Today is our 54th Wedding Anniversary and we are celebrating it by joining steemit!

Hi, my name is Ray and my wife Jean and I live in sunny Florida.

As I mentioned in the introduction my wife and I are celebrating our 54th Wedding Anniversary today! Nothing you will read below would have happened without the support of my wife Jean. She supported me when I first brought up quitting a well paying job when I was 34 to buy our first business.

Jean and I have been involved in a few businesses over the years. We started out in MA and moved to Florida about 30 years ago.

While in MA we owned a vinyl repair business, a vending machine company and a food wholesale business. After moving to Florida we owned an art gallery, a picture framing shop and a wholesale art business.

As a result of our three children growing up helping in the family business, they are all involved in their own businesses. My best guess is that when the opportunity arose for them to venture out in their particular endeavor they probably thought “how hard can it be? Mom and Dad did it.” The big surprise probably came later when they thought “what the heck did I get myself into?”

My feeling is that due to working in the family business for so long they took the chance to start their business. Most folks worry whether they should risk everything and try working for themselves. For whatever the reason all my kids took the plunge and are happy today they did.

Been retired for a few years now and have come to the conclusion that for me a brick and motor business contains too many risks today. Since the Internet is so entwined in our lives today I feel it’s the only place to conduct business.

There are so many opportunities online that it boggles the mind.

All my life I have searched for passive income streams as I love the idea of making money while I sleep or vacation.

A few years ago I started a publishing company and now have a large number of eBooks for sale on various internet sites. For any of you who are potential business owners imagine my joy when I can upload an eBook once and continue selling it for the next few years without having to lift a finger. The sites where they are listed do all the work for a small commission. They list the books, take customer’s credit cards, send them the product and send me my earnings monthly.

Did I write all those books? Heck no! I went to various sites that book writers frequent and found certain books that appealed to me and bought them from the authors. When I buy a book I get all reproduction rights etc. I then check the punctuation, change the author’s name to one of my authors and frequently change the title.

Unfortunately, many authors are genuinely creative but have very little business sense and therefore, have no idea how to publish and promote a book. I found that niche and made it my own little passive income money maker.

A very important aspect of book sale is creating covers for those books. At the beginning I used local talent as I didn’t have any idea where to go. I learned quickly that t there are very, very talented people all over the world that are willing to create excellent book covers for very small amounts of money.

Another eBook idea I had was to have people write short stories with basic themes I had in mind. I was the first, that I know of, to email photos to authors and have them write a short story around the theme of the photo I sent them. I then sent the short story and cover picture to the cover maker. I asked them to read the story which was inspired by the photo and come with a cover combining the two aspects. It resulted in some really creative covers. And you can probably guess that a good cover propels book sales.

I would guess some of you readers will think that I have used people to increase profits. To some degree you might be correct but I prefer to think that I am helping someone who needs money and has very little opportunity to start their own small businesses.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that many creative people simply have no desire to start a business. The joy in their life is creating something that will be enjoyed by others. In these cases, they do what they love and I do what I love and help both to make some money.

Yes, I have helped many, many people in foreign countries and the US start their own small business to help feed their families, go to school etc. In my small way I feel that I am helping the global economy grow!

These same small business owners now have the opportunity to use Bitcoins and others as a means of exchange. Unfortunately, the banking systems in some foreign countries are very poor and inflation is high. Again we might have helped some folks to find a monetary exchange that works in spite of their local shortfalls.

Thinking about passive income stream again a few months ago I started realizing that crypto currency and passive income work together very well. Bought some and made a little money.

Came across Jerry Banfield on YouTube and was amazed at his knowledge. He is quite a character. I also realized that we probably live 20 minutes away from each other.

Jerry, if you ever read this post contact me as I would like to buy you lunch some day.

He piqued my interest in Steemit and here I am. It seems to fit into my profit plan as it’s passive. I believe I can contribute interesting and informative information based on my life and business experience.

We believe in giving back to the community and as a result we help cook and prepare meals each week to feed the homeless in our community. In our county it’s called Pinellas Hope.

If I can help others be successful, then I will be successful.

I urge everyone not to forget the less fortunate when you start earning. I guarantee that you will discover what my wife and I discovered early on.

The more you give, the more you get.