Doing WA House Cleaning and Saying My Goodbyes
I have been a very happy and satisfied member of Wealthy Affiliate since August 2013. I have made more money online than I did prior to joining and because of the resources available to all premium members, I am able to earn from multiple streams of income.
TIME FOR HOUSE CLEANING
How many of you who have been here for a year or more, gone into your Private Message Inbox and Outbox and deleted old messages? If you are like me, you probably have some messages still in there from when you first joined WA.
I cannot say for sure how many private messages I have received in my 6+ years here at WA but I can correctly say it has been several hundred. For the last three years, once per year, I go through my inbox and outbox deleting old private messages that I don't want to keep.
Why would keep old messages? Well that depends on what kind of messages they are. For example, I keep all PMs from my WA referrals, both active and inactive members. I also keep some from inactive members that may contain personal contact info.
Did you know that your old PMs will show you who has left WA and who is still an active member? As you can see in the above image, those that say "Not Live" are former members who have left WA. Those that have a circle with two people in it are my WA referrals.
In this image we see three former WA premium members have left. Lvnnona444, phollett, and Peterwood (one of my referrals), are no longer active members. Why do people leave? There are many reasons but regardless of what they are, it is hard to say goodbye sometimes.
THE WA COMMUNITY IS LIKE FAMILY
For those of us who have been here for years, we tend to become cyber friends of many within the community. Some of these friends we become even closer to by following each other on Facebook and/or Twitter. I follow many WA members on social media.
There are several former WA members who I am still in contact with through Facebook and Twitter. Then there are some who are still active members here in WA but only socialize on social media and not within WA. BrooklynPhil is one in particular, see below image.
Also in the above image we see another active WA member, the popular video tutorial maker MarionBlack. And who remembers IngiB, the drummer from the all-girl South African band of the 70s and 80s known as Clout? She was a very uplifting soul.
Those of you who plan on being a lifetime member of Wealthy Affiliate will come to realize just how much certain people in this community are like family. As far as I am concerned there are several members both active and not that I would definitely want to meet up with.
We get to know one another through our blogs, our discussions, our Live Chats, and even through social media. If any of you would like to "Friend Me" on Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn, you can find my social media links on my WA Profile page.
SAYING GOODBYE OR C-YA LATER
Being a long time WA member gives you the opportunity to forge new friendships, even if they are only cyber friends for now or forever. There is one in particular that I miss and I am sure others like MarionBlack, Loes and Andre (apache1) miss him too.
Who remembers Jozeph, also known as Joseph? He took a little time to get used to, a bit rough around the edges. But once you got to know what he did for children and the displaced in the war-torn regions of the Middle East along with his physical disability, you understood.
He not only had the gift of giving to those less fortunate but he was a great writer. Wealthy Affiliate has had many people come into and go out of this vibrant community. For those that I foster a cyber friendship with, I make sure that we are connected in some way outside of WA.
It is hard to say goodbye, even to those who are just cyber friends. It is because of this thought, this feeling of saying goodbye in the cleaning out the house of my past WA private messages, that prompted me to write this blog.
It is hard enough to see many people come and go, especially when you know that the Wealthy Affiliate training REALLY WORKS and that the community is extremely helpful. But everyone has their reasons for leaving and not all are because of failure or quitting.
SUCCESSFUL WEBSITES
There have been many WA members who came here, took the training, built a successful niche website, and decided to leave and work/grow their business outside of WA. In the image above, who remembers Kary? She has a successful health website about fruit smoothies.
Also in the above image we have JodyMiller who started her website blogging about fashionwear for dogs. Then she took her website to the next level by selling her own creative fashions for dogs. Now Bark and Swagger is a big hit.
There are many former and current WA members who are making lots of money from their websites, affiliate programs and the freelancing of their SEO Content Writing skills. Some who leave WA because their goals have been met, they have a profitable internet business.
Others like myself decide to stay, take advantage of the hosting and extra websites, continuing to contribute to this community and help lift up others. Not everyone leaves WA because they have given up or for lack of funds. So what about you?
Have you looked through and cleaned out your WA Private Message In and Outbox? Have you reached out to the members you follow here by connecting with them through their social media platforms? If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
LET'S STAY CONNECTED.
Recent Comments
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Hey Robert! I got a little worried when I read the headline! "Saying Goodbyes!" I thought, NOOOOO! He's not leaving!! Luckily, I was wrong! Phew!
Anyway, great post. WA is like a family. If you are here long enough you get to meet all kinds of people and interact with them. It's a fun ride!
Alanna
Let me be absolutely clear to anyone who reads this comment and who might be wondering if I would ever leave WA based on a title of a blog post.
I HAVE NO INTENTION OF EVER LEAVING WA. I MAY NOT BE ACTIVE IN THE DAY TO DAY ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, BUT I WILL ALWAYS BE HERE!
I do clean my inbox from time to time, but there are very old messages that I kept. I think I understand why some members leave WA, In the six months that I've been here I've realized that WA opens other doors, and those businesses can be demanding - making it difficult to continue here WA.
Yes, WA does open many doors for earning an income beyond that of building an affiliate marketing website. Some come here, get the knowledge needed, and then move on to bigger and better things. There is nothing wrong with that.
I like the concept, Robert...It is kind of like doing a Spring Cleaning in the house - you get a chance to bring back memories...You obviously have a very rich set of memories here...
Many of the names you mention I know or had some sort of a connection with, and yes, even a few memories. So many took the baton in hand and helped others here (i.e. Ambassadors)...
These people are still helping too, and although some of the newer members may not know the names nor what all they have contributed, they will be lucky if they run across these people...
I notice that there are such sets of people from many past years too. These are the ones that carried the weight before I was here. They pop up once in a while but are quite engaged in whatever endeavor they may be into...
Many are still active and doing their thing, perhaps from an incognito mode. That is likely due to the fact they are working their online business and have little time, as some names you have mentioned...
It is nice to reminisce about the members here...I have quite a few good memories myself and will never forget the support and help that people here have willingly given to me when I was in need...
You are one of them...Thanks for that (and thanks to everyone here who has been so generous with their thoughts, prayers, support, and tech advice over the years)...
The Wealthy Affiliate platform is a unique place that we should all appreciate, there is no other place like it on the internet...The people are what makes it special, the co-founders are helping make that possible and are just as special...
No wonder all the online marketers look at Wealthy Affiliate with jealousy...For a lot of them, it is only about the almighty dollar...A shallow measure to be sure...
The dollars go away, the memories of interactions with people do not. I know which one is more important to me (it ain't the bucks hehe)...
Enjoyed this post...As usual, I perhaps went on a bit long...Free-flowing with the thoughts, there are more, but this covers them well enough!
Who you got tonight with the NFL Giants? My Vikings are up against the Detroit Lions in a must-win situation...Getting the popcorn ready and chilling the beer - another 4 hours is kick-off!
Anyway...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Very well said Dave. I always enjoy your comments no matter how long they may seem. They show a deep sense of thought and insight into the topic at hand.
Thank you for your kind words. I do consider myself as one of those members still active but in incognito mode, that pop in and out of the daily community engagement once in a while.
I like it much better this way which is why I am trying to stay out of the Top 25 Ambassadors and remain an Ambassador in the Top 50. Staying out of the spotlight is more productive.
I am spending my time more efficiently by focusing more on my income streams instead of spending too much time socializing here within WA. I can still contribute without being so active.
The Giants are playing the Arizona Cardinals just 15 minutes away from here in NJ. We must win this game in order to stay close to if not tied for 1st place in our division.
Sometimes we have to accept what we cannot control. Now I know that those marked as Not Live are no longer in WA.
A very personal and passionate blog and oh so true. In the going on 2 years I have been at WA, I have met some wonderful friends and count them as family. Yes, I need to clean out my box and try to connect with those who have left for whatever reason.
Thanks for a beautiful post.
Joe
You are welcome Joe. The longer we are here at WA and interact with those who we follow and those who follow us, we can relate to some of them.
If you feel safe staying in touch with them, having these members follow you on social media is one way to guarantee you stay in touch should they leave WA.
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I like your post. I have been in WA for 9 months and I do not intend to leave unless I am forced by the circumstances. You're one of my first cyber friends here. I'm glad you want to stay because I learned something from you. As for the messaging, I have not thought so far to delete it. I suspect that every year I will clean up, so far it is not very busy. I wish you much health, because you already have success lol.
Carmen
Thank you Carmen and keep on moving forward with you niche website and WA training. Success is a journey and how we interact with that journey. Though it was sad, I enjoyed your website post about Husky your cat and leaving a comment.