"Blood, Sweat and Tears!!"

Blood, Sweat and Tears!!
by jane

My first 'computer' was web tv. There are
a lot of good features on web tv. That's why I
still have web tv today. I learned a lot of the
web 'lingo' and played every FREE lotto I could
find. I loved the different games that I found
on the internet to play. It was a whole new
world. I did some research, collected jokes,
recipes and information on the stock market.

One day, totally by accident, I subscribed to an
ezine that was talking about making money on
the internet I thought that was only for
programmers! I started subscribing to more ezines
that talked about internet marketing. I decided
this was something I wanted to do, but I knew I
needed more knowledge. I found the website:
http:/ hirdage.com . WOW! This site really
opened up a lot of avenues for me. They offered
FREE courses! I dug right in. I was thrilled
when I finished the first course, took a final
exam and got a certificate (which I considered a
diploma), that I could print out on my printer!
I will never forget the feeling of
accomplishment and pride. I showed it to
everyone that came to visit. They probably could
care less, but it was a big deal to me. I still
have that certificate today. It's framed and
hanging on my office wall. After I had a few
courses under my belt, I figured, 'I can do
this!'. Boy, I really didn't know what I was in
for.

I had some software that came with my computer,
so I decided to get started building my
first website. After a lot of attempts and
failures, I finally got a web site built that I
was proud of. It was exactly the way I wanted it.

Ok, that was done. Now I needed a domain name.
I got that done with no problem. Next I needed a
host. I quickly found out that I didn't need
just any host, but a host that could and would
deal with a newbie. That was a tough one to
solve. I went through about five different
hosts before I ended up with the host I now
have: http://linkopp.com I think sometimes he
got impatient with me at first, but soon
learned that he was dealing with a GENUINE
newbie and I wasn't going to give up. He has
proved to be very patient and helpful, which is
what I needed.

My host was a very busy man, so he assigned me
a sponsor. That way I could bug him. We
communicated by email for a while, but he saw
quickly that I needed more help than email could
give. He asked me if I could call him. It
just so happened that my daughter had given me
a three hour phone card as a gift, so I said,
'sure, no problem.'. I was so excited! I couldn't
hardly wait for the day and time we had
set-up for the phone call....................

I was so excited!! The day had finally come! My
site would be up on the internet! Imagine! My own
site!

I called my sponsor, Gary McLeod
http://www.mack49.com , and he worked with me to
get the site uploaded. Since I had a three hour
phone card, I wasn't worried about the cost. I
thought to myself, 'Oh, we'll have time to get
acquainted.'. Boy, was I wrong ! We tried, and we
tried, and we tried, to no avail ! We would get
the site uploaded and have two of everything !
That certainly wouldn't do ! After three hours,
yes three hours, the phone cut us off. I
immediately called him back. He decided that it
was the software I was using. I sent him the html
and sure enough, it wasn't right. Back to the
drawing board !

You talk about discouraged ! I was ready to pack
up this computer and send it back to Gateway and
go back to my 'safe' web tv.

Now I had to start all over, after months of
working and struggling to build that web site
just the way I wanted it.

I had heard so many good things about Front Page
2000, but couldn't see investing $150 for the
software, when I had already paid $99 for the
software I was using. This time I knew I was on
my own. No way could I afford another three hour
phone call ! I thought about it for a few days.

I read about netscape in an ezine. I thought,
'jane, how could you be so dumb?' ! You can use
netscape to build your website ! That was a joke!
I have to compare Netscape to the directions for
putting together an item you just purchased. How
many times have I bought something that I had to
put together ! The directions are so 'easy',
aren't they? You will be lucky if they printed
out the full directions. There are always
'fading' letters, I call them, which leaves you
trying to figure out what those letters are so
that you can put the item together.

Let's not even discuss the wizards ! As far
as a newbie is concerned, they might as well not
be there! I didn't talk their language and they
didn't talk mine!

That didn't work. either ! What to
do............... ........... Well, I decided to
go ahead and purchase Front Page 2000. Months
before, I had purchased Terry Dean's Busn. 2000
package, which contained a video on how to use
Front Page 2000 to build your web pages. I have
to say that I have found Front Page 2000 to be
the easiest piece of software I have used, once
I got to know my way around it. Between the video
and the software, I managed to get my website
up and running. When I did the feedback forms
for my site, I would watch the video, pause it,
work with the forms, back to the video
........you get the picture. Anyway, I DID IT!!
It was time for me to upload my pages to my
host's server. With Front Page, this was a snap.
Just click on publish web and it was off and
running. Once I got the pages published, I
couldn't wait to view my website! I typed my URL
into the browser and waited. Error page. I got
an error page! What happened? I uploaded the
pages. Where were they? I immediately emailed my
sponsor. I told him that I had uploaded my
pages, but they weren't there! He emailed me
back, all calm and cool, and told me to go into
my control panel and upload the index.htm. I did
this, although I was highly skeptical. I just
knew that I was going to have to begin all over
again! But, guess what, It worked!! I finally had
my website up! All I could do was look at it
and cry!! I actually DID IT!!! (with a little
help from my friends).

I wrote this story about how I got my website
up to encourage all of you out there that are
struggling with whatever:

1) NEVER give up!! 2) Read ezines--they help!!
3) Ask for help. There are people out there
that are willing to help you. 4) YOU CAN DO
IT!!!!

I still have a lot to learn about the world wide
web, but I am willing to learn and it will
come in time, when I'm ready to receive it. One
thing I am learning is patience. Patience has
never been one of my strengths, but it's
becoming one dealing with the web. I am
meeting a lot of great people and doing
something that I love to do along the way. The
lasting friendships, doing something I enjoy and
yes, even the failures and triumphs of learning
are all worth the 'Blood, Sweat and Tears'