Let's start with a short introduction: I'm a 18 years old, Dutch guy, and after I beated my 3-year long depression, my life has changed quite a bit. I've quit school, and I came up with a creative solution to get to university. However, this forces me to have a job.
The job I have now gives me depressed feelings, and I don't want those anymore. And the work hours, starting at 6 A.M., interferes with my study, so it's not a great job. Sadly, it's the best I can get.
That's the reason I like this blog so much, it gives me some stuff to dream on. And it made me think: could I start something for myself and make enough money? I think I can, but I don't know what will bring in enough money. I have no idea in what area.
I have almost none knowledge of programming (some HTML and a very tiny bit PHP), don't have any real Photoshop skills, study Management Science, I am not particularly creative, and I don't really have more clues. So I don't have anything to go on, but maybe you guys have some ideas? I think the community here is really friendly and supportive, and because of that, I have enough courage to ask for some help.
I hope my English is good enough, it's not my main language, so, please forgive me any mistakes, and I like to know where they are, so I learn from them.
Let's be honest: My blog is pretty cool. It's not nearly as popular at Boingboing, Tuckermax, or that weird housewife who writes about her kids, but I have a pretty steady readership who all post comments and get something out of the site. Since I started around a year ago, I've averaged 1200 unique readers a day (half of that is thanks to huge spikes from digg and such). My blog hasn't made me rich, but I've probably made a few thousand dollars, which is a nice side effect. More importantly it's made me a much better writer, and has helped me chronicle the past year of my life.
What I'm saying is this : I can't help you build the next Engadget or WWTDD, but I can help you get started to building a moderately popular blog.
First you need decent hosting and Wordpress. Don't mess with blogger - no one reads blogger blogs because they all look the same and don't have cool plugins that you need. I know you can customize it and all, but stop arguing and do it my way.
Edit: I gave up on financial goals in late 2011 after some huge financial and artistic wins... money shouldn't be taken too seriously. For the record, they were all basically on track, some were being massively exceeded, others were a bit behind schedule, but were all happening.
I set my next 10 years of financial goals on June 28th. That was exactly a month ago.
1 year - Critical Thinking [my first book] out. Blog income trickling. Some info products. Some freelancing. Something else, some X-Factor thing bringing in cash. Net monthly income positive. Health insurance. $50,000 in the bank. Expenses = income per month minimum.
3 years - 3 to 5 books out, many products out, blog income robust, some working on big exciting deals. $10,000 per month total, $5000 passive at least. First property owned. $300,000 in the bank.
5 years - 7-10 books out, many many products out, many passive income internet properties, working on big exciting things, $50,000 per month total, $40,000 passive at least. $1,000,000 in the bank.
