financial independence

Here it is the second part of the interview with his Lordship Matt

Matt's Answers are in Italic and we're gonna start of from where we left yesterday with the question What got you into the World Wide Web?

I got started into computers at school. I was the first person to beat
the English teachers PC at chess and I was one of three kids that teachers
were likely to ask for assistance from if they wanted an assistant.

At college I retook my GCSEs and spent 95% of the time I should
have been in math in the computer room (I passed with a good grade too). If not for my friendship with the admins of the college network my exploration of
the not-at-all secure network would have gotten me kicked out of the college.

It was a lucky escape and I was a tad more careful from then on.
During my A levels the college was starting to look at getting an Internet
connection (one of my best friends from that time was the first kid in the
college to use the Internet connection) but as they did not run A level
computing I drifted away from all that. But for all that I was still mad for
computers but without the budget to own one.

Some years later I was unemployed and lacked the qualifications that went
with my skills. My mum was doing a Level 1 "Introduction to the Internet" and paid for me to do it too. I was soon as knowledgeable as the tutor and using the systems like a pro. I passed, my mum failed on a minor
technicality. But I was hooked and would go to my mums to use here 486
(old even by the standards then) and modem to use the Internet.

I think I put a few junky pages on Anglefire which I discovered could
be gotten to past college firewalls by using ask.com (No0b to hacker in one month). Later that year the unemployment service forced me onto something called New Deal and faced the options of Education or Public Service. I choose
to try for a course in IT figuring that the certificate would open doors.

The tutor that interviewed me was the same one that took the class on
basic Internet use. Her first words were "I know you are good enough for
this course, have you got any questions?"
Four years later I left with a level 4 qualification (equivalent of under grad level) and a business plan.

I'm still working to fulfill that plan.

What tips would you give to people that want to make money online?

You have got to be willing to endure a year or more of no money worth
speaking of and a partner that understands that making money online
means long hours.
A credit card with a reasonable limit and used for nothing else helps as you are going to spend more on domains and hosting than you will earn for a while.

It is hard work and even a few days away can be expensive. There are no
holidays and the pay is rubbish so you had better love what you do. 80%
of your income is going to come from 20% of your efforts so a sharp mind
is vital. Learn a language like PHP as this will help you do the technical stuff for
yourself. MySQL is also good and an understanding of on page SEO is
important.

Understanding the basics will take you only so far and then it's grit, action and luck for the rest of the way. The most important rule is never pay money for get rich quick because that is a mugs game. Other than that you should know that per hour of effort you will earn a lot more at a fast food outlet saying "do you want fires with that."

Whats the latest on your council tax problem?

Well some of it has been paid. Some of it is outstanding and now it is a
case of letters and insisting until they agree. I have hearing on the
31st which may prove to be useful in getting that money. You know I'll
blog about it when something interesting happens.

A big thanks to Matt have a look at Lord Matt's Blog