Eight years ago this month (August 11th), Julie Powell sat down to write a blog about cooking. She decided to cook her way through Julia Child’s cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and chronicle her project in a blog. She ended up writing a book about her experience, and it has been turned into a movie.

You probably recognize this as the story behind the movie “Julie and Julia” where Julie Powell’s and master chef Julia Child’s lives are shown in parallel: their aspirations, their frustrations, and their achievements.

This movie was so appealing to me that immediately after McAlister and I saw it in October 2009, we headed over to Barnes and Noble Bookstore to look at the cookbook. Every copy had been sold, and more were on backorder. I didn’t actually get my hands on a copy of the cookbook until April 2010 when I picked one up at my local library. It wasn’t until then that I grasped the magnitude of the task; I had never owned or even seen a cookbook that big.

Now I must tell you that I am a movie buff. I lived in Los Angeles for 12 years where everyone knows at least 1 person who is directly involved in the industry (I knew two). I track the careers of actors, directors, even movie score composers. But for me the movie Julie and Julia has an appeal for a different reason. These women each took on a task — a very BIG task — and didn’t give up until they completed it.

I have probably seen this movie a dozen times now on DVD. I’ve listened to the Nora Ephron’s commentary (the director’s track) from the DVD several times, and I’ve read Julia Child’s introduction to the 40th Anniversary edition of her cookbook, which has even more historical detail. I’ve decided to write a series of posts about what I see in these women’s stories.

It’s about achievement, tenacity, determination, passion, and persistence. In this quick-fix, shortcut world, it’s so refreshing to see stories of people who go after a dream and keep going until they achieve it. In these difficult economic times, it’s hard to be tenacious when your world is uncertain, when your dreams are on the line. I’d like to celebrate and emulate those who pay their dues, earn their way, make corrections and refinements, and ultimately produce something of value for others.

More later….

Toolie®

I’m celebrating 6 years as Internet Marketer. It’s been a wild ride to say the least! I started out in one direction and changed my focus about two-and-a-half years ago, returning again to my roots as a computer geek.  My job is to empower my fellow entrepreneurs to manage their own Internet Businesses, hence the name of my blog! I provide the onramp to the Internet Superhighway by teaching them real skills: HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, audio, video, and Internet Marketing in general.

I’ve encountered over 250 other Internet Marketers in those 5 years; I’ve subscribed to their email lists, purchased their products, and spent good money to learn this business. In all that time, the only person I ever worked with who insisted that I learn enough HTML to work on a website was Tom Antion. I took his cue as to how much time to spend on acquiring website skills, then I built a website/blog training product that I felt specifically addressed the needs of Internet Marketers and entrepreneurs who wanted to be able to sell over the Internet.

We live in such a shortcut society; it feels sometimes like we have forgotten how to work hard to achieve something worthwhile. I suspect that the shift in the economy has helped a lot of people realize again the need for smart, diligent work, though it arrived in ways they may not have been prepared to handle. That’s where I come in.

I too have been laid off in the past; I know what it’s like to land hard, with few skills and no prospects. The difference now is that the Internet makes it possible to create a business and find a marketplace online. Geography is no barrier! With the right training and mentorship, you can make money over the Internet; I’m living proof of it.

To me, what’s been missing is the emphasis on learning the skills that help you set up the infrastructure to make your online business work. You’ll hear Internet Marketers say, “get a website,” but they won’t tell you how, and they certainly won’t say, “learn how to manage your website.” Why? Because they have something to sell you that’s a couple of steps down the road, and they don’t want to acknowledge that there might be obstacles to implementing what they have to sell.

So here in this blog, you and I will explore the world of Internet Marketing and doing business online. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned, what I think needs to be emphasized in building an Internet-based Business, and provide some of the training you need for that infrastructure. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Toolie®