A Journey, Inspiration and Questions
So, just over 1 month in and here it is, my first blog post on WA and hopefully 1 which will inspire and engage you and bring me knowledge and clarity.
I have been in the "Work from Home" circle since my daughter was born in 2003 and frankly, if I haven't done it, it doesn't exist. I've fallen prey to scams as I'm sure most of us have and after reading another blog post today by someone I follow, I decided that I needed to reach out and ask for help. After all, what I need help with doesn't require half as much bravery as the Blogger who inspired me to write this.
My journey first started in August 2003 when I decided to become a Kleeneze distributor. In short, that involved throwing catalogues through doors, going back, collecting the orders, bringing in the money and recruiting others to do the same. Easy you might think?Well, no, I’m blind so not so easy but I did it anyway, for 3 long years. My daughter was 6 days old when I dropped my first catalogue and despite pitfalls, I still kept on until she was 3, but eventually, I knew there had to be a better way.
So,Given my disability presented certain challenges, not least being that if my support worker couldn't go out, I couldn't either, I turned to the internet. I have no problems browsing and using the internet and so I wasn't reliant upon anyone to enable me to earn my keep.
I came across another company who saved people money on their gas and electricity and given I could sign people up online, I jumped in and actually did ok. Well, I'm still earning from it even if it is only £40 per month.
However, I struggled to recruit and after all, if I wasn't that successful how could I recruit others?
I kept on with this until 2010 and then struggling to recruit, jumped from one shiny object to the next and what was truly lacking for me was support. That was until November 2013 when I found a company which enabled me to make £199 on literally my first day. The team were amazing and with a little help and support I was able to start to see some light at the end of the Work From Home Tunnel. The support for this business simply required someone to download images for me an the rest I could do myself. It was great. They didn't even need to be in the same room as me and could work when it suited them so long as I gave them work to do.
However, in November of last year, due to government cuts, I lost the funding I needed to pay for my support worker because my turnover didn't mmeet the specifications to award me funding,so I started looking again, determined to find me something where support was either included or minimal.
I came across WA and signed up for my 7-day free trial and 6days in, I took up the half-price offer for my first month and really knuckled down.
The thing that struck me about this business an this community was the support came fully included. I've had so much support from my sponsor who I don't even know by the way. I also had amazing help from the website support desk because I couldn't see to choose the theme for my blog site and I've also had some lovely words of encouragement from the WA community itself and I have seen my rankings climb because I've offered help, encouragement and asked questions. It's those little things that really truly make the difference to me. Something as simple as changing a blog theme is near enough impossible if you have a vision impairment which means you see nothing at all on the computer screen and generally I would have had to wait at least 24 hours for someone to help me with this. These guys were spot on and within an hour of my support ticket going in, it was done. Just truly amazing.
I do though have one tiny confession, I'm really struggling with my niche. I want to focus on the "Saving money" niche and I can think of so much here that I could blog about and products that I could promote but I'm scared that my niche is too broad. Equally I'm worried that if I narrow it down to say saving money on grocery shopping or eating healthy on a budget, I will soon run out of ideas to write about and my business will flounder. As a parent of 1 and new step-parent of 4, I've had to watch the pounds and the pennies every single day pretty much so I feel I have loads to offer and much to learn equally.
So, my question is this. Should I simply create my website based on parents on a budget wherein I can write about loads of different ideas for doing things cheaply or should I be picking a niche?I really want to forge ahead and write my first blog post but there is a part of me that is afraid to fail. It's not just myself and my daughter any more but my husband and his kids too. I know failing is simply learning how not to do something but if I can avoid the mistake in the first place then surely that's better. What do you guys think?I have to make this year my year and I have a boatload of ideas that I could literally start writing about right now if I knew I was headed in the right direction.
Looking forward to your advice and comments.
Kerry
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There are many people who are looking for ways to trim their budget you can think about it from two ways one as a parent or as someone with disability, these are tough times in the UK and around the globe to
Hi Kerry.
Your niche is going to be making a site about the problems facing single moms. You're going to cover lots of stuff - as there's lots of stuff to write about. But you're going to have a big section on how to save money.
Don't think about trying to sell anything to anyone, just provide good content that you know someone in a similar position to yourself will be interested in. Make you site personal.
You;re also going to get yourself onto all the Facebook groups and discussion boards where single moms hang out. ( I've no idea what these are but they'll be some big ones ). Then you're going to start posting. You're going to share your experiences and offer any help and advice that you can as often as possible.
In 6 months you'll have a good reputation. Lots of people will know you and then you can start promoting things from your site. As you'll have authority and trust.
You should also use Facebook ads to really target other people in a similar position with good offers you find on Amazon or elsewhere for things that you know they will want / need and love to save money on. ( Spend a month or two learning all you can about FB ads & building landing pages. You'll be amazed at how specific you can target your audience with FB ads. )
Good luck :-)
Hi Kerry, firstly congratulations on your progress so far, you have tons of courage and a brave heart. You go girl! I'm not too sure on helping you narrow your niche but I'm sure that some other lovely member will help. I just wanted to say hi and well done so far :)
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Thanks Katie. I could actually look at it as someone who is a disabled parent....even tougher lol. :-)