Hi:

I am a newbie and I found Lisa's site just 2 weeks ago. What can I say? Superb, Excellent, and Magnanimous. Lisa is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L inside and out.

I may not be the person in authority to give advice, however, here's my piece. Just a word of caution, before you drop your few cents to blogging biz.
1) Make a research. Read, read, read and assimilate all the info you have gathered.
2) If at the end of 2 weeks you still have the energy, move on for sure blogging is for you. If not, get out of here and find a life.
3) Ask yourself the following:
a) do i have the passion and patience?
b) are my eyes ready for radiation? c'mon let's face it whether we like it or not, we need to stay infront of the pc/mac for xxx hours.
c) am i willing to learn the trade or even the basic ingredients? more often than not these are easy things said and done but in reality, it isn't.
d) do i have the resources, money, time, etc.?
e) am i willing to save the drowning driftwood?
4) If you have a spare tire, learn some of the shortcuts like outsourcing (go and read the 4-Day Work Week by Ferris) or better yet buy SBI and enroll in Yaro's Blogging Lessons (I am not promoting, how I wish Lisa would do her own in the future). Definitely I'll subscribe to both after my research.
5) Lastly, throw in some of your ???? in the WB forum and, ask if Lisa is available for consultation.

Hope these golden pieces of advice would help. It's not up to me but it is up to you.

Thanks,
Alkhobar
a.k.a Peter

Well, I am not sure if we are talking about web design or blogging which are very different topics. But from my own experience I will say this; always do a lot of research and before you settle down with any of your creations look around you. A good example will be this one; like the first time you create a graphic in Photoshop or any other graphic software, because it is your first time you are overwhelmed with joy and proud of your achievement, but doesn’t mean it looks good. It just feels good. Therefore it is very important that you look around and compare your work.

The second advice is this; know your place in this world. If you are good at blogging then concentrate on that 100%, if you are good a programming then do that, but don’t try to be a “jack of all trades” because your quality will decrease in all fields including in that one that you have passion for.

Finally; be passionate. There are no shortcuts. Passion and love for what you do is the key to success.

#1

I would have to tell them to write with integrity. Regardless of your topic or service, if you lose trust, you lose visitors.

This also includes knowing what you are talking about. Credibility means everything on the web. When people visit your site, they are looking for answers or solutions. If you lie or tell them something wrong, you can bet that they won't be back. If they do return, it's probably to tell you about yourself.

#2

Your passion is a part of you. So sell yourself through your work. If you sell yourself, then your readers will see your passion.

#3

Expand your knowledge and/or resources. If you do this, you will always have something new to offer.

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Alpha7
Web Hosting

When you start to get serious, and begin to aspire to make money from blogging, you cannot do enough research.

When I was completely new all I wanted to do was to get a blog or site up and running, I didn't even bother to check how profitable the topic or the niche was.
I didn't take into account the competition or if there were any affiliate products for my niche or what method other sites in that niche were using to market products or attract traffic.

Its always good to know what your in for, before you jump in the deep end.
Potentially you will be investing a lot of your time into a blog in order to make it successful as quickly as inhumanely possible.
Having performed thorough research will let you know what your in for before you make any commitments.

I realize that for many people new to blogging and internet marketing just getting something up online is their top priority.

But from learning the hard way, really nothing is more satisfying than performing really good, thorough market research and having your site break onto the first page of Google's search results within four weeks.

Because its when you do this, that you know that your doing a lot of things right, from the very start to the end where your on top of your niche.

The only other thing I would tell a newbie is learn, learn, learn.
You really have to get out there and research and try and find out.....

"What you don't know!"

Because it goes without saying, its what you don't know which is preventing you from becoming successful.
You really have to be an 'Information Sponge' and soak up as much as your grey matter will cope with!

(Thank you very much for your comment on my CP, does that mean I get a job?... Kidding)

I would tell each newbie to be sure to get Lisa's new book on website creation...This material is state of the art...it is as current as today and chock full of wisdom...And it is FREE...What a blessing...William Wilson

Hey cool! And I would appreciate that!

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Plan your website, then create it.

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My Latest Blog Post:
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Yes I have been through the whole process before. I learned how to build my own site using Nvu. I thought I was doing everything right and it would just happen, but it didnt, but what ever you do you learn something in the process. I was disappointed but I did learn how to really use the computer and I learned how to build a website. All I was lacking was the customers. Thats why its so important to have passion about what you are doing so you will not get ADD. My situation might be a little different that most people. I am semi-retired and just need enough income to pay a few bills Its just like I told my Sons growing up, if you enjoy what you are doing, the money will take care of itself. I will purchase SBI in the near future but I am in no hurry until I do some more planning. Just let me say this from my experience with online business’. Dont let yourself get to high when you do something right and dont let yourself get to low when you do something wrong, just try to stay on even emotional keel. thanks……………….bill

I'm a newbie. I've done mock websites in college but have never had a live site of my own. So, what advice would someone like me have to give to a newbie? Well, based on the experience that I do have, of course do your research before you dive right in. However, it's okay to make mistakes the first time. Many people do and learn best through personal experience. Make sure you do something you're passionate about, so you don't get bored or run out of ideas quickly. Know your competition and how to make your site stand out from the rest. Think of yourself as a visitor to a site and the kind of things that draw your attention and what draws you away. Finally, have a plan of action. Take it one step at a time, and keep the ideas coming.

One of my pieces of advice is based on a problem I have had myself: Analysis Paralysis. (I can't take credit for the term, however.) Research is important, but there comes a time when you have to get your hands dirty.

You'll probably know when you get to that point. If you need a hint, watch for these signs: You'll find that you've downloaded 15 different e-books on SEO or affiliate marketing (or whatever), but you don't have time to read them all because you've also subscribed to 42 Internet marketing forums and blogs, which you must check hourly. And then of course you have to wade through your 87 e-mail messages from IM gurus, each with a new product to assist you in your money-making endeavors. You're so well researched that you know everything there is to know about Internet marketing, except for some reason you're only making $1.98 a month!

Stop reading about it and JUST DO IT!

My number two piece of advice is simply this: DON'T GIVE UP!

This is a HUGE problem with people just getting started. Great advice!

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Don't put the cart before the horse.
Plan your website, then create it.

Your Free Guide to Starting a Website
http://www.ThePerfectSiteGuide.com



My Latest Blog Post:
Stop Wasting Time on Worthless Techniques

Hey All,

My one piece of advise would be don't look at Internet marketing as trying to make money, try to help others. Weither its by promoting products that will help someone or offering advise to others. A candle don't lose any light by lighting another candle. And the rest will follow on from there. If your in it to make money people will pick that up and tend not to buy from you. Also, it saves you getting upset when its taking a little while to get started.

Cheers,
Amber Jane

It will take time and be PATIENCE.To get Traffic and everything else.

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Don't continue to press against a brick wall, if something isn't working, try another way.

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As Lisa noted, I think this is a serious problem for a lot of people. Not only new folks struggle with it either. I have to fight it all the time. I really enjoy learning new stuff and have always had a hard time doing anything once I feel like I already am competent with it.

My answer is nothing more complicated than a schedule or "to do" list. I have noted that quite a few of the obvious achievers on this site have noted from time to time how they plan what they will do on their projects ahead of time. I try to limit my time to an hour of study before I spend a set amount of time writing content or whatever I need to do. That works for me.

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Good Success!

Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

It’s great to read and learn information and techniques which the vast majority of bloggers already know and use, and granted there are some things which obviously should form your basic foundation of knowledge or be your ‘bread and butter’ in this game. But there are some techniques and strategies which you cannot completely learn or appreciate the entire workings of without actually ‘doing’ and even experimenting with.

For myself I love to tamper, tweak and modify things to see if I can come up with some innovative improvements or even develop some new technique or strategy no-one has yet thought of or tried. I guess I’ve learnt that only from experimenting and getting in there and getting your hands dirty you start to become more aggressive in your thinking and actively seek a greater understanding which then leads to ideas and innovation.

Ideally you want to begin to develop your own techniques or at least find ways to improve on established ones, especially when you already have a well rounded understanding of the basic knowledge and techniques everyone out there is already using.

Sure you may come up with an idea, invest some time in researching and testing, only for it to become a total flop!

But we really do learn more from our failures than our successes.

For example I have had a few instances where I have scored some wildly successful spikes of online traffic. Though I found it really frustrating not being able to duplicate the results, because at the time I really didn’t understand either where the traffic was coming from or what I did which caused these surges of traffic to come my way.

So then I started to really focus on improving my understanding by deconstructing what I was doing, and through research, testing and subtle experimentation. Now my results are not only much more predictable and consistent, they are steadily improving and also I know exactly what I have done right and what specific area I have lagged or fallen in or need to do to improve.

Anyway, for someone that’s new I would strongly suggest, not to get too comfortable with just knowing!

Get in there and get your hands dirty, graze some knuckles and don’t be afraid to try and do things a little differently; experiment and mix things up a bit. Endeavor to know where all the nuts and bolts go and how everything works, don’t be afraid of breaking the machine just to see if you can not only fix it, but make it better!

It’s by gaining a better understanding of how things work, you gain the unique ability to make things work the way you want them to, which can ultimately give you the end result that you’re after.

John Salamon Jnr

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