We Have a Vested Interest in YOUR Education.
Over the years, it has been interesting to work with well over a million people (personally) and to see how different people learn, in different ways. Some people pick up different topics quickly, whereas others have a tough time understanding certain concepts.
A lot of this is based on our personal backgrounds, some of it on past knowledge and the ability to learn new topics, and a lot of it based on our own learning styles.
Today I wanted to reach out to everyone and discuss the training here at Wealthy Affiliate.
Training is a core focus at Wealthy Affiliate and we have a lot coming in respect to the overall training platform, how training is delivered, the nature of how training is updated and kept relevant, who can offer training, the various formats of training, and the ways that people can get help from when they are stuck.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves in terms of idea development and actual laying out many of our upcoming developments/transitions, I wanted to get some feedback from YOU, our most important focus when we make any change or improvement here at WA.
So here it is, these are a few questions that I want you to ponder and offer your feedback and insights on.
(1) TRAINING FORMAT: What format of training to do you prefer? Do you like courses, challenges (if you have taken part in one), video tutorials, text tutorials, live events, or a combination thereof? Also, if there are any other formats of training that you have used online that are not available here that you enjoy, feel free to share those as well.
(2) POINTS OF FRUSTRATION/CONFUSION: What aspect of the training do you find to be the most frustrating or confusing? What improvements would you recommend to solve these frustrations?
(3) TRAINING TOPICS: What types of marketing or what methodologies would you like more training on here at Wealthy Affiliate (to help proper your skill set and business?) List your ideas.
(4) ANYTHING ELSE: Anything else you can think of. If you want to offer any feedback on the training itself, the training platform, how the training works, or the format of the training, we are all ears.
We have a lot of exciting stuff slated over the next 6-12 months, much of it already deep in development. Training is one of these key focuses.
There will be releases through the fall, and we have a busy release schedule of improvements here at WA, new innovations and technology, new platforms, and of course a myriad of exciting stuff coming to the training environment here at WA.
As always, we appreciate your feedback. It is YOU that makes us better and to continue to strive for perfection. Looking forward to the discussions and I thank you for your feedback in advance.
Recent Comments
287
I'm very new at this, so my comments may not be relevant but I joined WA because I wanted to build a website to sell some of my own items. I found it difficult at first because it seems that all of the training to start with is on writing blogs, which I am not familiar with at all. This caused confusion for me, however I tried to overcome it and did get a website up and running. Perhaps you could have someplace in your training that would be geared to selling your own product on a website, earlier in the training on setting up your website.
All in all, I do feel that the training that we get here at WA is far superior to anyone else's that I have looked at. It would be nice if it was a little cheaper to go premium, or perhaps give a senior citizen discount for us old folks. I realize that the price is cheaper if you go 6 month or one year in advance, however some of us don't have that extra amount to spend, especially if we are not sure the program will work for us.
Thanks for listening,
Virginia
Great and exciting article, looking forward to the upcoming training.
My preferred training medium is video although recorded webinars land text run a close second and third, respectively. I find it much easier to grasp the content and ideas easier with video; however, video does in itself, present a major problem. Not only do I enjoy video training, but on the contrary, I am afflicted with Macular Degeneration (limited vision).
This presents a frustrating and major problem. I find it very difficult to follow your training videos because the cursor in the presentation is very small and not only difficult to find, but also difficult to follow!
What adds immensely to this problem is the fact that because of my condition, I cannot read what's on my monitor. Therefore, I must utilize the zoom function on my iMac in order to read and try to follow what is being displayed on the screen.
Can you envision the frustration that is caused by the following:
I'm about to watch a training video but I can't read anything on my screen. So I must hold down the 'Control" and 'Option' keys on my keyboard in order to expose the large zoom rectangle that will enlarge the size of what's on the screen in order for me to read/follow it. This now, takes my left hand "out of operation'. (There is a secondary zoom function, but I find it to be more cumbersome )
Now, not only must I find the tiny, black cursor that is the same color as the text, but I must also try to follow it (once I find it) with the 'zoom rectangle box.
Often, when I've finally found the cursor with the zoom function, it's too late, the cursor has moved to a new location, so I must begin the operation all over again. I challenge you to repeat this operation a couple hundred times while watching a video presentation, then measure your level of frustration!.
Now what this entails, is the need to view the video all over again to see if I can find the items I missed. Fortunately, this is a pre-recorded video so I can watch it again and' rewind' as often as is necessary to find what I missed.
Can you imagine the level of frustration when the video is live and there is no ability to review it again. Glad ours are pre-recorded.
I used to really look forward to viewing videos, but not any more. Videos are still my favorite method for training, but as soon as I realize there is a video to watch , the frustration begins mounting, because I know beforehand the hassle I will have trying to keep up, but I have o choice.
I've brought this situation up to various companies, including ours, but to no avail. I find it rather difficult to believe that out of a community of 1.7 million members, no one else has a problem with their sight. It could be that after years of reporting this (like me), and getting nowhere, they just gave up.
A couple companies responded that I'm "the only person that reported the problem'. That response causes me great concern and irritation for a couple reasons. First, it tells me that in their eyes, I'm not important enough. Secondly they must believe that no one else in the WORLD who are members of their company have this problem.
I don't expect WA or any other company to make drastic major changes to their way of operating. But how difficult can it be to either alter the size and/or color of your cursor now being used, so that it's more visible, or use a video presentation program that provides that function?
As a matter of fact, in one of his weekly training sessions, someone asked Jay what video program he uses. He responded he uses 'ScreenFlow'. Since I had no video presentation program art that time, I figured if it's good enough for Jay, it's good enough for me... so I purchased ScreenFlow. It's a superb program and allows the owner the ability to change the cursor size and/or color so that it's more visible. Screencast-o-Matic is another program that also provides it.
Regardless as to how my text may 'sound', I bear no animosity toward WA, our community or our c0founders. We were asked to provide comments and these are mine. I've been haunted by this irritant for almost ten years and sometimes just have to vent it every few years.
From my heart, I love you all!
Steve
Thanks for your response, Petra4. The primary way ScreenFlow helps, is for the preesenter, to adjust the cursor so that it is the most visible.
That helps and makes it much easier to follow the cursor. I queried Jay, our trailer on this issue. I know he uses ScreenFlow, but I'm not sure if that's the program he uses on his weekly training sessions. I didn't receive a response from Jay on this matter.
Having only purchased ScreenFlow a short time ago, I'm still in the process of building my business, and haven't yet been able to devote any time to learn all the features. However, it is an outstanding program. As I watched the introduction presentation of the various features of the product, the presenter specifically addressed the ability to change the cursor in order to make it more visible.
Regardless of my current condition I've always believed that the only way to show a video presentation, is to always enlarge the cursor as large and/ or colored as possible. To me it only makes sense to assure that EVERYONE watching the video, can do so in viewing comfort. I NEVER assume that everyone in the WORLD has excellent sight and will be able to view the presentation in viewing comfort... with or without reading glasses!
Petra4, thanks again for your response and I truly hope that all you will ever need to watch a video presentation are your reading glasses.
To your good health and prosperity,
Steve
Hi Steve,
I got one kind of problem like this when I started my journey in Wealthy Affiliate. I wear glasses and in the video training when I started I got the problem to see any writing on the video screen. At first, I thought it could be my laptop settings problem.
So what I did, Whenever I need to see any video training I seen in my mobile. It's a bit clear.
So hopefully Kyle and Carson will look forward it in future.
Hi Kyle
I like the training in all it's forms, because all of it is viable. The only change I would like to see is some of the training being bought up to date. We know that the search engines and social media platforms are always changing their algorithms.
The only other area that I would like to see improved is in support for the websites. Case in point I got a message from Google Console about 11 errors dealing with breadcrumbs.
This is a first on me I read what Google said about them didn't make sense. Put it to support and they couldn't help. Then I put it to the community still nothing.
Right now I don't know what to do and I know more things will come up where Google is concerned.
I believe we need people in support who can combat these types of issues and more.
Just my 2 cents.
Kyle we appreciate everything you and Carson have done for affiliate marketers with the Wealthy Affiliate platfrom and it will always be my #1 recommendation for anyone wanting to get started in this business.
Much Success and Growth to WA going forward
Eric
Kyle,
I agree with wahstartup!! I'm definitely not new to the online world but trying to figure out how to design my website through WP, has been extreme frustrating. Picking themes, and just starting from the ground up.
I have no idea how to build a landing page, or other pages and do simple changes to my site. Maybe a very minimal course in coding would be great. I know Jay covers a lot of this but if it was very easy and accessible in the training, I think we could find it better. I'm sure all newbies would love this kind of training.
I feel this is why it's taking me so long to get content up on my site. I have to stop and research every little aspect of creating a site.
I also would love to learn about email marketing, funnels, and back linking. What are the correct ways to go about backlinks so when the Google updates hit, we don't lose our sites.
And maybe some training on how to brand our business/logos, and how to create ebooks, online courses (webinars), personal coaching and selling our own merchandise through an e-commerce training, or how to expand our sites to merge with an e-commerce store added.
There's so much!! But I love the video training and the text that follows with it. I get along well with a mix of those, which is already here.
Thank you for this great community!
Randi
All great ideas, I'd like to learn these too.
Some of Jay's webinars on Funnels are a bit basic, so landing pages and how to funnel traffic to this great platform, including mind-maps of how the funnels work would help i.e. showing how it integrates into your email marketing.
E.g. of Funnel
- How to create eBook or value offering lead magnet
- Landing/Sales Page
- Funnel to your blog's money pages e.g. Wealthy Affiliate Review OR Your niche website e.g. Golf or Book Review or whatever niche
- Email marketing integration
- How to write email marketing
- social media promotion
** SO THIS COULD ALL BE A NEW COURSE
Actually on that line of thought. Showing how key parts of the OEC and Affiliate Bootcamp tie into an overall graphic/mind-map would help too.
I perceive its hard to come into WA and earn NIL to very little for first 6-9-12 months when you can only invest 20-25 hours/week for part-time side-hustlers like I started.
SO if people don't visually see where they are at in the process, then perhaps the drop-off will be greater.
Or another way of saying this is RETENTION will be higher if the visual types can see where they are at in the process (visual process/mind map e.g. Coggle etc) rather than just the COURSE OUTLINES (OEC and Bootcamp)
I'm with you guys all the way :)
Kyle - I agree with LSchechter in that it is too early for me to comment on all the prepared training that is available. As a new community member I find it difficult to comprehend much of the verbiage being cast around. I have not been a social media person for the last 10 or 15 years but get the feeling that some of language comes from that source. As I have told people who worked for me in the past it is necessary to understand the dictionary of the field that you are working with before you can become successful. I find it frustrating when too many people make a video on the same topic and you have to figure out which is the best. There are so many experts in this community that the list could be whittled down to make it less confusing. I know that that might be unfair but wouldn't it be better for all concerned trying to learn their way as a blogger. I've got well over 100 video's bookmarked for future use that I will not have time to consider. I used to go to almost all of the Friday night live training sessions but as of late stopped that because they get me off of the track of the basic training which I need to get before I can use the advance. I am a slow starter and play the standard videos many times before I can get going. I believe that if people have tried other sources of money making formats they have a foundation to spring forward with. In spite of the way it sounds, I am an advocate of WA and would recommend it to anyone.
I love the current format with video and some reading. That works perfectly for me. I was wondering if some more training can be given on plugins and changing themes (compatibility issues if there’s any) Any training that would help me to build a prettier website. It’s really difficult trying to figure out the intricacies of word press!😩
I know it sounds silly because maybe there’s a class right here that teaches this. but I’d have liked to learn it in the initial courses so I’d get off to a running start.
Note: I am very grateful for where I am now, absolutely no complaints here.
Also, I hope I’m saying this correctly, is it possible to have the changes, when made in the “edit website” section, and the update button is clicked, it also updates site content?
Is that possible, it seems like site content does not update when you edit content through “edit website”.
Thanks guys
The current format of video plus text is great. The biggest change I think should be made is a complete course on building your website. Currently all that is said is that building a website with SEO is fast and easy. I made a lot of avoidable mistakes before I finally figured out the mechanics and technicalities of building a website and how to use the different plugins. A complete course on how to build a beautiful website would have saved me from a lot of headaches and wasted time.
Other than that you might want to consider spending one class on paid traffic ( ie: Google adsense).
Thank you for all the knowledge you have imparted to me to date.
Excellent, thanks for your feedback. I like a specific course dedicated solely to websites, and this compartmentalization is something that we are going to be focusing on with future updates.
Appreciate your feedback Stuart!
It is early for me to comment too much on the training as I have only scratched the surface and have much more coming, which I look forward to. When I complete much more I will be in a much better position to comment further, which I will at that time.
What I can say now and not that I think anything should change, but I feel because of my age 84 and no fault of yours but my generation missed out on being very knolendgeble on computer
savy and the internet in general. Because of this I struggle a lot in what your training offers, no fault of you, but if you could you
may want to sole search if their is any way you could help people of my age with the training you offer. Only you can answer this question as you may have many reasons for not wanting to spend time & money because so far your membership is not made up of that many members facing this problem. I do mention that if you analize the growth of the population you may find that if you could offer this segement of the population who are retired & not working, but would love to be able to make money thru Affiliate Marketing and you had the training that could make this happen for them, well you would find a niche well going after and having very little competition to go against. Just food for thought on your part! Well I gave you the problem I have with your training, it's only fair I give you a suggestion as to a solution. This is only one of many solutions I would think is possible & that is to offer for those who have this problem to be able to talk in person to tech people who have the knowledge to be able to help them thru thier
individual problems. I know I & many of my elder friends find this much quicker & easier than messaging back & forth which does not get you onstuck too fast. I'm sorry I made a book out of this
but this my story & I stick with it. I only hope I was able to get my point across as it could be I truly believe a whole new market for you and if you achieve it I would be able myself to bring a load of
new members into Wealthy Affiliate Program. The older people need this kind of help!!!! I rest my case!
Hello to all of you,
First of all I think for a starter member like me the training is very helpful and easy to process specially the video tutorials and text tutorials.If we missed any point in the video we can still refer to the test tutorial for reference.
For me all the training are very clear and precise.Also if there is any confusion we can always ask the team of WA or even the other members of the community who are always ready to help.
As I have done my degree in marketing management I am quite familiar with some of the terms you are using at WA but with your tutorials and guidelines my marketing knowledge has increased further.So thanks guys!
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated! I am really glad you are enjoying your experience here thus far!
See more comments
My 2 cents:
(1) TRAINING FORMAT:
Current training format is awesome, videos is a must, text to complement.
(2) POINTS OF FRUSTRATION/CONFUSION:
Old trainings. New members get very confused very fast when the training materials don't reflect the current interface of platforms we need to use. I'd like to see way more often updates on training videos.
(3) TRAINING TOPICS:
i) WP Themes - New members get confused about the layout of their site and how to use themes, which gives the look and the design of the site. Just a mention about how themes work, what they should do if they pick one they don't like or have a function they can't do.
ii) Search Console training - this needs to be earlier in the training, maybe phase one or two.
iii) Structuring of the site - you need a section that pulls in all the info they learned and then present how this will all look on a site. For example, I often have to advise people that they need a few "money pages" (landing pages) where all their other posts will be pointing to or getting visitors to go to, as the other posts like reviews, how to's, and such should all then go to these "money pages".
iv) Paid traffic - Your PPC training is from 2015. This needs updating and only for one platform. PPC is a big area I'd like to see expanded. Google Tag Manager, how to use Pixels, how to track, how to evaluate your campaign while it's going. Case studies on PPC campaigns would be awesome.
v) Email marketing - this is so crucial in any online business, this must be incorporated in the main training, not just in Jay's weekly webinars.
vi) Sales Funnels / Landing Page Building - this can totally be incorporated into our blog websites as the ultimate "money page" they need to direct all visitors to.
vii) Dealing with Google Updates - what to do when Google trashes your site.
(4) ANYTHING ELSE:
WA Affiliates - I've seen a lot of affiliate programs by now and I have to say the tools we get here is lacking compared to a lot. I would love to see better affiliate tools, reporting is a big area I'd to see improved, done-for-you pages or sample funnels/pages, updated banners (the only banner I've ever used is for Black Friday cuz I really don't like the other banners in there).
I think Challenges may be good for some, but I think these are ultimately a huge distraction on what members need to be focusing on.
What's better are case studies over a period of time, this is what Jay should be concentrating on for live webinars.... this is the perfect medium for it as we get to look at the case study every week, see updates, what to do next, how he analyzes things that happened for the week, etc.
These case studies could be for a PPC campaign or a new niche site like the way he did football snack helmet.
Thanks for making changes and always improving this platform.
Excellent points, I agree with you, Grace. 💯💯
I would also add some info on taxes, when should we start focusing on it, how does it work with online businesses, what kind of entity we call it etc.
I know every country works differently but having a basic idea would certainly help! Currently I have no idea how to go about it and it's a bit frustrating.
Edit:
Also having videos with subtitles would help those who are hearing impaired/deaf.
I agree with!
Old trainings. New members get very confused very fast when the training materials don't reflect the current interface of platforms we need to use. I'd like to see way more often updates on training videos.
==> Yes, this is definitely a focus and an ongoing one. Of course we can get better, the problem resides whenever Wordpress updates their UX, or we update our UX, it could lead to 100's of required video updates.
This is a big part of the discussion, and it is an ongoing problem with any training platform that is operating a fast moving world (like WA is).
i) WP Themes - New members get confused about the layout of their site and how to use themes, which gives the look and the design of the site. Just a mention about how themes work, what they should do if they pick one they don't like or have a function they can't do.
==> Yes, the problem is themes work differently too, have different feature extensions, etc. We are considering moving in a direction where we choose ONE theme for starters, as this would simplify things and choosing a theme that was programmed correctly and we can get 100/100 pagespeed out of the box (as many themes are pigs).
ii) Search Console training - this needs to be earlier in the training, maybe phase one or two.
==> Yes, it is there. I have recently updated this in past few weeks, but as you know it has gone through a big shift. The last thing we want people doing is over-investing in search console, the training will be there, but those spending too much time looking at "data" in there tend to be the least productive. So there is a happy medium. :)
iii) Structuring of the site - you need a section that pulls in all the info they learned and then present how this will all look on a site. For example, I often have to advise people that they need a few "money pages" (landing pages) where all their other posts will be pointing to or getting visitors to go to, as the other posts like reviews, how to's, and such should all then go to these "money pages".
Yes, there is training on centralization, but as the core training is being refreshed this will be a more prominent focus. :)
iv) Paid traffic - Your PPC training is from 2015. This needs updating and only for one platform. PPC is a big area I'd like to see expanded. Google Tag Manager, how to use Pixels, how to track, how to evaluate your campaign while it's going. Case studies on PPC campaigns would be awesome.
Agree. This has been a focus within the Live Classes and we have done several entire months dedicated to PPC, and the training within the Bootcamp on PPC is going to be phased out soon and replaced with new training.
The strategic approach and fundamentals of PPC are unchanged, the interfaces are the key items that have changed. Re-marketing is also going to have a more prominent focus within PPC.
The training platform itself is going to evolve in a way that caters to enter categories getting built out, such as PPC on a much more granular level.
v) Email marketing - this is so crucial in any online business, this must be incorporated in the main training, not just in Jay's weekly webinars.
Yes, agreed. :)
vi) Sales Funnels / Landing Page Building - this can totally be incorporated into our blog websites as the ultimate "money page" they need to direct all visitors to.
That is one approach yes. Funnel pages are not one size fits all, but the actual copywriting and how to follow through the sales process are things we actually cover in detail and there is going to be much more of it moving forward.
vii) Dealing with Google Updates - what to do when Google trashes your site.
Yes, we have been blogging about that. And this comes down to "reaction" as much as how you are doing SEO. People are taught the proper process for ranking in Google, Bing and Yahoo..but when their rankings suffer, there is a knee jerk reaction that usually leads them to making changes that FURTHER hurt them.
The best piece of advice after a Google change is to do nothing but more of what you are already doing. That is because if you are doing things properly in the first place and focusing on quality content, and not using gaming techniques, you are going to bounce back and usually better than ever.
(4) ANYTHING ELSE:
WA Affiliates - I've seen a lot of affiliate programs by now and I have to say the tools we get here is lacking compared to a lot. I would love to see better affiliate tools, reporting is a big area I'd to see improved, done-for-you pages or sample funnels/pages, updated banners (the only banner I've ever used is for Black Friday cuz I really don't like the other banners in there).
Yes, more banners coming and they are going to be centralized.
As for reporting, any particular suggestions that you have you are open to. As you know, lead page platform in Beta that is evolving very quickly, and will be a focus moving forward. This can be utilized for funnels/etc, ones with sample content don't always work so well as every audience is different, but we are certainly going to be discussing our best converting ones as time goes on through "case study" style posts.
Our tracking, and tools we provide is are the most comprehensive out of an affiliate program I have ever seen, but we know we can get better with those and provide more granular data. There is a fine line between offering too much data, and offering not quite enough so we have to be careful in that respect.
Thanks for your feedback here Grace, it is greatly appreciated.
Subtitles is something we are considering for core training. Obviously with 1,000's of training modules, this is a big undertaking to do all of them, but yes, we would like to move in a direction where there are transcripts for all the videos, complimentary training, or sub titles.
The problem with tax information is that it is so jurisdiction specific, that we cannot offer advice on this other than to say "go to your account" or "speak to a local tax attorney". We don't want to carry any liability for potentially giving cross jurisdiction advice, when it isn't our forte.
They are informed in your area, and they can provide the best advice. Even in Canada, we could not provide someone with advice, as Quebec laws are much different than BC, and so on.
So my suggestion is, when it comes do taxes, you should seek advice when you feel your business is at a stage where it would make sense to pay someone a few $100 for some sound advice. :)
I agree with Kyle, "when it comes do taxes, you should seek advice when you feel your business is at a stage where it would make sense to pay someone a few $100 for some sound advice."
I'm a former tax accountant and yes you're right every country works differently e.g. USA diff from my country Australia and even the states within Canada are different.
This would be almost impossible for WA to do I feel,
WA members can go to generic resources like Sandy Botkin/Bodkin (sp?) for some GENERIC for the USA market.
He's niched into books and resources for the MLM market. And the website/affiliate marketing business can be similar.
Taxation systems worldwide are LARGELY principles based E.g. 1. Claim all direct costs relating to your business
2. Claim portion of home office expenses
(but how this affects the capital gains tax of your house can vary a lot between countries)
3. Claim portion of business assets that are used jointly
e.g. your laptop, mobile phone, home internet connection could be % business, % personal
4. It really comes down to record keeping
Overall, I can say Claim, Claim and more claim all the wonderful tax deductions you can get
So I agree with Kyle but offer some general principles that may guide you :)
Thanks Kyle,
Grace also mentions "I think Challenges may be good for some, but I think these are ultimately a huge distraction on what members need to be focusing on."
Personally I agree with her and didn't complete the Bootcamp yet but the SAC Challenge is pure gold, I like the community, deadlines and tasks.
I have a lot of catching up to do but it is awesome because it puts time based pressure and accountability on us and this is so invaluable. Please continue this SAC and update it.
If we're going to be serious about this Affiliate Marketing business, we need to treat it like one, its hard work and the SAC help so much with that! Thanks for everything
Hi John, The only concern I really have with challenges is that new members who haven't gone through the core training and jumping into challenges when they don't know what they're doing here at all. So for those who have already gone through the training, I think challenges could be helpful.
Glad SAC helps you and I do know it helps a lot of people who have gone through Affiliate Bootcamp.
Thanks for your input,
Grace
Thanks for your detailed response Kyle... I agree with a lot of points you made. I know whatever you guys end up doing for the training is going to be awesome, and we all appreciate you hearing us and taking in our suggestions.
Yes, yes and yes. I love all of your points. The boot camp training for one can be very confusing at times. It seems to jump around and I am sure at one point it flowed perfectly well.
I would love to see email marketing, I am going to start looking into that very soon for my site.
Grace, you did a wonderful job hitting all of these points.
Thank you Steve, appreciate this! :)
That would be a great idea Jenny! I hope Kyle sees this. :)
You do have to be accepted into challenges so I hope this is one of his criteria.
That's a great idea Jenny! :)
As always, we appreciate your feedback. We have an exciting approach to training and this is something that we are certainly going to be discussing in Vegas this year and we are going to see roll out through 2020. ;)
Awesome! Can't wait to hear about it in Vegas then! :)
my main concern is i know what i want to say were do i type it out that is what im trying to get across
Sounds like you may need to go through the training? You're just a few days new here, so go to left menu, click on Training and follow the course there.
Taxation is theft. That's what Kyle should mention that in the training.
I agree with you about the challenges not being something for beginners.
Thank you Jessica!