Advice
Envision Your Ideal Scene
One of the big parts to starting and running your own business is to think ahead. In fact, one of the chief reasons for failure when doing your own business is losing grip on your original goals and instead being a day-to-day technician. When you start your business, you have high hopes and you are using your imagination to envision where you want to be a few years later. But, before too long, you are so busy coping with the demands of clients that you end up a slave to your own business, working 80 hour weeks and having no time off.
Many of us who work full-time on the internet do envision a successful business, but with the ability to make our own schedules and get time off whenever we want. This is one of the most enticing aspects of being your own boss. Part of making that happen is to continue to work ON your business rather than working IN your business. In other words, do not become just a day-to-day technician. That’s no different than a regular employee. If that’s where you are heading or where you are, what is really the difference between that and working for somebody else? Click Here To Continue Reading »
Getting the Work Done – Time Management
Time management is a bit of an art, but it is something every webmaster has to be pretty good at. Let’s face it – running a website can and usually does take a lot of time. Most webmasters usually work full-time jobs at the same time, working on their websites at night or over the weekend. There is a need to properly manage your time and steer your efforts so you can get the work done. Even if you are a full-time webmaster, the importance is still there. I no longer work for anybody. I run my own business as a webmaster. I ALWAYS have more to do on any given day than I have time for. The trick is to spend my available time on actions that will get the most done per unit of time. So, yes, this article is not going to be a technical one. But, sometimes, it is good to step back and look at the big picture. Click Here To Continue Reading »
Time to Launch
There are two very distinct phases to a website: (1) Design and (2) Marketing. In my opinion, far too many people spend way too much time on #1 and not enough time on #2. That is easy to do. All of us want to have a website which looks great and functions the way we need it. Those of us who do it ourselves can go around in circles trying to make it absolutely perfect before launch. Those of you who do not know how to design and program a website will hire developers to do it for you. However, many web designers and developers know not the first thing about marketing the website. They simply design the site, hand it over to the client, and leave with check in hand. Simply put, no website, no matter how well programmed and designed, is going to matter if people are not visiting it. And simply launching a website by uploading it is not going to attract anybody. So, the question is: how do you launch a website and actually get people to come to it? Click Here To Continue Reading »
From Paycheck to Entrepreneur
One of the most sought-after things for most beginning webmasters is to be able to move from a paycheck-to-paycheck job into an Entrepreneur position, working from home, with the website generating enough income to live from. Many people have done it, including myself. In my case, I began doing what I do while I was still in college. I had a college job which paid me $8.00/hour. I was majoring in MIS and as graduation approached everybody around me was looking for IT work. In my case, I was able to avoid even looking for a job, moving right into my own business straight out of college. My largest website (PC Mechanic) was generating enough revenue, coupled with my development work, so that I could concentrate on perfecting my sites, my craft, and still have enough money to live on pretty comfortably. I own my own home, have two cars and am doing just fine. I am, by no means, a model of success. I see people everyday (check out the Sitepoint forums) who do much better in this business than I do. However, things are progressing and my future looks very bright.
Being an entrepreneur is, in my opinion, the only way to really make it. Otherwise, you have to worry about climbing the corporate ladder and convincing others of your worth. I prefer to be in control of my own income, not to have to convince another to give me a raise. I also happen to believe that the internet is a prime medium for people looking to make their own way. It is a true equal opportunity medium. Yes, you have to be able to afford a computer. Aside from that, though, the only limit is your willpower, determination and imagination. Click Here To Continue Reading »
I'm David Risley. I've been making my living as a blogger for over a decade. Blogging is my business and how I support my family. With this blog, I'm just gettin' REAL and telling you how this business works. 
