Damn, I was a real idiot back in the good old days...
I bought my first domain on March 17, 1997. I didn't even know how to copy and paste, so my first sponsor (Websplash at 1 cent per click) took me about two hours to write down and add to my site with notepad. hahaha
With that in mind, I had a friend who had a site listed on Persian Kitty. He was making $1500 a month, and since that was what I took home from the cabinet shop I thought that would be great. I tried for nine months to get listed on Persian Kitty, then when I finally did I put up so many banners I got kicked off.
Someone told me about YNOT, so I went there and read these crazy arguments between two guys. Serge and Viper. I wasn't going to waste my time watching them argue, so I went and started trading links with people. Who knew that was the golden age of YNOT... My site had NO stats, so I had no idea where my traffic came from, and thus I no idea how to get traffic. I am the Rocky Balboa of webmasters though, and knew their had to be a major piece of the puzzle I was missing... (can you say, understatement? LOL)
At one point, Snoops and 12 clicks took pity on me and explained to me what this game was really about. A few Yahoo listings later and I was making more than I ever dreamed possible for doing so little.
Later on down the road I met Sweet T and he offered me a job. I kept my sites going on the side, knowing that "this could never last," and moved to Atlanta. I've been here ever since.
The sites are just about dead now, but things have always been good with NatNet. I've learned a lot and had a great time... oh, and I didn't blow any of that Yahoo cash, except some on my yard. LOLOL