Part 2 - What I Like About WA & What I've Achieved So Far.

bydrivendad76

128 followers

4 years ago

First of all, just want to say a big thanks to everyone who has liked or commented on my posts, I really do appreciate it. I wanted to finish this post the other day but alas, work got in the way! But as promised and continuing on from the last post, I just want to share where I'm at with things lately. Like I said before I'm just about at the completion stage of the training at lesson 10 "Being an Ambassador".

I still consider myself to be an absolute novice with regard to being an internet entrepreneur. There is so much to learn that the journey has barely even started as far as I'm concerned. I mean I haven't even left the train station yet so to speak, I'm still haven't purchased my ticket! Sure, I started a small cycling online shop for the past 6 or so months (which has only been partially successful and by no means Covid-19 proof), but there is still so much to learn!

I want to be the next super-affiliate but I know that to get there is not going to be a walk in the park; it’s going to take serious work and commitment. At the end of the day I think about my baby boy and all the great things we could do together as he gets older, I can’t wait! As you probably have gathered, I love being a Dad! That is what really motivates me more than anything.

I'm still getting the feel of the WordPress dashboard, the dashboard here at WA and learning how to effectively edit my work. As I've said before, I'm in no rush; I want to properly lay the foundations so that everything comes together well and does not fall over, very similar principle to building a solid house that will last for generations.

What I've Really Liked About The Training at WA Thus Far...
I find the videos and overall layout of WA highly effective for learning as everything you need is here to get you started and beyond. I also find the training easy to follow and very comprehensive. Another thing I really like is how it is structured and how it is broken down really well into manageable portions.

You tick things off as you go, I personally love that! That way you're also not getting overwhelmed with stuff you don't need to know (yet). It's very methodical and I'm a big fan of working methodically, gradually and with patience. Most online programs are not like that, they overload you so that you fail, pure and simple.

While I'm OK at writing I do struggle with reading a bit; like a lot of boys of Gen-X, reading wasn't my strength at school. I prefer video training over reading and I was pleased to see that most of the training is being delivered via that method so far. I'm also a blue collar guy (predominantly) so I tend to pick things up better via video and voice. Everyone is different, some people may prefer reading or other forms of learning. There is the reading option throughout the training so I think most people are catered for pretty well.

Saving the best till last - the support here from WA is nothing short of excellent with a community of like-minded people who share similar beliefs about moving forward in their journey in life and making a better life for themselves and those that matter to them. At the same time, helping others do the same. The "pay it forward" approach is something I have rarely seen anywhere online (if ever, at least to this standard). This is something that is very admirable and almost unique about WA.

The Website - How It's Going...

Yesterday and the preceding days I have been working not just on content but also on the appearance of the site, color, typography as well as its professionalism and overall look and feel. I have chosen the "Transport" theme as I find this a simple, single column layout that looks fresh and modern. I have added plenty of relevant and lively cycling related images to the site to help break up the writing. Here is a list of milestones since joining up with WA in late June:

• Received my first comment by Edwin Bernard on the 16th July.... This was an enjoyable moment as that is the first time someone has commented on any online work I've done. It also adds credibility to what you're writing about, the more comments the better!
• Posted 5 posts to my site thus far - these range in length from 1368 words up to the latest post which is 3286 words.
• I try to be as helpful as I can be with regard to writing these posts and I always try to write not just from the heart but also from real-life experience and the skills I’ve learnt over the years. Writing in this fashion will come across as much more authentic and engaging for the reader. It also helps them to solve their problem that they are trying to solve.
• All my site posts are now already getting ranked by Google which is great news as that means the site is now getting ranked in SEO results.

The Challenges

I’ll be honest, I’m not overly savvy with computers, I mean I’m OK - but by modern standards not great and I have run into a few problems, (none of them insurmountable though). Some main issues over the past month I've faced are detailed in the below list:

• Images will not load onto the website itself from WA's website builder platform and I don't know why. I've tried several remedies but to no avail. So to get around the problem, I now simply go onto the WordPress dashboard itself and insert the images there instead. (I still write the actual post on the WA writing platform as I find the template setup really helps). That solution has worked fine with little problems.
• Images can be difficult to crop and get them to look right on WordPress in relation to the surrounding text. I've learnt that the proper use of the alignment buttons at the top of the editing panel really helps.
• Taking WAAYY too much time writing!! lol - This is a hard one for me as I really like to put the most quality and detail in my work as I can. However, I realize I need to cut down the post writing time to not more than 2 hours, (max). At the moment, I'm taking up to three times that amount of time! Man, I need to speed that up a bit I know!
• Though I am slowly getting on top of keyword research and the training and Jaxxy program are excellent, I've still had challenges in finding low competition keywords. The cycling niche is fiercely competitive and one I would not recommend for someone starting out. The reason I’ve chosen it is that it is sentimental to me and both my late senior father figures were keen riders back in the day, (as I am). So, I’ll keep going with it at least at the current stage. But I have managed to find a few low comp keywords with QSR's under 80. But I have to tell ya....it ain't been easy!

In the next post I'll talk about weekly time commitment, the importance of getting people to review your work, goal setting and where I want to be (and you as well if you follow along) in 3, 6 and 12 months. I might go beyond that but I think maybe 12 months is a far enough goal to discuss at this point, we'll see. Have a productive day, more to come…

Matt