6 months of hard work 1000+ hours - my automation's been DESTROYED!

[bargaindoctor]

Hey guys

I have just been through hell...

Some of you may recall that I managed to successfully automate my first online biz online that generated me close to $12k in the last month.

Well, that's sadly come to an end.

A host I was using lost all my websites.

Yep, all of them.

They apparently were ‘backing up data’ and messed up and the HDD failed.

And they had NO backups.

I know, I know, should have backed up. I DO have a VERY old backup. But nothing recent. Lesson learned.

Even worse… I do have a few other web projects which I’ve been working on. And those went too… probably close to 1000+ hours of work undone over the last 6 months…

*POOF*

My friend Alex gave an analogy that it’s like returning home after a vacation to find a house burned down.

It also entirely KILLED one of my income streams…

Guess that’s what happens when you use a cheap host and don't take anything into account.

Anyway, it sucks, because I thought I was well on my way to be 'making it'.

I went through a pretty rough phase after quitting my day job when I made zero income for a few months (for those that haven't gathered I was a doctor in a past life :))

Then I managed to go from there to making literally $10k in 10 days with a combination of knowledge, hard work and skills.. and AUTOMATE it! :)

But since I've kind of waned. And I've always wanted to start up a blog to document my progress and share things I've learned.

So I've just done that, plus I'm starting up a 30 day challenge.

For the next 30 days I will:
1. Start building some passive income streams
2. Educate myself and boost my productivity
3. Share the knowledge

It's a start to get me on track. And I'll blog about it until I make it.

And I'd love to know, are there any 'blog experts' here? I'd love to focus on the writing and sharing, and if anyone can help me with getting the blog looking decent and some SEO, I'd really love that! :)

I just got the blog up at magicmillionaire.com. Woud love your thoughts and comments.

[kamakiri]

I am not sure what I missed, but your sunk costs of 1000 hours on a web site will surely not take another 1000 hours to reproduce. If it is making $12,000 a month, then it is pretty reasonable to pay $12,000 to get it professionally done within weeks, and start the cash flowing again.

Another thing, nothing is ever lost on the web. Google has a catch of everything you ever did online. They are good at backing up your stuff even when your junky server isn't.

Also, $12,000 a month is $144,000 a year. I don't know a lawyer in the world who wouldn't take on your case for a part of the profits, no matter what kind of contract agreement you have with your host.

Forgive me for being skeptical of your story, but why in the hell would anyone throw away a $12k a month web site without trying to get it back, and then go into blogging, a sure fire way to make only 5 cents a month.


Seriously what is this?
For the next 30 days I will:
1. Start building some passive income streams
2. Educate myself and boost my productivity
3. Share the knowledge

building a passive income stream is not like building a boat. 'If you build it they will come' only worked for Kevin Costner.

Education and productivity are not related at all, and whether you are productive or not has nothing to do with making money. Lots of productive people work at Domino's Pizza.

Share the knowledge? Concentrate on yourself first. Why even put this up there though. How about concentrate on getting your $12k a month web site back up and running, and if you aren't interested in that, then tell me the site. I would love an extra $12k a month income.

[nghs22]

12K a month.... I am calling a lawyer. Yesterday.

[dking]

Sad thing is you could have automated your backups as well.

When you get your stuff together, let me know. I know people who do hosting cheap, and I can hlp with the backups if your willing to give an old blind guy a share.

[Grayman]

I think cheap hosting is what got him into this mess. ;)

[wincen]

nothing wrong with cheap hosting, afterall the goal is to make money.

however, i am curious, which host did you use?

google cache is good, but you can also see if www.archive.org has anything. It won't give you your backend stuff, but it's better than nothing.

good luck

[zhongguohua88]

If your story is actually true (and I doubt it is), can you please tell us why you spent 1000 hours on a website that generated $12k in a month and decided to use a cheap host to save a few dollars a year?

[lolpie]

If your story is actually true (and I doubt it is), can you please tell us why you spent 1000 hours on a website that generated $12k in a month and decided to use a cheap host to save a few dollars a year?

I don't see what he gets from lying

[webgal]

Let's not make any blatant or subtle accusations.

[JFrenzel]

I too am skeptical of the story, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Media Temple is the hosting company to use, but really why would use cheap hosting ?? 12k a month and cheap hosting??? Hmmmm. What was the domain name? I bet i can find it? I know I can find it and would love to see this site. Might as well put some confidence back to us(the forum). Were you selling a product?


J

[JFrenzel]

I don't blame others for being skeptical of the story. There is no NEED to slap some RED TAPE on the forum for expressing their opinions on what I deem as a very valid point. If you are going to make a bold statement like the one the DOC made then please back it up.


Jose

[Dan]

I to am slightly suspicious of the post...many of the posts by this poster refer to making a fortune, giving blog links and then he isn't seen for weeks. If you take a look at the whois for his new and old sites (links below) you'll see they both seem to be hosted with the same hosting company - nice of him to give the guys a second chance after they screwed him over ;)

Links:
Whois - MagicMillionaire.com - http://www.who.is/whois-com/ip-address/magicmillionaire.com/
Whois - MindsConnect.org - http://www.who.is/whois-org/ip-address/mindsconnect.org/

[JFrenzel]

GOOD call Dan. This is absolute garbage. What really makes me sick is people trying to make money off of us on the forum. I'm like really? Come on, who do you think you are fooling? There are some bright minds in here but something should really be done to keep poisons from leaking into the forum. It all just sounds like some get rich scheme. Yay, like we needed another one of those. Whats next a pyramid biz? HAHA. Why does he not provide us with the site and we can check it out on archive.org. Anyways, Best to everyone in the forum and a big shout from Dallas : )


Jose

[TimW]

One could make the argument that he changed to hosts for both of those websites sfter the crash.... :D

Personally I don't care if people try and make money on the forum, as long as they're straightforward about it. This situation has the appearance of being the type of thing I detest...all the subterfuge and obfuscation designed to conceal that they really have nothing to offer.

It's the same feeling I get when folks start discussing their latest MLM...tell me what it is, and what it costs. Don't start with the "isn't it worth $x to be able to work from home and have the freedom to blah blah blah?"

I am almost positive this is the guy who pitched me, several months ago, to join his "master mind" forum that was filled with doctors, attorneys, etc., all with the idea of providing each other a "sounding board" for business ideas.

IOW, all the talk of N. Hill's Master Mind, but just shady enough of a feel that I never "went" for it. Especially when he was claiming it was a limited group...which to me says "payment".

I had started a site very similar to the true idea of a Napoleon Hill Master Mind site, but couldn't get folks interested, and didn't have the time to market it. Spent all my time deleting spambots for adult novelties and watches....

[Dan]

Tim, yes you are right, he could...although for a $12/k month business, after being bitten once I wouldn't be going with another cheap host, which they definately appear to be!

I to though don't have a problem if people are able to provide a useful resource to the forum that makes them money. All the stuff I've read from this guy though doesn't seem to be leading that way. :(

[kamakiri]

I am almost positive this is the guy who pitched me, several months ago, to join his "master mind" forum that was filled with doctors, attorneys, etc., all with the idea of providing each other a "sounding board" for business ideas.

Tim - It is the same guy. He pestered me as well, and I actually went through the registration process. Interestingly enough, the site was so poorly done on the back end that my registration emails never came, I couldn't log in, and I never once even got to look at it. After 4 attempts, I never went back.

Bargain doc - What is the name of the site? I will not make any direct accusations, but I can say that my BS meter is well into the red zone. The beautiful thing about the internet is that everything is verifiable. We would all like to believe you and give you the benefit of the doubt, and as the first poster to your original post, I will be happy to take a video of me eating my hat and post it here if you can produce one site, (hosted or not, just the site name is more than enough).

[Marcie]

He can probably make a hat out of pizza :) Seriously though, more info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[webgal]

I got the same PM you guys got.

[clanshrapnel]

To give the guy some credit, I do recall seeing the following lines before on a website:

'
The thing is, I woke up most days dreading to go to work. I was frankly bored, and the flourescent lights of dark hospital corridors and pungent smell of wards and all the fluid and crap, literally, just did not do it for me.


I recall once walking down this really long corridor at the hospital, just wondering when I would actually reach the end…. and having deja vu of the number of times I’ve walked down the exact same corridor, all to answer a bleep or crash call to a different patient but all their faces blurred into one, and I felt like it was never going to end.
'

I have read it on a website somewhere else, and it wasn't on the Magic Millionaire website. I really do think he had a website of his own (I vaguely remember a picture of a hospital corridor).

It's either that, or he copied from the guy who originally wrote that, but that's somewhat dubious since it's more of a story than a selling point.

On a side note, am I the only one around here checking people's blog addresses they post on this forum and on Tim's blog for 4HWW?? I posted this before, but clicking on the commenter's names to see what websites they have up is actually a pretty good way to get an idea of what other people are making websites about....

Perhaps someone else also recalls these lines?

[nghs22]

I don't even know how to make a signature on this board! :(

[JFrenzel]

I do think it is not a bad idea to check the site's of members. Not the only metric, but would definitely not hurt.


This post is starting to get populated. Just my thoughts, Im done with this post, brain cells(the few that remain) are imploding.

J

[TimW]

Basically that he was giving up a career in medicine because he was burned out. Seven years of education gone, and he mentioned elsewhere he was only 26. Basically, he got out of high school, went to med school, graduated and "burned out" durning his internship...at least that's what the timeline suggests.

Then he started a website or 2 that made 12k a month, that he lost because his host crashed and he had no backups. So, he decided to take up the lucrative avenue of....blogging.

That about sum it up?

[kamakiri]

he decided to take up the lucrative avenue of....blogging.

Yep... I am done here too.

[AshokanKid]

Back-up., Back-Up., BACK-UP., ~! Works at home AND at your BUSINESS., even IF one uses a host (cheap or not). This way us 4HWWers will not have to wonder aloud at whether ones "loss" story is BS or not., :-)

[bargaindoctor]

Hey guys

wow, sorry i don't log in here everyday, so pretty surprised to read all these replies and speculations. but let me clear some questions and put out the flames :)

1. I put in alot of hours into a bunch of sites, including my mastermind group (mindsconnect) and a few others. They were not what composed of my $12k / month 'muse'. So I did kind of confuse in the OP, if you thought I put in 1000 hours into the $12k biz. It was 2 separate things, and I jumbled it all up when I wrote that. Was pretty distraught!

2. Definitely learned my lesson. I now host with ASO. But I also can't manually backup forum databases everyday.

3. I started up a blog not to make money. Just to keep track of progress. But I never followed through. Haven't posted on it in ages. I realise that I need to focus on one thing at at time. So I'm now focusing on a MAJOR opp.... one is in the dating/relationships niche and if it goes as planned, bound to do well. JVed with a couple of friends & mentors so ended up losing track :) Also I guess people don't want to read about you until you've established some credibility as proven here

4. I did give up a career in medicine. And I am 26. I did med school in the UK. No Dougie Howser MD but did finish med school in my early 20s

5. I did run a mastermind group. I also did invite a few people from here whose posts I liked back last November. And yes I did invite a few people including Kamikari, liked what he wrote, but he kind of suggested wanting mod priviledges and so the panel didn't let him in... sorry my friend :) By mid March this year we had close to 100 members, over 1500 posts, but all got lost in the crash. That was the most painful part of it all. I do have a backup from Jan 08. Have considered emailing everyone to start up again, but have more immediate things I'm working on right now.

It's debateable whether starting up a group is useful or not. It depends on members and the core focus. But I had 2 groups - a more general group and a core group who I still stay in touch with. I think it can become a chore to administer a forum as it grows, than for actual learning. It also changes the dynamics. THe group was best when we had under 20 people. I now just email with my mentors and get plenty more done

As for the passive income stream - my whole model was completely wrong in the first place, even though I did make a bunch of money very quickly and reached a point where it was automated, but I realised a few mistakes I was making. Wasn't sustainable. But I guess you learn from your lessons. And I've learned plenty!!

Sorry I didn't login earlier, and led a bunch of you onto speculation after speculation.

Any other qs just ask

[jonparker83]

Definitely learned my lesson. I now host with ASO. But I also can't manually backup forum databases everyday.

If you are running a mySQL database, realtime replication of the database to a second server with periodic backups being taken from that isn't too difficult at all

You should have a look into it - I did it all myself with minimal unix knowledge just following online tutorials