A Newbie’s Best Advice

byAJTrimble1

9.1K followers

5 years ago

Hello everyone.

As you can clearly see from my profile, I have only been with Wealthy Affiliate a short time. I most certainly don’t know everything. However, I do believe that my 30+ years in management and a master’s degree in business give me a bit of a unique perspective with the whole process, even if I don’t know what the heck I’m doing technology-wise most of the time.

So, please allow me to share what I feel is my best advice for other “newbies” at this point in my new journey…

Trust the Process

My number one biggest tip, by a wide margin, is to TRUST THE PROCESS!!!

Kyle and the gang have been doing this a very long time and Wealthy Affiliates has a proven track record of success stories. They know what they're doing.

Nevertheless, if there is one thing I see come up repeatedly from a lot of new members is getting into a rush to "build it quick” or wanting to learn “how to make money yesterday." On literally a daily basis I see people asking questions about signing up for various companies’ affiliate programs and they haven’t even created a privacy page yet; one of the first tasks we have after setting up our site. Heck, some people are asking how much money they will make, as if any of us could honestly tell them, and they don’t even have a website yet.

Slow down. Take it easy. Tranquilo.

Yes, Wealthy Affiliate does a fantastic job of showing us how simple an online business is, but simple is not the same as easy. While the concept of online affiliate marketing is about as basic as it gets—and that’s a good thing—we still have to remember that this is a business just like any other; it's going to take time, patience, perhaps even a little luck, and a whole hell of a lot of hard work.

Instead, be patient and work through each lesson in order and, most importantly, make sure you complete the task checklist at the end of each lesson before moving on to the next one. The program is set up in a very specific order for you to get the most benefit. It takes a bit more time to do it this way, but you can be assured when you get to the end that your site is working properly and primed for success.

Start Small So You Can Grow Big

Many newcomers, and even a few that have been around long enough to know better, seem to want to know what niche to go into. The truth is that a niche can literally be anything, so no one can give you specific ideas because no one knows you better than you know yourself.

What jobs have you had in the past? What hobbies do you have? What are you interested in? What are you knowledgeable about? And above all, what are your passions?

Remember, whatever niche you go into, you are going to be creating a ton of content, at least one or two high-quality articles per week, and in certain circumstances every single day. If you are not talking about something that really fires up your soul it’s going to get old really fast, and then it just becomes another job you hate… and who honestly wants that?

But Kyle’s not crazy (or maybe he is… crazy like a fox.)

Rest assured there is a method to his madness. Find your passion and do your research.

Spend more time than you think necessary conducting research. Learn Jaaxy inside and out and don’t be afraid to dig deep. The more solid keywords you have in the hopper the easier it will be to guide your content in that direction. Moreover, like a laser that traffic will be highly targeted and looking for exactly what you are offering because you narrowed in so tightly.

The longer your keyword the less competition there is and, thus, your site will get traffic faster. That’s business 101 and, really, just common sense. Alas, as Mark Twain is quoted as once saying, “Common sense ain’t so common.”

Think of it this way... the big retail sites aren't going to bother going for a "long-tail" keyword phrase when there are only 100 (or less) people searching those terms every month; as a former corporate executive I can tell you it's just not the best use of their limited resources. But start-ups like you and I will gladly take 50, 20, or even 10 people a month. 1% of something is better than 100% of nothing, right?

On the flip side, if you start out too big with more generic terms, you're going to be facing the larger, more established companies head on. Do you really have the capital to compete with Wal-Mart or Amazon? That's going to get very expensive fast and take a long time to make even the smallest dent in their customer base. So, like before but reversed, it's just not the best use of your limited resources.

Be Picky, Be Super

Speaking of resources, did you know you are a super-hero? Sure you are, and I can prove it.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever read a Spider-Man comic or seen the movies (or, if you’re a dinosaur like me, you might even remember the awful 1977 television series. Whew! That was rough.)

What happened to Spider-Man when danger came around? Right. His senses went off and warned him of the impending trouble. Well, you have it, too.

Have you ever been in a situation or met a person and something just felt off? Perhaps you can’t put your finger on it exactly, but your “spidey sense” is buzzing like a drunk mosquito in Cancun in the middle of August.

Pay attention to who you follow. Wealthy Affiliate has a fantastic community in general, and it can be great fun tapping into the social media type atmosphere and click on every person you come across in the posts and live chat. But you don’t necessarily have to follow everyone.

There are some members who go out of their way to help others. There are some who offer support when your having difficulties and challenges. Follow them as fast as you can click that mouse.

But there are others (you know who you are) that will whine, complain, or just generally be in a foul mood no matter what is going on. It’s just human nature for some people, but there are those that are simply not happy unless they’re miserable. But it gets worse. There are those that aren’t happy unless you are miserable, too.

The Australians call it Tall Poppy Syndrome. TPS a derogatory term used to describe people who cut others down when they become too successful. For some, it’s a whole lot easier to cut you down than build themselves up.

Don’t get sucked into the negativity trap. Naturally we all have a bad day now and then. That's understandable; we're only human. But if you come across another member who is the epitome of a black hole of despair, let them go. You’re likely not going to change who they are as a person.

On the other hand, if you come across a positive ray of sunshine in your WA life, by all means follow them, befriend them, and if you can, make them part of your inner-circle mastermind group.

A few examples of the many relationships I have been trying to cultivate since I’ve been here, check out @Marley2016, @Labman, and @HelenpDoyle. Or hook up with @JerryHuang. If that man doesn’t inspire you to work harder and do something great, no one will.

Organization is the Key

Get organized immediately before you get too deep into the process. If you are weak in this area, I have found David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) particularly effective.

Additionally, my media company has also created a productivity course specifically for writers, though the tips and techniques will apply to anyone. I don’t want to get in trouble on WA by posting a link; however, if you think it might help, and you PM me directly, I would be more than happy to shoot you a link for free enrollment, no strings attached. It’s my way of giving back to the WA community.

Good organization is paramount as you start completing more and more tasks. You will also want to create a “Content Calendar” before too long so you can plan out your available time and strategy for all the articles you will be writing.

Lastly, research for more information if you find a great keyword but don’t quite know the subject as well as you thought. That’s actually part of the fun. As long as you are passionate about the topic, you don’t need to know a thing when first starting out. Look it up.

For instance, I have years of business analysis experience but still find I must research certain details in order to teach because they’re just not something I work with regularly. I spend at least an hour or two reading books and visiting other sites to gather notes before I begin writing a single word.

Conclusion

That's enough for now. I hope these tips help. In closing, here are a few words that may inspire you:

"Ignorance is merely a lack of knowledge. Wisdom is the insight to recognize your ignorance and to do something about it. There’s no shame in ignorance as long as you’re willing to learn. Seek wisdom." A.J. Trimble