After almost 5 years of playing with this idea (embarrassing to admit), I finally feel that I’m settling right into where I want to be heading.

So what has taken me this long?  I’m not stupid, after all.  And I have a passionate dream so I think I’m motivated.  So what was the problem?

One word.  Clarity.

Listen, the technical skills were the easy bit, although I’m still at the conscious competent stage, but I know as I go along this will get easier and I will get better and faster at “throwing” pages up live on the net.

I admit to cheating, though, by using the wordpress blog platforms to host all my pages.  And I’ve got someone technical available who will set up any new sites when I need them, but after that I can pretty well manage my content and the presentation of that content.

My attempts at creating web pages via Kompozer or DreamWeaver were passable, but it was the hoisting them on to the web that defeated me.

And although wordpress is a WYSIWYG platform, which means there are formatting buttons, like in Microsoft Word, I do recommend learning basic HTML, because it helps you to understand what the “back end” of a site is made up of, and why it occassionally becomes unstable and doesn’t do what you want it to do.  And knowing a bit of basic HTML lets you show off now and then, by doing stuff beyond what the WYSIWYG formatting buttons will let you do, like highlighting text.

Anyway, back to the clarity thing.

I have a lot of knowledge that I’ve accumulated over 30 years of adult living. Much of it formally, much of it informally, much of it accidental and painful.

How on earth do I choose my niche?  That was the battleground for much of that time, as well as choosing the business model to showcase my selected expertise.

So began a series of experiments to determine the best fit.  I learned that there are many good online business models, but because I see myself as a researcher rather than a retailer, as an author rather than as calculating numbers person, I found many models a difficult fit.  Yeah, yeah, I know about marketing and I admit I love playing with words and shaping ideas.

But I resisted treating my audience with the lowest common denominator, although I experimented with that too, briefly.

Now all this time, I was also feeding my interests and extending them in new directions.  What the marketing guru’s might call time-wasting.

But I call it “ripening”.  I don’t believe in mistakes, and I don’t believe in a single opportunity of a life-time.  I trusted that I would know when I had settled into my right area, and I have.  Although I admit that I’ve felt that a couple of other times too, but those events helped me move down particular required directions.

This time feels different.  How can I tell?  Well, things are falling into place.  I can maintain a sustained interest in creating products and offerings, and have the perserverence to build a really solid foundation.  I can tell, because I can map it out, and feel comfortable relegating certain related projects down the timeline.

I can tell because I don’t have to go racing off in search for technical knowledge to fill any gaps of how to make the process move along. My grasp of the technical basics is sufficiently strong now.

I can tell because I have selected a business model that will supply the required “customer experience” that I wish to create, and sits very comfortably with my own sense of integrity.

And the best way I can tell is because I have found a way to feature all my passionate interests under one umbrella, which is the energy of life!

Coming to a conclusion like that is a bit underwhelming, because it was kind of obvious all along, but it just never clicked.  This is part of the ripening process I mentioned earlier.

Anyway, I hope sharing my process will help you to stay on track with yours.  Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t made it with your own online endeavours as quickly as all the sales hype suggests that you should.  Resist the idea of branding yourself a failure.

You are a work in progress.  Your business is a work in progress.  Perservere with following your interst.  Take the time to ripen into the full, luscious fruit of your niche, and then watch how all your prior learning will fall into place.

If you’re curious about what I’m refering to with my online business, take the time to visit my home page at Big Sister Coaching.

You might also enjoy these other articles I’ve written about the challenges of the online business process for creative people.

• Some Smoke And Mirror Issues To Be Aware Of Regarding Online Business Gurus
• What No One Will Tell You About What It Really Takes To Be Successful At Your Online Business Eventually

What are your thoughts about the issues creative people face when learning about how to put their work online?

The top news story in Australia today is the successful return of young Jessica Watson who sailed around the world by herself at the tender age of 16.

She has demonstrated outstanding courage, vision and determination, not for someone young, but for someone of ANY age.  She has earned her place as a role model, and will no doubt, be set on a successful career and a financially abundant life based most likely on endorsements and consulting.

For anyone tempted to be envious of the riches that will inevitably be coming her way, just ask yourself if YOU would have been prepared to undertake the 210 day grueling journey by yourself.  Even if you take away the sailing bit, would you have been able to survive those 210 days just in your own company?

In the finest historical and mythical tradition, she has undertaken a huge quest and survived.  She has earned her prizes. And she undertook it voluntarily – most of us have to be pushed to undergo such heroic feats.

I’m finding it amusing that almost all commentators are saying how she will not be an amazing inspiration for the youth of today.  But I think she has a lesson for ALL of us.

I’m talking about Lisa Sonora Beam, and she wrote a post about Striving For Imperfection. It’s part of a series, but her opening lines of this post are particularly relevant to me – and maybe my readers.  Enjoy.