Ahh i got a problem I cannot keep with an idea. I will tell you my previous ideas and also about me then hopefully you can help me a little better.

1. I was going to make a freelace site for freelancers like myself to find projects easily.

2. I was going to make a PHP tutorial site and use it so I am doing tutorials while I am making it myself because I am still learning myself.

I like in the UK, I enjoy surfing and live in the south west in Cornwall. I am learning to program with PHP and will one day learn how to do CSS. I own a web design business with a friend at whitepixeldesign.com. I also enjoy basketball and love watching the Detroit Pistons in the early hours of the morning in the UK.

For me, the most common reasons that make me go back and forth between ideas are:

1. Fear of failure. Often times, I keep going back and forth, i.e. I do not commit to a topic, because I keep weighing out the pros and the cons, which of course is a great thing, but up to a certain point. Sometimes, when I cannot commit, deep down, I am afraid I will fail at it, so I keep flip-flopping. The way to overcome this is to go with my gut, take a risk, and go for it!

2. Maybe I feel that none of the ideas I have come up with is a really great idea that sparks my interest or passion. What I would do is go back to brainstorming until I come up with an idea/approach I am happy with.

3. Maybe I am over doing things, and I just need a break to clear up my thinking. If this is the problem, it helps me to take a break!

It's possible that none of the points I mentioned above apply to your situation. But it's important to think about the reason(s) that stop you from going for it.

Hope this helps.

Sherif

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TO be honest its the fear of failure i realise that there is too many sites like it so i leave it. Should I be doing this and should I think of a new idea or go for one of the ones I already have.

I also had another idea of web ID where they have id cards that they can put in there sig and then get rep so it is a whole online thing and think of expanding this. Suggestions please.

Best Regards,
Steve

Steve, you are not alone in your situation. Take some comfort in knowing this is what many people go through when trying to come up with a site.

But what you need to realize is that you can't be afraid to fail. Unless it's money you're concerned about losing (which I understand), failure doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's through that failure you will learn what you should do. I've certainly failed a lot out here.

If you truly have a passion to create a certain kind of site, go for it. It's virtually impossible to find a niche that is untapped. There is going to be competition no matter what you do. But hopefully your drive and excitement for your idea will help you rise above the competition and your creativity will allow you to come up with innovative ideas that your competitors haven't thought of.

Now that doesn't mean to completely ignore the competition and niche saturation. Take those things into consideration as well. But the most important thing is your enthusiasm for the topic.

There's a big difference between being enthused about making money than being enthused about the journey and the actual process. There are people whose ideas are fueled by the idea of getting rich. Then there are those whose ideas are sparked out of their own enjoyment, passion or desire to teach. Through their enjoyment, creativity, etc. success just happens. In the latter example, making money is still the goal but is fueled by more than quitting their job or making a certain amount in year, etc.

Many people want to own the next YouTube site or Amazon.com without thinking of what they are going to have to go through in order to achieve that status. Their ideas and the end result all sound great, but the means to be getting there may not be so pleasant because their sole energy is focused around "getting rich" and "not failing."

So your goal is to sit back and decide what type of topic really gets your fired up. What gets your juices flowin when you think about it? What excites you? Take that energy and go from there. And most important, you can't be afraid of failing.

Sorry if this sounds too philosophical. I am reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and much of this conversation is reminding me of some of his teachings.

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Lisa,

You always give such useful and understandable advice. I'm new around here, am working on my first SBI site and wow! has it ever been a learning process. Whenever I need to focus and keep moving ahead, I come to this forum and learn so much from you and all the people on here. (I frequent the SBI forum as well, but its much more time consuming finding exactly what I'm looking for).

I agree. There are VERY FEW niches left untapped, so go with what you are most passionate about. My site will be about weight loss and natural foods, so there's a lot of competition, but I do understand the importance of putting my own "flavor" into it.

Right now I'm in the process of finding photos for my site, but thats another post. I'll go to that subject and ask a few questions.

In the meantime, thanks so much Lisa, and everyone, for all the wonderful information we find here. I'm so glad I found your website, which got me going on FINALLY taking the plunge to become a webmaster person.

Thanks Janna and welcome,

Great to have you here and it's good that you get the importance of adding your own flavor to your site because that is HUGE in helping you stand out.

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This has really helped me i love surfing and I think it would be great to start a surfing site its what i really do enjoy and I think I could really put my energy in the site. But now I do not know what to do it about I am not sure what I should have on it. Please help (again lol).

Thanks,
Steve

Like most concepts, surfing includes all kinds of things. Maybe you could give information about where good places are to surf, or how to learn how to surf, what you know about surfing from your own experiences...etc. Make sure you focus on a few keywords and go from there.

My own experience is to start SOMEWHERE and then work it and adjust it as I research and move along. Its definitely been quite a process for me!

hmmm tbh I have been to few beaches and am not amazing myself. Perhaps some photo upload thing but I am not sure that would work because at first it would look really empty. I am really confused on where to go from here.

I have ideas for surfing like a review site where when people have had a surf they can go on the site and go to like the beach and write how good it was etc. but it will look empty until i get people so i do not think it will work until i get a site where users are frequently coming.

So what you would do is create an informative site about your favorite beaches for example. Don't add the review/participation section of your site until you have the traffic. That way it won't look empty. It will just be informative content until you get the traffic you need.

Or you could build a "How to" site about surfing and target keywords like "surfing for beginners" or "learn how to surf" for example. Continue building up content until you have the traffic you want. Then launch the section that allows people to post reviews. Like Janna said, you've got to start somewhere. Don't be afraid!

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The "don't be afraid" part is something I had to overcome when trying to understand why I was dragging my feet so much. When you're totally new at this, and want it to be perfect (dang perfectionists!) its easy to get stuck and think "yours will never be as good as theirs". The truth is, maybe it isn't, but you sure have the opportunity to make it different. I give myself permission to mess up, learn from it, and move on.

Lisa is right. Build the traffic and then add the part for visitor feedback. This is something I learned, and understand, from SBI. And the way to traffic is content full of ideas and information on a subject you are knowledgable and excited about.

I am 40 years old and still looking for the pot of gold.. But after getting to this age realize, make sure the path is enjoyable and learn from the journey. Or you can be another sucker and buy a map book to fortune that was penned by a more motivated shlepp too happy to take your hard earned duckets. We're all in the same boat.

Thank you for sharing .

You sound so similar to me. I have some topics in mind - I did a lot of research, most of it to eliminate the scammers and find someone honest like Lisa, but I keep 2nd guessing myself and can't seem to get started. I thought this would be easy for me, but I find myself at loose ends and not able to begin. It feels almost the way - I guess - stage fright would feel.

I have had a long work life and just turned 64. My company [who I had worked for 16 yrs] laid me off [ along with a lot of other Director level people] back in April.

I was 64 in September.

I have always loved the internet and always had strong feelings about management and leadership. I have several other passions, but that is another post.

I feel like I am frozen, and can't seem to take the first step. Lisa, I think this place is wonderful, but I have read so many things and I am not putting one foot ahead of the other and just WALKING.

I find this so hard to understand, after having 1/2 dozen people report to me. I have always been better at getting things for OTHER people -- don't know if that is part of the problem. Here I am, involuntarily retired at 64, not daring to go back to the corporate world -- which I pretty much hate -- but needing to make some money. Oh - not what I was making before -- I'd be happy with 1/2 that (which I can't see how I can get).

I guess I might even be happy with 1/3 of that.

But here I am, a woman regularly accustomed to running a whole dept. and yet completely at odds for where to begin or how to start. That is why I'm here.