Stopped Training at WA (WA Made Me Do It)
I stopped training at WA, and WA made me do it.
In fact, the WA training encouraged it. Now if that sounds odd, it really isn't. The WA training, for example, encourages us to learn about social media and use that media to drive visitors to our niche websites. What is not mentioned in the WA training is the huge amount of time it takes to learn how to use and navigate social media sites.
It takes a loooooooong time.
Anyway, off I dutifully went to learn how to use social media sites to drive traffic to my niche websites.
I decided against YouTube because of my lack of cinamatography skills. Facebook was out because I'm not sending pictures of me to Mr. Zuckerberg. I also threw out Twitter because I talk more than 280 characters. That left Pinterest.
Pinterest turned out to be a good choice. When I arrived at Pinterest, the site was in the midst of complete chaos because of algorithm changes, and everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Hmmm, I thought. Banging my head against the wall trying to figure out Pinterest will keep me awake. Maybe I'll learn something. So, I jumped right in.
The owners of Pinterest are deliberately vague in what they're doing. Brevity is worshipped at Pinterest. So instructions on what to do and not do are communicated in four or five word declarative sentences. It's up to you to fill in the blanks.
I learned quickly that what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. In other words, much of the material written about how Pinterest worked was dated. In fact, if you tried certain strategies that worked previously, you could find your Pinterest account frozen or banned. And there's no set formula to get yourself unfrozen or off the ban list. I counted at least a 14 Pinterest denizens who either quit Pinterest or went mad trying to figure it out. Now I knew I was in the right place. Pinterest reminded me of quantum theory where the same thing could exist in two different forms at the same time. Meow! (See schrödinger's cat.)
But Pinterest, I found, was a fantastic medium to promote your WA niche website. It's all based on pictures and quips. How much fun is that? You can sit there all day and create clever or catty memes and hope one goes viral. You can really stir the pot at Pinterest to see what works - within unknown limits, of course. What you create are called pins. These pins point back to your WA niche website. Neat, yes?
These pins are eventually pinned to boards. Boards are not what they seem, of course. They are not innocuous and can get your website killed. So you have to be careful where you pin. Remember, the Pinterest algorithm is in flux and is changing minute to minute. Chaos still rules. But if you pin right, the Pinterest algorithm will shower you with love and lead the crowd to your WA niche website. Don't ask for the formula yet. It could change before noon. Stay tuned.
Incidentally, you'll need to learn an app called Canva to create your pins that are pinned to boards. Remember learning how much fun it was to fingerpaint in kindergarten? Canva is like that. You'll like it.
Anyway, this sidetrack to Pinterest took about one month. It was unexpected but necessary, I hope. This shows that training at WA is not a straight line. In fact, WA encourages exploration where you might meet a Schrödinger's cat.
Recent Comments
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I have been using Pinterest for some time now but I'm yet to use Canva. That's my next big adventure. Jim
Uh oh.... Here come all the “WA has all you’ll ever need and don’t ever leave this site again to gain knowledge!” ;) Yes, WA is a massive source of income but we must look outside of WA st times to further our educational catalogues.
Thank you for this post! I’m a newbie and I’ve been doing just what you stated here. Google is just as undependable as Pinterest with their continual algorithm fluctuations and changes.
Keep seeking, keep knocking and it will be given unto you. God Bless!
This is my next diversion too. So thank you for sharing, I will re read it in the morning when my brain can digest and use 👍🏻
As you were throwing out the window other social media, I said in my head she's going to settle for Pinterest, and you did.
truth be told, the best way to get a ton of sustainable traffic to your website right now is through google. Which is what WA mainly focuses on.
I am often marveled at the seamless transition from Pinterest to websites. it is genius the way they have it all set up.
Pinterest is also a hard nut to crack. like you rightly mentioned, Pinterest is constantly evolving.
That was the good side, but you need to understand that social media, in general, will flip the name of the game at regular intervals and it is never in your best interest. Facebook did that recently. not even paid ads work that great on FB these days.
whatever you do, I think you should weigh your options carefully whether or not you remain in WA. Diversify your source of traffic.
Good luck to you.
Pinterest is a great source of traffic if you do it right. It's the third largest search engine so shouldn't be ignored. Google SEO is the most important as you'll get most of your targeted traffic there, but Pinterest can also drive sales. It does take time to master so my advice is make training here a priority and gradually learn Pinterest. Canva is a fantastic graphics site and I love it. It's so easy to create great looking pins that others will want to share. Yes, a lot of training is outdated, but the principle of 20/80 ratio still exists. That's 20% your pins ad 80% other people's pins. There is still good training out there. I followed a course by Vincent Ng. It's a bit dated but much is relevant today. Look for Pintalysis.
Davidpaul,
Loved your rant. I'm sitting in limbo, because I hate social media. I've considered Pinterest, but now you tell me I need Canva?Canva and I have a love/hate relationship.
Anyway, liked your post.
So you are really quitting? Social media is part of the equation, but I think you have gotten derailed. If you do all the training lessons and exercises, you can fit your study of social media in when you are caught up with everything else. Social media is important, but if you learn SEO and how to get ranked on Google, Pinterest becomes much less important. Yes, it is a good source of traffic, but it is not the only one.
Great article - Canva is great, totally agree. All social media is time consuming and doesn't reap benefit, unless you pay for advertising, even then due to algorithm changes, even paid reach is precarious and organic reach is non existent. Know this because over the years I've tried everything. Happy Pinning.
Sandra
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Began using Pinterest and got confused. I am ignoring it right now even though I get pins daily.