I'm 1 year old-with Wealthy Affiliate!

bykpercival55

1.3K followers

Updated 5 years ago

It's with great joy and complete surprise to report that my first year with WA has come and gone. It hasn’t been the rousing success I imagined when I first started but only due to my own shortcomings, not due to a lack of anything provided by this wonderful platform and community.

What happened you ask? Mainly health issues, which continue to be on the on the increase in hot summer weather, and interfere not only with my life here at WA but with life in general. My pain can sometimes keep me bedridden for a day or two, which is not only uncomfortable but extremely aggravating.

However that wasn't the only stumbling block, so I thought I'd outline a few of my own mistakes in the hope it will help someone else avoid making the same ones. Feel free to make any others that come to mind but these have already been done! LOL.

Mistake 1: Setting unrealistic goals. When I started in July 2018 I was VERY optimistic about the amount of time I could commit to working on my business. This turned out to be an unrealistic expectation. When ill health takes me out of the game there are many things that need catching up on and they all take time.

I would caution new members to be completely honest about the abount of time you are able to commit to this business. I say this not to be discouraging, but to be encouraging. It is far more discouraging to be disappointed in yourself for not making progress when in reality you just set an unrealistic pace for yourself.

Mistake 2: Lack of focus. I started my initial niche site and was well and truly thrilled with it, and still am today. Then throughout training I kept getting excited by other niche ideas. Before I was halfway through OEC Black Friday came along and I sure didn't want to pass up on that golden opporutnity so I purchased another domain for an MMO site. I would read a blog where another inspirational niche idea was mentioned and I would jump in and buy a domain name for another "future" niche site. I ended up with 7 domain names, only 2 of which I was able to make time to contribute any content.

While It's always good to have ideas for the future a better plan (for me) would have been to find a way to turn these ideas into content for my existing site. So my advice would be to focus on no more than 2 sites during your first year in WA unless you have content spilling out your ears. I don't. I've never been a professional writer although in my imagination I want to become one. One day I will, but until then I have to remind myself to crawl before I walk...or run...or fly!

Mistake 3: The brick wall. I had heard others talk about "the brick wall" or "the 6 month stallout", but wasn't sure what they could possibly be referring to. I was once a marathon runner and was familiar with that brick wall but had always successfully pushed through it with the help of my running buddies.

At about the 6 month mark the Holidays hit, and so did the brick wall. There were so many additional holiday activities vying for my time that work on my training and on my site kept getting pushed to the back burner...or more accurately behind the stove altogether.

Take it from me, once that forward progress comes to a standstill it takes twice the momemtum to get it moving again. I've probably done only half of the work the second 6 months of my first year than what I accomplished in the first 6 months.

So there you have it in a nutshell...the good, the bad and the ugly of my first year with WA.

Actually I haven't said enough about the good. For one thing I was smart enough to see the advantage of the Black Friday Sale so my second year is already paid for, and at a discount. As will my 3rd, 4th, etc. because I don't foresee leaving this community. The training and education here, the support and the friendships are priceless compared to the $299 annual payment.

Thanks to Kyle, Carson, Jay, and Tim as well as friends too numerous to name who have helped me make it this far. I will be forever grateful to this community for the education and especially the acceptance.

I wish for all of you the same blessings I've experienced, and success beyond your wildest dreams!

Your friend and supporter,

KyleAnn