What's a grebe?

This site is where you can learn about building your online business. Whether you are just getting started as an internet entrepreneur or have been at it for a while, my purpose is to provide you with the best resources available that will help you make more-informed decisions about where you are and where you want to be.

What do you want to know: What the best Web-hosting companies are? How to incorporate your desktop enterprise? Do you want to learn how to achieve your goals more effectively? Or decide what sort of marketing mix to use or what kind of product or service to offer? Maybe you’re looking for new ideas to beef up your already thriving business? Or maybe you want to learn how to overcome those internal barriers to success. 

The Grebe wants to help. On the Resources pages you’ll find articles about and links to information relevant to internet entrepreneurs. Many of the products and services promoted on The Grebe have been successfully used or applied by me or my colleagues. I make every effort to publicize only the best, most useful information. (Please see our Purchase Agreement page for disclaimers.) I welcome any and all This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The blog is going to be loaded with how-to articles, stories about lessons learned, and guest contributors ranging from accountants, lawyers and marketing experts to personal development gurus and other entrepreneurs. You can count on fresh content that’s updated weekly. The best compliment you can pay me is to bookmark this site and come back again and again.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Send me an This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I’ll do my best to update this ever-expanding Web resource as quickly as I can.

Mission
The Grateful Grebe is committed to building a dynamic online presence for Web-based entrepreneurs and presenting a 360-degree view of entrepreneurship, which includes business growth, personal growth and contributing to the growth of society.

Vision
The Grebe’s vision is to become the premier online resource for Web-based entrepreneurs. 

Values
As a good corporate citizen I believe that giving back is an important component of entrepreneurship that enables me to make a difference in my community, as well as around the world. To that end, The Grebe donates 10% of its profits to organizations I believe contribute to the greater good. You can read about them on the Charitable giving pages. The Grebe also values exploration of the diverse challenges entrepreneurs face as they transition from employee to employer. 

How am I doing so far? I especially value your This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please let me know how I can help you. Thank you for taking a moment to help me serve you better.

About Your Hostess

Photo by David Cardenas. All rights reserved.

My path to entrepreneurship has been a squiggly one. My first effort at running my own business was a dismal failure—but it was the best lemonade ever! The only problem was that I didn’t factor in costs very well ‘cause my mom gave me the cups and the powdered lemonade mix—and I wound up drinking all the profits!

Then there was the multi-level marketing scheme for beauty products and nutritional supplements. I kept one of the business cards to remind me that it was probably the best $800 ever spent, if for no other reason than I haven’t tried the MLM route since. I sincerely hope that the one relative I roped into joining my network has forgiven me by now; after all, it’s been at least 15 years. 

I also went to college a few times before finally getting a degree in Communications. Degree in hand I launched into a fascinating 10-year career in publishing that took me from editor-in-chief of the Roosevelt University student newspaper (remembered fondly as my year from hell) to several positions in healthcare-related and trade publications and finally into the riveting world of grade-school textbook publishing. I never tired of telling my technical editing friends that working on peer-reviewed journals for neuroscience professionals and oncology nurses was nothing compared to the challenge of writing reading materials for 7-year-olds.

When my assignment was drawing to a close with the textbook publisher, I finally came to the realization that I just wasn’t cut out for the corporate world. I had been unhappy in my career choices for some time. So I decided to strike out on my own. As soon as I made the decision to close that door behind me, brand new ones began flying open left and right. I was introduced to Robert Kiyosaki’s work during that transitional period. Retire Young, Retire Rich literally changed my life. (See my article titled “The Secret and The Science of Getting Rich” for insight into another life-changing book.) Like many others who have read any of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books, I experienced a major paradigm shift away from the view of wealth and money I grew up with to where I am at today—on the road to financial freedom! 

I joined a real estate mentorship program and learned all about no-money-down real estate and short sales and foreclosures and working with home owners, lawyers and real estate agents. Through a local real estate investment club, I started hanging out with a bunch of smart, talented people who were working for themselves and making their dreams come true.

I knew I was on the right path. I became a sponge, soaking up all I could about the industry. I began masterminding with a group of successful entrepreneurs, which opened even more doors to wealth-building opportunities. I read books like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. I trained with one of Bob Proctor’s LifeSuccess coaches and completely shed my old thinking about the “evils” of money about which I was raised to believe. 

And then I was introduced to the wonders of pay-per-click advertising and I knew that internet marketing was what I was meant to do. Acting as if I didn’t have another second to waste, I threw myself into learning everything I could about this brave new world of ClickBank and Google AdWords. I read everything I could get my hands on and bought almost every eProgram known to man in order to learn how to explode my short-term income.

I am excited about sharing this knowledge. Throughout this site you will find links to products and services my colleagues and I have used and, among other things, stories about the lessons I have learned along my squiggly path to financial freedom. 

In addition to my internet marketing business, I enjoy freelance writing and preparing marketing materials for entrepreneurs, am a part-time real estate investor, and am training my beautiful lab, Mickey, to be a therapy dog. I’d really like to hear from you: comments, complaints, suggestions, and stories of your own. Please drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Great Crested Grebe. Photo by Andreas Trepte*, Marburg, Germany

  Why a Grebe?

The grebe (pronounced grēb), a freshwater bird found all over the world, is a plucky creature with fossil records dating back 80 million years. It is most comfortable in the water and, because its little legs are set so far back, has a tendency to fall over when it tries to run around on dry land.

I chose the grebe for my Web site logo because it has staying power (80 million years is a loooong time), has adapted to changing environments and, even though it falls flat on its face sometimes, gets right back up and keeps plugging away. The grebe represents to me the true spirit of entrepreneurship.

*This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license