Hello peeps!
I’ve been wanting to reach out for some time to you. Your uniquely-wired ADD/ADHD brains are ripe for becoming an online content creator.
I’ve been kicking this ball around myself since the dawn of the Internet. Don’t believe me? There are some of us old coots still out here, the first ones that started pushing the limits of of the Internet.
If you caught the creation bug like me, having an ADD/ADHD type mind bares a different path than other creators. Someone needs to talk about ADD/ADHD and how it applies to online content creators – I guess that person is me.
Disclaimer: our success is often slow and delayed. There is a learning curve that exists, but not with technology or skills. The learning curve is about ourselves, which can take a lifetime to figure out.
The daddy of all shiney objects
There are so many directions to go with online content creation. ADD/ADHD type brains don’t tend to specialize in any one area.
Especially attractive to our brain types is solo work. If you’re a one-man or one-woman show, figuring it out falls all on you. Not only do you have to figure out what you want to do, you have to figure out how to do it. DISCLAIMER: don’t get sidetracked with the video below!
Next, I go through my digital content creator past – it wasn’t what I had hoped it would be, a path to a full-time income.
Webmasters R Us
People shy away from the term “webmaster” these days. Back in the days when the Internet was new, so was our labels. Now, jobs have become more specialized, spinning off a plethora of related roles.
I took a class in website design, just to see if it was something I might be interested in. I was a stay-at-home mom with a design background, looking for some freelance income.
I actually started a home business with it, back when websites could cost thousands of dollars. Man, you don’t know how easy you have it now!
My local customers had no way of updating the websites themselves, unless I talked them into buying the software. For many of them, learning it was far beyond their abilities. I remember one older woman who totally picked it up and embraced it (she was an age-defiant techie – they exist, so stop stereotyping grandmas as tech-ignorant!).
Age-defiant techies exist, so stop stereotyping grandmas as tech-ignorant!
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Most people didn’t even have cell phones back then in the 1990s. Websites were more brochures of their business than anything. There was so much hand-holding going on. I was relied heavily on carrying out the vision.
I hated it. As an introvert, I had to put myself out there. It did grow my social skills. I had to learn the basics, html and css. It was on me to implement SEO strategies. There was no access to handy dandy platforms like Canva, or readily available free copyright images.
Everything about it was cumbersome, sucking the fun out of the potential excitement of it. Today, I help out ONE person occcasionally from this past venture. Along the way, I ended up getting a steady, full-time job in the non-profit sector, to pay the bills.
As the website administrator for them (among a hundred other roles) I still manage a website. My master plan was to gain skills, while growing a side hustle on the side. Yeah, right.
Blogger beware
When I started making websites, your only choice was Microsoft Front Page and Adobe Dreamweaver, installed locally on your desktop (laptops were a new invention). I painfully learned the CSS and building a website from scratch.
There were some templates offered, but nothing very inspiring. Over time, web designers started offering their own templates. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal and other content management systems made it easier to create website for the greater population.
I hated buying templates, only to find that the images had to be a certain dimension to look right. It was a hard lesson to learn that most templates did not work right out of the box. Designers hacked, patched, and cobbled their templates to death, resulting in slow-loading websites.
There was no responsive design and cross-browser compatibility was always a moving target. In case you don’t know what this is, you could have a website look great in Google, only to be a jumbled up mess in Firefox. It was like chasing your tail trying to stay on top of it.
I wasn’t fair to my one-income family to take risks with unknown outcomes.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Affiliate systems were not easy. You had to configure the feeds for what you wanted to funnel into your website. Easy peasy email management systems were in their infancy. The up side is that getting people to sign up for your newsletter was fairly easy, because most there was less digital clutter to compete with.
Another thing that was easy was selling PDFs. Especially if you jumped in ahead of the crowd and filled a niche. There were so many untapped niches back then. The world was your oyster.
I did manage to get a nice income for a couple of years off of a PDF that I sold. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do next. There were not endless resources that are around today to get you to the next marketing level.
As a frugal person, I couldn’t bring myself to buy any systems that promised money and glory. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t – some of them were outrageously priced. I did have some common sense, and besides, with a one-income family at the time, that wouldn’t be fair to them.
All while managing other people’s simple business sites, I tried my hardest to get one started for me. I kept avoiding the idea of writing on a blog. I didn’t know what to write about. I just kept coming up against a brick wall.
Although I was a good writer, I ended up forcing it, hoping that success would follow.
Epic bad timing
I blame technology for the reason my sites never gained traction. I was constantly using my little free time to figure it out. That, and being in the thick of life with job and family.
As the kids grew up and I had more time, I thought I would try a little harder. It always annoyed me to know I had more skills than the average blogger, but couldn’t take it to a higher level.
I could not have been prepared for what followed.
I bought into an online course that touted a community of support. It promised that within two years you could have a full-time income. I thought “no problem, with my skills, and already established site, I can do that in less time!” I was all in, getting up even earlier in the morning.
My old ADD squirrels still tugged at me, but I persisted. Unfortunately, my mind still refused to see the big picture, I lacked the perspective and continued to niche down too far.
My old ADD squirrels still tugged at me, but I persisted.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
I moved my long-established site to a new template, gave it a thumbs up, and turned on the light for business. And then it was stolen. Don’t ask me how, but my domain name I had for 15 years was accidentally sold. Not only that, the person had the audacity to take all of my content.
It was a ripped-out heart situation. I wanted to cry. I knew I had to fight for what was rightfully mine. Argue as I might, I could not get my site back. In my power was to chase the bad guy all over the Internet, forcing his hosts to take the site down due to copyright of my material.
Even more stubbornly, I bought a new domain and resurrected my content on it. The damage had been done. I think it was God’s way of stopping me because my ADD brain would not.
The pain didn’t stop there, the SEO world was about to change forever. The Google Apocolypse happened in early 2024. Long-established, reputable websites were wiped off the first pages of search results. Small creators that depended on their blog for a living, had their income wiped out overnight.
That, and the entrance of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in all things digital left too many unknowns. Human copyrighters were replaced with AI generated content. Some small creators thought they would finally get a break, having a tool at their fingertips to compete with larger sites.
When it turned out that Reddit results were being prioritized over real websites, and AI summaries served up taken from people’s real content, creators hung their heads low. It was a dark, dark period for content creators.
Enter Youtube
Everybody and their mother is on Youtube. Recognition can be instant, compared to the minimum of 8 months getting into search engine results with a website.
This has actually been the advice of blog trainers, to seriously consider complimenting a blog with Youtube. You can promote your products on Youtube, make money from ads, and still point them to yours website to sign up for your newsletter.
But come on – the time! The equipment! The learning curve!
Not surprisingly, every guru on Youtube is happy to help. They promise to share the tricks that worked for them. After listening to dozens of videos, the information is the same. The real secret is to add the words “youtube” “make money” “do this if you’re over 50” and get instant traffic to their own cookie cutter guru page. Sounds like a sell-out to me.
I was into some pretty deep rabbit holes. Looking back, it’s obvious why I couldn’t make it as a content creator.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Our ADD/ADHD minds in the Youtube bubble
Despite this, I bought all the necessary equipment to launch my own Youtube empire. I am now the proud owner of an Osmo Action 5, a Zoom F3, a Godox lantern softbox, among other must-have accessories.
All because my ADD couldn’t decide. I had one idea that split into three channels. The fourth will be for this website. My brain loves misguided enthusiasm.
One thing I will say, jumping in one both feet and two arms has made the learning curve come up faster. I now understand the difference between what I want to create and what people will actually want.
I understand that just because I can create epic, cinematic video, it doesn’t mean I should. I’m figuring out that speed matters in every aspect, so the creation part doesn’t consume the rest of your life.
I realize that working with others who were not as enthusiastic as me was asking for failure. As good as my intentions were, lacking core knowledge for the channel that only others could provide, ended up stalling an otherwise record-breaking start.
Finding success
The idea of Renee’s Rabbit Hole had been simmering for some time. This was a five plus year process that had a rough start. I couldn’t figure out if I should focus on ADD/ADHD or multi-passionate traits. Then my crazy brain decided I needed to make a comic strip, and that would be a novel idea that could take off (now defunct website).
At the same time, I had written a book. “What?” you say? Yeah, I was into some pretty deep rabbit holes. Looking back, it’s obvious why I couldn’t make it as a content creator.
That book had to have taken me over a year to compile – a doodle-inspired guided journal. I invested hours of early mornings and time having to research the self-pulbish process, and master the right software. All wasted.
What made the difference
I feel that the success of this site is bigger than me. It’ has’s taken on a life of its own. My ideas are falling all over the place, like the Mayfly swarms on the Mississippi – but in a good way.
My fingers literally cannot type enough. I’ve got my recorder going, my shower notes paper, a dedicated thinking spot in the morning. I -can’t-think-fast-enough.
For some dumb reason, wise advice has broken through to my Aztec Hole. I’m making choices for speed: simple featured images that double for Youtube thumbnails, video-taping in one attempt, dropping over-production like music and special effects, screaming the mantra, “Done is Better Than Perfect!”.
Whew! I’m enjoying this. It feels right. It feels where I am supposed to be. I feel a little late to the party, but I’m HERE! And ROCKING IT!
It’s called finding yourself. Finding what your are supposed to do in life. If you’re a content creator and pushing too hard, take it for a sign. I firmly believe that online success is waiting for you, but you have to push by the shiney objects and squirrels.
#inthistogether -Renee
