How I Accidentally Became a Professional Blogger in 2001

title=

Thanks to American Express OPEN for sponsoring this post as part of the Big Break for Small Business program. Visit FaceBook.com to learn more about the Big Break contest. Enter your small business for a chance to win a trip to Facebook headquarters for a one-on-one business makeover and $20,000 to grow your business with social media. See Official Rules for complete details.

This is the story of how I accidentally became a professional blogger and started Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog. This tale has been a long time coming, because it’s not really something I ever wanted to share. I was always afraid that if I told my startup story I’d just create more competition for myself and everyone would find out how I fell into my business without any planning or foresight. But, I’ve been at this for a nearly a decade and have pointed to and written about thousands of other entrepreneurs and their startup stories. If it was all right for me to share their startup experiences, it’s now my turn to share mine. I just hope that my experiences and foibles will be helpful to others.

Ten years ago when I told people that I was a blogger, no one had any idea what I was talking about. Even me. Today, not much has really changed. Many still don’t quite understand what I do, but I do, and that’s all that matters. I still struggle with explaining my business and sometimes just say that I work on the Internet or am a writer. But that’s not really true. I actually went through a phase were I was very upset that I couldn’t explain to people what I did and just wanted to quit and become a plumber or something because at least everyone understood what that was.

In late 1997, I’d been surfing the Internet for about four years when I discovered a new method of publishing called “weblogging”. At the time it was just a very small niche hobby, that only acquired a name in December of that year.

Read the rest.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *