Making Money Online can be Fun

This has been one of those weeks where I really felt like I needed to sit down and make a list of my accomplishments because my “To Do” list looked almost the same this Saturday as it did last Sunday. You know the kind of week I am talking about; the kind of week where you feel constantly busy only to find you haven’t done most of what you intended. That leads to the question of just what was I doing that kept me so busy that I didn’t do what I had targeted as priority activities.

Well for starters, I have been writing a lot of articles lately. I also started a new job recently (ok-that was a few months ago). These two things have really thrown my schedule off course. While blogging is still a high priority, while it is still a main interest…somehow, I have found myself so busy working that I have gotten waylaid the past few weeks. I still work on blogging in my mind, but unfortunately my mental notes are not being transcribed onto my computer.

While I can make a case for being particularly busy this fall, this just doesn’t completely explain my lack of blog posts recently. It seems to be complicated by hitting a big bump. I think that everyone who works online periodically experiences periods of time when they lose their enthusiasm and positive drive for moving ahead.

There certainly are plenty of reasons why these downturns occur. There is also value in being aware of and understanding what causes you to become discouraged with your online endeavors. In fact, I see it as the first step in regaining a positive outlook and renewing your call to action. Nevertheless, what I prefer to focus on at this time are ways to renew and sustain the positive energy and enthusiasm necessary for moving forward.

As I mentioned in my last post, ending each day with an accomplished list can be really helpful. It not only can alter your perceptions on your day, but it can also serve as a useful tool for becoming better organized to achieve your desired results. Viewing all that you actually have done in black and white can certainly help to allay the discouragement that is often felt when you have not mastered your “To Do” list. Additionally, seeing how you spent your day, can also help you to discern ways to be more focused and on track.

Like so many others, I have also found that the surest way to end up discouraged and burnt out is to spend every spare moment working online. This is an easy trap to fall into whenever you undertake a new opportunity. The excitement and potential for expansion and success are great motivators, but learning to temper this motivation with recognizing the need to take a break on occasion is important.

I recently read about the need to be kind to yourself when working from home. I like this thought; I have to admit this had never occurred to me as vital to avoiding or overcoming discouragement. Taking an occasional day off or rewarding your accomplishments will help to renew you and your energy level. You would certainly do these type of things for someone working for you—so why not for yourself?

For me recognizing that working from home did not mean you had to work alone was probably one of the most valuable lessons that I learned. By networking with others, you will be able to share ideas, receive their input in those areas where you need help or have problems, and best of all you have the potential for developing friends who can provide support when you need it. Having others to share your accomplishments and your discouragements can serve as a great motivator.

While what renews or re-energizes each person may differ, the one thing that is the same is the fact that it is vital to figure out what works for you. Especially when you are new to working online, this is often an area of oversight. It is easy in the early stages of working online to feel as if your excitement and energy will last you all the way through to your goals. It can be a difficult lesson to learn otherwise, but fortunately there are a lot of ways to overcome the downsides of working from home—best of all, many of them are easy to implement.

What helps you to get past the frustration? What keeps you motivated and focused on your short and long term goals? Sharing is a great way help both yourself and others.

When I first started exploring various ways to earn an income from home, I kept hearing about the many benefits of working from home. There certainly was an abundance of people who were extolling how great it was to be your own boss, set your own hours, and make as much money as you wanted. While working from home certainly does prove beneficial to a lot people, it is important to note that along with the positives, there are also many challenges that result when you begin a home business.

One of the challenges of working from home that I did not fully anticipate was how difficult it could be to stay focused on what was important. I always considered myself to be organized and disciplined, but working from home has taught me otherwise (i.e. I found out I still had a lot to learn). When I started my first online venture, I was motivated, determined and willing to work hard; as a result, I was more than a little frustrated when I found myself barely progressing.

From this frustration, I learned the value of knowing how to devise a schedule that would aid progress; part of this learning process included learning the value of starting each day with a list. I came to appreciate the need for a list that would prioritize those activities that would be most helpful in propelling my business in the direction that I wanted.

While making a list each day with what you plan to accomplish is a great way to improve your focus on what is important and also to facilitate productivity, it does have its downside as well. Particularly when you are new to working at home, it is hard to know how much you can feasibly accomplish during your work hours. This often translates into a list that is more appropriate for a week’s activities than for a day’s.

At least, this was my experience. The amount of information to learn and the seemingly unending amount of work to get started was more than a little daunting. I would diligently make my list and then at the end of the day, be very discouraged to see how much I didn’t accomplish that I had set out to accomplish. I was always left with the feeling that I just wasn’t working hard enough and just not getting enough done each day.

This went on for quite awhile and it eventually caused me to become very discouraged. Finally, I learned to start each day with my “to do” list and end each day with my “accomplished” list. By taking the time to end my workday by listing all that I had gotten done, I was often able to have a very different perspective on my day.

Instead of focusing just on what I didn’t do, I was able to focus on my progress. I frequently found that I had done quite a bit of work. While over time, I have developed more realistic expectations of what I can do each day; I still have the habit of creating long goal lists for each day. But now when I zero in on what didn’t get done, I also take the time to make a list of what did get done.

Recently, I read several articles on how to stay motivated when working from home and I was pleased to see this technique listed as one of the ways to maintain motivation. Sustaining motivation is another one of the challenges of working from home, and reading articles on the topic was definitely a learning experience that I hope to share in a future post. I would be interested in learning how you keep motivated when working from home; be sure to leave a comment if you have motivational tips to share.

I have been finding it increasingly difficult to settle on topics to write about that I find interesting and hope that others will find interesting as well. My first thought was maybe blogging really wasn’t the right choice for me; maybe I had incorrectly assessed what I wanted to do and what I actually could accomplish.

I thought about all of the successful bloggers who manage to churn out interesting posts on a regular basis—seemingly with so little effort. I started to feel really discouraged; of course, I was ignoring the fact that even the best bloggers have difficulty maintaining their creativity and productivity at some point in time.

A little more thought and I realized what I already knew, that everyone encounters roadblocks. Just because you stumble into a roadblock, this does not mean that you aren’t on the right path or that you don’t have the necessary skills to succeed. It just means you have a problem and you need to take time to evaluate the situation. It just means that there are questions you should be asking, such as why the impasse and what can be done to solve the dilemma.

This at least gave me a starting point and some direction. I began by thinking about why I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to write about. Additionally, I thought about why were my ideas going in so many directions. I came to the realization that I had lost my focus for this blog. While the blog was started as a way to introduce the fundamentals of freebie trading, to find referrals for freebie trading and to document the many changes occurring in the freebie world, I had now come to a point where I wanted to expand my focus.

It is not that I stopped viewing freebie trading as a great opportunity or that I thought there was nothing left to write on the subject of freebie trading. Freebie trading was the first online opportunity where I actually made money. I still view freebies as a great starting point for anyone who wishes to work from home. You can begin trading with very little online knowledge or experience; as you gain an understanding of how to succeed at freebie trading, you can also learn a lot of valuable information to help you expand your horizons. Even better than expanding your knowledge base, you can meet so many great people who will provide you with encouragement and support in addition to sharing their expertise with you.

So that was my first discovery, that my focus was blurry and needed to be clearly defined once more. While I have not been actively trading recently, I still have an interest in trading and what goes on in the freebie world. However, I feel the need to refine my area of interests and perhaps move in a new direction…or perhaps reshape my direction.

I also realized that as I have been trying to learn more about blogging by reading the blogs and newsletters of other bloggers that I have been thinking I had to write about similar topics in order to succeed. Then today when I was reading one of Yaro Starak’s posts, he mentioned that people often make the mistake of thinking that they have to write about how to make money online and how this is not true at all. I concluded this was another part of why I was vacillating so much about what I should post next. I felt like I should be writing about how to succeed online and make money, but that was not necessarily what I wanted to write about.

As he pointed out, there are many moneymaking blogs out there that deal with many other subjects. However, when you first begin to explore the Internet for ways to earn, blogs and related products that are usually encountered deal with this topic. This leads to the tendency to think this is the route that needs to be taken.

That now leaves me with the question of do I just want to widen my path to include other areas in internet marketing that are related in some way to freebie trading or at least can be applied to freebie trading. Or am I looking to make a sharp right turn into a new path that may no longer encompass trading.

What I do know at this point is that encountering roadblocks offers an individual the opportunity to stop and reflect on just where they are going. An impasse provides the chance to test one’s determination and persistence. Growth and development are the result of constant renewal, questioning, assessing and following through with positive action.

Recently, I was gone for most of a week. When I returned, my daughter was visiting for a few days. During that stretch of time, I have to admit it was very difficult to concentrate on writing posts for this blog. This is not to say that I did not attempt to do so. But I found myself contemplating the need to post far more than I found myself taking action.

At one point in time, I had several posts written up for these kinds of occasions when I might not have the time to write. However, somewhere along the way, I used them for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of procrastinating about replenishing my stockpile of posts. The first few times it was easy to think that I still had several reserved posts so there was no urgency to immediately replenish my extra posts that I had accumulated. As result, I soon realized that those extra posts had dwindled until there weren’t any extras left.

Eventually while I was away, I did manage to write up in my notebook a post and to start a second one, but due to the fact that I didn’t have access to a computer a lot of the time I never managed to actually post either one. I planned to post one of the articles as soon as I returned home, however, when I first logged back onto the Internet I found out news that made me put aside my posts in favor of writing a new post.

I came home to find out that I had missed CaliStyle101’s very first webinar; this was a disappointment to me of course. However, Leslie and Chris had already made the information covered in the webinar available to members who were not able to be present for the actual webinar. There are 6 videos that cover all of the information.

While I will confess that I have only listened to the first part at this point, I found myself feeling really impressed and excited by CaliStyle’s continued efforts to expand and improve the scope of the forum. During the past six months, Leslie and Chris have transformed CaliStyle into a very innovative freebie forum. Although still primarily a freebie forum, it really doesn’t do justice to refer to it as a freebie forum. It truly has become much more than just a trading forum; there are many useful tools as well as information now available that will help anyone who is interested to diversify beyond freebie trading.

During a difficult period in freebie trading, Leslie and Chris have worked hard to not only increase traffic to the forum, but to provide members with the necessary knowledge and skills to find their own referrals off the forum. They have also made available additional ways to earn an income; anyone who would like to earn affiliate commissions through referrals to the forum can upgrade to a Silver Membership.

A Silver membership affords all members more than just the opportunity to earn commissions for referrals to the forum. The area of the forum that is available only to Silver members also contains a lot of information that can be applied to other Internet opportunities.

I am really looking forward to watching the rest of the videos and to learning more about the future plans for this forum. It is so nice to be a part of CaliStyle; when I go there I always have a sense that its members (and their success) are valued. If you have not joined or recently visited CaliStyle 101, you should take the time to at least visit. I think you will agree that it is evident that the administrators work hard to initiate improvements that have the potential to facilitate the success of each member.

Last month I wrote several posts about finding a mentor; I devoted a fair amount of writing space to just how and where does one find a blogging mentor. I concluded those posts with the thought that I was at the point in my “quest for a mentor” journey where it was going to take a lot more thought, exploration, and in the end inspiration.

Well, I have to confess once I wrote those posts, I found myself putting the whole matter aside. While exploring the whole idea of mentors and their value, I managed to sort out some of my tangled up thoughts about the direction I wanted to take. So the temptation to view this a settled issue was great; however, I soon realized that I was allowing myself to settle into the rut of inaction after contemplation. So I made the decision that action was definitely called for immediately.

The first thing that I decided to do was to start reading other people’s blogs to learn not only what others were writing about but also to learn a little about some of the bloggers who had already achieved what I was hopping to attain. So far, I have subscribed to 4 blogs; I will gradually add more once I figure out a schedule for regularly reading these 4. I have also subscribed to 3 newsletters. I figured that this would serve as a further education about how each of these bloggers’ has approached blogging and eventually realized a wide readership base. And finally I joined a forum for bloggers in hopes of getting to meet other bloggers and hopefully, exchange ideas with them.

Where has this all led me and what have I learned so far? The first thing that I have learned is that like most endeavors on the Internet it is very easy to become overwhelmed by all of the information available concerning blogging. While I realize that I have barely uncovered the tip of the iceberg called blogging, I already perceive the need to streamline all of the information I am collecting. This I find difficult to do because I admit to loving the action of collecting information; sorting through information and making choices about what to keep and what to set aside reminds me of having to discard part of a prized collection.

The next thing that I discovered is that being able to write well and having creative and interesting ideas is not in itself enough to accomplish the purpose of blogging for an income. I have noticed that some of the bloggers who have reached a high level of income as a result of blogging are not necessarily the best writers out there. (Ok, perhaps that should read not the best writers in MY opinion.) But what they do have is a great understanding of how to create and run a successful online business: writing is just one aspect of that business, albeit a critical aspect.

Additionally, I have come to realize that while blogging is easy to start even if you are not well versed in the technical aspects of the computer, progress and growth with blogging does involve acquiring at least a higher level of technical expertise than I currently have. Initially the simple acts of writing and posting may be sufficient, but eventually there is a need for expansion. Videos, pod casts, & informational products are just a few of the skills a successful blogger must now posses.

What these realizations (as well as several others not covered here) have led me to is the conclusion that successful blogging requires the same skills that are needed to run most online businesses. While this might have been an obvious fact, I have to admit that until recently I viewed blogging success as something primarily achieved through writing excellence. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that success in blogging doesn’t include being a skilled writer; what I am saying is that I now understand that writing is only one part of the formula for achieving success as a blogger. In the end, I am not sure how I feel about this conclusion; however, I feel like I have at least taken some steps in the right direction.

Recently I started a new job and it meant a big change in my schedule. Two years ago when I first switched from full time to part-time work outside the home, I normally only worked afternoons; hence, I usually had my mornings available to work online and to do fun things like the laundry. Well that changed this fall. I am still working part-time, but now I work 2 long days (8-10hours) on Monday and Tuesday and then one more 1/2 day.

The point of relating all of that was to lead up to the fact that this past Wednesday I was feeling a little more than behind on everything else that I normally do. So early Wednesday morning I logged onto the Internet to check my email messages. While doing so, I noticed that I had some new followers on Twitter. As a result, I logged in to Twitter to follow back. While there I tweeted that I had now decided that Wednesday was going to be my catch up day.

Well, I figured my declaration of making Wednesday my official catch up day would go unnoticed. However, a short time later someone replied back that she also would also declare it Catch It Up Wednesday. Late that evening, she tweeted me back to see how I had done. So now I found myself with not just a Catch It Up Wednesday partner, but also a partner who was holding me accountable.

When I started my first online endeavor, this was one of the first things my enroller told me to do—find a partner & keep each other accountable. At the time, I didn’t really particularly like this bit of advice. I felt I was responsible and I was self-motivated; therefore, why would I need to have a partner to keep me accountable. I perceived it more as a way of trying to create competition between team members.

However, this time around I was happy to have someone join me in also designating Wednesday as her catch up day. Since my first online experience, I have come to realize the value in helping each other to stay accountable. It is not just about being successful at reaching your goals, but about helping each other to reach goals; it is about sharing ways that can lead to the successful attainment of those designated goals. As an added bonus, it can be a lot of fun!

I have notice that this is true about a lot of the things I was either advised about or read about when I joined my first online opportunity. It is not that things didn’t make sense then or I didn’t agree with most of it; it is more how the same advice still holds true, but it has also evolved and expanded to have more meaning over the past few years.

Working with others who share a common goal is just one example of advice given at the beginning of my first online undertaking that still holds true, but it now has more meaning. As I have evolved, so has the meaning of the guidance I was originally given. I have come to place a lot of value on the online relationships that are formed with others. I have now seen how teamwork and holding each other accountable can be of great benefit to everyone involved; it took me awhile, but I eventually got the concept that working relationships are just as important online as offline.

Finally, I realized (once again) how crucial it is to reexamine on a regular basis your goals, expectations, ideas & perceptions that have developed based on your knowledge and experience. A large part of developing, advancing, and reaching goals has to do with learning to recognize the importance of viewing learning as not being static but as a never-ending process.

In my last post I was writing about FreebieLandGateway and how it has evolved as a site since it was launched late last spring. As evidenced from the changes that have occurred, a very definite evolution has taken place with this freebie training website. I suspect that the site will continue to evolve and improve.

The progression of FreebieLandGateway wouldn’t have occurred unless there was also growth and development taking place with the traders who are responsible for the development of the site. When I asked Lora Lee about the changes that the site had undergone, I also asked her about what she had learned and how her expectations had changed since she launched the site.

Lora’s answers indicate without a doubt that the past few months since launching FreebieLandGateway have been a definite learning experience for her. In addition to learning a great deal, Lora Lee has altered her expectations accordingly. This new knowledge gained is reflected both in the changes now in place and in her plan for changes yet to come.

I think that the answers that Lora gave to my questions provide some valuable insights for anyone considering starting their own website—esp. if this is your first attempt at setting up a new site. Below are her answers concerning her expectations, how these expectations have evolved, and how this growth and evolution will contribute to the future of FLG.

1) What were your expectations & goals as you entered into the development of your site?

“This second part is more difficult to talk about because my expectations were soooo high when we launched the site. I would even go so far as to say I was blatantly naive about how long it would take to get it “off the ground.” I still feel like it isn’t as far off the ground as it should be, lol. One thing I probably would have done differently was the mentoring program. Technically, the site is running the way I expected it to, and we’ve got some great ideas that we’re working on implementing to enhance the services we already offer. But as far as profitability, we’re still working toward that. For now, pretty much everything we make is going back into advertising. “

2) How have your expectations & goals changed since your launch? What are they now?

“My expectations have changed dramatically since we launched the site. I have a more realistic outlook on how long it takes to make a site like FLG successful. I have no intention of giving up on it, no matter how long it takes. We just continue to focus on the marketing and customer service. As long as we keep working, I know that it will get better and better. It’s easy to get discouraged if you constantly focus on how much money a new website is making. I have begun to just focus on the core reason for this website — to help grow the freebie trading community and show others out there that a safe, legitimate income CAN be earned online. The general public needs to know about this more now than ever!”

3) What have you learned so far? Any advice to others who are considering starting their own site?

“I’ve learned so much that I have started documenting a lot of information so that one day I’ll be able to share my experiences with others — pay it forward, so to speak! I’ve learned that online marketing options are practically endless, and you have to allow yourself time to research and try the ones that seem feasible. You just cannot predict what’s going to work and what isn’t going to work. You have to just try it and see! One very valuable bit of info I can share right now is that you DON’T always get what you pay for when it comes to online marketing! We tried some expensive marketing tactics in the beginning, and I can honestly say that we’ve had MUCH better success with the less expensive and even FREE options (and there are a LOT of those on the web!) If you’re thinking about starting your own website — especially if it’s a paid website that you expect to earn money with — you want to go into it with an abundance of patience and expect to work really hard on the marketing end of things!”

In conclusion, I just wanted to thank Lora Lee again for taking the time to answer my questions. I think that the information that she has shared will be beneficial to anyone who is considering starting his or her own membership site. Being able to benefit from another’s experiences is one of the best methods that I know for gaining knowledge that will prove advantageous.

Late last spring a new freebie related site called FreebieLandGateway launched. Two freebie traders teamed up to launch this site; the goal of their site was to introduce people to freebie trading as a legitimate way to make money online. They produced a site that is a well organized and thorough training website that teaches traders how to begin trading by being a referral for others; it also provides instructions on how to move to the next level of trading where you find your own referrals.

FreebieLandGateway while still a young site has undergone several changes recently. In order to find out more about these changes and the thinking behind them, I contacted Lora Lee (many freebie traders may know her better as leleegrrl) who is one of the founders of FLG. I asked her a lot of questions about all of the changes, the reasoning behind the changes, and what modifications might be pending in the near future.

One of the major differences that have occurred is that the training modules are now generalized to fit any of the freebie trading forums. Originally, the plan was to be associated with just a few of the trading forums. The reasoning behind this switch was explained by Lora Lee, “ We hope that offering more flexibility will help us reach out to more people and help us to build good relationships with all site and forum owners.”

Another important adjustment that has been made to the site is that now all newly activated members will receive a series of emails. This sequence of emails will encourage the new member to request a mentor and to get started with the training. In Lora Lee’s words, “ The emails will act as a constant reminder of what is waiting for them – the fun of trading, the help of a mentor, and (of course) the extra income. “

The modifications to FreebieLandGateway are intended to improve the experience for new traders and to also help out those who have signed on to be an affiliate for FLG. In an effort to encourage and reward affiliates, FLG has now begun to have referral races. It is the hope of the owners that the referral races will add some fun as well as help to demonstrate their appreciation to those who have worked hard to help with the promotion of FreebieLandGateway.

Another revision to the site intended to aid those with affiliate links is that if a new member activates his/her account by paying the fee or doing a sponsor offer, then the affiliate will receive his/her contact information. In addition if the referral makes a request for a mentor, the affiliate whose link was used will automatically be given the assignment. These two adjustments will serve as great incentive to anyone interested in promoting their affiliate link.

I also asked Lora Lee about changes that might be in the works for the future. She related that, “Changes yet to come will continue to focus on our affiliates and mentors. One project I’ve been working on for quite some time is what I will call our Affiliate Boot Camp.”

The Affiliate Boot Camp will focus on training new affiliates; it will be designed to teach them a variety of methods to gain referrals through their referral links. In addition to training via emails, there will eventually be a section of the website devoted to the Affiliate Boot Camp. This section will provide affiliates with marketing resources that will prove to be beneficial to them in any online marketing that they decide to undertake.

It is evident that FreebieLandGateway has gradually been evolving over the past few months. The many changes that have been implemented are intended to help all traders both new and old. It is nice to see a business that is keeping the best interests of its users in mind. If you have not visited FLG since its launch or if you have never visited, it would be time well spent to check out this well put together site.

Recently, it was recommended to me to purchase the e-book 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Rowse. He was offering the book for 1/2 price for a 24-hour period in honor of his anniversary as a blogger. It sounded interesting, so I decide to check into it.

I followed the link that I had been given. I was able to learn a little more about the offer and what was included in the e-book. It sounded interesting; add to that the fact that he offered a money back guarantee and I figured I had nothing to lose by ordering it.

I placed my order and paid for my e-book. I was then emailed the link so that I could download my copy of the e-book. I was more than a little disappointed when I realized that I was not able to open the file that I had downloaded; instead I received the message that the file was corrupt and could not be opened.

I checked back on the original page where I had read about the e-book for a link to support to see if they couldn’t help me in my efforts to download my copy. In checking around, I didn’t find a support link, but I did see a link for Darren Rowse’s email. There was also a note saying due to the large number of emails received he was not able to personally answer many of his emails but he did read them.

While this didn’t sound very hopeful, I didn’t see any alternatives so I decided I would send him an email and hope that it would eventually be read and maybe he had a support person who would help me out. I sent my email on Thursday night and hoped that I might get a response at the beginning of the following week. I cannot tell you how surprised I was to get an answer within 10 minutes of sending my email from Darren himself.

He told me that this had happened a few times before and he told me what usually worked for others. I was very impressed to get a personal answer so quickly, but it didn’t end there. He sent me a second email to inquire if I had been successful in downloading the e-book and if not, that he would be happy to refund my money. Happily, eventually I was able to get a copy of the e-book.

My intention in relating this incident is not so much to say that everyone should run out to purchase this e-book but to draw attention to the power of providing excellent customer service. I know that his timely and helpful response and his thoughtful follow-up will certainly make me more likely to purchase products from him again.

Frequently in recent months, I have read on the forums about people’s experiences that are negative with some aspect of their trading business; I am often left with the impression that customer service in the Freebie World is not at the level it should be on more occasions than ought to be considered acceptable. Recently, I have seen numerous complaints about less than stellar customer service by freebie networks, offer companies, or forum owners.

While it seems obvious, I just wonder if these individuals realize the power of providing outstanding customer service to both current customers and potential customers. Not only is customer service a great marketing tool, it also costs very little in terms of time and money. Add to that it can have a powerful viral effect.

Two good examples of this recently occurred on the forums. There were two traders who posted about separate incidents that occurred between them and a freebie network. Both of these individuals received what they considered such outstanding service that they felt compelled to post about it to let others know of their positive experience. In both cases the owner of these freebie sites not only gained a loyal customer who will surely continue to use their network but they also will most like get many new traders who will begin to use them as a result of reading about the great customer service that another trader received.

For my part, I have decided that from now on I will definitely take the time to post to let others know when I have experienced great customer service. By the way, the two freebie networks were zeropricetags and freebiez-r-us. You should give them a try if you have not already done so.

Reflecting on what I consider to be the qualities necessary to be a good mentor was a good thing, but reviewing my understanding of what qualities translate into a good mentor was not a difficult step in my current quest. Since I already had a clear-cut vision of the kind of mentor I would like to have, there were no difficult decisions or questions to ponder. However, from where I am standing that changes with the next question that I perceive needs to be answered.

I started as a freebie trader on the freebie trading forums. So if I would have considered the need for a mentor then, it would have been easy to answer my next question—i.e. in what area do I want /need a mentor. Freebie trading is a pretty simple, straightforward opportunity; there is a definite focal point that is already established. I guess the point I am trying to make is that because freebie trading is a very specific opportunity it doesn’t involve making choices about what area to concentrate in initially.

However, once you decide to expand beyond freebie trading on the forums, then suddenly there is a very wide Internet world out there. It is easy to get lost in all of the information, ideas, and advice that is proffered about any topic that you can imagine. Even if you start out with a clear idea of what option you want to pursue, as you begin to search for information and ideas about how to achieve your goal it is very easy to find yourself trying to absorb too much information about too many things.

The temptation to try and learn everything possible RIGHT NOW is great on the Internet; it is very easy to suddenly feel like you are lost in a maze of information and what and where to start is suddenly no longer apparent. Hence, suddenly the question of what you want to pursue can seem to have a different answer on a regular basis. At least that has been my experience.

While it initially feels as if you need to eliminate areas of interest, what it really comes down to is picking one area as your beginning. It is not a matter of exclusion; it is a matter of focus. There will time for expansion and exploration of new interests and ideas—just not today.

OK—so back to my question that needs to be answered. Until recently, I have to admit that I was that person whose eyes were way too big as they tried to take in too much at once. The result was confusion more than anything. But recently I reached a point of relative clarity and finally decided that I wanted to concentrate on blogging.

I guess now it is time to ponder the question of where/how to find that blogging mentor. While it is certainly easy to find plenty of bloggers online, I am wondering just how you determine who might be interested & willing to be a mentor. With freebie trading, all it takes is a glance around the forums to find a wide range of traders who are displaying their mentoring credentials; there is no wondering if there are traders available for mentoring. I don’t think that is the case with bloggers. This leg of the journey will definitely take some more thought, exploration, and hopefully inspiration.