about leverage! The series was being downloaded all across the globe and I was recording everything in my second bedroom.

My passion for online marketing continued until I decided to start a second podcast series entitled Tactical Execution. I had an enormous amount of knowledge in my head and it was benefiting no one. So I decided to put the entire thing into the public domain and see what might come of it. I started writing the initial chapters when a different website contacted me to do a financial literacy program for their members. That opportunity eventually faded away but it motivated me to start the Financial Audio podcast series at the same time.

The magnitude of that project was intense. I wanted to launch each series with 20 chapters pre-written - so 40 chapters in all. At 2500 words each, it was a 100,000-word project - the definition of carpal tunnel syndrome. I also had to build two new websites and get a marketing plan in place. The timing was fairly good because the mortgage market was screeching to a halt about that time so I spent the summer of 2007 typing and preparing for the launch.

That's where I stand right now. I started posting my new podcasts last week and hope to begin my marketing plan in two days. Stay tuned. It'll be interesting to see where I end up next.

Thanks for reading this!