I am back - Where I failed and why I'm pumped

byChrisDE

780 followers

Updated 7 years ago

Hey Team!

How are you guys doing? In this blog post I want to share with you

• why I left WA a year ago,
  
• why I returned,
  
• what I achieved so far,
  
• where I am struggling
  
• and why I am pumped...

Let's get started!

Why I Left Wealthy Affiliate a Year Ago

So, I joined WA back in December 2016. I don't remember exactly what made exactly look after Wealthy Affiliate. But somehow a blog post by @Nathaniell (who's "my" affiliate to this very day) convinced me to give it a shot.

I started building my blog and was really excited by the training. However, I noticed that I started to get distracted: There are SO many business models out there promising to make money online, I wasn't sure if this one would be the right one for me.

I started to struggle: Content creation is a lot of work! Would my niche work out? I remember that I had issues with finding those "low hanging fruit" keywords that are mentioned in the Certification Course (Course 2, Lesson 7). I really struggled; I abandoned the training... Sad, but true story...

Distractions

And somehow, I got attracted (and distracted) by another business model, which was drop shipping. I already had a okay-running Amazon Business, but I wanted to get a second business up and running to be on the safe side. Amazon is known to shut you down quickly and without notice and/or discussion if they don't like what you're doing. I didn't want to take this risk and make sure I have another income stream; just in case s*** hits the fan, right?

Nothing Works

Let's put this plain and simple: Drop Shipping didn't work for me. Not a bit! I never managed to get this profitable. I saw other posts from people who took the same course I bought that were cranking out INSANE numbers each and every day. And I couldn't find ONE profitable product and ad in my niche.

It's probably just a matter of time. I was told that many times: It's not a question IF you find a winner, it's just a question WHEN you will. Keep testing!

Nice! But when you lose money testing day in and day out, you lose confidence; and it's no fun!

So I decided to quit. I paid 2500 bucks for the course, several hundreds for ads, the domain, my shopify store and the like, but I simply couldn't get it to work. I don't know why! I'm not going to blame anyone but myself. I guess I wasn't patient enough...

SOS

Yes, I'm definitely prone to the "Shiny Object Syndrom". I tend to jump on new opportunities when they show up; and abandon old projects that don't pay off (most likely too early in many cases).

I have my own software product, my own Amazon brand and products (which both work okay). I tried blogging at WA, drop shipping (as mentioned before) and e-mail marketing (which I am still working on).

I think there are two ways to approach this:

• you either devote yourself to ONE thing and get a professional at that
  
• or you try many business models and not exceed the state of an amateur at each.
  

Option B isn't the best. By far not! But I feel like I haven't found the business model that really works for me yet. I've probably been leaving these opportunities to early in the past. Most certainly I have!

But I also understand that with each "failed" business, with each "failed" attempt I learn a lot. Giving up on my drop shipping store doesn't mean I will never try it again. Maybe I'll give it another try in a different niche some day. The most important part, I think, is not to look back with regret, but rather take something away from it and try better next time.

Why I Returned

"So, why did you return then?" and "What makes you believe you'll stick around this time?" you may ask. And I happen to ask myself those very questions. Let's see if I can answer them:

Why I returned is pretty simple: E-Mail-Marketing! @Kyle sent me an email back in November last year offering the yearly membership as part of the WA black friday deal. And I remembered how helpful people were around here. How fun content creation can be. And most important: That MARKETING is exactly the one thing I suck most at!

I can build software!

I can develop my own products, manufactur them and ship them!

I can build stores and funnels (from a technical perspective)!

But the one thing I'm really not good at is probably understanding my audience and successfully market to them!

That's why I thought I should give it another shot... And here I am.

I have to admit I didn't use WA for quite a while. The membership was just sitting there. I had my blog reinstatiated, indexed by google and waiting for me to log in.

Ask Questions

But I didn't log in. I let several months pass (paid months). It's April now, I bought the membership back in November... That's pretty stupid, to be honest. But I wasn't ready. I didn't want to let the offer slip (and I'm happy I didn't, otherwise I would probably not be here right now and still sitting on the fence).

Sometime a few weeks ago I thought: Why the hell don't you reach out to the guy who brought you here and ask him what you should do. I mean: He convinced you to get here, why not ask! The community is here to help, and "my affiliate", the guy who marketed WA to me, is already successful at this business model. Why not kindly ask him to mentor you a bit!

That's what I did: I explained my issues! I showed him the blog I created and abandoned a year ago and asked him if that would be something he would keep pursuing or whether he would suggest to start over.

And his feedback was so reassuring: "Your site thattoydad.com absolutely has lots of potential. Adult men are really into collector and toy nostalgia these days, and many are using this interest to connect with their children. I don't see anything wrong with this concept, and there's already a clear path to what type of product reviews you can do."

This feedback got me pumped! All of a sudden I was much more positive. If that guy, who has built several successful blogs and makes a good income with it; the guy with that much experience who is a full time internet marketer agrees that there is nothing wrong with this concept, then I should most definitely follow that path.

Will I stay this time?

For the second question ("What makes you believe you'll stick around this time?") I cannot give you a definite answer. But there are a few clues:

• There are many experienced marketers around. Nathaniell and Kyle are both very experienced people who don't just say that they are here to help; they REALLY are. Just knowing that makes a huge difference.
  
• I've joined several online courses to learn about different business models. In many cases, when you have a question, you are left to a mediocre support desk, who will give you text-block-like responses. Wealthy Affiliate is so different. I know that there are people who are willing to help. And it's relatively easy to find them.
  
• In other courses members are very competitive and there's a lot of secrecy going on. If you have identified a product opportunity and are going to launch a product on amazon, you want to make sure that other course members do not just take what you have researched, run with it and probably harm your results. So that's understandable. But I feel that WA is so much different. People aren't scared to share their results, blog posts and the like.
  

It's so refreshing!

Hence, I am most certain that this time will be different.

What I've Achieved So Far - And Why I'm Pumped

So, besides my two businesses I have mentioned before, I have started ThatToyDad.com last year when I took my first chance with WA. I published three blog posts back then; after that the blog was basically abandoned for nearly a year.

After I returned, I really needed some "hand holding"; and Nathaniell was there! I'm so thankful for that and I understand that this isn't something you can expect in ANY community.

So, after talking to him, I was finally able to find the five low hanging fruit keywords I needed to finally check that box and progress with the course.

At that very night I cranked out a 3000(!) word article about the "Best Toys For 3 Year Olds And Their Dads" and published it.

Gosh, that felt SO good!!!

Where I am Struggling

I'm still struggling. Finding keywords isn't easy. And writing content, especially as a non-native speaker can be a really tough challenge. But it's getting easier, once you sit down and just start writing, as I'm doing right now.

I'm someone who always strives to do things "perfectly". Maybe it's time to realize that this is not what counts all the time. Sometimes good is good enough.

And publishing a good result is ALWAYS better than NOT publishing the BEST result!

My Goals

So, the plan for the of this year is simple:

PUBLISH CONTENT!

I'm probably not going to focus on the money making part.

I have a good job that pays well, I run my amazon business and I sell my software. So we're okay in terms of money.

This year will be about learning. Enjoy writing, getting in touch with people and try to celebrate the "small" successes.

If I also manage to make a sale through ThatToyDad.com and help a mom or dad to get a great toy for their kids, then that would obviously be awesome.

But let's start slow, and NOT GET DISTRACTED!