Most people who come into this industry with a view of making money spend at least a little time researching this business. They follow the links on sponsor sites to tutorials and before long they end up on some of the webmaster boards that are out there.
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"...how you come out of the closet can have a great bearing on how your career as an adult webmaster proceeds. " |
For a new person in the industry webmaster boards can be very intimidating. Some, like the forums at Cozy Campus seem really friendly, some are business-like, and some tend to resemble a bar-room brawl. Whatever the persona of the board, many people find it difficult to actually make their first post.
Lurking, that is reading the board without joining in and posting, is safe and anonymous. Making a post is almost like taking your clothes off in public. The fear or ridicule can be a great inhibitor.
Of course there are a few boards where asking questions, that are typical of new webmasters, will get you nothing more than ridicule and derision. However, if you spend time looking around, you can judge which sort of board you can go to for an environment that is best suited for a newbie webmaster.
No matter how much you lurk and absorb information from other people's posts on the boards; no matter how many tutorials you read and re-read, there will always be questions that you have for which you won't find answers. Or there will be answers to questions that, for you, don't go far enough.
Now that doesn't mean that the answers are not there, or that the answers are incomplete, it just means that they haven't quite been phrased in a way that has meaning for you or the person who asked the original question isn't at the same place in their development that you have reached. That situation is not unique to you, it is the same for everyone and the communities behind most boards recognise that.
Our newbie board is there for all webmasters. On that board the only dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked. The people who 'staff' that board are very experienced webmasters who are there to help people who are new to the industry.
As I said before, making your first post on a webmaster board can be very stressful. You are coming out of the closet, exposing yourself to the real world, opening yourself up to . help, support, great advice and all the fun that goes on between members of the community that has developed behind the board.
Of course, how you come out of the closet can have a great bearing on how your career as an adult webmaster proceeds.
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If you look around at the boards you will see all sorts of characters making posts. There are the typical keyboard warriors who come equipped with their flamethrowers and lexicons of abuse. There are those who are rude and arrogant and there are others who only seem to want to build their post count. Others would have you think that they know the answer to everything and then there are many who are polite, friendly and helpful. You will have seen them all and which type of character you choose to portray will greatly influence your future career.
You need to understand that while each webmaster board has its own community each community is interlinked. People who post on Cozy Campus can also be seen on other webmaster boards and then there are people from other boards who regularly read Cozy Campus.
That is not a reason to be scared of posting, far from it. However, it should make you very cautious as to your appearance when you do finally step out of the closet. If you are a shy and quiet person in real life but present yourself as a brash and cocky webmaster who is over-confident and has an opinion on everything then that image will follow you for years.
You may think that I am over-stating the situation but many of today's keyboard warriors are nothing but insignificant wimps when they can't hide behind their monitors. The image that they project is one of great success and many sales while the reality is that being a webmaster is only a hobby for them and their biggest buzz is acting like a big man on a message board.
On the other hand some of the most polite and helpful people you will find on newbie boards are very successful. They want to share that success with others who are prepared to work and learn for themselves.
Don't let anything I have said here put you off coming out and making your first post. It really is the only way to get the solutions to problems that will inhibit your development.
Think before you post and even re-read your posts before you hit the send button just to ensure that they really do make sense. Remember that what you say will be read by many other webmasters and their perception of you will develop with each post you make. You may not think that it matters a great deal right now but in a year or two some smart comment you made in a post way back when may mean the difference between picking up a great on-line job and not even being considered for it.
I know from personal experience.