After a relatively busy “personal day” I sat down in front of my computer anxious to blog about something. I had done a lot of blog reading before I had to go run some errands and it seems to me that I had a few ideas come to mind that I thought I could expand upon. Unfortunately when I sat down in front of my computer and actually pulled up my blog, I lost EVERYTHING that I had been thinking about earlier.

First of all, this made me realize the importance of having something with me at all times to record my ideas so that I don’t forget about them later. As I get older (and I’m still young!) I learn more and more that I should rely on just my memory less and less!

Secondly, I wasted an unbelievable amount of time just sitting here trying to come up with something that, again, could be meaningful and beneficial to my blog and to future bloggers who might happen upon my site. Finally, I made a decision. I decided not to blog.

I know that sounds odd now because I’m writing a blog post, but hear me out.

So I decided not to blog anything. I decided that I was going to close my laptop for now and just stop thinking about it for a bit. If something came to mind, then maybe I’d open up my laptop and start writing, but for now, I needed not to force something that wasn’t coming. I needed to avoid trying to make something from nothing.

That’s when it hit me. In making that decision, I realized my decision could once again be useful advice to other newbies getting started. Trying to force creativity can be just as frustrating as forcing yourself to do some work when you really just need a break. Not only that, but if you’re just manufacturing something for the sake of having something to post, it could very well turn out being content that works against you instead of for you. The key here is to post useful and meaningful content, right?

Before I close, I will pose a question to the more experienced bloggers and Internet Marketers that are reading my blog. Is my following conclusion worthwhile or is it something that could prove to be counter-productive to other newbies? Be brutally honest! It’s part of the learning experience.

Having asked that, I guess that makes two pieces of advice that I would say are coming out of today’s post. First, make sure to record your ideas in SOME way when you have them. Write them down, type them up, use a voice recorder, heck, call yourself and leave yourself a voicemail, but keep track of your ideas! Secondly, don’t force content and end up with something substandard that could result in disappointment not only for your readers, but more importantly for yourself. What’s the use in posting if it’s not going to be fruitful?

It’s truly amazing when something really does come from nothing…but in my newbie and humble opinion, it should not be forced!

Getting started in Internet Marketing seems to be, so far, a hurdle that I am having a hard time reaching, much less actually overcoming.

I know it’s only been a couple of days since I started this blog. I know I have to learn to crawl before I learn to walk. But I find myself getting frustrated already that I haven’t figured out what I’m actually going to do from the standpoint of making money online.

I guess that part of the reason I’m frustrated is now I’m back into my weekly work schedule and don’t have the time to do what I WANT to do – and that is work full-time on building income streams online.

One step at a time, Dustin. One step at a time.

I will say this, though. I found that today I was in a much better mood at work than I have been lately. I actually felt a little “lighter” today because I felt like there was a light shining at the end of the tunnel. I don’t hate my job, or my boss, or anything like that. I get frustrated with the way things go at work sometimes. A lot more lately than I used to. But over all I just feel so overwhelmed at work and, as I stated in my “About Me” page, I am not feeling that sense of satisfaction that I want by being involved in something that I feel really matters. The fact that I am working toward financial freedom is a stunningly refreshing feeling…even if I haven’t taken the first IM steps just yet.

So, there’s the update, but in the spirit of posting the questions that arise as well, I want to know what my (more experienced) friends think. As I am reading through Holly’s book, I keep finding myself thinking, “Ooooh, I gotta put do this now!” or “Hey, I gotta try that now!” In my mind I told myself from the beginning “Read the whole book first for the information. Then go back and read through again for instruction and implementation.” So far, I’ve done ok, but I’m getting anxious and impatient.

Should I stick with my initial gut of “read first, then go back and implement” or is there some advantage to trying out techniques as I read them? One of my biggest obstacles I’m going to have to overcome in this journey is my fear of failure. I read a blog post today (and for the life of me can’t find the link right now!) that talked about how you have to accept failures as a part of doing business and although I logically understand that, the thought is actually painful for me.

So – is my “read first, implement later” reaction something that’s risen out of my fear of failure or is it just good solid advice from the depths of my being?

Please – share of your wisdom! You’ve been here before, what did you do?

I have been dabbling in the idea of Internet Marketing for some time now. I have never really taken the plunge to actually REALLY do anything about it, but I think it’s about time. One of the things that has prompted me to start this particular blog is that on my personal “regular-life” blog someone (Anna Williams) responded to my request for blogging ideas with “I would like to know what questions or troubles people run into when they are first learning Internet Marketing or blogging.”

This intrigued me. Why? Well, for one thing, I am essentially new to Internet Marketing. I am pretty new to blogging as well (having only started in February of this year), but I am ’sorta’ getting the hang of it. That’s actually a little “difficult” for me to admit because I am an IT Manager for the company I work for. I am SUPPOSED to know all this technical garbage, right? I’m not new to the concept of internet marketing, but new to the practice. So new, in fact, that when I hear the term “IM” I still think “instant message” not “internet marketing”. How’s that for green?

Anyway, I thought I’d meet Anna’s request and post the complications I am coming across as a budding Internet Marketer and blogger. The plan is to record my progress and troubles as an internet marketer who is just beginning. That way people can go back and, who knows, maybe even learn from my fumblings!

One thing that I just learned from Anna right before I started this blog is that Wordpress.org is “the” way to blog. I asked her about this. I had heard this from other people. Heck, I had even heard my wife mention that she wishes she’d stated with Wordpress. My personal blog is on blogger, and it seems pretty straightforward. So – for those who want a seedling’s understanding of the “why” on this…

If you can afford to purchase a domain name and internet hosting, then Wordpress.org is the way to go because it’s rich in features that Blogger doesn’t have, it’s highly customizable, and has options and features you can use to get more traffic. If you can’t afford it, that’s ok, but you need to know that you can’t just move a blog later on. All the backlinks, all the work you’ve done to build search engine ranking, everything will essentially be lost if you try to move your blog over from Blogger to Wordpress. So – I think I understand that now. Thanks, Anna!

So if you happen to find yourself interested in my pursuit of online success or just have some thoughts you’d like to share, let me know! I officially declare this the beginning of my Internet Marketing Journey. I don’t know where I’m headed with it yet, but hopefully we’ll soon find out!

Stay tuned for more thoughts!