Hello everyone! Today we have a very refreshing personality to have an interaction with. Tim Bashista has recently
forayed into online business but was always an offline businessman (into the business of carpentry). The reason I was interested in this man because of his guts to experiment with a new setup (he had no idea of online business before) and even at the brink of retirement, he is ever optimistic about life! Just enjoy the interview :
Me : Hello Tim, How have you been lately?
Tim : Hi Anindo, I am fine. Thank you. Enjoying life!Me: It has been a long time I have interviewed people. It is quite a nice feeling to interview a man who has seen life a lot more than me. I am too eager so I shall start with my first question right away (hehe).
Me : What prompted you to tilt towards Internet marketing when you already have an established business in carpentry?
Tim : Carpentry is for the young, not necessarily is it but it can beat you up over the years and I have had my share of aches and pains caused by just plain over work, and strenuous work at that. Although I learned very much in my many years as a carpenter and gained many useful skills, my body says time to take care of yourself.
Two real main reasons for IM over carpentry, I have no aches and pains because of my IM duties. The second main reason is the fact that I can work at home, which gives me a whole new outlook on working, I now work on my own terms. I guess that is what I am really saying here, the operative word is “my own terms“, I like that about IM.
Me : Do you see any advantage in the way business is done online versus offline businesses?
Tim : The biggest advantage to online business, again I look at two main ones that pop to mind. One, cost, the cost is next to nothing compared to brick and mortar businesses. Two, working conditions are the cats meow, I hated working in the cold or at night or for 12-16 hours a day, that was not fun at all. “my own terms”
Me : I believe you have three websites that you are maintaining in your quest to be a successful Internet marketer. Is that a focused plan or you are just flowing and experimenting (I can see that all three are totally different niches that are not related to each other)?
Tim : They are all different sites, and yes in a way in turned out to be more of an experiment than a planed campaign. They may have started out differently but they have ended up to be great learning tool for my self.
Of course with any site you want it to go to the top and make you some money, but it does not always happen that way, but not to say that the site is a failure or yourself, not at all it just means there is more to learn. So, I now use two of these sites as lessons learned on what is working how it works and how fast, what is needed to keep the site active in the good books with the search engines. With the different type of sites I was actually looking for the “niche” the one that was going to just start to take off because it was so popular, looking for the niche that will translate into some money not just lessons learned. I am in believe that as many niches can make great income at the same time many niches will have little to no chance on making a decent income.
I am now learning, that the site and how it is laid out and designed is a very powerful tool, I am in the process of remaking one of my sites into a powerful selling machine, I hope, and if not I will know I need to learn more.
Me : Considering your vocation, why didn’t you choose carpentry as your niche?
Tim : I have spent over 15 or more years doing carpentry, time for a change. In the future if the niche seems to be there, may do some do it yourself books. I like variety but nothing wrong with falling on old skills.
Me : How do you handle failures at this time of life, particularly when you are leaving one offline business and starting up something very new in the form of an online business?
Tim : Well failure is a relative term, what it means to you or perhaps an onlooker may be completely different for the next person. In general, failures are hard to take at any time in life but they do get a bit harder to take older you get. Failure is just another method of learning, as long as you do not repeat the same mistakes over and over again, you must learn from mistakes. If you treat them properly they can be a great learning tool.
Of course how many mistakes can one take before they need a good stiff drink? Too many mistakes or unable to get things turned around in a reasonable amount of time will of course will make anyone rethink their steps.
Me : What are your plans for a bright IM future?
Tim : I am not looking for riches or great wealth like may do with IM. I am looking for a moderate steady income, with out physical paralysis. I would like to reach the point in finding the niche that I have interest in and can make money with one or two sites not much more, sites that can and will make steady income. When I reach this goal I will consider completely successful in my new chosen career.
Me : What do you think about WA? What kind of help do you get from there?
Tim : I have been at WA for about a year now and have learned so much about doing business online. I was spinning my wheels before I joined WA and was going nowhere fast. Without WA I do not think I would be here now, lets say I know I would not be, not sure where I would be, to scary to think of that.
WA gives you assistance in every manner of this adventure, not only in lessons learned in IM but in motivation and keeping you going to realize your potential. With out that I know I would have quit more than once. There is a lot of help at WA, 24 hours a day 365 a year.
The biggest plus I can say about Wealthy Affiliate and how it has turned my life in the direction that I want to take, honesty. There are a lot of scams and false promises out there, too many, and Wealthy Affiliate is none of those, you get what you are told you get, training on how to do business online, pure and simple. I found that very refreshing about WA, what a novel idea, give folks what you say you are going to give them.
I guess that is why the owners of WA are so successful.
Me : Can you share details about your plan of retiring (second time) in the Bahamas? 
Tim : Well I am glad you mentioned that, another great thing about WA is the ability to network and meet business orientated folks just like you.
I have met two such persons, the first person has taken it upon himself to show me skills that until now I have been blind too ( it happens 
) This person is successful in their IM career and has kindly seen fit to help me take my IM to the next level and I am more than willing to follow the instructions….I know this is what I have been missing the missing piece to my puzzle, more learning and a little time.
The second person is from India, a computer science major all full dreams of fancy drinks while sitting around the pool eying all the lovely ladies…:) I see his and feel his dreams as well, we have partnered up in a new adventure for us.
Together we have a vision and with some hard work and some little luck we will see both our futures sitting on the beach sipping fancy drinks and looking at the lovely ladies…:) (I just peek, my wife will be there…:))
Therefore I see myself, and my new found friends having a good ole time enjoying our efforts from IM…:)
Me : Thanks a lot Tim for the wonderful interview! It means a lot to me!
Tim: Always my pleasure!
