If You're Offering Advice, Practice What You Preach!
This is not directed at or inspired by any one member in particular, but I have been running into a problem with some of the more "helpful" members here on WA and I felt the need to whine a little.
The community here is great, with a strong emphasis on helping others, offering support and advice and giving everyone a voice. I love that (I'm using it right now)! But I also hate it sometimes. Why? Because some of the people who are so eager to give me advice (I'm a fairly new member, and have only been here since March 4th), aren't following the courses, haven't completed the tasks, and aren't making any money!
Now, I understand that we all are working at different paces, are coming from different levels of education, etc., but how can you give me advice on what I'm doing in Course 3 if you haven't even completed the tasks in Course 1 yet?
How can you properly advise me on my website if you don't have one, yourself? Your outside experience is all well and good (at least, most of the time), but if you haven't progressed far enough in the WA program to prove it, I can't really take your advice that seriously.
This is not to criticize anyone who hasn't completed the website set-up process yet. But if you've been here for 6 months and care to volunteer your sagely wisdom, I should be able to visit your profile and see at least one website you've been working on, right? And not a siterubix site. If you haven't committed to your own domain yet, you should probably go back and review Course 1.
I don't know, maybe it's just late and I'm feeling grumpy, but I want to receive REAL advice from REAL experienced members, not someone who feels the need to spread their opinions without putting any course material into action. There are too many serious people here for it to be diluted by fake "experts" who won't get off the soapbox.
No disrespect, just trying to calls 'em like I sees 'em.
Am I a horrible person? Have you noticed this too? Are you also a horrible person? Should we form a club for ungrateful, horrible people? I'll follow your lead here, WA.
Thanks for reading,
Holly
P.S. I think I've reached my rant quota for the month of March.
Recent Comments
13
Hello Holly, you got great opinion there and I understand it.
I never give an aswer if I didn´t got the knowledge and I Always listen to them I trust like Boomer down here and some more, that´s how I got my knowledge since I started in August 2013.
Tc
Thomas
I can understand your feelings Holly but I also have to agree with the answers from my other WA family below, so I will not repeat what has already been said.
It's pretty easy to filter out the ones who know what they're talking about and the ones that are pretending to. I'm sure you can do that. For the ones that give you advice that may not seem to be correct or justified, don't let it bother you. Just accept it as someone who is trying to be helpful because part of the training here is to"immerse yourself" into the community and to comment on other members comments and posts.
So no need to apologize for your ranting and one other thing... I always preach what I practice...I mean practice what I preach...uh, never mind. Don't listen to me. ;-)
Understand your views and echo those above.
I have 20 plus of my own sites, and could give you my client list as that is what I do for a living as well, but that is as stated above.
Not to worry - now you can move forward in peace.
Have a great day!
Hey Holly,
I mirror Beverly's sentiments about filtering out the noise. And she is a trusted member that offers great advice all the time.
I have often seen newer members offer up advice based on Kyle's training so even though they haven't walked the walk so to speak, in most cases they are reiterating correctly the methods that are taught here. Maybe that doesn't happen all the time and if not, then filtering the noise is applicable.
Sometimes too, getting other people's opinions even though they may not be experienced or what have you, can serve up insight that you haven't thought about. That is what makes this such a dynamic environment. Personally, I'd rather get a lot of opinions about what I'm trying to get answers to than to get one or two and hope those addressed the situation.
Remember, that when you do find some members that you trust you can always send a private message to them if you feel that you are not getting the answers you seek from posting. Most people will be more than happy to lend a helpful hand in that manner as well. This is what makes WA such a great place with multiple channels that are available for us to use when we need help.
Best Regards,
Jim
I asked for real advice, and I got it! All of you have made strong, mature points that make a lot of sense. It's good to know that the good ones are out there when you're looking for them. Thanks for the comment, Jim - I will keep all of the above in mind in the future.
Hi Holly, I take your point! It can be frustrating at times, but like Beverley says, filter out what doesn't apply. I have also found that what one person would really love about your site, another will critisize. I quite like different opinions and take it with a pinch of salt.
I came to respect and appreciate Beverley's feedback greatly, so when I'm really stuck and need help, I turn to her. So that would be my advice to you, find someone here at WA that you relate to, that will become your mentor and that will be consistent.
Good luck with building your business!
Lydia.
All things to think about, and thanks, Lydia. I was getting testy last night and lost a little bit of my serenity, for sure. I agree that filtering out the bad and taking all advice with a grain of salt is a good way to go. I also like the mentor idea - I tend to be an independent worker, but I will definitely look into linking up with a more experienced (actually experienced) member here. Thanks for visiting!
LOL - You go for it! Seriously Holly I can understand where you're coming from but it's not always as straight forward as it seems.
I haven't done the courses - because they didn't exist when I first joined (which was back in 2010). There's quite a lot of experienced members in that position. I wouldn't write us off because we haven't done the courses. Nor would I write us off because some of us haven't got our websites showing. A lot of us don't simply because there have been some less nice members who have copied content - so many choose to keep their business private.
Similarly - I wouldn't discount someone's advice because they've stuck with a siterubix site. It's possible to be successful (albeit at a slower pace) with one. People still have things to share.
It can be terribly irritating to get advice - from people who don't seem to know what they're talking about - but it goes with the territory. Just try and filter out that 'noise' and stick to a few people that you trust. Good on you for voicing your views which I know other share.
Good luck with developing your site. :) Beverley
Thanks, Beverly, and you raise some good points as well! I had no idea that the courses were possibly "newer" than some WA members themselves. Thank you for pointing that out. I will try (sigh) to be thankful for whatever advice I get, whether or not the distributer has gone through the same motions that I have to get here.
Holly, no worries.
As a matter of fact, this morning someone asked a specific question and it was my comment that answered his question. To rant myself one comment is from a person worried about his WA ranking and did not even answer the question.
Some people do obsess about their WA ranking. Ranking does nothing but the more you help people you increase your climb to reaching Ambassadorship. There are no rewards or prizes for being an Ambassador.
Also to address a couple of your comments. Some people even those of us that have been here a few months do not post our websites. Sorry its just we like what we produce and handful of people like to copy. Because people are not getting sales is not necessarily due to lack of knowledge.
This is a business and takes time to build and develop. So I would take the advise of someone that has completed the courses and may not necessarily be getting sales. They would have he knowledge to help others.
Debbie
That is a good point, Debbie, and thanks for commenting. I have been trying to mimic a similar attitude and just give people the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes it is just so obvious that they don't know what they're doing that I hate gritting my teeth and going, "Thanks for the tip (which I will never use because it's incorrect)".
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HA! I'm enjoying your blogs, thus why I'm commenting on this old one. I especially appreciate that you understand basic grammar and spelling concepts (my apologies to those that do not). I have a bunch of years experience building websites, but I've only been on WA for 10 days? 12? I've already got two sites up and running - one isn't listed in my profile simply because it's for my local computer repair business.
I've already completed the majority of the "Get Started Here" courses (but I never check anything off, I just hit next, so you wouldn't know it by looking at it), and I'm at course 3, Lesson 8 of the Affiliate Bootcamp - this one I'm actually checking things off. But, I work from home, so I have plenty of time between fixing computers and WA'ing. I've completely lost my train of thought and I have no idea what I'm getting at now.