Okay, So What Am I Doing Here?
About a year ago, I got the idea that the one thing I wanted to do with the rest of my life was to write about being a voluntaryist. So I bought the domain name voluntaryistliving.com, set up a simple Wordpress blog, and posted the only thing about voluntaryism I had ever written--the story of my journey to voluntaryism. Great start but then what?
In retrospect, it seems evident that I should have just started writing regularly, whether I knew what I was doing or not, whether my writing was any good or not, whether anybody was reading it or not. However, the fact was that doubts and fears overcame me. I had learned a lot about voluntaryism and had argued on forums like Digg about those ideas, even apparently persuading a few people to open their minds a little, which seemed pretty amazing to me. In spite of that, I was terrified of making a fool of myself, of being rejected, of failing to find an audience, even of wasting time that I "should" be spending more productively.
I had retired because of health issues, but my health had improved enough that I could do things that didn't require a lot of mobility or physical exertion. I needed to earn some money, and I knew that a lot of people were doing that online, but I didn't have a clue how to do it, especially with just a blog, and especially with a topic as obscure as voluntaryism.
I had plenty of excuses to put off writing my blog. I needed to improve my writing. I needed to learn about either monetizing a blog or earning money online some other way. I needed to find an audience for ideas about voluntaryism and find out what they might want from a blog about voluntaryist living.
Fast forward to October 2017. I've been working on my writing, but mainly I've been learning about internet marketing. There are lots of ways to earn money by selling both physical and digital products online. There are lots of people making big money online, but a lot more people spinning their wheels trying to make a little money online. I was one of the latter for most of the last year. There are no foolproof get-rich-quick schemes, but there are some fantastic opportunities for people who are able and willing to work both hard and smart.
Although I'm having some success with my online niche store selling physical products, the main lesson I have learned is that you are better off following your passion than trying to choose what seems the most logical means to make money. Of course, the best course of action is to decide what you love and find someone who has made money doing that and is willing to coach others.
So here I am, finally ready to do what I could have done a year ago, just start writing and learn as I go about who will be interested in the things I have to say and what value I can create for them so they will want to follow me. If you are interested in my journey, please join my email list.
voluntaryistliving.com