Road to nowhere. or somewhere special?
I quit teaching, after 26 years of hard but mostly fun labour, back in June of 2019. I'd completed my latest contract, in Shanghai at one of the more prestigious Chinese schools in the region. Instead of seeking out another teaching contract, I decided the time was right to head out on my own and really commit to developing a freelance business. I'd already studied Coaching (Life-Coaching) some years ago and gained a level 5 (foundation degree level) certificate and I felt that if I could combine or pair it with my love of team-building/problem-solving, training activities, I might be able to develop a modestly successful business. That particular project is still a work in progress - I'm studying and training for further Coaching certificates and credentials and hoping to establish that as one of my regular activities and income sources... but attracting clients isn't easy - especially when living in foreign lands (Thailand, for me) and offering English as the only medium for my coaching. Obviously, a website is a principal tool for exposure and generating interest but my internet-savvy-ness isn't exactly impressive and I've still to optimize my Coaching website to build exposure and traffic.
Some months after taking a further course in Coaching, in order to gain International Coaching Federation accreditation, I'm still struggling somewhat with the particular Coaching methods I've chosen to learn about. It'll come, in time and with practice but even practice clients are hard to come by... so I've a lot of empty time on my hands (the training sessions are usually 2-hour, online webinars, in the evening or afternoon) and I want to learn more about exploiting a website to its fullest potential. A few Google searches later and I find myself at WA's homepage and taking an interest in the opportunities and guidance it offers. Suddenly, I see another potential revenue/income stream in return for modest outlay from my currently limited but reasonably adequate savings. Looking deeper into the website, I see the potential to earn more from affiliate programs than I could imagine earning from Coaching (and Coaches can legitimately charge pretty significant hourly fees for their services!). So, I signed up for the basic package and was quickly persuaded that this training and support network is for real... and I'm now signed up as a Premium member.
The cover picture I chose represents where I am now - looking into a hazy, fogged-up future somewhere down the road and I'm only just getting on my bike... but I currently have the time and freedom to make of this journey what I can. I'm not internet-savvy, as I've said, so I'm hopeful that WA and its members will guide me past the many potholes that might puncture my tires. If I can spend a month developing, refining and tweaking myt first website (of this nature) and ALSO tweak my recently published Coaching website, good things may happen in time. I'm on a bike, not a rocket sled, so it will take time to get wherever I'm headed to.
Recent Comments
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Welcome to WA. I am new to WA too and I'm just halfway through level 2 training. So much to learn but I enjoy learning new things and writing content. I have found the support from the community amazing.
Take your time, enjoy the ride and I wish you success in all your endeavours.
Thanks for the welcome.
I'm about 3/4 through Level 1 and enjoying the sympathetic style of the training.
At the moment, the site that we're learning to build does seem very blog-centric which is a bit disconcerting as I was anticipating something more commercially orientated, but I imagine the money-making side of things will be revealed later in the training program. Anyway, if I get through a couple of units of training each day, I'll be satisfied with my progress. I wish you all the best in yours, too.