Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Storms of Life : A New Website!


      Not only have storms been brewing on the coast with Hurricane Irene, they have also been brewing for quite a while with Website Business.com formerly located in Phoenix, AZ.  I should know because they were the hosts for my site The Truckers Wife.  It began this summer when paychecks quit coming regularly for assignments I had written for them.  After a while I quit taking paid assignments.  Who truly wants to work for free??  Not me!!  Then they decided to take the publisher down for weeks on end for an upgrade.  Even when the publisher finally was up and running, there were still features that could not be used and did not work.  Finally they quit answering their phones altogether.


      
   
      As of yesterday the truth finally came to light.  They went out of business leaving many dear people who worked there on the streets and many website owners like myself up in the air as to where to go next and what to do.  Many people have been swindled out of thousands of dollars and I was very fortunate to have suffered minimal loss.  I feel bad for the people I dealt with that worked there.  They taught me a lot and I will be forever grateful for their advice, tutelage, and friendship.  I understand that they were caught up in the whole nasty business of lying to the clients  to keep their positions.  In this economy, jobs are hard to come by and I don’t fault them for doing what they had to do to pay their bills and feed their families.  Unfortunately those who stayed and tried to help to the best of their abilities got caught up in the whole nasty business and are now as unemployed as I am.  


        To me, the only real loss is my website.  Since I have always used their software to update the site, I can not imagine that being available to me much longer.  With the company no longer in business and the owner out to screw over everyone in his path, I am left with no choice but to break away from my dear old site and start fresh.  Many will file grievances and lawsuits.  I fortunately have made back every dime I ever put into the website with my writing so I have little reason to get embroiled into the legal turmoil and last ditch efforts that so many others will no doubt engage in.  


         I have decided to create a new website on my own and continue writing.  Why bother you ask??  After almost 2 years of being online creating the trucker’s wife, I have found that writing  and designing has become apart of my life and I enjoy doing it.  It is a great outlet.  It also fans the creative embers that have always burned so brightly inside me.  So in light of that,  I have come to the decision that they are not going to rain on my parade.  I will continue on as I have been as before here at my new home on the internet.  


        So the storm is raging, but there still is a light at the end of my tunnel.   Through it all, I come away with many online friends from all over the world that I would never have known otherwise.  I have come away with the knowledge of how to write and design a website satisfying a creative hunger that had went unsatisfied for so long.  For those things, I will always be grateful to those in customer service who taught and helped me.  Like the hurricane, Website Business left a path of destruction.  As a phoenix, those affected by the onslaught will rise again from the ashes bigger and better than ever!  Until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

14 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you've had this happen, but glad to see you are going to overcome and move on. I've been working on the Internet for over a decade now and I'm sorry to say that Internet businesses come and go and few of them last for long. Many of those change hands and the new owners are quite different with quite different goals and customer service from the originals. I can only think that is to weed out those creatives who do not have the passion and drive to succeed. Knowing that you have weathered the storm only makes me respect you and wish to offer you my support even more. Blessedbe.

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  2. Glad you didn't lose out financially, Kathy, but it's appalling that any business can operate in such a way. Totally unethical, if not downright dishonest.
    I can't follow your new blog at present (a blogger glitch when the 'followers' widget stays blank) but I'll be back!

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  3. You've done a very good job expressing our predicament, Kathy. Like you, I'm planning to continue supporting the friends I've made through blogging with my WSB website. As Paula commented, it's appalling that anyone would do business in this way. I'm liking your new website just as well. Best wishes to you in this endeavor. I plan to stick with you and learn all I can!!!

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  4. Summer, thank you for your kind comments!! I have been praying about this situation for a long time, and this new website seemed the answer. I still have everything I have ever written saved so if the old site goes bye bye, so be it. I feel extremely accomplished to have created this site all by myself. It is liberating. I am glad for the experience because it made me wiser. I learned a lot. Sad to let the old site go, but it seems the right alternative considering I have no idea how long I will be able to update it. It is a learning experience.

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  5. Paula, thank you for your comments. I completely agree!! Also, I want to thank you for supporting my new blog as the networked blogs shows your smiling face now! :D It was a horrible situation for many. I am glad that I was always cautious. Sometimes it is a blessing not to have a lot of money. I didn't have much, so they couldn't take much. What little I invested I have made back and then some doing freelance writing and reviews. So it is all good!

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  6. Betty, it means a lot that you felt I did a good job with this one as we both have personal experience with this company. You have become a truly valued friend and I feel blessed to know you. Thank you for stopping by to read and comment!! At least this site, I can honestly say...it is all me. You know what, that feels really good!! :D

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  7. Holy cow! I'm glad that you got out even, but wow. And I'm really glad that you're still going to be blogging. I enjoy your warmth and humor, both of which come shining through in your writing.

    Oh, one thing. If you can till access your blogs at the old site, I highly recommend that you go in right away to copy & paste them into a file on your computer. You wrote a lot of great stuff over there and it would be a shame to lose all of it forever.

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  8. The site looks great and it may take a few days to get your followers over here--but thankfully you've decided to keep writing and not let the situation with WSB deter you!!

    Cheers, Jenn

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  9. Word Nerd, Me too! Thank you for your kind comments. I have every post and article I have ever written saved on my computer and on disk. So no chances of losing any of it!! I so appreciate you stopping by to read and comment on my post!! It means the world to me!!

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  10. Jenn, Thank you so much for all your guidance and advice!! I feel like I really accomplished something today. Never thought I would say this, but writing is apart of me now! I would miss it if I stopped and I would surely miss the friendships I have gained through this process!!

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  11. Good for you, Kathy. You've not only risen above it but flourished. Super new site!

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  12. Great job, picking up and moving on and making the best of it!

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  13. Divalounger, I really had no choice. Since I have been blogging over the past couple of years I have realized something very vital about myself. Within me there is a creative streak just screaming to get out. For years I buried this deep within me. Since I began writing and designing online I have discovered a contentment that I hadn't had before. It gives me a sense of satisfaction and purpose. It was a challenge to move on, but after discovering this vital need to create within me, it seemed the only option was to move on and take what I had learned and start fresh. Thank you for stopping by to read and comment!!

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