Ten Years of Internet Marketing Power Blogging

Hard to believe, but today marks 10 years since I wrote my first Internet Marketing Power Blog post, entitled “Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life.” That was the day I started my blog and began my Internet entrepreneurship adventure. In fact, the time of publication for this post is exactly 10 years to the minute. Where does the time go?

Back on April 30th, 2004, I was still working at Google Headquarters (my first day at the company was two years prior to that), and SimonLeung.com wasn’t even an active site yet. For those of you who have heard my story, you would know that my Internet Marketing journey began on Blogger.com. If you didn’t know, well, now you do ;) You can view my original Blogspot-hosted blog post by clicking on its screenshot image below:

(You can also view the imported version of my first blog post in this website’s archive by clicking here)

I know it’s only Wednesday, which means I’m one day early for #ThrowBackThursday, but how’s that for a blast from the past? :P

That’s right. Before I was known as the “Google Insider,” I was the “Little Marketer.” Before the “Internet Marketing Power Blog” existed on SimonLeung.com, the “Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing Power Blog,” also known as “The Little Marketer That Could…,” was born on Blogger.com. And before I found success as an Internet entrepreneur, I was a Google employee struggling to learn the ropes of Internet Marketing and entrepreneurship, all of which you can read about on this blog as the entire journey has been meticulously documented

Over the last few days, I have been going through my old blog archives in an effort to transfer them over to this website. As you may recall, I had a SQL database issue a while back. As it turns out, the original export from two years ago was corrupted, and I have no other way but to manually copy the posts over one-by-one (give me another few days to get all that completely done, por favor :). Even though I’ve continued to run into issues with broken links, lost image files and unarchived content, I found the process rewarding because it gave me the chance to read through some of my posts from the past ten years. These posts gave me a nostalgic reminder of where I came from, as well as all my personal challenges during those times. Consequently, and most importantly, they have convinced me not to take anything for granted.

Entitling my first blog post “Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life” was originally meant to be symbolic to my Internet entrepreneurship voyage, but little would I know how accurately it would illustrate my personal life, as well. I obviously can’t speak for the future, but the first 10 years since that “first day” have been one heck of a roller coaster ride, with more ups, downs, and loops than I would have ever wanted or expected. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing for the world, as each climb, drop and hoop has shaped me to the person I’ve become today.

You may have struggled long and hard to get started. You may have had difficulty making your first dollar. You must have felt so excited after you finally made your first sale. You were undoubtedly ecstatic beyond words when you had your first taste of success. Your world may have all crashed right in front of your very eyes the moment it was all taken away. You thought of giving up on humanity and disappearing off the face of the Earth so no one can ever find you. You then “wake up” after various life events and slowly pick up the pieces, standing back tall where you once fell and make an ultimate comeback. You have a new appreciation for life and rebuild an even better one.

For me, I experienced all this plus a whole lot more during the last 10 years. Through the highs and lows, each experience gave me the reason, encouragement, inspiration and motivation to make each passing day better than the day before. Not only have I discovered that the “today” of every day is the first day of the rest of your life, but I have also learned that each new day is another new chance for a new beginning in whatever you want to do. Life is full of surprises, and it is up to you to welcome each new challenge and reward with open arms.

Personally, there are many things I would still like to do, skills I want to learn, and accomplishments that I will continue to strive to achieve. At the same time, I also discovered what kind of lifestyle I want, and have never regretted a day or a decision because I would always wake up every morning (or afternoon, sometimes late afternoon haha) with a clear itinerary to focus on the things that are most important to me. I’m very fortunate to have the freedom to make this choice every day.

Today is the oldest you have ever been. This means that you can turn all of your experiences of yesterday into everyday lessons moving forward. Today is also the youngest you will ever be. Take this as an opportunity to make tomorrow better. It’s never too late to make a fresh start, as we are all bright lights full of hope and dreams with any desired future at our fingertips. Just make sure you start today, right now.

P.S. Since we’re taking a trip down memory lane today, I thought you might be interested in exploring the visual historical evolution of SimonLeung.com over the last decade:

2004 (Redirected to Inactive Yahoo Website)