About Me
My name is Donna Fontenot. I've been an online entrepreneur for many years. Before my online career took shape, I was everything from a data entry clerk to a secretary to a programmer. The first 20 years of my adult life were spent trudging to an office every day, fighting commute traffic, and enduring the many pitfalls of working for lousy companies and bad bosses. At some point, after being laid off from yet another company that went belly-up, I realized that the work options in the area I lived in had dried up.
I had two choices. Move to a bigger city with more job openings. Or work from home.
Working from home seemed like an impossible goal, and yet, it was really the only choice I had. Moving just wasn't feasible at the time, so I began my new ebusiness career on only a wish and a dream.
For the first year, I made a TON of mistakes and I made very little money. In fact, I was juggling bills and was constantly worrying that I'd made a bad decision.
In some ways, I did make some bad decisions. The first bad decision was in jumping into this with both feet and no safety net. The second bad decision was going it all alone. Nevertheless, I'm pig-headed and stubborn, and I didn't quit.
Not quitting was a very GOOD decision.
Over the years, I've learned an enormous amount about how to make a living from home, with an online ebusiness. And over the years, I've found myself consistantly being involved in helping others understand how to do what I do. Eventually, it dawned on me that I've been leading up to this profession for a long time. (I earned my Bachelor's Degree in Education many years ago, so "teaching" isn't foreign to me).
I truly believe that everyone who has a strong desire to create a successful online ebusiness can do so. You don't have to have an extensive technical background to do this. It would help if you are comfortable working with a computer, but if you surf the net and send emails, you've got the skills required. If you long to work from home and create an online ebusiness, I would love to be able to help guide you in that direction.
If you are concerned about placing your trust in a stranger's hands, I encourage you to do your research. Google me. Search for DazzlinDonna or Donna Fontenot on Google or your favorite search engine. My years online are there for all to see. :) You may also want to visit my blogs to get a feel for my style. DazzlinDonna and SEO Scoop, which I founded.
If you'd rather just see a testimonial, here's one that I received lately from David Oremland, one of the expert contributors to the Local Search Ranking Factors survey.
I first started learning about setting up websites and search engine optimizing (SEO) about 2003. We had businesses with websites that had been developed years earlier by others. Our staff had zero expertise in these issues. I had zero knowledge. Due to an inability to find adequate help, initially to learn about SEO for ranking, and later to learn how to build new websites I found and landed in a web/SEO forum. That is where I first encountered Donna Fontenot. She was one of those folks who were helping new learners discussing changes with other experienced people, and was learning herself through shared conversations. She quickly became the person whose advice I followed the most.
Now 7 years later I still follow her advice and experience. More critically in the last few months I've seen and experienced first hand her expertise and the wonderful way in which she provides help and guidance. One of those ways meant more to me than I can express.
In one example she displayed both significant expertise, openness, and an ability to discuss all the ramifications of moving from a shared server on a hosting plan to a new server using different underlying programming languages. After Donna and one other expert went back and forth discussing all possible pros and cons and ramifications...all I could do was whistle and thank them. It was like two accomplished jazz musicians taking a simple song and making it a masterpiece. It was magnificent.
On a more personal and far more important issue, my nephew approached me with regard to assistance in starting his first web site. 7 years after first encountering Donna's help I've gained some expertise. I started giving him advice but referenced him to one of Donna's great pieces on getting started and how to proceed in the web world. Some time later he told me he read the pieces, publicly commented and asked further questions. He was thrilled that Donna responded so quickly.
When I read her responses to his questions I was amazed. They addressed the same question he asked of me. Donna's response was similar to mine, except infinitely superior. She made the same kind of simple suggestion, expanded upon that response and made it better, and then gave simple step by step suggestions that would give him a shot at actually accomplishing his goal. Each suggestion was totally on target. He couldn't have gotten better advice.
I could go on singing her praises and referencing a wealth of strengths and experiences that can help anyone, but frankly I'll cut this short and simply say I couldn't think of a finer person to guide someone as an ebiz coach.
Dave Oremland
If you have any further questions, either about me or the coaching, feel free to contact me.