Week 1 Done

Hi Folks,

I've never written a blog post before but if there's one thing I've learned in all my decades on this planet, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

I am not new to online marketing, I dipped my toe in the water back in 2011. I tried affiliate marketing without making any money, and I sold a few copies of an ebook by investing heavily in advertising. So after sinking a lot of effort and $$ with little reward, and no apparent ROI, I quit. I've returned because I am in a much better position to invest both time and money in this, and am treating it as a new business venture rather than an experiment or a side hustle.

My first week has been a bit of a whirlwind. I have worked diligently through the training while setting up my website in parallel. Despite being told not to worry about perfection, I mind-mapped out my ideas so that I could get the structure of my site right in the beginning. I have a plan for three sites in different niches but with an overall connecting theme. I chose the domain names, and set up a couple of posts and pages on the first site, only to wake in the middle of the night with a better idea for the domain names. Next morning, I started the first site again with the new domain! Yes, I know, nuts, and I can't wait to be looking back at myself in a couple of years laughing at my folly.

So what is different in the world of digital marketing now? Definitely the tools that take the donkey work out of it, e.g. AI, SEO plugins, etc., and the opportunities for traffic across a multitude of channels. Plus the availability of knowledge, like that being shared here at Wealthy Affiliate. I have not had to ask a single question, although I've had plenty. Someone had already provided an answer for every small hurdle I have hit, you just need to spend a little time searching.

What is the same? Well, so far I've learned it's keywords, backlinking and Google! This is where I drew a blank last time, so I'm banking on getting it right this time around.

Thanks to everyone who has welcomed me and helped me during this first week. I appreciate this community and wish for everyone's success.

Christine