Four Years Later and No Dream House?

Yes, it’s been four years ago this month, September 2008, that I placed my very first blog post on the Internet. If you’re curious about it, it’s in the archives below…

Four years of hanging out on the Internet, writing and posting, and learning a lot about traffic, list building, social media, link building, affiliate marketing, monetizing sites, creating products, using PPC (pay-per-click), writing articles, hosting services, auto responders and email marketing, and the list goes on…

When I first started online, I didn’t know what any of those things were.

And now, not only am I able to talk intelligently about these topics, I’ve even incorporated these things in my business!

Quite an accomplishment… And certainly worthy of a huge celebration wouldn’t you think?

NOT!

And I’m not celebrating!

So, you may be asking, why not?

Well, quite frankly it’s because…

I still don’t have my dream house or Lamborghini!

And THAT REALLY SUCKS big time!

Heck at this point, I’d be happy making enough income to pay off my debts and driving a brand new Buick Lucerne!

But I don’t have either of those – not yet anyway – and after years of very limited success and making less than $200, I just knew it was TIME FOR A BIG CHANGE!

Sure, I’ve learned a lot, but my idea of success just hasn’t happened.

I realized in order to make a big change I first had to figure out what I needed to do differently.  Not an easy task I admit.

But I knew it was critical to take time to reflect on what I had been doing with my business.

Otherwise, I’d probably still be here four years from now singing the same old story – ugh!

I decided I’m not going to let that happen again…

When I first started my online business I was a total newbie!

So new, in fact, I honestly thought there was a ‘school’ you could attend online that would take you through the steps to start, build and grow a successful online business – and to do it in a few short months too.

Was I ever off on that one!

But even still, I remember being so full of energy and excitement. I just knew I could make it happen quickly, and I’d be so successful…

So I started my journey with research and finally found a program to help me get started. I was so excited to be getting my business going. There was a lot to take in and the going was slow at first.

I read every word and applied as much as I could. But then I got to areas that weren’t specific enough to move forward.

I got stuck.

I figured I was just at a point where I needed more information to take my business further. So I found and purchased another program I thought would help. But like the one before…

I got stuck again.

So, you guessed it, it was time for more information and I again purchased another program believing it would give me the right answers this time…

But it didn’t.

And I continued this cycle many, many times looking for more guidance on what should be done.

One thing for sure about the Internet Marketing industry — there is NO LACK OF INFORMATION!

In fact, the information overload alone can really immobilize you and zap all your energy!

I know.  I’ve been there and I still struggle with information overload as we speak!

Some programs were very helpful and others weren’t. I just kept seeking out more information believing the right answers would eventually appear.

But for whatever reason, I just haven’t been able to connect all the dots yet.

Now don’t get me wrong here. I feel very fortunate to have connected with awesome individuals who provided exceptional advice on achieving online success.

And I am grateful to them and thankful for what I have learned because it helped me put some important elements in place.

But these things in and of themselves have not made me successful – I’m not making the income I want.

And there were many times over these years I started to question my own intellect – maybe I just didn’t have the smarts to do this online stuff after all.

But then again, I would read the stories from people who are successful online.

And many of them had no special experience, and some talked about being a school dropout, or having no college degree, or being lazy or a drunk or into drugs…

And yet, they made it to success.

And here I am with a college degree and really struggling to figure it all out.

I have to wonder if anyone else is struggling as much as I am – learning and working at it day after day after day and getting absolutely nowhere.

Am I out here in my own Internet space just talking to myself on my own little blog, and getting real tired of feeling like an idiot with no intellect?

Regardless, I was committed to not let it beat me down.  If they can do it then certainly I can achieve some level of success too.

So I kept on searching for new information and recently came across a deal I couldn’t turn down – it was access to Alex Jeffreys coaching program.

I knew his coaching programs were highly recommended and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get in.

I started going through the training and in one of his presentations Alex said “If you’re not marketing, you’re not making any money”.

And for some reason this statement really hit me. I wrote it down in my notes then continued on with the training.  However, I kept thinking about that statement and it started to nag at me.

After all, I’m not making any money.

Mmmm, I thought I was marketing with everything I’d been doing thus far — from web hosting and auto responders, to affiliate marketing and getting traffic…

Could this be what I’ve been missing, this marketing stuff?

Well, I wasn’t sure but I knew I had to figure out what he was talking about.

And the one way I know how to do that is to act on his recommendations and see for myself because I am so ready for success! 🙂

According to Alex, telling my story would be a part of marketing. So here I am, sharing my own story with you in this post.

And as I continue to explore Alex’s advice on achieving online success, I will post my strategies and share my results with you here.

So this will be an opportunity where you can get an insiders’ glimpse as I continue to learn and apply Alex’s training on my way to success.

If this is something that excites you I’d really like to hear from you. Just leave your comments below and tell me what you think.

And remember to tell me your blog address so I can visit you also.

Hey even if you aren’t sure about all this stuff, I’d still like to hear your comments.  It’s OK, I can take it (smile).

So after four years, I’m making a BIG CHANGE!

I hope you’re up for the adventure because it sure would be exceptional if we achieved our success together!

Keepin’ It Fresh,

Donna

P.S.  Hello, hello, am I really all alone out here?  Hey, if you do see this and you can identify with anything I’ve said, it really would be awesome to see your comments below…