I'll tell you a very short story - this isn't to be sappy, to sway you, nor is it a lie - here's the blunt (and not so nice) truth about how I got started online:

I started online, because I had to be a stay-at-home mom. We had moved in 1996 from Ontario to Calgary, Alberta, because my husband was offered a job there teaching in a computer college. (He was the computer whiz - not me.) What's important about that - is we had moved to an area where we had *no family*, and although we had met friends there, it just wasn't feasible for me to hire a babysitter and go out to work.

Actually I did try that - for about 6 weeks, I took some temp administrative work at two major companies there. Both companies paid well, both companies tried to get me back, offering me fantastic money (at the time for the job) to come back and go on full time.

I said no.

Why? Because both jobs - at least during the temp work - I had to pay a babysitter for an hour before AND after my job. We had one car, so I had to drop my husband off, then pick him back up. Oh and on top of that (as you probably know), at least one day a week it was a faster meal purchased so I didn't have to cook too.

Big deal, most people face stuff like that, right?

Unfortunately there was more than that to it for me. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my son became ill. (To make a long story short, he had the MMR vaccination shot which attacked his immune system immediately). It was after my daughter was born that we had moved to Calgary, and the spring after we moved, I'd attempted working - my husband's salary just wasn't quite enough, not with medical expenses on top of it. (If you are Canadian, specifically from Ontario - don't be fooled - Alberta health care is NOT free. You must pay quarterly).

After I decided it wasn't worth me working... oh, I forgot to mention - because of my son's illness, he could have good days or bad days, and it could literally drop from good to bad within a half hour - so I had to have a babysitter IN my home, not use a daycare.

That totally added to the costs, hence making it just not worth it. (To be honest, when I was done those two jobs after 6 weeks? I ended up OWING my babysitter still another $100! Talk about working for nothing!)

So in May of 1997, I started my online business literally on a dream of just adding an extra $2-300 a month to our household income. (I had to read everything I could get my hands on to get started!)

For the next 3 1/2 years, my business grew from an $80 profit in my first month on up. This allowed me to stay at home with my kids, be there for my son when he had is bad days (which was usually at least 2-3 a week), and help with the family income.

In early 2000, my son's health took a turn for the worst (it had finally made its way up to his heart), and the doctors recommended that they'll take him to either Vancouver, or Toronto Sick Kids. My father was also at the time (just 2 weeks before) very ill with a sudden heart condition + pneumonia at the same time - and since our families were in Ontario, we chose to move our family back.  The doctors were upbeat, there was much that should have been done for our son at sick kids hospital... unfortunately 72 hours after we returned to Ontario, he passed away unexpectedly, at 7 1/2 years old. (March of 2000 - always makes March rough for me).

Having the internet business was probably the best thing I had at that time. After he passed away, we took several months off just grieving, trying to cope with life.

Over the years, I've run several websites and search engines, released a book (which I promptly pulled as I didn't have time to support it-I launched it just about 2 weeks before we lost our son). We've had several 6 figure income years, and I truly love being online. My first website is still online to this day (dime-co.com), and I enjoy being able to still be close with my family.

I didn't mention the above to upset you, or to share "too much" personal information. (Believe me, there's more!)