G’day.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of following everyone who you think can help you and perhaps slavishly buying every product they put out. This can be blogs, posts, courses and all that sort of stuff.
Unfortunately, a lot of these sites rapidly turn into crap. You are fed a little information, then, in order to get more, you have to sign up for a course or some type of seminar or whatever.
I am certainly not against bloggers and course creators making money from what they teach. Perish the thought. But, from the other side of the fence, I have bought into a lot of this stuff over the years and far too often it has been a waste of money. Not that most of the sellers have meant it to be that way, giving them the benefit of the doubt, but too often we are too lazy to go research for ourselves.
Creators of these products do deserve some credit. They have put in the time and effort to make them available. But do we really need 50 ways to use Scrivener for instance? Okay, so one creation teaches a bit of Scrivener which is not in the other courses but is that little bit really worth paying $20 USD or more? Can’t you actually not learn that bit yourself?
Scrivener is just an example. Grammar and spelling should be amongst your first learnings if you have no idea of them. And really you should have learned the basics of these at school. If you didn’t there are theasauruses anywhere you look online, so devote half an hour a day into educating yourself.
Following just a couple of people can be the best way to not get confused. You can do this the way people who organise their wardrobes do. If you have found the blogger or course creator or whatever is not giving you what you want now, then maybe it is time you quit them and found a new one to follow.
You know – that old blouse has really hit its useby date and I haven’t worn it for a year. Get rid of it and replace it so you are not really going without. Or, if you have found a new direction for your business then unload all of the old stuff, which more than likely you haven’t looked at anyway onto a USB stick so your computer does not look like a coleection of components which do not fit anywhere.
Again do not think I am picking on all the creators of courses and blogs. After all, everyone is entitled to make a living, good or bad, from what they create.
*I simply think we can have too much of a good-to-bad thing. One ruke I have always lived by is that I can eat only one meal at a time, be in one house at a time and pretty much everything one at a time. Yes, it would be lovely to own 20 houses in different countries, but when would I be able to be in them? Or would I spend my entire life just going from one to the other? After a while, it would pall badly.
So who to follow, listen to or buy the books, creations and whatever from?
This can be a sticky area. (A) has put out some awesome creations on how to write ebboks and that is your desire at the moment. But then they decide to put out a course on how to create codes. Are you really going to need that? Even down the track?
Far better to save that money for a good editor who will help your book. Or a good designer.
My personal suggestion is to choose 3 blogs on a subject and follow them for a while. And choose one comprehensive course to do.
Of the blogs, you can pick 1 which maybe posts once per week or even twice a week. Another one may be only once a month, but have a newsletter. The 3rd one can be whatever you like if the first 2 are on the one topic.
Pick the course that is comprehensive about something you are really interested in and will serve you, instead of one that caught your eye or looks interesting. If it has nothing to do with what you are aiming for – forget it.
I know a lot of people who have followed this system and thrived. If you know little or nothing about a subject, start right from the beginning. Don’t assume you have the basics down. You may, but in completely the wrong order, which will not help you at all when you put your work out there to be seen.
Of the 3 blogs, it is also helpful to choose 1 which is rather advanced, 1 which is less so, and maybe 1 which is just starting up. You do not have to contribute to these unless you want to, or there is something you really can help with. Not to start with anyway. Watch and learn until you feel you are capable of making a good input into the topic. Keep your personal opinions to yourself.
If, after a period, the blog or podcast or whatever does not seen to be giving you what you want, simply quit and try another one. You may not have to change 2 parts of this blog theory, only one. But as you gain knowledge always consider if you are going to get more from there or maybe you should seek out another one which is a little more advanced.
Go write and enjoy yourselves.
Regards.