Thanks to all the people who like this thing. I am glad you find value in it.
I want to go on record, though. I wrote this thing for me, not to teach people or create a following on a forum. I needed to understand what on earth I was getting myself into. (I do intend to lather it up into a product later, but that's another issue and one for my own turf.)
I fully understand what taky was getting at and he's right. Finding traffic and monetizing traffic is the backbone of Internet marketing. If you don't do that, then you are spinning wheels and going nowhere. It just seems to be easier for some than others.
The trouble is, in my case, starting over at 56 and not being very computer savvy. In fact, I was amused at seeing my flowchart called a mindmap. I never thought of it that way. I just put the thing together to establish some broad categories to help me sift through all the hype (or BS as you will) and separate it from the real information.
The other problem is that I have a writer's personality, not a gaming personality. I almost wish I were a gamer. Life would be simpler. But I cannot ignore what I am. When I try to game the system, I usually make a mess of it and I don't make money. My interest is making money.
You work with what you've got, not with what you think you should have.
The good news (for me, at least) is that the Internet is not one thing only and there is room for many kinds of people to make money in many kinds of ways. Finding traffic can mean all sorts of things since there are several major kinds of traffic. And there is traffic all around us with new kinds surging every day. (For instance, the newbie market for making money online is HUGE and growing exponentially everyday.) Finding traffic can even mean creating traffic or drawing it to yourself. That's what top bloggers do.
I am presently engaged in learning in depth how to find pockets of people who habitually buy what I am selling, then getting in front of them with my offer (seasoned with a bit of BS to attract attention). That approach fits my kind of personality better than a shotgun approach.
At least I know I get it right. There's no sense in BSing myself.
