Be at the right place at the right time. Eric was at a conference in the mid-nineties and heard someone give a talk on CSS before anyone knew what CSS was. He developed an interest and wanted to learn all he could about the new technology.

Be first . Eric was one of the first people to do any problem solving around CSS and the varous browsers (and this is back in the day; we’re talking IE3).

Write a book. Eric wrote the books that were just waiting to be written about CSS. Once the books were written, he found he received many more offers to speak at conferences and share his expertise.

Get lucky. Eric will tell you that his success story involves a lot of luck (See “Being at the right place…” above). He said there were other people along the way who had the opportunity to write books, but didn’t, or contribute their expertise and didn’t, or who didn’t meet the “right” person or attend the “right” event to light the spark.

Work hard. Let’s not forget the most important ingredient. It’s a given that you’ll need to work hard to rise to the top in any field. You’ve got to pay your dues to sing the blues.

Eric says for him, it was like Rockefeller, who when asked how he’d cornered the oil market, replied:

Get up early. Go to bed late. And strike oil.

What’s your secret formula for success?