A guest post by Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz who emailed last week to remind me (Darren) that today is ProBlogger’s 6th Birthday and asked if she could write a birthday post. Here it is!.
I’ve sat where you sit.
I’ve devoured the articles and the blog posts and the link roundups. I’ve agonized over whether I could afford that video camera or that conference or that membership program. I’ve felt like a fool for even hoping this blogging thing could ever work.
I’ve sat right there and I know how scary it is.
Maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Naomi Dunford, and I was just like you.
I was desperate, scared and pregnant. My doctor had put me on bed-rest. I had to leave work because I was fainting all the time. Even before he was born, we knew our baby boy would have health problems.
We had intermittent web access because I could only intermittently afford to pay the bill. My husband was making very little money in a job working nights and it was going nowhere. Things did not look good.
Then I found Problogger.
I read all the archives. (All the archives.) Read some Copyblogger. Read some Chris Brogan. Slept. Drank a lot of tea. Had some panic attacks and spent a lot of time thinking about how cool it would be to be a problogger one day.
You’re waiting for the bit where I say it got better, right? Where I say I dove right in and created a blog and hustled my way to fame and fortune? Sadly, no.
I did nothing. Nothing. For a year.
I had my son. Went back to my job. Left work in the middle of my shift on my fourth day back. Went down to one (sub-poverty line) income. Flirted with the idea of starting a business. Got one half-hearted client. Put our son to bed by myself. Ate a lot of rice.
But I kept reading Problogger.
One day, Darren mentioned he needed businesses to sponsor his third birthday giveaway. Sitting there, nursing my son in the middle of the night, I had a crazy idea. I could be a sponsor. I had no idea what I was going to give, but the deadline of Problogger’s birthday was enough to get me going and get my blog launched.
I decided to give some marketing coaching. I had to fill out a form to say who I was and what I was offering, and I wrote that IttyBiz was the “offshoot blog of IttyBitty Marketing”. IttyBitty Marketing? Please. We’d had the sum total of one client and to this day, they haven’t paid me. But I had to put something in there. I sent it off, and then all I could do was wait.
(The actual story of how I went from not even having a domain name to launching my site on a Technorati Top 100 blog in four days is pretty uninteresting, although there are some juicy behind the scenes highlights and an adorable picture of Xavier here.)
I launched the blog. I wanted to email the people who commented to enter the contest and invite them to IttyBiz, but I didn’t have their email addresses. (I ended up clicking on all their links and personally emailing them via their contact pages, a process that took two full days. We worked straight through the night.) I did the same with the other sponsors.
I got some readers. Not a lot, but some. I got a little bit of traffic. A few other bloggers said some nice things about what I wrote. My goal was to get a thousand subscribers before Christmas. I didn’t make it.
But I kept reading Problogger.
Let’s flash forward three years.
My blog now employs six people. We have over 20,000 readers. We’ve helped more than 1000 people quit their job. As an affiliate, we sold enough copies of Teaching Sells to fund a school in Cambodia.
My husband quit his job. We’re unschooling our son. We moved to England for a while. We bought a little house. We finally got a car. We went to Cuba and Ireland and SXSW and Blogworld a few times. I threw a party in Austin and Darren came.
We’ve had ups and downs. I got pregnant again and lost the baby. Burned out. Missed some deadlines. Had a few site crashes. Got hacked a couple times. Did some stuff I’m not proud of. Did some stuff I’m very proud of.
And we’re home. My husband kisses my little boy goodnight seven days a week.
But here’s the really crazy part.
Nothing special happened.
I didn’t just happen to get a column in the New York Times. Nobody invited me to be on Oprah. I didn’t conveniently score a book deal. Despite my repeated attempts, I’m still not married to Brian Clark. I didn’t do anything special. The gods did not smile on me.
I just kept reading Problogger.
The point of all of this?
Please don’t give up. I know it’s terrifying. I know you are under indescribable pressure to do something serious with your life and grow up and forget your crazy blogging dreams. I know that some days, this is the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
I know your family thinks you’re crazy. I know you feel completely alone. I know you feel like it’s never, ever going to work.
But what you’re reading here? It works. I promise. Please don’t lose heart.
Happy birthday, Problogger. And thank you, Darren. I am blessed to have you as my mentor and honoured to have you as my friend.
Naomi Dunford writes at IttyBiz.
Thanks for the reminder that persistence and putting yourself out there pays off, and that nothing will happen if you don’t do anything for yourself. It’s encouraging to know that we all start out on the same boat! The jumping overboard is always the hardest part.
Incredible. THIS Post is what grit, business and blogging is all about.
Inspired and inspiring. And congratulations on your anniversary Naomi. It is blogs like this one and yours that convinced me there were actually intelligent people out there on net. Thanks for being one of the good guys, er, gals.
Naomi Dunford.
You continue to amaze me. You also keep making me cry.
Cheers to Problogger – happy birthday. And cheers to you for being just awesome. Proving that awesome isn’t perfect. It just is what it is.
What a great great post! I’m not giving up. Right now it’s my tonic and so what if no one becomes my friend on Facebook? I just found proBlogger and I will not stop reading!
Thank You.
honestly, just today I’ve felt like giving up.
Went and applied for yet another job for a call center.
Somehow I failed their skills assessment even though I’ve worked in call centers before.
Thank you for this timely message.
DudeMan
OK. Fine, dammit, I’ll keep on trying!
I mean, thank you so much for the encouragement. It comes at just the right time!
Congratulations Darren! Here’s to many more years of Problogger!
Well, now I’m crying. I’m so glad you kept trying, Naomi – because if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Much love and many, many hugs for when we finally meet in person.
This is an awesome post… and so very, very true. Thanks for having me as a friend, thanks to Darren for making that connection possible, and a very happy birthday to Problogger.
Now someone pass the kleenex, eh?
Naomi, that was lovely and very touching.
I think we all want to hit it big RIGHT NOW! and anything less is a big old fail. But you know, as you point out, it’s those little bitty (sometimes sideways, sometimes backwards) steps that get us there.
Congratulations on your success – It helps me to know that others are out there, working away at their business just as I am doing on mine. We’re all in this together.
Thanks for the heartfelt encouragement.
Thank you for a very timely post. I have quit my job with a helping hand from you Naomi. And although I am not a problogger (I have taken a different direction with my pursuit) this is the type of article I needed to read.
I have had some success and now in a valley in my journey. I will come back up shortly, no doubt. Thank you and Darren for your work.
Happy Birthday problogger.
Wow! I’m going to need to read this everyday. And get reading some of Problogger’s archives.
Thanks Naomi. Gorgeous post. And more pertinent than you’ll ever know. Birthday wishes x
Thank you Naomi. My last day at my job is next week, and I must admit to being a bit scared. But I am ready to take working for myself online seriously!
I love you Naomi.
I’ve no idea if I’ve read this story or if you told it to me, but it rings familiar.
I love what you do, who you are and how you made it happen.
Bravo and happiest of birthdays.
Dang. Such a good story. My first two years spent online were deleted by my tech guy on accident. I actually threw up from the stress at what happened. Instead of giving up, I registered the domain of StandStrongMedia.com, and started over.
I’m now a problogger who’s debt free, happy as a lark, and planning more projects.
Here’s to not giving up. :)
Stand strong,
Shaun
Happy Blog Birthday to both of you!
Naomi, thanks for not giving up. I’ve realized lately how so many of the people I connect with strongly online are people I met through your blog and courses. I’m really grateful for that.
I seem to be getting a healthy dose of things I need to read today. This was certainly one of those. Thanks for the pep talk… means something coming from you!
thank. you.
It’s entirely because of reading posts like this one, both here and at Itty Biz, that I keep plugging away at my business.
Thanks, Naomi and thank you, Darren.
Happy birthday Problogger and many congratulations to you Naomi.
Passion and persistence … being clear what’s important in your life … that’ll bring success [however you define it].
And as your story shows … no such thing as a straight line in life.
Liz
Diva & Exec Director
Life Dreaming
[the fab thing about starting a business of your own is that you can give yourself any title you want!]
Naomi, this is really encouraging stuff. It helps to know that someone can make it without all the high fanfare stuff falling out of the sky!
Hi Darren and Naomi! Happy birthday ProBlogger! This is a great reminder that it takes hard work to build a successful blog. I have learned a great deal from both of you and now my little baby sleep site is enjoying over 70K+ visitors a month and over 100K+ pageviews. I just sent out my weekly newsletter to over 30K people for the first time. It’s exciting! It has taken a lot of hard work over the last few years, though, but it’s been so worth it. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I learned a lot from a lot of different sources and have worked really hard, just like you two. Keep up the great content!
Wow – that’s so from the heart, which is typical of Naomi, for those of you who haven’t been blessed to encounter her before.
Thanks for the details – they help make it real, and the post is timely for me. I don’t mind the cash flow struggles in themselves, they just make it so hard to get out there and start helping these businesses that need the help so much. I want to get past the struggle/launch stage, and spend more time making a difference.
To see you in a position where you’ve helped a thousand families have more quality time with each other, more freedom, more security is just amazing. I remember when I first read about your “Ittybiz 1000” goal – it was absolutely inspirational, and you achieved it very quickly.
Congratulations to you, and to Darren for help making it possible.
Thanks for such a wonderfully inspirational post. It’s nice to know that we aren’t alone in our dreams/struggles. So nice of you to share and I wish you continued success!
How to make a grown man cry… almost. It was the “Please don’t give up.”
Ok, back to work looking for work. Gotta earn me some cash to pay for next round of what needs done. And there’s plenty for needin’ the doin’.
Darlin’ you amaze me every time you write. Also, pissed that my mascara is running in public AGAIN because of you. Big love.
Happy Anniversary, Darren. You are a continual source of inspiration to me.
xo
Sinclair
love this shot in the arm and your honesty, as always.
I hear ya. I love reading ittybiz and problogger. My husband even once asked me if Darren was my online boyfriend. lol. I have trying to blog my way to a cool coaching biz or something for years. I keep changing and second guessing my self and wishing I could buy all the cool books, classes, webinars, and skinny jeans. I won’t give up.
Naomi – Thank you!
I needed this. I needed this today.
Thank you.
And Happy Birthday to Problogger!
~erin
Oh…my…God! I’m sitting here reading saying, “Wow! She does know what its like.”
I almost shed a tear myself.
Thank you Naomi for such a heartwarming and moving piece. I can truly say I have been encouraged to keep going in on…in spite of.
Thank you and happy birthday Problogger
Thanks, Naomi.
I needed this today. :)
Wow… Naomi, thank you. That reminder couldn’t have come at a better time for me, and could not have been better put – you have such an indescribably clear voice that it feels like you’re in my living room talking to me.
I’ll be passing this along to everyone I can think of because this is a reminder that we can all do with, no matter what or where we are in life.
Once again… thank you… now excuse me while I go and look for some tissues :)
Ah Naomi… always blisteringly honest and brazenly heart-felt. I am blessed to have found YOU. I believe in what’s to come.
Awesome awesome awesome! I emailed this to somebody very near and dear to my heart hoping she’ll get inspired by your story Naomi, because your story is inspiring. In fact it’s kind of similar to my story, where I blogged my way from being a laid off sales guy to now being a director of marketing at a technology company. I went through a few months where I was at or below the poverty line, went for a whole year without health insurance, I’ve had to borrow my son’s car ,my daughter’s car and my mother’s car to get to client meetings or networking events. Thanks Naomi, and thanks Darren for giving Naomi this space!
Naomi. Holy crap. How is it that when I feel like the “WHOLE THING” is gonna crash down on top of me, you always – seriously, ALWAYS – come through with something that slaps me in the face and hugs my neck at the same time??? Like yours (and many others I’m sure) my journey to today has been hard as hell. It’s been scary, exhilarating, empowering, did I mention scary? And it’s tested me (and my family) in ways I never could have imagined. I’ve doubted myself more than I thought possible, I’ve taken risks and fallen flat on my face, but then I’ve also pulled my ass up off the ground and tried to remember how to put one foot in front of the other. And right now, I sit here at my computer, leaving these comments with tears in my eyes, a half-smile on my face and a bit more hope than I had 15 minutes ago. This has turned out to be a beautiful day. :) Thank you, Naomi. YOU are truly a blessing.
Wow! I mean, Just wow! They way, you have written things here, expressed your gratitude, showed your strength and character and stood up to whatever life threw at you is truly admirable.
Yes, Darren inspired you but you made your own path and kept pushing yourself. Congrats and I wish you continued success! And I am sure some of those 1000 people who left their job courtesy you, hold you in the same esteem as you feel about Problogger!
Naomi, darling :-)
You’re AMAZING!
I truly truly, from the depth of my heart thank you for this post. You’re expressing my state so accurately. And you give me hope. And I love you for it (if I may).
Today was not a good day, panic attack day.
But maybe there is a chance for me :)
Happy Birthday, Problogger!
Tania
It’s with your help that I’m a blogger.
And Darren’s (though he doesn’t know that).
Nice, much-needed boost.
Thanks. Both of you.
Happy B-Birthday Darren! 6 years… wow.
And thank you, Naomi. Thank you. From the bottom of this little ol’ heart.
Thank you so much for this post! It means a lot to read something from someone who is going through the same challenges! I read this and know that I’ll do well! Great post!
Very inspirational. Every one should ever never give up on their dreams.
I greatly admire the fact that you present this as real life–no overnight rags-to-riches, no million dollar check arriving–just the grit and underwhelming drama of doing it, hanging in there, and going forward a bit at a time. Now THAT’S impressive!
Congrats!
Congrats on the major milestone. 6 years…that’s amazing to me.
Darren, you are awesome. So is your blog.
but…
Naomi, You are the shit! ;)
My gosh Naomi, what a story! And no cuss words. This is a birthday present to Problogger but to all of us. Thanks.
Ok. Now I’m going to have red eyes the rest of the day.
This is exactly what I need as I agonize over my site’s makeover and wonder what the hell direction I’m going in and how I’m going to make it all work AND help my kids get their homework done.
Thanks Naomi. And happy birthday Problogger.
PS I’m going to read all the archives now.
Naomi, your story always touches me. I love success stories! Thank you for your candor and honesty. We probloggers and aspiring probloggers need all the encouragement and motivation we can get.
Happy Birthday, Problogger!
Lexi Rodrigo
Naomi, I am sending you a huge hug for writing this post. What an incredible story. This is Darren’s birthday so of course I want to congratulate him, but I have to congratulate you for continuing to put one foot in front of the other despite all the obstacles on the path. I’m finally appreciating just how tough that is. Thank you for being so real and sharing your story.
thank you i needed this today!
Thank you, Darren, for giving us such a wonderful resource. I will be forever grateful. Happy Birthday to ProBlogger.
As for you, Miss Naomi, my heartfelt thanks go out to you every day – even if I don’t fill your Inbox with them. You and your work inspire me to keep going and remind me to be myself after years of my being what other people expected me to be. Thank you.