Advice for Newbies – Ask questions
So here are some of the issues that have arisen and why asking questions can be difficult, some facts that may debunk some of the myths and some suggestions which might help.
Don’t ask questions for fear of appearing stupid
Fact: No one will laugh at you for asking questions. It’s a learning processSuggestion: Ask your questions in the Live Chat or Forums or through your personal blogs.
Don’t ask questions in the Live Chat because you don’t want to interrupt other conversations
Fact: You are not ‘interrupting conversations’. The Live Chat can have lots of conversations going on at once. 99.9% of the time someone will pick it up. Occasionally a question may be missed but that is rare.Suggestion: Just ask your question. It doesn’t matter if someone is talking about the holiday they’ve just been on an you want to ask about how to set up a custom menu.
Don’t ask question in the Live Chat because you’re worried about the length of question
Fact: There are no rules about the length of question you can askSuggestion: If you’re worried go to the Live Chat and say you have a lengthy question. Generally
someone will say ‘PM (Private Message) me’ and then you can ask your question without fear of taking up too much of the chat.
Don’t ask questions at all because you don’t know where to post them.
Fact: There are no hard and fast rules about where you should ask questions. If you want a quick answer – the Live Chat is often good, if you want to ask a private question – send a member a private message. Ask a question in the forum or through your blog.Suggestion: Just ask your question. If you don’t get an answer as quickly as you need ask it again elsewhere but don’t get frustrated about it.
Don’t ask questions because you don’t know what questions you need to ask
Fact: A lot of people experience this, but help is still available. There are people skilled in drawing out of you exactly what you need.Suggestion: You may not know the exact question your need to ask, but you can start by saying “I need help. I don’t know what I’m doing”.
Don’t ask questions because you think everyone else ‘gets it’
Fact: People come to WA with different skills and experiences and have different amount of time to spend on their IM (Internet Marketing) activities.Suggestion: Don’t waste time comparing yourself with others. Ask the questions that you need to in order to make progress.
Don’t ask questions because you have asked once and didn’t get a quick enough answer
Fact: The members of WA live across the globe and therefore are in different time zones. Sometimes when you ask a question the people who can answer them are asleep:Suggestion: Ask your question. If you don’t appear to have had an answer there’s nothing wrong in asking the question again. Just don’t get mad.
Don’t ask questions because you think everything should be perfect and you shouldn’t need to
Fact. Wealthy Affiliate is great. Is it perfect. No of course it isn’t. Nothing is.Suggestion: Don’t let resentment get in the way of you asking questions. WA is constantly evolving so things are always changing and being improved. That can occasionally be frustrating but get over it.
Summary
If you’re going to be successful at IM one of the things that you will need to do is become an autonomous learner. Many people think this means that you need to have the ability to learn everything yourself with no help. It doesn’t. Being a successful autonomous learner means having the ability to take responsibility for your own learning. We all learn by asking questions.If you are not moving closer to what you want out of IM (or life) , you probably aren't doing enough asking.
(adapted from an original by Jack Canfield)
Recent Comments
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so you wrote this for me, right? lol I am here every night and sometimes ask something simple, but the truth is I am stuck on some of the "big" stuff . This blog should be pasted to my forehead! I have noticed on live chat that you are always there to help and are very patient with people. So here's my KUDO's TO YOU! and thanks for the blog...you'll be hearing from me!
Thanks for taking te time to comment.
Big or small - ask those questions. It may not seem like it, but I still find it difficult to ask questions myself and yet I know that unwillingness impeded my progres. That's why I advise anyone - just ask. Look forward to hearing from you.
Great blog Beverly! I am the one who is not shy to ask and I apologized many times to Apina for being so thick! lol The true is that it is much faster to ask then to search and dig deep in WA blog etc. I always try to find my answer but if I am not quick enough I rather ask on chat. it is really fast and people are patient! (unlikely me - therefore I need my answers just now!). I can imagine that not everyone has this attitude and rather suffer. :o( No reason to suffer on WA as you always find someone happy to help. And fast! :o) I also sometimes need another opinion on the matter - the chat is great place to start as usually more people react so I can get more points of view and make up my mind. :o) . Summary: if you want to know more - just ASK!
Thanks for taking the time to comment Marad. You are absolutely right to ask questions and get more than one opinion. Keep asking.
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I have been stuck on page 10/11 of the 30 day program for almost a week ....trying trying to find answers to questions that I am not exactly sure what some of them are. I have been getting more and more frustrated even considering the Q word. I decided to take a break for the week end and start fresh on Monday. It is good to know that I have so much support here...All I need to do is ASK.
Thanks so much for this Beverly! One of the hurdles new members have always faced is being comfortable asking questions. Fortunately from my end I'm able to watch Google Analytics "REAL TIME" stats and I can see 30, 40, 100+ people watching the LIVE chat at any given time where there are only a handful of people posting messages.
I think that one of the misconceptions is that you need to have a certain understanding before you can ask a question. That is not the case! I'd love to see people asking questions immediately when they have them.
It's a FACT here at WA that people who communicate and ask questions learn faster, and ultimately achieve success sooner :)
Thanks Carson. It's interesting to hear about the statistics. I suspected that there were people who were watching, which is fine if you don't need help but sad when many of them probably do. Hopefully we can do more to encourage people to get over their apprehension or shyness and just go for it.
Although it may take people a some time to ask that all important first question, the community here at WA is the most helpful and friendly anywhere online. This encourages people to ask for help when they need it. It's a goal of Kyle and mine to help people realize this as soon as possible.
Very good Beverley. I have seen people say that they are leaving because they are getting nowhere and it is all a scam when in fact they never once appeared in the community to get help. The advice at WA is second to none and is only a question away.
Thanks Roger. Yes I've seen exactly the same and it's sad that they're missing out on the opportunities available, but I know from experience it took me a long time to ask anything. Fortunately though I didn't give up my membership.
I've never gotten how people can call things "scams" without fully implementing and trying them out. I've come across very few scams since I've been aware of IM.
I've come across some low quality courses, but even then I don't label them as scams.
I like this article! Sitting here in the shadows thinking I can figure this out without asking for help or being invovled in the community is like building a house in the middle of the forrest from scratch, alone and with a hand saw! Not much fun and will take a long,long time to build. I would think most of us here work very hard at our "JOBS". This isn't a job to me, it's fun and exciting! I look forward to reading something everyday here at Wealthy Affiliate. Thank you Beverly. Your'e a big help. Dave
Hi Dave
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment - glad you enjoyed it. I think many of us find it a challenge to ask questions but staying in the shadows really isn't the best option.
Very effective way of describing many of the hesitations I get when trying to figure how to pose a question in chat. I have learned in my 4-5 months here that everyone here is at different levels of abilities, but everyone is eager to extend their arm to pull you up to what ever level your trying to achieve. I really think I'm making great strides thanks to you and everyone in WA! A thousand thank you's Beverley. When you speak, I listen intently!.
Hi Todd. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. However worried you have been about asking questions, I always think of you as one of the sensible people who has asked and therefore made progress where others haven't. So keep asking.
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Hi Beverly! -
Another nice blog of yours! :)
Thanks - glad you like it