Learn from My Mistakes! Don't Quit!
I'll be honest. This isn't my first time joining WA.
Crazy, right? I want to go back in time, shake myself, and say, "just KEEP GOING. Do not get overwhelmed. Unsubscribe from all other gurus trying to pitch you overpriced, incomplete training. STOP with the shiny object syndrome. Stay, learn, write some more content, and take a day off when you need to. Just DON'T QUIT."
I've been trying to create an online business for myself, with various degrees of success, for over 10 years. My most successful website was during the time I had a brick-and-mortar business teaching piano, and I made a website for adult beginner pianists. It got traction, rankings, and I even earned a few hundred dollars a month at one point, between Adsense and affiliate offers. I got good at writing keyword-rich content pages! People wrote to me to tell me my articles helped them. It was *good.*
So what happened? Two things.
First, we moved across the country and I had to shut down my studio. When I wasn't actively teaching, it was hard for me to come up with the content ideas and the every-day inspiration that used to happen when I was talking to students all day. I kind of lost my spark for writing about learning piano.
Second, Google came out with some of their hard-hitting algorhythm updates a year or so later. I had let my website be, because people were still finding value and I was still earning a little. But all my rankings tanked when the Google updates happened, because I didn't have fresh content on my site. I also was not at all involved in social media, which had become increasingly important.
And so I let that website go, and said goodbye to that particular season of success.
I've dabbled in a lot of things since then, including my first time joining Wealthy Affiliate. My problem has been -- and I'm being COMPLETELY honest here -- that I have not stuck with anything long enough to see success. I haven't been focused, and I haven't set goals that give me momentum. I haven't distilled my "why" in a concise way that motivates me every morning when I get out of bed. I've tried easy shortcuts, I've believed things are too hard, I've believed I wasn't capable of taking an online business to a life-changing level. That success happens for other people, but not for me.
But no longer.
I believe that I can learn anything and everything I need to.
I believe that success beyond my wildest dreams is achievable for me.
I believe that self-development is a crucial part of success, and I will retrain my thoughts.
I believe that I have something to share with the world.
If you happen to come across my blog here at Wealthy Affiliate, please learn from my 10+ years of wandering. I've tried SO many membership sites, been upsold left and right, been disappointed by training that promised to be step-by-step, and let myself get distracted every day. Don't do what I did.
Commit. Focus. Unsubscribe from everything (except WA emails, of course!). Stop clicking on FB ads for webinars (you know they are sales pitches with incomplete information!) and dig in here!
And I'd LOVE to be part of your community here. Let's support each other as we build the businesses of our dreams!
Recent Comments
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Wow! I thought you we're talking about me,except for the piano part,Mary had a little lamb was about As far as I got on a piano. It's nice to know other people have done the emotional roller coaster and let's not mention the financial nightmares that piggy backed right along with to throw some salt in the wound. Thanks for the encouragement
Hi Jacquie -- you are definitely not alone in the struggle!! I really believe this is the best community online to learn blogging and affiliate marketing. Here's to staying the course and finding success!
Thanks for taking the time to let us know your story, and I am sure that there are many here that can relate to your experiences...
It is so easy to get distracted by all the stuff that people are trying to sell, and they keep on coming up with new things to separate you from your money and success...
Having a solid plan and then working the tasks that plan requires along with a good and complete training guideline as what you have here is all you need.
There are tools outside of what you have here that will make the journey easier, but not that many, and they should have a place and a purpose, or there is no need for them...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi Dave! I completely agree! I've had to really cut down the amount of online people I "listen" to, and clean out my inbox. Because I am tempted by *everything.*
I also did this. I was a free member for a long time and a combination of events such as a divorce, losing my house, illness and life just not going how I wanted it to plus spending money on hyped training courses and software/plugins etc. What I should have done was to concentrate on WA instead. I still get sales emails from JV Zoo and WarriorPlus. I used to just delete them or mark as spam, but I unsubscribe now.
Those hyped training courses are ALWAYS incomplete, aren't they? So disappointing. I've unsubscribed from everything, too. Take care, and let's focus on WA and success!
Yes that's true, they always dangle another carrot. I got one today in my spam folder promoting something called "tuberank jeet 3" which promises "free YouTube traffic for life". So basically they're selling you something that's free anyway lol
Hey Kim,
My journey has been similar in that I have paid thousands and thousands of dollars to scammers for over 9+ years. I also have tried every program just to end up disappointed. I am not one to quit, but have left programs after spending way too much time and money and not learning much of anything.
I just wish I had found this sooner. But, hey, better late than never! I now have 3 websites up and running and starting to get traffic. I am super hyped now!
Good for you, finally learning your lesson! And welcome back to WA. We are all here to help each other and to succeed. If you need help or encouragement, reach out! Good Luck and Take Care. Connie
Hi Connie!
Thanks for taking the time to tell me a bit of your story. I have spent a ton of money too, which I get pretty bummed about if I sit and think about it too long! Learning is fun, and can be much more fun than actually taking the risk, doing the work, and putting yourself out there.
3 websites?! Great work! Best wishes to you!
Kim
Thanks for sharing your experiences with your online business. It is not easy to keep up and continue to add content and make your site one that people want to come to...It sounds like you have made some good decisions in how you will proceed and I wish you the best of luck! Cheers! Dave : )
Thanks for sharing your heart Kim.
I just came out of my webinar addiction rather recently (like, a week ago). Yes, there are a lot of shiny and sparkly things out there; but at some point, I had to snap out of it. I didn't want to be forever attending webinars without ever applying some of what I was learning.
I also learned that since I'm in charge of my own schedule, I can work as slow or as fast as I want, while going through the Wealth Affiliate lessons.
Looks as if your detour made you not only wiser Kim, but ready to embrace your success!
Veroncia
Hi Kim! Thankfully after a few months of floating about online trying to figure stuff out - I found WA! I decided from the start I was just going to keep going until I was a success. That said, I had NO idea what would be ahead of me and it wasn't what I expected - but has been a whole lot more besides. I wake up excited to start the day, that has to be a good thing. Wishing you all the best and thanks for sharing!! Nat
OMG you are ME! Aside from the brick and mortar part, that is. You know what I had about 8-9 years ago? A gluten free blog when there aren't ANY to be found. I became the resource I wanted to find and people found me.
My husband had been diagnosed with celiac disease and I had a million things to write about. I even made some money. Then I kind of got unfocused and scared and tried to make too many changes. After I let it drop off, guess what happened - gluten free became the biggest popular food trend in a decade...
Bleh, I got left behind and now you can't go anywhere without running into articles and blog posts and all sorts of info. If I'd stayed on track, think of the authority my site could have had. :/
Oh well, you live and you learn! And like you, I'm back and forth and now moving forward again, this time with more wisdom and hope for the future. Not being in such a desperate hurry to see things happen and stopping because i take a slow result as a sign of failure.
So we will just keep moving regardless of what it looks like, taking meaningful steps along the way and it will.come, I know it too!!
Hang in there!!
Now here's a person being honest and telling us like it is. I think it would be so cool if she became a successful affiliate for that large rain forest company her husband works for. It could happen
She has Tech Support setting right across the dinner table from her. I've recently committed my niche site to the Associate Program for this rain forest company and am very impressed with the Training Platform. In some respects it reminds me of WA.
Well, I hope I become a successful affiliate too!! Haha! Although I do try NOT to involve my other half in my tech issues... he has enough on his plate! He makes sure the interwebs work... he tells me how to use the remotes with the TV... I deal with my own blogging frustrations!! :-)
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That is a great message. Very honest, and inspiring too. I have also been building an online affiliate marketing business for 10 years now so I understand where you are coming from.
I can't play the piano, but my equivalent has been selling Japanese games, i.e. packing and posting games in response to orders via my website.
However, it is affiliate marketing and related business-to-business services that really attracts me. I like the idea of being able to earn an income without being tied to a particular location... well, I guess that is true for a lot of us at WA!
I think you already realize that you can turn that 10 years of struggle into a powerful force for finding success online by helping others.
I'm following you now, and look forward to reading about your progress.
All the best,
David Hurley
Thank you, David! It can be hard to "pull it all together" -- all these things that I've learned in different ways. I have a big ol' heaping helping of perfectionism, too, and it can be hard to move forward on my goals. I feel like I'm right around the corner from the success I've been working toward! I agree that the independence of affiliate marketing (and not being tied to packing/shipping inventory) is really attractive. The fact that you've had success online in selling games, though, is proof that you can translate that into affiliate marketing.
Best wishes and much success to you!