Building Moxie (part 2 of a few) aka -- it really is all about me . . .

Click here to see part 1

And . . . Proceed At Your Own Risk

Right around August, 2004, I moved into a position (coordinated by a friend) in Baltimore. My title – Process Analyst. I know, it sounds a little made up, but that’s what I did; I was charged with documenting and exploring organizational throughput.

I was qualified for this mainly because I had worked for a stint as a quality assurance analyst with a global web-software provider. It was the documentation part that made me right for this job and it was that aspect, in fact, that I always liked the most.

Change, as in the Incredible Hulk or Mr. Hyde

Right around the time, November or so, I finally got into really pouring over their accounts, something strange began to happen. . . (Heartburn maybe). I found that I was somehow looking at things a little more analytically. And, guess what, I started to look a little deeper at myself, too. Was this Mr. Miller’s voice popping into my head? And I asked myself, “Are you happy?”

I mean – You can imagine -- Is this really what I want to do for the rest of life? Will this be my legacy -- a bunch of unread help files and some flow charts? Blahhhk. And I didn’t like it. Something had to change, and I literally figured that out overnight.

Change starts with where you're at (aka you must find point A to move to point B)

By this point, we (my wife and I) had successfully completed do it yourself renovations on our first house (second property), a Federal-style row home in Upper Fells Point, Baltimore. We had bought a larger cedar-shaked “Colonial” (loosely categorized) in the North East Baltimore neighborhood of Lauraville. Our daughter, Evyn, had just turned one.

The house, in Lauraville, though mostly re-finished (Scott P. who came before us had done a good job), still needed some work in the front rooms, in the kitchen, and on the exterior.

And I was ready. At this point, I was pretty well locked in. TOH had been nightly reading for years, and I was now set up with TIVO. It would record any Ask This Old House that might pop up. In general, I was studying. I was exploring books of all sorts under the category of Remodeling.

It didn’t end at home though; you might know how it is – you sit behind a computer and sometimes you stray. And there, at work, as a Process Analyst -- it began; my search to carve a niche in something that made sense for me.

I guess it started as simply as putting one and one (and one) together

Step 1 – Look at myself. What can I do? Well, I accessed. 1. I knew a little bit about the internet. 2. I can write how-to or help documentation. & 3. I can do a few things on houses.

Step 2 – Figure what line of work fits the basic skill set provided by Step 1.

Step 3 – Find a point to start: How-to websites. Elementary!

So I began collecting data and analyzing.

How-to home improvement websites – the first few weeks of looking

Now, plugging anything I needed into Google wasn't anything new to me. I mean, while no "cybrarian," I was pretty good at filtering through results, finding what I needed.

But this was the first time that I looked at things in this way. I wasn’t looking for information, per se; I was looking instead at what sources of information were available. Whether I knew or not, I was looking at a market niche.

My first instinct, as it is probably pretty obvious, was to try to find places where I might make some submissions. I had tried freelancing previously; though published a few times, I was generally unsuccessful. I just didn't have the make-up, I guess. So I moved beyond that pretty quickly.

I, instead, began looking for holes. What I found was -- and again, pretty quickly -- that there were really not that many . . . even in 2004. eHow, About -- Super sites; outlets overflowing from other media -- TOH, Home Again, HGTV; DIY sites and forums -- DoItYourself.com and many, many more.

But still – there must be room for me.

How-to without enough know-how

Now, having some experience both as professional, and, on the other end of it, as a do it yourselfer, I felt like I was in a pretty good position to do something. But what, how, and did I actually have enough know-how?

I mean what would qualify me to either write or host a site on home improvement? Nothing really -- was the answer I came up with at that time. So, I knew I would have to learn more . . . but how?

Then, one night probably March the following year, with our second child abrewing, I found myself at a dinner party in Columbia. We bumped into one of my wife’s friends. I knew Missy, of course, but I never knew that she worked in the regional office of a large, respectable, national builder. . . . And by May of that year, it was done. A job as a Construction Manager, and wringing my hands, I was really going to learn.

Unfortunately, what I ultimately learned -- really wasn't what I expected.

More soon. And I warned you.
Click here for part 3

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More Moxie:
TOH: http://www.thisoldhouse.com