Biography of Colin Dunbar

Greetings, and thank you for visiting this web page. Here's a little about myself, how this site came into being, and how I'm working towards turning my vision into reality.

Allow me to tell you my story...

It was Bob Dylan who said, "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

Although it was almost 3 decades after I started to work that I read those words, that is what I wanted, more than anything else.

Finding my first passion

I have a confession.

As a kid the only thing about goal setting I knew was scoring goals in soccer. Really.

"Man never fails he only quits trying."

I was just an average kid: playing games, getting into mischief, getting through school with marks just enough to pass my grades. This changed somewhat in my 11th year when my folks gave me the encyclopedia Brittanica and a manual typewriter. Hours and hours were spent creating documents on a wide and varied range of subjects from the encyclopedia. I would type up documents, and turn these into "booklets" (folding A4 sheets and stapling them in the center).

Without being aware of it, I had found my first passion: working with words.

In high school I developed a keen interest in film making (wanted to follow a career in film production), but my love for words didn't die: scriptwriting is where I focused my attention. Midway through my second last year in high school I enrolled for a TV scriptwriting correspondence course (paid for it myself by working part-time on week-ends). June of my final year I received my certificate. I wrote scripts for a couple of home movies that I made with friends, and wrote a complete script for a 1-hour TV production - at that time the national TV corporation had a policy that only employees could submit scripts for consideration, so my script was shelved, and over the years it went by the wayside.

In my second working year 2 things happened: I developed a keen interest in photography (actually it started in high school). Now working, and earning a salary, I was able to buy a SLR camera, and other equipment. Even though I didn't have any goals (it was as though I was running on auto-pilot), I began promoting my photography service, photographing weddings, school and business functions, family events, etc. I ended up paying for all my equipment, plus a good profit within a year. As an apprentice (first year employee) I was actually living the "royal life" with the income from my part-time business.

The book that changed my outlook

Also, some time in the same year, my insurance broker, a true scholar and a gentleman, Hans Friedlander lent me his copy of Think and Grow Rich. Halfway through, I went and bought my own copy. This book changed the course of my thinking, and affected practically everything I did from then on. I became fascinated with self-motivation and goal setting after reading this classic. I've actually read it many, many times, and up until today (when time permits) I still read a chapter now and then.

As result of reading that book, I was no longer happy to just plod along life's road - I began setting myself goals.

With my photography service, and reading Think and Grow Rich, I discovered my second passion: business.

Reaching my first goal

I was naturally drawn to the technical writing field, as this satisfied my two primary character traits: learning new things, and my logical, step-by-step approach to things. I always want to know the 'why, what and how'.

I started work as a trainee technical writer, and only had in-house training at the company I worked for. For me, this was not enough, and I began to look for formal training. With technical writing being a relatively unknown and small field in South Africa, after almost a year of searching and digging I found an organization that offered a diploma course in technical writing.

This was one of my earliest goals that I set, and worked towards. I wanted that diploma.

Although the company I was working for offered sponsored training, there was a slight hiccup. With my in-house training, and years' experience, they were only prepared to sponsor one module. There were four modules to receive the diploma. Doing one module meant that I would only receive a certificate of competency.

I wanted that diploma.

I arranged with the training institution and bought the course material for the three modules. I studied in my own time, and was successful in the final exam.

I had reached my first goal.

With my diploma under my arm, it was a matter of: "Show me the money."

I followed the typical route...

• Moved to a new company.
• Then went into management at the next company.
• Following my passions I began working as a freelance contractor.

Although I was working with words, and as a contract technical writer, I was, for all in tense and purpose, in business for myself.

There were later nights. Weeks and months away from home, working on clients' premises. Constant deadlines.

Towards the end of 1998 I came across this company called SiteSell, and they offered a free e-course on netwriting. Netwriting? I’d never heard of that, so I subscribed to the e-course. I printed and read each issue, purely to expand my knowledge.

Little did I know how rewarding that free e-course would be for me a few years later.

The web as a business medium... naw, not on my radar at all - actually I was totally in the dark when it came to running a web business.

Setting the Goal

The Goal I set in 1993...

"I do not want reasonable success: a business giving the same income I would earn as a contractor: a new car, our own house, and a bit of spending money.

I want to be a millionaire.

Besides the personal monetary rewards for my family's needs and wants, I want to care for my parents, I want to contribute to the community, my children's school; I want to be able to help the less fortunate."
This is an extract from my personal goal setting blueprint

In 1997 I started my own corporation. Now I had the added stress of dealing with clients, staff issues, and the red tape of running an offline business.

Life was good (or so I thought).

Money was not in short supply. I had reached my goal.

But...

I had a passion for writing and business, but I didn't enjoy the stress that went along with running my own business.

Something wasn't quite right.

I needed mental stimulation, and I wanted the magic of pursuing my passions. I wanted quality of life.

With my keen interest in the writing, from an early age – I read everything I could about the craft (and did a few courses: technical writing, journalism, short story writing, novel writing) – whatever I could find about any writing style.

Towards the end of 2000 freelance technical writing projects were practically non-existent. I ended up being the only one left in Cyberdoc, and with my wife operated a small printing business from my home, as from January 2001.

For the years 2001 and 2002 frustration began to grow. For the year 2001 I kept a daily journal, and turned this into my book, Invest In Yourself. The book is about following one's passion, and is the real life story of my business endeavors; both successes and failures. I hope the book will give my readers an insight into what to avoid when attempting any business venture. I also really hope it will encourage the average guy or girl to follow their dream; I hope it shows that a goal CAN be achieved, if one has focus and persistence.

I found writing the book easy - all I did was write about what I had done... and actually sold a couple of dozen copies to family, friends, and colleagues. Writing the book gave me tremendous pleasure, and actually selling it, even though it wasn't a NY Times #1 best seller, gave me an incredible feeling of achievement. People actually paid money for my book!

Although a great feeling, the frustration in Cyberdoc continued to grow. Printing and binding invoice books was not high on my list of inspiration and excitement.

I felt stifled.

Time to review.

Discovering my goal setting process

I knew what I wanted; although at the time I wasn't certain as to how exactly I was going to achieve it.

While writing my book, Invest In Yourself, I realized something about how I did things, and how I managed to reach my goals, and why I was unsuccessful in some things I tried. Although it was about a year later that I "formalized" the process, it was something that I had been doing for many years.

A > P > A > R > T

Awareness
Plan
Action
Review
Tenacity

This was the process I had used for many years (and still use) to reach my goals.

I sold Cyberdoc in November 2002, and was offered a position as a technical writer with an international telecoms company. The position was to create and develop e-learning applications. This was new and challenging and I accepted. This did not materialize, and the position turned into un-exciting tasks of updating existing documentation, and writing new simple online help files. I was in that zero mental stimulation state again.

Moving Towards my Goal

My Goal I set in 2003...

"I work from the comfort of my own home, earning my income from my web ventures. I have no mortgage, and am completely debt free. This I do living in the Cape, with my wife. Marinda and I lead a contented and relaxed life, enjoying the area with regular outings and walks."
This is an extract from my personal goal setting blueprint

2003 was an exciting year for me.

Early in 2003 I began looking into SiteSell in more depth - printing and reading a load of sites, doing the same thing with the free Masters Courses, and other e-books offered by SiteSell.

The web as a business medium, hmm...

I finished my next book, Get What You Want, and in January 2003 I started my first Site Build It! web site, and since then I better understand the words of Bob Dylan...

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

At this point in my life, I like my job, the benefits are good, and I really like the extra income I make with my web ventures. The personal satisfaction I receive is beyond words. I totally know I'm moving towards my goal, month by month.

The Site Build It! Mascot

Is it hard work?

Digging ditches in the midday sun is hard work.

Writing about the things I'm interested in, experiences I've had, or subjects I like is not hard work.

Does that mean it's easy? Building a business, even a part-time home business is not easy, but with Site Build It! it's certainly simple.

I've been writing about these things for years, but doing it now I actually get paid. Even after 5+ years, it still seems like magic - I write something, add it to my site, and every month there's a check.

I've tasted the joy of what things will be like - in the not too distant future - extra money in the bank, money to spend on the extras, and the nice things in life.

I regard my web site venture as a real stress reducer. My salary is used for the household budget (mortgage, electricity, gas, etc.), the balance goes into a savings account, and as Warren Buffet says: "There's nothing like compound interest."

And what's really cool, I don't dig ditches in the sun to make this extra money.

Life is good!

I know I'm on the road to turning my vision into reality.

What about you?

Click on the image below to discover what I'm using to reach my goal.

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