My daughter starting early.
One of your greatest opportunities as a blogger, especially if you’re contemplating starting a new blog (or splitting one so that you can have greater content focus) is to simply start. Go. This isn’t necessarily about beating your competition or being “first to market” or any other strategy like that. It is simply the basic principle of movement and momentum.
This is about execution; this is about remembering that you’ll never be completely ready (or feel competent enough) to jump-in and starting that blog and hitting the publish button!
If this is a competition know that if you do start then you have already “won” the race by simply moving ahead, moving forward, and by the fact that you’ve simply starting to build that much-needed momentum towards your goals.
Most people never move beyond preparation, even if the time and quality of the preparation was superb. If you’ve ever been to one of your High School reunions you know this truth all too well as you hear (or share) all of the dreams that never really got off the ground.
So what if it’s Friday? So what if you’re ready for the weekend? So what if you had planned on just taking it easy for the next week (or month). Although the above picture is a bit humorous I never want my daughters to feel like anything is outside of their ability to just start, try, and experiment.
No, I am not that guy who believes the saying:
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
But I am the guy who believes in trying, making the attempt, giving it a shot, and seeing if it works. I give myself and my daughters permission to start. And you know what? You need to give yourself permission and the freedom to simply start as well!
Success starts somewhere and it could be that the “somewhere” for you is right now. I share a few thoughts in this candid video:
[tentblogger-vimeo 24923259]
I’m rooting for you guys!
This blog was born out of an idea that was executed, that was started and I had no idea that it was going to take off like it has, I had no idea that it would gather like-minded people like you who share similar goals, visions, and aspirations.
But your goals are much bigger than just a blog, right? A blog is just a starting point to even greater things – and how will you get to these greater things if you don’t begin?
I’m for you! Go.
Start now if you see yourself been successful, make today the day you take that first step.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
hey buddy… you’re missing a quotation mark!
Haha, I love to see your daughter following after your footsteps!
Starting has been the hardest part for me. I love to gather more and more information until I feel “confident enough” (whatever that means).
Being willing to start without “knowing everything” is what caused me to ask out my wife on our first date. It’s what caused me to begin blogging in January even though I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to blog about. It’s why I’ve recently quit my day job to throw everything I’ve got into the side business.
Thanks for the reminder to start. That first step is the scariest, but it’s the one that begins the best stories!
love the example with your wife… that’s epic!
what is the side business?
Thanks. Need the encouragement on the execution. I have this idea… just need to gain the guts.
Apreesh..
e
Evan, you read this post yet? http://tentblogger.com/execution/
thanks for that brian!
haha! took me a while to interpret apreesh….
Hey John,
Found your blog a month or so ago and LOVE IT! The picture of your daughter is just awesome too!
I couldn’t agree with you more on this.
People get caught up in the idea phase and allow themselves to get stuck… never to implement anything. I’ve found what works for me is setting up ways in which I hold myself accountable (or have accountability partners even). It used to bug me- but I know what works and I leave it at that!
Great post!
Thanks,
Kim
kim, thanks so much!
where did you find me from? just curious… and thanks for hanging out with us!
Starting on my new project today!!
Design has been submitted to artist, working on WordPress backend now and have a partner in crime this time around. 2 is better than imo.
… let me know when it launches…! ios…?
“But your goals are much bigger than just a blog, right? A blog is just a starting point to even greater things – and how will you get to these greater things if you don’t begin?”
That is a powerful statement John.
Power to the blogger!
seriously! and even more power to come… for sure! i think more and more people will see the relevancy of the blog as time goes on…!
Yep!
I agree with Matthew Snider!
that guy.
Great post.
I found your blog a couple of months ago and the posts I’ve read so far are excellent.
I’ve recently “Re-started” my blog again after letting things slip by.
I started a few weeks ago but always find it hard to find the time to keep posting what with other commitments.
I’m using it just to try and keep myself focused on my goals.
I hope it works.
BTW I’m using your feedburner wordpress plugin, which works great.
thanks mike! where did you find me from? just curious!
thanks for hanging out with us!
did you see my post on how to jumpstart an blog like yours?
http://tentblogger.com/grave/
Thanks John, this was pretty timely for me too as I’ve been working hard this week on putting aside all the things I’ve been waiting for and all the reasons I’m not yet ready, and instead just starting on my blog! I started with asking myself “What am I waiting for?”.
cate,
great question and you answered it! when’s the first post dropping?
This is a terrific post and oh so true! If one swait until the “perfect time” to start a project, then you’ll NEVER start, because the perfect time never ever comes! You’ll never be totally prepared, or completely ready, and your safety net will NEVER look strong enough. I really think this is the bottom line difference between those of us who realize our dreams, and the overwhelming majority who just sit on the sidelines.
I am loving your blog. Ran across it a few weeks ago and have so enjoyed digging through the “library”. Thanks so much!
thanks kathy! appreciate you being here! where did you find out about this blog?
the sidelines are a curious place to be… i have a lot of thoughts about this… the biggest critics come from this place, right?
It always seems like i’m starting something and never carrying it thruough. Unfortunatly that question probably delvs more into personality and not blogging. You think there is any value in trying over and over until somthing sticks?
i think so ben. why not?
i think experimenting is a powerful key to success: http://tentblogger.com/experimentation/
Thanks to this lovely post, I decided to go for it and just bought my new domain! I’ve been wanting to for a while. . .
what is it?
Time to execute on some drafts i’ve been thinking about for w hile…
awesome. did you publish?!
Yes, and no. An idea i’ve had, but not the same one that I was working on.
Great words, John. I am so grateful for your encouragement and challenge to start. My blog would probably be in the planning phase still, but instead it’s nearly 5 months old and I’m engaged in an awesome blogging community. Thank you.
i’ve been really encouraged to see your progress bro!
There’s certainly a bit of ‘movement’ of the camera in your video John. I like the shaky-cam style, but it might be a little less distractingly-shaky if you attached a tripod and held the tripod up near the camera (the weight of the tripod gives a bit of balance). Perhaps you were just going for it though in the moment – doing something, and following your own advice – and you bet I’ll be taking that away from this post and vid of yours. Thanks so much for the wisdom and encouragement to be bold in that way. I’ve only just launched my blog, and your blog has been really helpful in getting me started and giving loads of ideas. So thanks again!
mike,
you are dead-right when you say that i’ve got some seriously-distracting movements with the camera.
i’m not a pro with a video camera (or iphone) by any stretch of the imagination so this feedback is SUPER awesome. PLEASE continue to give me thoughts and feedback on my vids… i need all the help i can get!
Also it would be awesome to see some kind of branding/logo in your videos. Maybe your logo a little transparent in the bottom corner, or an intro and exit animation.
cool… i can try to add this…! it might add too much time in my process though…
Not a problem! Gotta love a little mutual feedback hey? Thanks for all your advice too. I’ll try to keep a particular eye on the video, and let you know my (humble) opinions as they come. Keep up the video! I also agree with Brian – you could get a simple but classy motion-background with a short punchy soundtrack (both royalty free of course) that you could put at the start of each video you do, overlaying the title of what the video is about. It would only need to go for a few seconds, but would give some good consistency to your vids, and make them a little more flashy. Let me know if you need some help with thinking a bit more about how to do this.
ahhhhhhh. i want to take them to the next level… but i fear overly polishing them… if that makes sense.
Yeah totally. And that’s all it comes down to in the end – if the video you make does what you want it to, then there’s not much point putting in extra time and effort to do something to it that you don’t need to.
That is some great advice! I did a video using my iPhone a while back and it was just too shaky.
I’ll have to give that tri pod thing a try.
Thanks James. I’d want to say though that usually sound is more distracting than the video, and the iPhone sound is not always that great. It’s worth considering how to make sure you get some really clear sound – if the iPhone is all you’ve got to work with, try to make sure you’re in an area with minimal to zero background noise, and that there’s not much echo. Good sound covers a multitude of visual sins, but it doesn’t work as well the other way. That’s me ranting though
what would you recommend?
It all depends what you’re trying to do, what equipment you’ve already got, and how much you want to spend. I’ve given some tips on equipment for video on the cheap which may help at http://makingbettervideo.com/category/basics/equipment/filming-set-ups/ (sorry about the shameless self-plugging), and vimeo film school also has a lot of videos that can help.
The basic principle is that the better the mic is, the better your sound should be. So whatever you’re filming on, I would get an external mic. You could get a lapel mic for quite cheap (as in one that just plugs in by lead, not a wireless setup). There’s quite a few on ebay for around $20.
The problem is that things like iphones and many camcorders don’t have a mic input. If this is the case, you’ve just got to make do – and that means making sure your environment makes it as easy as possible to pick up clear sound (so avoiding noise and echo). If you’re filming yourself from your webcam, then you should be able to plug a mic into your computer.
what about a on-the-cheap blogger video cam setup? what about a guest post here on the “perfect” video setup for a problogger and the non-pro?
i’ll give it some thought – ‘sounds’ like a good idea!
haha!
i think i’ll do this too.
Great video! Great advice!
Thank you.
sure thing junior!
Realy love your Blog. Lot of great ideas, advices, guides & tutorials. Very inspiring! Thank you!
Helps me a lot on my way as a Freelancer-Webmaster.
The lesson is clear: it’s Friday morning, lets start..