Anybody else find themselves paralyzed when trying to start a site?

Can't seem to get anything done

[roldar]

Every time I think of an idea I'll completely lose track of what I was doing, and start working on the new project.

How do those of you who are successful (which in my book would mean you're making at least a couple dollars, maybe three a day) manage to stay on task?

I guess it's even more difficult for me because I've built two or three sites and watched them do nothing. One has been up for months, and for whatever reason Google likes to tease me by indexing a few pages; then a day or two later it drops my site completely. Three times this has happened now.

I got some directories with pr2-3 to link to each of my sites, but I get a maximum of two, maybe three unique visitors a day.

But that is secondary, as I'm sure it's just a fluke. I still can't seem to find a way to get myself focused on a single project. Does it get easier when you actually see some fruits of the labor?

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

I would say that it would definitely get better once you know how to make money, and know that you can do it again.

I am at the hard part in the road. The part where you have to do a lot of work, and not see anything for it for awhile (getting indexed).

The ability to stay on track and keep working is what separates the winners from the losers.

All the Best,

C.K.

[jorj]

roldar, I'm definitely in your position now. The ideeas come over me and I'm interested in see them working on a basic level but then I loose my interest to see them really working.

I blame the lack of time , though, so I always need money and therefore work for others then staying focused on my projects and mankingthe money myself.

Anyway, this started to change since a month ago when I decided to put my time into play and make few tools to hae as support and get some traffic (20 uniques /day) with them. No ads yet until I'll have 100 uniques /day to feel confortable.

[roldar]

I think half of the problem is I spend too much time on here reading others' success stories, and it overwhelms me. I seem to be perpetually caught in the now rather than looking toward the future, so it's hard for me to get motivated.

I waste hours every week reading the "how much do you make with adsense" threads.

[brickwall]

You are probably a slow worker, just like I am a slow worker but for completely different reasons. Iam also always like this, but because after I finish a page, I always manage to find faults in it that I always end up re-doing that page a second or even a third time just to please myself and conform to the "standard" of the AM sites I admire.

I think what we need to do is to lock ourselves in a room for a week or even a month, without net access, crank out pages like crazy and do things that we are suppose to be doing and go online only after every project is ready to be published.

[hannamyluv]

I have found that a calendar program with task capabilities is very helpful. Come up with everything that you think that you need to do to start/finish/improve your site. Set recurring tasks and one time tasks. Every little thing you can think of. You may even want to set up a template calendar file just for new site building so that you don't have to set it up each time. Then, just go down the list and check them off as you go.

That way you have a "boss" of sorts telling you what to work on and you can feel a sense of accomplishment when you see what you have gotten done.

[javahava]

i think hanna has a good point - what also works for me best, whenever i feel overwhelmed, is to break down whatever tasks i have into smaller, manageable pieces, then write those sub-tasks down, then just pick off a few at a time. i find the that way, you can stay focused, but more importantly, feel like some progress is being made. if you can, tackle the most important tasks first - it's tempting to start with the low-hanging fruit, and constantly get distracted by less important stuff which regularly pops into your mailbox.

[danthrax]

I am in a similar situation, but not exactly the same one.

I am quite motivated to create and run a website, but I work better in a pair, I just find it easier to bounce ideas off someone and work as a team to achieve things. I agree that writing things down helps, I try to do this a lot.

The main problem I have at the moment is my business partner. I seem to be the only one doing anything, or being motivated or heading in the right direction, and it's dragging me down. I really want to get somewhere with someone who is equally motivated, even if it ends up a failure, I spend a lot my time learning when failing ;)

I just opened a site selling various e-tools and such, but I am already stuck...

*sigh* I guess i'll keep reading around these forums until I can get things right.

I've had a few ideas lately, but a lot of the time it involes something I don't have (a lot of money to start the investment).

At least now I don't feel like im the only one having trouble kicking off.

Good luck to everyone who's stuck ;)

[engine]

hannamyluv & javahava's got it right.

Turn off the phone and e-mail - you will be able to survive for an hour at a time without them. ;)

Write down the objective and break things into manageable chunks that each take only a little time to complete.

Mark off as you complete each item.

Also, give yourself a small bonus as an incentive when you complete, say, five or ten minor tasks. Set yourself a bigger bonus as an incentive when you've completed, say, five or ten batches of the minor tasks. That bonus can be whatever you like: A beer, a meal out, or tickets to a football game.

Seeing some return on a smaller scale often helps.

[varya]

I never work on just one project at a time. My life would come to a complete halt if I did.

I do work on just one task at a time.

I'm homeschooling my children, I run a homeschool support group, I'm writing a screenplay, run my local Freecycle group, I'm setting up a corporation to run a resource library for homeschoolers and I have 7 websites that I manage completely (backend and content).

What works for me is to have extremely detailed action lists, broken into categories and sub-categories. I generally complete at least one action per project every day.

I try to map out ideas as soon as I get them. For example, let's say I decide that one of my websites needs a larger foreign widgets section. Immediately, I open up my action list and create a new category for foreign widgets. Then I quickly list all of the different countries I want to cover.

Then, tomorrow, when my to do list reminds me to work on that website, I open up the action list and pick the first country and start working.

I have spreadsheets set up for my websites, with a column for each task that needs to be completed for a new page...write article, add related links, add adsense code, validate, interlink, upload. I check each item off as I complete it on the spreadsheet. Once the page is complete, I check it off of the action list.

[jorj]

This thread starts to become one of the best around here. I know now that I need more order in my work and I find very interesting how others are doing their own.

I do not generally just jump into a project without some preparation and I always keep pieces of papers beside me to note whatever thoughts I may have because I always feel more confortable to think in front of a paper then in front of my computer.

Next step is to put the notes as the first lines of my source files and all the research I did into a separate folder (always) named "spec" so I have them as references for the future. Then each line of a comment become a function if is a tiny task or a new file if it is a major one.

Still, this is a good start (in my opinion) but , as I already stated, ending the work is the hardest thing. I will definitelly try some of the habits I read about here to make some improvements on my work.

..and maybe I'll teach others what worked for me.

[oneguy]

When I first decided I could make money at this, the only game in town (pretty much) was adult content.

There was a prevalent "build them, submit them, and leave them" philosophy. That carried over into the things I do now. I have tons of active sites... some I update, and some I leave. I have tons of sites dangling out there that just need some care. New sites, I throw them out there... send some links to them, then return to them much later if I still like the idea.

For me... the issue has always been to make sure that I am DOING something. Once you have a ton of things to do... like those multiple sites mentioned... then, you prioritize based on expected income of each move. Sometimes, time factors in because you'll want to experiment with engines where time might be a factor, or you'll want a project ready to be released on the net before you tweak an older site. For me, the income prioritization isn't between now and tomorrow, but between now and this time next year.

The main problem I have at the moment is my business partner. I seem to be the only one doing anything, or being motivated or heading in the right direction, and it's dragging me down.

I had the same problem, even with a family member. The solution was to buy out his portion. He was tired of listening to me whine, anyway, and received a fair offer. Partnerships are very tricky. Everyone has to feel like they are compensated fairly, and that's tricky when people come together with different skill sets. There are people I would partner with and do *all* of the work, just to have their business connections and advice. There are other people I wouldn't partner with even if they agreed to do everything. Expectations need to be fairly detailed in advance.

[macfab]

In the same situation right now..

Worried about the quality of the site and how it will flow.. will it truly be helpful to others. It's like being a deer in the headlights at times.

Bought the James Martell Kit (e-book) a year a go.. and followed his steps for a couple of sites but they never really took off ...Checked his web sites and cannot find them in the serps either.. So I guess following his steps got me to the same place he is..