Ambassadors, Rank & Activity Official Update
Hi everyone,
There has been a lot of stir here lately about posting at Wealthy Affiliate, Ambassadorship and the Ranking platform and what people see and don't see within their Activity Dashboards.
Because of this I wanted to offer an official post from us to give you some perspective on our thoughts and where we plan to take these platforms moving forward (and what we have been working very hard on).
First Blog Posts, What Can You Post and What Shouldn't You
We have our rules here at Wealthy Affiliate, but there is always going to be room for interpretation. We don't feel we own the monopoly on what is necessarily a great post for people and what isn't.
If you are posting here in WA, you should aim to keep your posts.
- Relevant to your online business or journey online
- Motivational, Affiliate, Online Business, Strategy based
- Your successes and accomplishments as you move forward with your business.
But there is room for social posts. We are a community and over time people build relationships with folks and would like to share stuff with the community. Exciting news, like having a baby or a grandchild. Share their experiences from their latest business trip. A personal issue with their mindset or where they are losing focus. These should be fine as well.
Some posts will be more social, some will be more business related. Because of this we are considering the ability to choose the "type" of post or some categorization considering that there will be different types of posts. You may see that integrated into the editor as you move forward.
The key though, is to give YOU, the user control of what you see and what you don't. You will naturally follow people that you like, avoid people that you don't want to hear from, but there is a certain level of activity that needs to be used for exposure.
That leads me to the "new" Activity dashboard.
Activity Dashboard, 2.0 is Coming!
This is something that we have been working on quietly for quite some time. It is not quite into the testing phase, but the UI is designed and it is looking like a release of this will take place late summer or early fall.
It is a much nicer design, it is going to showcase things that should be showcased, and it is also going to give you new ways to interact within the platform and to do so more efficiently.
We have also considered mobile with the new platform, so you are going to be able to engage with WA in a much more enjoyable way as you are on the move on your mobile device (smartphone/tablet).
Ambassadorship Platform Update.
This is another significant project we have been actively working on behind the scenes. Everything from the interface design, to how Ambassadorship works has been taken into consideration with the update.
We have also spent a lot of time thinking of the best way to make the Ambassadorship program exciting for those that are using it. This takes into consideration community clout that people receive with ambassadorship and perhaps at some point some sort of incentive.
Stay tuned for updates in respect to this, these are likely coming late summer or early fall with some of the interface design updates coming mid summer (very soon).
Ranking, the Best Way to Do this
With the Ambassadorship platform update, there are going to be some major shifts in terms of ranking and where you end up ranking within the platform here. There is going to be much more emphasis on your interaction, helping others, how much you are using the platform here and the various system (ie, you have a true understanding of WA).
There will be less emphasis on posting for the sake of posting. Less emphasis on those that are consistently asking questions for the sake of trying to game rankings.
But there are literally 100's of interactions that we take into consideration with the ranking algorithm of ambassadorship.
Will it be perfect, no. Like Google and how they are constantly updating their algorithms, we are constantly doing the same here at WA.
The ranking update will likely be rolled out in the coming weeks.
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So there you have it. We have a lot going on behind the scenes in respect to posting content here at WA, in terms of ranking and ambassadorship and in respect to overall activity.
Lots to look forward to and if you have any comments, questions or feedback please leave them below.
Recent Comments
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I'm happy to see the changes Kyle. I would like to see a small trial balloon expose of the main points perhaps bulletized for all us stakeholders to examine.
A written sample or tutorial of what's to come that could be commented on for refinement.
This would smooth the way for no surprises and a smooth transition!
I say, I know I'll be there someday. Not because I am ambitious but I know everyone who stays here and works here will surely earn credits/ranks and it does not matter if you are expert or not.
I feel that this is one of the systems that equalizes everyone. You rank because the system found what you did and not because you are seen as an expert or advanced than others. So I don't worry why I see those who just came for a shorter time than me and they made it to the higher rank for I know they have worked for it.
Secondly, I like the incentives. Any company that loves its people does this so why can't WA do it faithfully and graciously. The community gives life to WA and if it wills, it's an opportunity for her to extend blessings within the specific level of standard laid down for all that it will cover. I think I am feeling that incentive, lol. And that may fall on a discretion within that level of standard.
So why not come, let's all go there, but remember there is time for every one of us.
Your post is greatly appreciated and helps me understand what's going on.
Regarding ranking, I get personal satisfaction tracking the results of my posts. I look at the number of comments and likes as a reflection of the value the posts adds to the WA "body of knowledge." Posts with few comments and likes tell me my post missed the mark. And probably was not a good post or added little value. Hopefully, as my ranking improves, the post "numbers" improve as well.
Thank you, Kyle for the update on what is coming and what is going on behind the scenes, the thing that amazes me is the constant improvements you Carson and your team are continually rolling out, they truly enhance the platform and our opportunities to create that positive online presence. My biggest struggle with it is that I am not sure that I making the best use of all that we have by way of membership.
I'm with you on that last part. I struggle with the same thing. In fact, I know I am not making the best use of all that they offer here. Glad to know I am not alone! :)
Linda
Continuous improvement is part of learning process in Wealthy Affiliate. I enjoy the learning process here, very dynamic. Learn new things everyday, too much to be learned, never bore. I think it is necessary to add a special badge to member who have succeed in getting first sale, first referral or first article rank. Thank you.
The paragraph about 'the ambassadorship program for those who are using it' is a little confusing - that is the 'top 25' so everyone is using it, like it or not, unless we have the option to opt out
Half the posts in here are about 'I've made it into the top 200/100/50/ambassador' it is one chain of events and viewed as 'success', something to aim for, and the training tells people to aim for it too
This is the best place to be online, the best resources, the best price, does it need 'incentives' of ANY sort internally?
I'm at the point that I feel responsible referring people to a platform that actually tells them 'success' is defined by being 'active' on the platform and their internal WA rank number, because that is not why they/we joined up
The focus on rank has especially the past few months seen people run campaigns of varying shades and definitions of 'helpfulness' across the platform, solely with the intention of rank boosting and we all know it works.
On the other hand, many truly successful people have blogged that their success rose as their rank fell, no one can compete for rank with someone who is posting or chatting in here all day instead of their website, 'activity' on the platform needs defined for rank juice
Your 2013 post says that without incentive you feared people would not be active or contribute - but social media and facebook have proved in the years since then that people will be active
If success is measured by our gains then that will determine the activity:
- when the gains are 50% commission as in the bootcamp niche, those people are very motivated to provide quality material for their referrals and keep them in
-when the gains in other niches are mastery, the thrill of figuring things out, successes, results, experiences and other affiliate commissions, those people have a lot to share and talk about too
-when the gains are internal WA rank, then the posts are 'woohoo my rank is high today, I am so successful' and fluff posts and platform wide charm campaigns
-when the gain is a nice place to hang out and do whatever you want off topic, then you risk having your platform hijacked without a firm hand
high rank doesn't need an incentive, it's earned and should be deserved
- though how people have defined that word 'deserve' recently is mind blowing - except to ask 'why did we join WA', and when we look at ambassadors could we forget the reason why we actually signed up for these resources and the siterubix hosting?
People need someone to look up to, good leaders, those who already have proved success should be at the top, even without having to be active - WA has produced a stream of 'gurus' all of whom say the training worked, yet members in here don't even get to meet them, many look elsewhere to lesser 'gurus' and shiny objects.
I vote put the top guys at the top, give them the top 25 numbers, and let us all follow in their example...and make those superaffiliates pay it forward with one breadcrumb blog to us a month...I learn so much from even one sentence from those guys
We 'own' the guy who wrote Money Blog lol, and many many other successful people in here who can make 300 premium sales in under 6 months - hey guys - this is an authority platform on so many levels, time to own that ;)
I use the ranking system as an indirect metric for the success of my websites.
If my WA blog posts receive a "good" number of comments and likes, I consider that a measure of value added. This in turn indirectly relates to the quality of my website content.
So posting on my WA blog improves my overall content development efforts. Practice makes perfect. Or in the parlance of my last real job, continuing improvement process.
Great comments Moz. Agree with you, as a month old newbie...I really would like to see more easily the successful members...I know they are there but it takes some digging out to get the information. They are my aspiration and inspiration.
Couldn't agree more. I have had people I referred leave because they didn't want to pay for "Facebook on crack"
@mozMary @kyle I couldn't agree more. I remember being on the cusp of Ambassador at a rank of 26. But I soon realized that it was my website that was suffering.
It was a great experience though for me to rise up the ranks and it did make me become more and more confident with my writing capabilities as someone who was new to blogging.
While I do completely agree with you that the ones who should be at the top should be the ones who have achieved great success with online marketing and people whom we can mentor from, I also know that everyone's business here differs from one another.
I have met many people here who may not be that successful with online marketing, but this - Wealthy Affiliate, has become their passion and helping motivate others and be that aid to support is what they've grown to love.
While yes, there are many different ways to move up the ranks and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to manipulate the system, I propose that we look at ranks and success in a different light.
Why can't there be a different directory of people who have achieved certain success that we can go to to find mentors. Maybe have it in category by niche and people have to submit analytics to provide their traffic.
And why can't the algorithms for Ambassador stay the same to give the people who love writing motivational and success blogs here something to aim to achieve.
As you can clearly see, my rank doesn't mean that much to me because I am more focused on my site right now. But that's not to say that rank doesn't mean the world to someone else.
Why should only the ALL STARS get the trophies? Why can't we still just give out participation ribbons for those who show up?
Just my thought.
Cheers. Nicki :)
Excellent post and I totally agree. I want to see the top guys at the top and I want them to stay there, rather than me having to search and search for the posts of value amidst the chatter. I want to hear from the authority voices, and I want the option of being able to find them at a moment's notice. When I am having real issues here, I don't want to "hope" that a voice of authority will answer or see my post, my question, etc.
I have been trying to get my ranking down but no matter how much I am on here, the ranking doesn't move. I realize that there is nothing I can do, and if I spend anymore time trying, I will lose valuable time working on my sites.
Also, the TOP posts don't stay there for very long -- I want the option of referring to them, and I have so many of them bookmarked, but it is not a very organized way to go.
Thanks...!
Agree. This is one of the best posts ever written at WA but most people have never seen it: Starting from Scratch: The Strategies I Use to Build & Maintain Successful Websites
The idea of creating some new recognition icons for profile pages I like...
Maybe one could be 'awarded' for social, one for WA conversions, one for training, etc.
Participation trophies maybe, but people do like to get recognition for their activity/participation/contribution/success...
This way, people stopping by your profile would have a better idea on what areas you focus on here at Wealthy Affiliate, and if what they see appeals to what they are looking for, they can follow...
Add to that breaking up the posts to training oriented and social oriented would help, and do this for the top 10 as well as the remainder of the posts...
Lots of good ideas in this thread, I am sure that Kyle and Carson are following closely the input from everyone!
Cheers!
Dave : )
That's a great suggestion. The only problem I see with that is; how many people are going to know where /how to find your profile? There are 800,000 people at WA.
I've suggested to Kyle in a personal message to maybe consider having another tab on the side where people (high achiever in their business) can be profiled. A section where you can find those success stories and mentors without having to sift through blogs posts of "just made $5000 this month" posts. Kind of like an "All Stars" section or rank - but based solely on the performance of their websites.
It would also be a great way to motivate people to work harder on their sites to be able to achieve that position if their site's analytics have to be proven. It would also be another fantastic way to prove to new members or naysayers that WA works!
I feel the same way Amy...been there, done that! When I spend a lot of time 'helping' or 'encouraging' ppl...my own site suffers. There's gotta be a better way...
I'm beginning to write down members I consider successful who I wish to follow, so I don't Lose their valuable resourcefulness. :).
I agree most of the things you mentioned...Like me as a newbie, never been in the blogging, posting nor writing any articles ever since it would be hard for me to be answer someone's inquiry even how much I wanted to help them but myself even need more help...Like what I read today in Luke 6 "How can a blind man lead another blind man, or else they will both fall".
Yes, membership categorizing or niche is good too...
I do apologize for the whole community if you find me more dependent more on others for now because I really need to make my website more attracted not only content wise but its physique and it has been more than a month now but I never earned anything yet though I am really doing everything to reach my success here and that is the reason why I cant focus on the Ambassadorship rank for now..
But as part of the community, I will follow rules and will help as along as I know I can provide the help they are looking for.
Overall, the new platform is a good news for everyone...
Thank you for all those who helped me out here...Time will come will pay it forward..Just cant promise this soon...
Hanna
Brooklyn, nice to see you pop up! I like some of these ideas however, I know many of the top achieving members here do not want to be bothered all day long with newbies asking them how to do everything. They don't mind falling down in rank since they are kind of invisible and can be left alone to work on their sites. That is how they want it. I don't blame them. If they were profiled as all stars they would be bombarded with requests for help all day, every day. If they had to spend so much time on WA they would not be as successful.
I do think there should be some way for members to continue to share non-work (or not entirely work) posts. It probably makes sense to break them out somehow so there are two groups of posts. One that is strictly business and one that is not since this distinction has caused such strife lately.
Thanks Dom ... I hadn't seen this training and it offers great insight from one of our communities most successful. I'm hoping the platform upgrade includes a better indexing system.
Sifting through the long list from a WA search is usually a very slow process, because so much of what comes up on the list is not relevant nor useful.
Ultimately within any community, people are going to communicate and do so in a variety of ways. As with any community, there are those with a more authoritative voice, those with an expert voice, but this may different from person to person, their interests, their relationships and their experiences.
These are all things that we are going to take into consideration with our updates but again, with a community of this size and millions of interconnected relationships, no algorithm is going to be perfect.
And community is ONE aspect of many offered within WA. There are many other mediums in which people leverage much more than communication, but it is definitely an important aspect of the system to many...as is rank, as is seeing what is the most useful to people and their businesses, while retaining a "current" feel.
Thanks everyone for their feedback here.
Very well-said, Kyle, and thank you. In spite of everything, this has been a life-changer for me as I continue to build out my sites. I never expected, in my wildest dreams, to learn as much as I have learned, and I am truly grateful.
That is wonderful to hear and our goal is only to continue this amazing experience moving forward...and to make it better in an incremental, apparent and ongoing manner. :)
Thanks for this, hadn't seen it, already clarified something important and relevant for me...!
Thanks Dom, your bio is awesome and it means a lot that you came on here with this comment because honestly, the lash back is so crazy at times [from those who create and want the noise] I don't even read most of the comments any more, but I notice some people who really have succeeded agreed with me here today, and it's that kind of success that I'm here for too, I can get 2 billion facebook groups any time anywhere else ;)
yes, they show us what is possible just by their mere presence... I see two of them were brave enough to post on this blog today, birds of a feather flock together...
I didn't join WA for 'community', I can and do get that just about anywhere else, and online communities are a dime a dozen now
but getting online and hosting and making money THAT is why I'm here, meeting nice people is a real bonus but WA is not a family, and the bigger it gets the more you will see that
you could be sacrificing something bigger for your romantic notion of 'community'
some people actually want to make a living out of this opportunity, and I think that is what's advertised as the real reason for joining, otherwise it does get cultish...and dysfunctional
Absolutely loving this. You are right on so many levels. How many times have we seen people reach Ambassador only to realize they aren't spending enough time on their website, which is the reason they signed up here.
I like the idea of having the most successful members at the top. However, not all of these will want to share their success, be it through their website address or other. This is one thing that is very frustrating for any newbies.
If you don't want to be a part of any community, then excuse yourself from it! That would also include your opinion in discussions as this is a "community based" program! These discussions are for the people in this community to be able ask questions, get answers, and state opinions. Your saying you don't want that!!
As always Mary, totally on the money.
This is the first time in 4 1/2 years that I've felt like I do tonight. I never meant to pay for a social club... I'm really thinkin' with a heavy heart tonight... really, really disappointed!
Sure appreciate ya' thinking so clearly and sharing it with us!
Very interesting idea, Nicki, having two rankings or groupings, Ambassadors and Tycoons (or whatever name for the success group). A person could be ranked in either or both.
Hello, Can I ask why are you unhappy with the current improvements? You can message me the answer's in private if you choose...
This sharing of opinion is what I really like about this community, everybody is heard if they choose to be heard.
We can just all voice our opinions but you are the one making the decision. Keep leading us to move forward, Kyle.
This is the best community online and let's keep it that way. I am glad I am part of this community.
Thanks, Craig. The people who explode the platform with noise really don't like to hear this and it's nice when successful people speak up.
There probably shouldn't be a 'top' at all, because it is unfair to be outranked by someone you don't admire and look up to [that's putting it as politely as I can! ] There's an element of fairness involved, no one wants to buy into a corrupt system, we can get that anywhere else too...and this is about opportunity and living the dream, not being lorded over by people some of whom actually boast about their position and lord it over us, I've had rank pulled on me a few times recently, and I'm already 33!!
But the noise is a real issue, successful people just don't bother in here most of the time now, as one testified on this post, and two great questions last week went unanswered, a newbie hopped into one of them spouting aggression [and he totally misunderstood the question] - we don't need the drama, or at least some of us don't need it, some people who bring the drama clearly want it.
I myself have stated on my profile that I am becoming less active to prove rank is not important, I have announced that I choose to let my rank fall, and my referral thanked me for it - THAT IS WHY I'M HERE
- and to be fair, the people who chase rank by social and fluffy low quality content means can now answer the newbies and provide training, basically do the real work.
ps you say rank is important to people
well isn't that one of the biggest problems in here - a false internal rank that means nothing and that leads to most of the fluff posts on the platform as people have to remain active to retain their rank
it also leads to people pumping time into the internal workings of WA rather than their websites
the irony is people would be just as active without rank, and that for all your faith in rank the average stay is likely determined by this aspect of the system and its side effects, and that should be your bottom line - it hasn't worked
yes, when you see some of the troll comments I get from people who want a social club it is difficult, but you've got to look at the good people and remember the resources, hopefully the new system will make it easier to access the resources without the drama, I always appreciate the way you help people and go the extra mile setting up themes and twiddling functions and features just to see someone get sorted - THAT is ambassador and high rank material imo
MHulsizer @kyle this is a troll comment and you need to apologize and take a look at the 66+ upvotes I already got for my opinion on this post alone. You cannot tell people not to give their opinion in the discussions, or to leave, or any of the accusations you [and some others] easily make.
Kyle if this is a community you may need to educate people on what may or may not be put in writing...it's the stuff of libel courts in here recently...
It's funny, but some of the same trolls hopping on me in here right now were attacking one of your superaffiliates yesterday, the sort of accusations that even though are false, never quite go away once said
I won't apologize for doing nothing wrong! I NEVER stated people should not give opinion? That would be belligerent and I'm not that kind of person! But oddly enough, you continue to prove my point! For someone who claims to not care about the numbers, you sure keep throwing them out there! We see how many likes you get Mary, and that's fantastic, but I too am getting my own likes as well. I didn't count them though or make it public so EVERYBODY would know lol!
When I keep getting emails because of her comments, how am I the one trolling? Give ME a break!!!
Maybe you should consider that you are complaining about noise but have added more comments on here than most anyone else...and they are negative.
Totally with ya' Mary. I've got plenty of time on the membership left to see where Kyle and Carson are going to take us. I'm hoping there's something in the package for us 'old school' folks who don't need the social club aspect.
I know that a few noobs are saying to just get over it, unfollow folks we don't like or just leave WA but the fact is that many of us were here long ago before WA was anything closely resembling a social club. And we loved helping each other and watching each other succeed... and we still do!
With this update from Kyle it just seems like we 'old schoolers' are being a bit ignored.
But I've got time, here at home... in my office... with my sweet pups at my feet... a nice hot cup of coffee in my hand, and a big smile on my face... (-;
Mary, thank ya' again for articulatin' so well many of our thoughts on these matters at hand!!!
I thought more about this. I think it would work great if it was an option. The successful people could opt in or out of being featured!
Thank you Kyle for all you and Carson do to make this an amazing place to be. I still consider myself a newbie, but learning so much and the learning curve is getting easier as I go. I have 12 posts up on my website...28 more to put up (secret...I started blog posts before I started WA in Feb)!
Still wondering how I can apply to Affiliate networks when I have no idea about my traffic yet...??? I'm on Course 3-2 in the training. Is that still ahead? I feel kinda stuck...
Thank you for making yourself available to us! I am so very thankful to be a part of this wonderful community of like-minded individuals. :)
Kyle's initial discussion about Affiliate networks DOES come up in Cert Course 3, Lesson 2 Understanding Affiliate Programs & Networks I believe one of the lesson tasks is to join at least 1 network. It's training focused on learning the process.
If you do a WA search (Affiliate networks) you'll have quite a list of additional info on networks.
Good point Jess! I never considered the bombardment of new members flooding them with questions! :)
This 3A: Abolutely Awesome Amazing!
I am pleased to hear you are so passionate about what you do here, you interact with the community, you try to help like we do, being on a same level as we are for the sake of the community to seek out and get to know what we users are wishing for and your business idea to help anyone here who wants to be that successful as, you and others here who made it, are.
This all will make Wealthy Affiliate the Number One University of Affiliates online to Mankind one day. I believe in this vision that this will be.
I do not know if the Moon-landing is one of your visions too, some folks are talking about that here on your platform, I leave that up to you if you like to give a comment on that one lol :D
Kyle & Carson, I like to thank you personal for all the good things you have brought in my life since my sign up with Wealthy Affiliate.
You Both Rock!
We have one consistent goal as time goes on, to improve. You will see this with every update that we make within WA and you are going to see that we truly have you and your business at the heart of all of our decision making. Plain and simple, we care.
The Ambassadorship program and how rank works can be better. The way we communicate here can continue to get better and become more efficient.
And we can definitely offer you a much more custom environment where you can not only have a more beautiful UI to engage in, but more control over what you see and what you don't see.
Lots to look forward to and we are excited about what the remainder of 2017 brings and all of the big projects we have slated for 2018 already!
Hi Kyle
This sounds awesome! I am very pleased to hear of the updates that are coming down the road, makes for exciting times for sure. Thank you to you and your team for all the hard work u guys put in, u have created a wonderful platform here of which I am proud to part of. :)
Carl
Gladly Carl, we are constantly focused on the little and big things that can make the community better, as well as the platform. Both go hand and hand and are integral here at WA.
We hear a lot of feedback on any given day and we are actively using WA every day and we know where things can be improved, what we are doing great, and where we could continue to get better. The exciting parts about running a fast evolving business in a fast evolving space.
That is great to hear Kyle and I agree that running a fast evolving business in a fast evolving space, is really exciting. It definitely keeps the juices flowing. Thanks again for a great platform and your genuine want to share and help people. U guys really ROCK! :D
Carl
Good to read your thoughts on this. Separating post categories isn't a bad idea. For those of us who have so little time just to read posts, that would be a great help.
I don't show up here as much as I'd like to, but selecting posts to read and respond to is - er - selective. You know what I mean.
Yeah, that is our thoughts. The only concern we have is people have the tendency to be quite poor at organizing things or different people have different ideas as to what "type" of post they are posting.
Any time you introduce a human element and a wide array of users into sorting/filtering, it has the tendency to go awry. So we have to be careful about that implementation, but I think it can work!
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Thanks Kyle! I am so new here that I haven't even focused on ranking or what it means. If I can help someone , I do. If not ,I don't pretend to. I am here to learn first and foremost . I love the platform, excited to see the upcoming changes you have planned! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!