from Hacker News

Two years ago, I created a balloon distribution business that was earning me upwards of $300 per day every day, but last November, I got into a terrible accident that has disabled me temporarily and I have not been able to do the work. I tried outsourcing and franchising but that was simply not working out.

Being bed-ridden, I had my laptop and the Internet to keep me from losing my sanity. So I began thinking of business ideas that I could do from my computer to help me earn some money and keep me busy.

Coming up with the ideas was easy and soon I had a list that included:

- Buying and selling items on Craigslist - Opening up an online bookstore - Starting a "Lunch Time Specials" website - Teaching

And finally,

- Writing an eBook about my balloon business and selling it on the Internet.

Now, under normal circumstances, I would have never thought about selling an idea that was making me so much money but the situation I was in was anything but normal.

So I decided to write an 18 page report detailing everything I knew about the balloon distribution business. I had someone setup a nice website that was linked to my paypal account and I placed ads on Google, Yahoo, and Facebook to attract customers. I spent $100 to advertise on each site and after my $300 was used up, I had received only 11 orders. Not only that but Google suspended my account for violating their terms of service.

Since then, I have tried various free marketing methods and done much better than paid advertisement but I feel like the amount of time I spend marketing the business simply does not justify the returns.

So I guess the point I am trying to make is that even a six figure a year idea is worthless if you cannot execute it properly.

Thanks -Samir