From: "Patricia Odell" <NELLIE@worldshare.net>
Am I successful? You bet!
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Success means different things to different
people. To some it is fame and fortune, to others
it may be as simple as accomplishing a goal. To
me, success is gaining respect and being accepted.
I feel that I have accomplished both of these
goals in the last eighteen months.
Eighteen months ago I knew absolutely nothing
about computers and the internet and had no one to
teach me. I recieved my computer as an
anniversary gift. I didn't know how to set it up
or even how to turn it on and off. I read and
reread the instructions that came with it and
finally just dived in.
After getting the BEAST set up I immediately got
connected to the internet. I didn't know what to
expect but I was eager to learn all the wonderful
secrets that the WWW was touted to contain. I was
immediately fascinated. In one hour I was hooked!
By the end of the first day I was browsing the web
like an expert (or so I thought). There was so
much information to absorb that I almost went
on overload.
It took me a few months to figure out that the web
is like anywhere else. There are scams and con artists
hiding under every rock waiting for the gullible and
over eager newbies like myself to take their bait.
My motto has always been
"Don't believe it till you can prove it". This is
especially true on the web. I fell for two get rich the
easy way scams before I figured out that there ain't
no way to get rich easy, not even on the web.
I seemed as if everyone and their uncle had a website.
I wanted a website. I got a free site and started
practicing building with their "easy" site
builder. It looked so ameteurish that it shamed
me. I didn't give up. I knew that I could do better.
I didn't know html from peanut butter. Java and
Perl were foriegn languages to me. The so called
"easy site builder" was proving to be "not so
easy". This was going to be a lot harder than I
thought.( and still is )
What I needed was focus. But what would I focus
on? There were so many things going on in that
great big world of cyberspace that it was confusing
to say the least! I didn't have the slightest notion
what my *niche* was going to be so it was hard to
focus on just one thing. I wanted it all! I was like a kid
in a candy store. (or maybe a bull in a china shop is a
more apt description.)
My first site was a jumble of affilliate programs,
my original poetry and miscellaneous junk.
Nothing to make anyone want to come back after one
visit. I'm still trying to get it right but I'm getting closer
all the time. I knew I needed to specialize in something
but didn't know what in the WWW that would be. I knew
I didn't want to be a marketer of internet "junk".
After much trial and error (mostly error) and
reading the comments in my guestbook, I decided
that what I do best (and have always wanted to do)
is write. So I decided to focus on that. What
will I write that anyone wants to read?
I was bent on having my own Ezine. I have been reading
ezines since I got started on the web. I thought "I can
do that". I put a mailing list subscription box on my new
website and waited to see if anyone was interested
in what I might have to say. In the meantime I
concentrated on what I would say and how to say
it. I also browsed the web for any information I
could find on how to start and maintain an ezine.
Three months later ( ready or not, world, here I come! )
I was ready to go. I titled the newsletter
"Full Speed Ahead", a fitting title since that was the way
I was going.
With two subscribers on the mailing list and a few friends
and family that I not so discreetly imposed upon,
I was ready to publish or perish. Now, eight issues later I
have a subscriber list of over two hundred and have had only
three unsubs.
I have made a lot of mistakes along the way, lost files, lost ads,
even lost my entire formatting a few times. Once my list server
let me down and the whole thing was a total mess!
Time will tell if I have found my niche. This is
what I will concentrate on. I have also started writing
for other ezines on occassion and I am happy to say that
my stories and articles have found approval.
Am I rich? No. Will I get rich? Probably not.
Do I care? Well, I'm not going to lie and say no.
It would be wonderful to make an e-fortune. But, for
the present I am content that I have found
something that I am reasonably successful at. After all,
didn't I say that, to me, success is being
accepted and respected?
Patricia O'Dell
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