Two Immigrants Live The American Dream
Some may call it a purpose driven life yet the only thing religious about life for two middle aged British “resident aliens” living in Los Angeles is they rise at 5am and are usually asleep by nine.
They rack up about a hundred hours between them in their average work week and have been in the same business for the last four years. However, unlike most who boast the identical grind, Holly and Shirley Yanez, lifelong best friends who married and divorced American brothers, don’t have a 401K, medical insurance or cell phones. They work for themselves, one of the perks, accrued vacation time.
Although both women have excellent backgrounds, one an ex business owner with a five million dollar turnover company, the other, a seasoned technical sales executive, when desperate, found it impossible to get jobs in LA. After submitting hundreds of applications, resumes and cover letters, the 39 and 47 year old women were even turned down for receptionist and retail sales assistant positions due to lack of experience.
With no one to rely on, no friends and family for support, the women, willing to work hard, had to build a business from scratch that could support them and two small children if they were to survive in a new country.
They needed a low cost product they could market globally for free. With very little investment available and no established credit, their only way of effectively and cheaply marketing anything was over the internet.
After relentless research they discovered 55% of all books published in the U.S. are self published and many first time authors have broken all the rules, springing from obscurity onto bestseller lists thanks to brilliant internet marketing strategies. The Naked Warrior and I Love My Life. A Mom’s Guide to Working From Home.
Although the women were not writers by trade both enjoy a good story and had hilarious journals of life in Los Angeles already written. After many committed hours at the keyboard they turned their parallel veracity into a book for less than $2000 online giving them their inexpensive, wholly owned product, to sell. Looking for Harvey Weinstein was born.
With absolutely no experience they started to build a channel to their buyer using the internet. Since the launch of their product at the beginning of 2004 they have developed their publishing house of one into a name that is all over the internet. They distribute through Baker and Taylor and Gardner Books and supply all the major retail and online chains here and overseas. They also enjoy profitable relationships with Amazon and E Online.
Using Bloggers, indie media, online book reviews, discussion boards and chat rooms they continue to market for free and strategic email blast campaigns are highly effective sales generators.
Due to the dynamic nature of the internet, the more places you are the more people see you and the more people see you, the more places you are. It’s magic marketing for a company with zero liquidity. High ranking on multiple keyword searches draws traffic to your website or blogger (free if you can’t afford a site) and the more traffic you receive the higher you rate on major search engines, all of which charge for placement but don’t make any promises.
The women no longer enjoy the lavish lifestyles they once took for granted and never imagined being stranded and penniless in a place where “resident alien” felt like “aliens in residence.” Nevertheless they have fought back, built a business and now have another story to tell. How, through adversity, they have lived the American Dream.
About the Author
Life long best friends from England who marry brothers and find themselves in trouble. They write and self publish a book Looking for Harvey Weinstein and teach others how to make the internet work for a small business.
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