A Suggestion On How We Answer Newbie Questions
I've noticed 2 things which go hand in hand.
- WAers answering newbies questions in classrooms with
"Follow the lessons, its all in there." - Newbies in chat saying "No one will answer my question, they just tell me to "follow the lessons."
I gotta say, I think this pretty bad. I know for absolute certain if I had gotten an answer like that the first time I asked a question, I would have been out of here and had never signed up.
I remember first finding WA and thinking, 'What is this place?' 'Is this for real?' 'How come I've never seen this in the 10 years I've been looking?' 'This can't be for real.'
I was completely overwhelmed, excited, cautious, and very skeptical.
We need to think of it from their perspective. They've most likely been scammed or have absolutely no idea what they're doing. Very few come here with both experience and scam free.
If we keep answering with "just follow the lessons" some are going to immediately think "something's up" because, in their mind, they just asked a simple question.
That's Not The Only Problem
Not only could they be suspicious but by adding a few sentences before you say 'follow the lessons' you're giving them exactly what they came here expecting. AN ANSWER.
Those who do Bootcamp and promote Wealthy Affiliate, RAVE about the support here.
"Have a question? You'll get an answer within minutes from the amazing community at WA."
Not so, all the time....
***** By not answering the questions, you're doing an injustice to those WA members working very hard getting new members to WA *****
A Suggestion On How We Answer Newbie Questions
How NOT to answer a question:
Question: How do we make money from our website?
Answer: Just follow the lessons.
How To Answer A Question:
Question: How do we make money from our website?
Answer: There are many ways you'll be able to make money from your site. Some include affiliate links, ads, email marketing and more. You'll learn all about that in the lessons. Keep following along. :)
Would love to know what you guys and gals think.
Best,
Stephen
Recent Comments
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Hi Stephen, As a newbie I am completely satisfied with the responses I have received for my questions in WA. I appreciate the effort you are taking to guide the newbies in the right direction. Cheers.
It's great to hear that you've gotten the responses that WA is known for. It's not many who answer like this, but it certainly can be frustrating for someone who has absolutely no idea what's going on. Let's keep the WA community fantastic, because I believe it is. Good luck to you, Magesh!
Stephen,
I know that sometimes questions do not get answered quickly, but I sure hope that when they say follow the lessons they give a link to the specific area in the lesson that will help the new person or even any person.
Most of the time there is a link to go along with the questions, which I believe is why others would say follow the lessons, but they need to give a link so the person can find that answer.
Sheila
I definitely agree...I know I was skeptical at first and had no clue as to what I was doing.
I usually try to give some type of answer besides "follow the training" but I also like to add that too since it's what people will need to do and it will show them each step to get there. I figure maybe they just got lost somewhere here and need a reminder as to where to go. I love the suggestion you gave here, btw...very nicely worded.
Thanks for sharing!
Best wishes :) ~Sherry
Yes I too agree in the most part, telling someone just to do the training is not what they want to hear, it probably feels like a brush off answer to the newbie, but I also agree with Suzette, some people it seems just want to jump straight in without doing any training which in the long run is going to be detrimental to their success, encouragement to do the training is a must I think for a better understanding of the whole process, if your not willing to put the time in to the training how can you expect to be successful in the long run?
I agree with you for the most part but on the other hand, I have seen new people come, realize the amount of reading, watching videos and taking action as the training is laid out, and decide that they would rather have someone walk them step by step through the process. Just recently, I seen someone say, "I don't like to read and watch videos, can someone call me on the phone and walk me through this?". For that reason, you may see someone or someones say, "go through the lessons"!
I can definitely see your point. Maybe we can sniff out those types.
I think in the example above, the question shows this is a new member who really knows nothing about monetizing a website. We should let them know there are many ways to approach it, which will more than likely want to learn more, and in turn, lead them to the lessons.
Also, by just giving examples and not actually doing the work for them, we can ensure those looking for a shortcut, aren't getting it :)
I have actually seen some members practically give lessons to those who just haven't done the lesson or haven't tried searching for an answer. That's a bit much, for sure. In cases like that, I'm more likely to just leave a link to a lesson or training, for them to follow.
Either way, I'm going to try to continue answering with a little more in depth then simply follow the lessons. Unless of course, I see it's someone looking for a short cut.
Thanks for your input, Suzette :) Hope you're having a great day!
- Stephen
I hope it didn't sound like I was disagreeing with you Stephen. I really wasn't :) Most of the time time you can tell if someone just doesn't want to do the "labor" themselves. I think using the attach images are helpful as well as giving them links to lessons or suggesting using the search bar.
Oh no, not at all. But even if you were to disagree, it's all good :) We all have our own ways of doing things. Images and links are great. I agree!
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Thank you for this blog! When I first started, there were times when I received that answer, "Just follow the lessons." Sometimes there was not a link following that answer. I often thought it was me asking the wrong questions. I did find some that were so very helpful and thoughtful with their answers and patience. I thank those people. There are many in our community who do help a great deal and they are valued members to us all.
When you come into this venture not knowing what you are doing, but are told you have everything you could need here, it can be very discouraging if it feels like you are being blown off.
Rebecca
Glad you're still here and plugging through :) Hope maybe it will get better with giving it some attention. All the best to you!