Webupon

As one of the more gregarious members of the outback Australia tour I was managing, Beth seemed an everyday sort of 50-something woman.

However, as the tour progressed, I found that she had traveled extensively, Egypt, Russia, New Zealand, in fact she took at least two tours each year to different parts of the world. Although I wonder, I never ask about my passengers’ financial situation, because it usually reveals itself over the period of a 21 day tour such as this.

Sure enough, I was having lunch with Beth one day, en route to the stunning Geikie Gorge in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (I had to attach a photo!). She needed to find an internet connection, she said, to check how things were going with her business. I offered her my laptop and my dial up connection that evening at the hotel (no broadband out here!), for which she was grateful.

After spending half an hour online, she announced that she had made record sales that week, while she was on holidays. When asked the question, she said that her daughter lived with her and was managing things in her absence. It then unfolded that she ran a business from home specializing in health care products for a niche market. She said that she had been divorced for around 8 years and at that time bought out her partner’s share of their business. Beth then took it to the world via the internet, and hasn’t looked back.

I assumed that the profits from her business funded her travel, but not exactly. Beth said that she spent $40,000 per month on internet advertising (which blew me away when I imagined what sales she would need to justify this sort of spend). She charged all of her advertising to her credit card, and traveled on the frequent flyer points she accumulated on the card.

She didn’t throw her money around, but was able to treat herself to a pink diamond from the Argyle Diamond Mine, and a pair of as-perfect-as-possible pearl earrings from Broome. What fabulous mementos of the bounty of this resource rich part of Australia.

So take a lesson from Beth, run with your ideas and seize opportunities when then present themselves. Create your own destiny, and wear the fruits of your labors, with style.