Follow the Leader: Small Business Start-Up Tips

When I decided four years ago to take creative writing seriously, the first thing I did was study. I couldn't imagine trying to tackle a new profession without any training. I didn't take classes, but I did read a staggering number of books of advice on writing that were written by famous authors. After I finished writing my young adult novel, I began collecting advice from experts on book promotion, even though I didn't have a publisher. I still don't. But the novel is in the hands of publishers, so when the time comes when I DO finally land a contract, (you'll notice I didn't say IF) I am way ahead of the game.

I am now interested in starting an online business. I am applying the same principles that I did to writing. I want to learn about viral marketing and what makes an online business successful. So I researched until I found who I consider the best mentor, an expert whose success I want to emulate. And though I may never be as successful as Seth Godin, who is listed on 85 pages of Google, by the way, choosing him as a guide will most surely give me a leg up in the world of online business. Don't get me wrong. I didn't just make up my mind out of the blue one day that I was going to be a writer. I had been writing and publishing poetry for years, and had also been told by several multi-published authors that I had talent. My studying wasn't so much about learning how to write as it was about the mechanics and the rules of writing.

Same thing with an online business. I am not going into it blind, expecting Seth Godin to turn me into an online mogul. I have a background in offline sales and marketing and I was good at it. I figure I'll be good at online marketing too, once I learn what I feel I need to know. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I can't count the number of tragic tales I have read from those who have jumped into a new career without any experience or training, or spent money signing up with a business opportunity just to learn that it was a scam, or those who discovered after the fact that they had no idea how to create business success for themselves.