Hi, Sharon here.
I am Mike’s assistant and also an administrator on the Backyard Growers Business Center forums.
I thought I would share this dialogue with you to give you an idea about what goes on there.
12:59 am
June 27, 2015
OfflineUsing my last three minutes as a (free) member to say thanks for the advice and encouragement. I’m looking forward to coming back as a permanent member later on, hopefully after my first plant sale.
Ciao!
8:08 am
July 26, 2011
OfflineSarah,
Glad to have you here and hate to see you go. Waiting until after a plant sale to come back might not be the best approach. Being here daily if you can swing it will make things happen so much faster and if you sell a few things here on the board that could be enough to pay for your membership.
Opportunities inside the members area abound, year round, season by season. Membership here runs about $2.20 a day until paid up. A person here could purchase liners on the board, pot them up, sell them on Craigslistt and or Facebook the next day and pay for a membership.
I know most people don’t think that way, but it really is possible. There are a lot of ways, opportunities to pay for your membership here and the very people that will help you achieve that are right here in this group. Ask them, they will help.
Just something to think about.
6:33 pm
July 22, 2014
OfflineI understand your situation. I was so short when I decided to try to do full time membership that I had no idea how I would make the payments. 
It was nip and tuck, but they were super understanding. They even let me change the date to a better time in the month ($$$ wise). It has been one month at a time, but I am almost there! I have purchased many cuttings, rooted cuttings, and liners at great prices and in great condition. I bought the pots from Mike and just recently the misting system (which is working perfectly and proving to be the missing element in getting my cuttings to take off). I have gotten much needed answers to my questions about every stage of the process, too! Seriously, this connection made me feel as though what I was trying to do was REAL, not just a day dream. The oldest members are the first ones there to help you along! If there is anyway you can swing it, I hope that you will try to go for the full time membership! Best of luck to you, either way! 
Sincerely, Susan
“Golden Gardens”
8:15 pm
July 26, 2011
OfflineI agree with Mike. The value of staying on here is difficult to measure in $, but the information and the daily encouragement is worth way more than the cost. When I first joined, I struggled to meet the monthly cost, but I focused on how much I needed to make daily to stay on the board. It worked out to only a few bucks a day, which adds up to only about 1 1/2 plants a day or something like that. Do whatever you have to to stay on here is my advice. I went to the box store, bought 1 quart perennials, potted them up to 1 gallons, let them root in for a few weeks and then sold them at a profit using Craigslist ads to promote. That’s an easy way to pull in the extra money needed to pay for the board.
Being forced to come up with the money to pay for the board when you aren’t sure how you’re going to forces you to think and to take action that you might not otherwise take. Once you are free of the burden of worrying about the membership fee, you will find you don’t have as much motivation.
We’ll still love you whatever you decide to do, and if you do go and come back, we’ll be glad to see you back!
July 26, 2011
Offline
If you’re really passionate about plants & this is something that you really want to pursue, you will somehow come up with the money to stay on board here.
I went through the whole “I can’t afford it thing also”, but if there’s a will, there’s a way.
Think about it….this is like a college course that would cost you how much more??? & it’s not “text book” knowledge…it’s hands on knowledge from real people & an ongoing community of friends/family that will encourage you & answer questions.
When you wake up in the morning & doubting yourself, you can come here & ask questions & read the topics & ask questions & get inspired & motivated. It’s a great place & hopefully you can somehow manage to stick around…you won’t regret it!
Best of luck to you!
April 21, 2012
OnlineJuly 26, 2011
OfflineBut I ordered them anyway on a credit card because the author inspired me.
Those newsletters changed my life and are the only reason all of us are here to day. Because of those newsletters I had the courage and the encouragement to write a book and self publish it, another $4,000 on my credit card. Then a website, then Backyard Growers.
Publishing that book was a huge risk and there were plenty of people who so hoped that I’d fail they couldn’t hide it, I saw it on their face. But I didn’t fail. I was determined to sell those 3,000 books in the garage. That book has now been out of print for years. But I just looked on Amazon and Free Landscape Plants!, used copies are selling from $1.11 to $100.00 a copy.
Here’s my point. It is so, so easy to talk yourself out of this without the support system you have here. When discouraged you can come here and be reminded of how excited you were in the very beginning.
When Scott joined he pretty much held my feet to the fire, asking me to tell him how to make those monthly payments. He was reluctant. We’re all reluctant. After I wrote that book I sat on it for a year. When I wanted to build a website I bought the software to build the site for $150 and 13 days later returned it to the store unopened for a refund because I didn’t think I could do it. Two months later I bought the software again and built http://freeplants.com
Dreams are easy. Follow through, stick with it ness? more difficult. That’s what makes the difference.
7:08 am
November 7, 2013
OfflineI, too, wondered whether I could justify spending the money but have found it was just a few dollars from my grocery budget and dining out budget each month! If you eat another meal or two of “beans and rice” as Dave Ramsey says, it’s amazing how much money you can come up with! My Hubby and I talked about it and decided to do the free trial but since I did the monthly budget, I just didn’t cancel it and he never commented about the cost when I continued to talk about “The Board” long after my trial was over, LOL!! I can do amazing things with hamburger when I have too!!
And it’s a business expense you can use on your taxes too!
So after reading all of these glowing replies to Sarah’s goodbye, wouldn’t you like to get started in your own Backyard Nursery business?
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