I recently reached out to various Facebook groups and on social media looking for guest writers. My plan is to build up content for Run The Money to bring you the latest and most interesting topics. With Mark Furniss today, we have a great interview about how to make money online.
Mark runs a site called Not Taught At School and is based in Yorkshire in the UK. His mission is to help people like you and me learn more about how to make money online through blogging and providing services. He’s had some great successes in his decade long career and I think we can all learn something from this interview.
So, here we go. Check out my discussion with Mark and let’s get you thinking about the possibilities of starting an online side hustle!
Mark, can you provide the readers a brief introduction of who you are?
Hey everyone, I’m Mark the owner of Not Taught At School, from Yorkshire in the UK, I’m engaged to Catherine and we are getting married on the 7/7/17. We have a beautiful son called Harry who is 4 years old.
I’m lucky in that I have a full time job that I enjoy and get to travel all over the UK. I run several different online businesses and love learning all the different ways you can earn online.
Tell us about your financial situation when you bought your first home just before the housing crash. What was going through your mind?
We really stretched ourselves to buy our first house, it was at the higher end of our budget and we had been saving for years to afford it.
When the market crashed about a month after we had moved in I didn’t pay too much attention to be honest, I just thought it would bounce back. It did not. The house is still worth less than what we bought it for back in 2007.
However I’m always looking at the positives so we set about earning some extra money so we could purchase another property.
You decide to find ways to make money online, starting with eBay. Tell us about that business.
I went to eBay as I had sold previously on there and knew if I could get the right products they would sell.
At first we sold all different bits but we eventually settled on sensory products after several tests with different products.
In the beginning, I was drop shipping and buying small amounts but we eventually started importing after I made a few contacts on LinkedIn. After 18 months, our business had done just over £150,000 in sales.
Why did that business end?
The business ended for a few reasons.
We had achieved our goal of affording a second home and it was just taking over our lives. Harry was only 4 months old and I was finding that we were spending far too much time packaging, responding to messages, and dealing with customers when we should have been spending the time together as a family.
Ultimately we no longer needed to keep it going and it was far more important to spend the time as a family as you never get that time back, especially when they are babies.
When it ended it felt great, it had been such a big part of our lives for the 18 months and just having a night off from packaging was like a holiday.
You’ve been making money online for about a decade or so, what other businesses did you start?
I have run several different online businesses including an electronic cigarette company when they were just starting to appear in the UK, weight Loss Company and having our own products created. I ran a company which created video property tours and a few others.
Also, I got involved with network marketing for about 2 years and built up a team with over 800 people including the UK, Ireland, US and Australia.
Tell us about your site, Not Taught at School. How did it come about? What’s your goal with it?
It came about after a lot of deliberating. I always get asked about how to earn money online, where to go for this product or service, or which network marketing company is good to join.
I created Not Taught At School as a place I could direct people to for learning and ways to work from home.
My goal is to help as many people possible learn and create ways for them to start earning some extra income, everything I share I am doing myself, have done previously or have a friend doing it now. I only share content I am 100% happy with.
I would like my site to be the place people go to when they want to learn about ways to make money online or what can help them build their business.
Most of our readers are from the US. Are there any major differences in personal finance philosophy between the US and UK that you’re aware of?
I would say in the UK people tend to not live to their means more than the US. Far too many people I know have cars they can’t afford or book holidays on their credit cards and worry about paying it at a later date.
My friends in the US are very savvy about their money and budget accordingly.
What’s one important lesson you want people to take away from this interview?
If you really want to earn some extra income or learn different ways to achieve this then take action and don’t put it off.
There are people out there showing you proven ways to build a business, grow a blog, and earn some extra money. So, all you have to do is put in the effort and learn.
Sites like Not Taught At School and Run The Money share with you the best tips and pieces of advice to be successful. Start today not tomorrow!
One more question. How can readers get in touch with you?
People can contact me at mark@canyoureallyworkfromhome.com.
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Thank you, Mark, for the wonderful insights and sharing your experience about how to make money online. We look forward to seeing more posts from you. Make sure to get in touch with Mark at the information above.
What are your thoughts on Mark’s experience? Do you have a desire to make money online? Share your thoughts below.
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