Sorry it took me so long as I've been slammed with getting ready to move and starting the business.

I quit my day job because I was able to understand how to get sites to rank on the first page of google and wanted to use that to help local businesses. While how you get local sites to rank is a bit different, the concept is the same. That combined with the support of my wife is what allowed me to pull the trigger.

It took about 5 years of trial and error, and a lot of support, before I really decided to make it happen. I put out about 10 sites and made minor changes to them, watching how google reacted. While this helped me a lot, I would just focus on one site if I could do it all over again. If I had, I would have quit a couple years sooner.

I then helped a friend rank for a local photography business here in Seattle and decided that may be the route for me to go. While I dream of having my own online business that ranks one day, I really enjoy interacting with people and helping local businesses succeed.

When I decided it was time, I pooled all the resources I knew that started business for advice. I even met our very own Jay for a drink in Canada one day and his support was awesome.

What can I teach you?

1. Focus on one bigger project at a time, with a small one you don't care about for learning how google reacts to small things, such as different variations of the same thing within meta descriptions.

2. Watch the local marketing videos here and really learn them.

3. Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs. This is a biggy!

4. If you want to go local, simply find a local business or friends business that you can do for free. This will give you an opportunity to learn how local goes.

Read this post on my personal blog (unfinished). It covers the main part of my decision, which is SUPPORT!

http://thinkyes111.com/this-entrepreneurs-first-step/

I hope this helps!

Jesse