I Made the Mistakes So You Don’t Have To

October 28, 2007 ·
Filed in Web Development ·
9 Comments

I just finished reading Brian Clark’s Teaching Sells free report. Brian makes a ton of great points and I’d like to touch on one of those points in this article.

Brian talks about getting into the online publishing game now because it’s still very early in the game.

I’d even go so far as to say if you’re only just now seriously looking into publishing online content, you’re way ahead of 97% of the population.

He goes on to add:

Most people will tell you they want to be entrepreneurs, make money from home, and free themselves from working for the benefit of their boss.

But unfortunately, “telling” you or “thinking about it” is as far as most people go.

From a “Thinker” to a “Doer”

I’m glad that I finally made the transition from “thinker” to “doer.” Random Jabber is my first real site, and I’m already just days away from launching Nice Stylesheet, which is my second site. Even though it’s still early to be getting into the online publishing game, I regret not getting into the game when I first started learning about web publishing back in 2003 as a senior in college. Back then I had very basic HTML skills, and that was it. I wanted to publish sites, but I really felt like I didn’t have the knowledge needed to start and keep them going.

Fast forward to 2005 and I finally register my first domain names. I’m taking my first baby steps in the right direction. Fast forward again to the beginning of 2007 and I’m still sitting on my domain names with nothing online. I registered three domain names in 2005 and did absolutely nothing with them for two years until Random Jabber went live in May 2007. From 2003 to the beginning of 2007 I was a “thinker.” I was always reading about everyone else’s success and always thinking about the ideas I had, but never acted on them.

You Can Learn From My Mistakes

If you’re thinking about getting into the online publishing game, don’t make the same mistakes that I made. There is no better time than the present to get started publishing your ideas. It’s true, hindsight is always better than foresight, but I can’t help but think back and wonder where I might be today had I started publishing my ideas when I first discovered web publishing in 2003. I didn’t act on my ideas because I felt like I didn’t have the skills to act, but knowing what I know now, I wish I could go back and just start publishing and learn about the business as I went. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to possess all the knowledge or skills to get started. Just getting started is the biggest obstacle and unfortunately for most, even though they have good ideas, they never make it over that obstacle.

Most people never take the necessary action to make their dreams come true, even though it’s usually just a matter of showing up and getting started.

I wonder where Random Jabber would be today if I had started it in March of 2005 when I registered the domain? Where would Nice Stylesheet be today had I went live in January of 2006 when I had the idea and registered the domain?

It’s fun to think back and wonder, but it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I finally “showed up” and got started. It really is like a snow ball effect once you get started. I’m getting ready to launch my second site and have plans for the third and fourth which I’ll start once Nice Stylesheet goes live.

So What Are You Waiting On?

It’s not to late to get started developing your ideas. The main thing is that you get started.

If you’re in the same position I was in a few years back and just don’t know how to get started, feel free to contact me and we’ll talk, maybe I can fill in some of the blanks.

Good luck.

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Comments

1Brian Purkiss jabbered...

Wow.
That’s a good post.
Very good post.

I agree.
I’ve done that a bunch as well - sitting on my butt and not doing anything.
But, I’m moving.
Somewhat slowly, but I’m picking up the pace.
I’m excited about what’s in store.

Looking forward!

Hope all goes well with you as well Deron!

Posted on Sun Oct 28, 2007

2Jarkko Laine jabbered...

Hi Deron!

As Brian said, this was a great post. I’ve had my share of mistakes along the way as well, and the biggest regret is that I didn’t get into making money online earlier.

I have been doing various things online since the late nineties already, but only this year really started to believe that there is money to be made out there (and pursue those goals more seriously).

The biggest regret (although I try not to worry about it) is that I built a rather popular and lively community around Finnish games (www.suomipelit.com) but planned it in a way that basically made it impossible for me to earn anything from it. The last straw was when we decided to turn the site into a non-profit organization…

Slowly I’ve been drifting away from the project (it’s been going on since 2000 and I’m still involved a bit) and moving to new ventures that will make it easier for me to make money from them instead of just spending money

Looking forward to Nice Stylesheets and everything you have in store for the future! Good luck, and it’s great that we’re all moving forward

Posted on Mon Oct 29, 2007

3ses5909 jabbered...

You know I’m there with you. When I first became active at places like SP 4 years ago and found out you could actually make money doing this, I wanted in. Not b/c I felt it was a get rish quick scheme, but because I like building things and if I can build them for myself and make money doing it, even better!

Are you joining the teaching sells? I actually joined last night.

Posted on Mon Oct 29, 2007

4SarahG jabbered...

I’ve been doing various ‘schemes’ and sites to make money since I graduated in ‘99. Before that I’d just been building sites on free hosting. I must admit I regret not thinking more clearly about it when I first started out in business and just wasted a lot of spare time. Now I rarely have spare time to waste and plenty of ideas and half started sites!

Too many what ifs

Posted on Mon Oct 29, 2007

5Deron Sizemore jabbered...

Brian: Yeah, sometimes going slow is what it takes. The key is that you’re moving forward. The web publishing game isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon.

Jarkko: We all have regrets in this game. It’s the one thing about learning, you have to fail before you can succeed. Even though the community site around the Finnish games didn’t work out, I’d be willing to bet you learned a ton in the process. I’d also be willing to bet that you won’t make those same mistakes again.

Sara: This sounds exactly like me. I think you and I joined SitePoint around the same time too.

I don’t think I’ll be joining Teaching Sells, even though I would love to. Seems like I remember reading that it’s around $100 bucks or so? That’s not much for a superior program, but I still don’t have it. Please fill me in on how the program is going. I’d love to hear about it.

Sarah: I think that’s the biggest thing for people new to web publishing. You don’t think to clearly about it, but at the time, you just don’t know any better. Come to find out years down the road that you were not doing something right. If only we all could know then what we all know now. I’m looking forward to the coming years. I’m by no means an expert on this stuff, but I’m light years ahead of where I was three years ago.

Posted on Mon Oct 29, 2007

6Michael from Pro Blog Design jabbered...

Well said Deron. Ideas are the easy part. I have a load of ideas, but I haven’t acted on many of them. That will have to change…

Did you register for the Teaching Sells course btw? I’m in there somewhere, and it’s looking great. :D

Posted on Fri Nov 2, 2007

7Deron Sizemore jabbered...

Michael: No, didn’t register for teaching sells. I heard it was around $100 or so? Is that correct? I just didn’t have the money at the time so I didn’t sign up for it. Maybe I will down the road after I hear some reviews on it.

Please keep me up to date on how the course is going.

Posted on Fri Nov 2, 2007

8Grace Smith jabbered...

I have definitely fallen into the thinker category at times, i have alot of ideas and it is just a case of writing them down in order of priority and putting a plan into action of how to set about starting and completing them.

I signed up for Teaching Sells (at the $97 price - absolute steal!) and it really is amazing! If only for the fantastic people you meet, i have already met a potential Joint Venture partner for an idea i have and the course itself is very well laid out and easy to digest.

Posted on Tue Nov 13, 2007

9Deron Sizemore jabbered...

Grace: I’ve thought about signing up for Teaching Sells. Just haven’t done it yet. Right now, I’ve got other things that I need that $97 for, but I would love to sign up.

You’re right though, if you get nothing else out of the experience, you are networking with a bunch of like minded individuals which could pay dividends in the long run.

Please keep in touch and let me know how Teaching Sells is going.

Posted on Wed Nov 14, 2007