Hi Rick!

I am going to be honest. What you have discovered is that a high ranking number here in WA does not create success other than show that if you are involved in the WA community you can feel good about what you have done.

I know what it takes to reach that!

But, it does not make money, does it? It is like Facebook. Being only social does not build your business. Spending all that time detracts from continued learning and working on your website.

This is for everyone in this situation:

For those that think rising to the top in WA means affiliate income, I will have to say, it is a noble thing, but it will not get you to where you want to go and why you came here.

I have been here four years and built my online business. I now have some time to give back, so I do.

But for those of you who are new, don't focus on the shiny object (the WA ranking), because if you do, you will lose heart, get frustrated and say WA does not work.

Put all your writing efforts into your business at first, start making money, and when you are, then you can share with the community and assist others.

If you don't, you won't be here long enough to do so. There is a long list of others before you who have failed and moved on due to the wrong focus here at Wealthy Affiliate. And then they say WA does not work!

No, WA works its just they did not work it!

Learn, Apply, Rinse and Repeat, Make Money, Give Back.

I am only here to help and pass along what I have observed. I hope it helps!!

I started a little bit after you did and still waiting to see "organic" traffic. I am really not expecting to see much until I build my site to about 25-30 posts. That's when I am going to aggressively market it. I have planned a route of topics to get more than this, but we shall see. Hang in there, it's gonna happen!

Hello Belden,

It takes some time, effort and little spending to build up an online business though most people ignore certain blogging fundamentals which really worked out for those who implement them.

I'm 100% sure that a lot of people give up due to the fact that they ignored the fundamentals focusing on writing content alone.

If you are only busy writing content, then you need to find out what type of content can rank in Google and which cannot rank.

Nowadays, search engines have become smarter than ever in the way they rank content. Content must be topically-relevant, helpful, informative, remarkable, compelling, insightful and engaging.

I feel for some veteran bloggers who write content daily for no one to ever read. There is no way such a blogger will not give up with time.

Your blog ranks fast in Google if only you can implement blogging fundamentals. The reason it takes some bloggers months and years of struggling to rank is that they don't do blogging the right way.

Wish you much success!

Reward yourself.

I have done this for 15 years now and it takes a lot of self-reward and that means for a day of hard work take a couple hours a week to do something special just for you. Stay up and watch a movie on Netflix, take a long drive in the country, go fishing, spend a family day at the park but do something you can see as a reward for all your progress.

Soon it becomes a part of you and you can't live without your blog, the passion becomes rewarding therapy.

Andy Zeus Anderson

Hey Rick. From what I understand we started more or less at the same time so I am at the same boat as you. 4th month in now, no real traffic yet and very few sales.

It's hard to stay focused and motivated when you don't see any change. The first month was easy as excitement was covering everything else. I saw that after the 2nd month it starts to become more difficult as excitement slowly wears off and it's then when you need to be determined to go all the way.

I guess all we have to do is keep focused and keep going. I am not waiting for 6th month because I don't want to be disappointed if success will not come until then. It could be a year or more before any improvement come so I am ready to wait as much as needed.

How I keep patient? I am just thinking that what i am doing know will show later and as much work I do now the better will be for later. But I don't push myself. When I feel burned out from writing I take a break even if this means I will break my 2 posts per week rule.

I have been with WA about the same time as you and have had that discussion with myself several times.
I come up with the same answer give up or do the things which will make me money so I just plod along improving bit by bit.
I confess that I have reduced my community involvement which allows some me time

The best way to get progress is have everything a websites has, everything You have your pages with different subjects and they appear like posts you got your menus also side widgets, Your writing has got to tell about WA,

Your experience is time and tested, You may want to reedit what you fell is necessary you might learn something from my website,

https://financialfreedomwithed.com/ also when looking in to traffic Search Google console fetch as Google and site map, keep up the good work, Belden

Try to focus on your goal. Each day try to think of ways that you think will help you with your site. Don't try to over do it and you might just get a wonderful surprise one day with your light bulb going off. Keep the faith. It can happen.
All the best.

This is a hard one in a way, but here goes.

You are working hard to convince others to join WA to become successful affiliates, but you haven't done that yet yourself. Where did you get the info for what you put into your posts? There's a difference between doing research and actually doing it yourself.

Read blogs written by those who have been successful in other niches than MMO. See what else they include, how they discuss specific topics. Glean what you can and make sure your articles also include that info if possible.

Hope that helps.

Well, Rick - all I know is that I am doing what I enjoy doing. And, that counts for something.

I may not be the "experienced WA member" you are looking for because, I don't have the answers. Other than to say, "Let anyone try to stop me from being successful! I "double-dog dare them!"

Remember the saying, "If you build it, they will come." It speaks volumes!

:-)

Jim