So now what...
I am entering my 4th month. I have learned a lot... but not in the areas I expected.
As I have shared before, I found the WA community while in the middle of a desperate hunt for a job. I joined WA because I needed an income and as a single mom I wanted to be home with my kids. I became very discouraged fairly quickly. I never wanted to "get rich qiick" but I did expect to see some kind of return on my investment quick. I guess it happens for some but it sure wasn't happening for me...
For a while I fussed and fretted and cried and complained. I thought I had bought into a "home based business". I didn't understand why I wasn't generating income. I didn't understand most of the advice I was being given. And most of all, I could not understand why everybody I talked to seemed so content to be making little or no money. Then it hit me... WA is not a source for income, it's a source for education. Understanding that fact cleared up a lot for me... but it also has brought me to a standstill.
I had it in mind to get into business. I feel like I woke up and realised I was unexpectedly in school. I believe whole-heartedly that WA is an excellent resource for a person who wants to learn about internet marketing. I understand that better now than I did in the past. However, I'm not sure how to proceed. Realising that WA is not what I was looking for has definitely knocked some of the wind out of my sails.
So what now...
Recent Comments
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Yes I know the pain Deborah and I am about in your boat. I had to back away and rethink. I was all about Bootcamp and referrals and then realised I was doing absolutely nothing for myself. After a rethink I feel I am back on track. See my last blog. Good luck.
You'll do great. You have amazing insight in an area in which most people are clueless. It seems you have a sincere interest in helping people and at least in my life experience, that's rare.
You are making good progress Deborah. Take heed to what Tamira is saying there are many ways to make this a good site for you.
Try to provide information for people that aren't in your area as well. Yes, filling your classes is important but a good book on your topic will also go a long way toward fulfilling a need for people not in your space.
Thanks. I'm glad I finally understand what WA is for.
By the way, my homeless puppy is thriving. She's 4 months old and about 30 pounds. As she's growing she's looking more like a lab and less like a pit bull. She's very smart, very sweet and an avid chewer!
Yes, you are experiencing the puppy teething stage. Get a Nylabone and simmer it in a bit of chicken stock to get her interested, once she starts on this it will be her favorite chew.
I feel your angst. I am in the same boat. Keep bailing out the water and I will stand beside and bail too!
Hello there! Coming from a dance background myself and having my daughter in dance class when she was younger, I just wanted to share some things from an unbiased point of view. First, let me say, you have a wonderful site (Arts in Colton) that you can really expand and generate money from.
Things to consider adding in the future: Price Page, Testimonial Page, Projects and Craft Idea Page. If I was a parent searching online for a place to send my child for lessons, I would want to know the prices( monthly prices for various packages: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced) and what it includes. I would also want to know why to choose you (add value which would show through testimony page from parents, some of the older students, etc.) Third, I would be interested in knowing more about the types of projects and crafts mentioned on your site. Lastly, I would like to know if there was a recital/performance at end of year and location of performance.
You could expand your profits by creating an e-book (Dance Through A Child's Eyes) where you talk about the benefits of getting a child involved in dance such as: Reduce Shyness, Increase Self-Esteem, Creating Challenge in a Non-Competitive Environment; promotes youth fitness, etc.). You can offer a fee for your e-book or give it away as a bonus. Then you can package your video training lessons into another profitable avenue. Later, you can hire people to teach other types of dance, and eventually oversee your business.
I would stick with your awesome site you created and just tweak it a bit. One tweak could make a huge difference. It's easy to get overwhelmed, but just do a little at a time and expand it. Everyone offered good suggestions, and I hope mine helped in some way. Best Wishes! Tamira
Thanks for the advice. I'm in process with some of the things you suggested. It's good to know someone else is thinking along the same lines. Thanks for your support.
Hi, - sorry for chiming in, - I hope I can be of assistance a bit as well, as your sites are lovely!! I sincerely wish I could do mine like that! Maybe you can help me design mine? Can you get your dance classes featured anywhere? Any other dance sites, any recreational magazines, ? And what you said about encouraging people to buy something you couldn't yourself.. some other people have more money and are quite happy to spend it.. can you feature some dancewear on your site?
Can you get your Craft with Jeans site featured in a couple of craft magazines,? Can you find affiliate haberdashery products or stores?
Wow. You are great at coming up with ideas. That's Amazing. I don't think I know how to do most of the things you suggested though. I'd be happy to help you with your site design.
Hi Deborah, I have only been here a month and keep going back over lessons to make sure I don't miss anything.
So far as your question is concerned, I was wondering, are you monitising your site with the right product? Are you getting hits to your site which are converting to sales?
Maybe, you could invest just a little bit more time in finding where you site is failing and try to fix that problem.
With still being newish here, I am still concentrating on the points specified by Kyle and Carson, that for any internet business to succeed you need to have traffic and then convert that traffic into sales.
Unfortunately, it does takes a bit longer for some niche's than others. But my advice would be to persevere a little longer. PM Kyle and Carson and see if they can point you in the right direction to fix your site. All the best. Lis.
That's good advice. I don't really want to give up. I joined this community to have an immediate need met. WA is not designed to meet my immediate need but to provide me with the tools to help me meet it myself. I don't think it's fair to say that my site is failing, just not completely up and running right. I've talked with Kyle and Carson and tons of others here. I've been given all kinds of advice and suggestions. The fact remains, I was expecting something else. WA is great. The community is great. The opportunity is great. But I was expecting something else.
Sorry about the word failing, I did not mean your site was failing. Just meant to look at areas that can be enhanced to get more visits and income on your site.
Anyway, before I dig myself into a deeper hole :-). Yeah, I understand what you mean by needing to get an income stream going straight away. Unfortunately, creating any new business takes time. The only other option is to continuing working, for someone else :-(, until things pick up with your own business.
Sorry I haven't got anything more helpful. Best wishes.
Please don't feel like you said something wrong. You took your time and shared it with me. That's a gift and I'm grateful for it.
In the early stages of site development I held on tight to the idea that anything can be a niche. Like you said, some niches grow slower than others. I didn't know I was going to have to write blogs and I didn't know what monetizing even meant.
So now I'm in up to my elbows and I have to decide what to do. Do I start another site with blogging and monetizing in mind? Do I push forward with what I have? Ugh!! have no idea...
Hi Deborah, Lis again. I have just had a look at your web sites and they are great. I wouldn't change them. Go with your passions in life.
Here's what I think and I hope this helps:
1) Your site artsincolton.com
Could be enhanced by creating newsletters, maybe monthly advising dancers of the lessons taking place for that month and how to find you.
Warm up exercises and how best to prevent torn ligaments and muscle soreness.
Different dance routines and what age groups they would suit.
2) You could also monitise this site with where to get tutu's, ballet shoes, dance accessories etc.
The different types of shoes etc and when best to wear them.
Your craftswithjeans.com site:
1) could be monitised by showing where to get tools and equipment to complete a project.
2) Newletters on your latest craft find
I don't know if you have already thought of these ideas, but I hope it is helpful in some way to inspire you to continue with your present sites.
Thanks so much for giving more of your time.
I started some "ballet basics" articles but I need demonstration photos before I can proceed. I did some keyword research for some other article ideas. I guess I'm torn between following the lessons and creating the site that I want. I'm sure it makes more sense to follow the lessons. Maybe I'm being a little stubborn.
I was at a loss on the crafts site. Thanks for the suggestions there.
Monetizing is hard for me because I don't want to ask someone to buy something I couldn't afford to buy. I guess that's kind of silly because I can't afford much... For my dance students, I recommend a particular brand of shoes and dance-wear. It is inexpensive and sturdy. There is no affiliate program for that brand and I don't have money to purchase stock to keep at home. I've looked for something comparable but haven't found anything.
I'm glad my comments have been helpful.
It certainly is best to follow the lessons as I find, you progress with your website better and still create it the way you want. Also asking loads of questions as you go along, someone will always have an answer.
It is very easy to get bogged down with everything else that happens on this site, but the key is to stay focused.
Have you tried doing a search like: dance wear + affiliate, dance shoes + affiliate or ballet shoes + affiliate these searches bring up a whole host of sites. You may be restricting your search if you are doing brand specific searches.
Some of these affiliate programs may also cover the brands that you want to promote.
I think as well that you should go through level 3 of the training again which will bring you to https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/online-entrepreneur-certification-making-money-level-3
This section gives advice on how to find affiliate programs for your niche.
Let me know what you think. We could also chat through private messaging. I want to help you get going again and to succeed with your online businesses, so please keep throwing thoughts at me and I will endeavour to help you as best I can.
I guess my reaction is to always look at the positives. You have presumably gained knowledge on Internet marketing which you didn't have prior to WA - right? If this is true the answer to your question is what do I do with this knowledge. The spectrum of possible answers runs from a position of "use that knowledge to build my own business" to "don't use that knowledge at all" and do something entirely different to make some money. Frankly I would always want to build on knowledge gained rather than not and effectively "waste" the four months you have spent at WA. I am sure many of us have gone through the situation you find yourself in now. I would encourage you to find a way to use the knowledge you have gained rather than waste it, but clearly the choice is yours,
Hudson.
My desire is to move forward with my site. I'm struggling with changing my perspective for some unknown reason. I know I don't have what I thought I had in WA. I can't decide if that makes a difference. It seems like it shouldn't, but I'm having trouble convincing myself of that.
I am really glad that you realize this now. You have said that you teach children how to dance and after you teach them something I am sure you have them to apply what they have learnt to something very beautiful. Now it is your turn to choose one of the aspects of Internet marketing and master that until you start making money, then go to another and another until you have mastered all that you can handle. Do not over load yourself with too much info on all just one at a time.
Good Luck I am rooting for you
Tommy
Thank you, Tommy. I think that's probably the most genuine piece of advice I've been offered since I got here. Thanks a lot.
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See a wealth of information below me. Take each one, make a list, put each in a time frame and work out one by one. Success is here with all the information you will ever need and all the people you will not find elsewhere.
Welcome home. Ask questions when you need help. Your progress since I saw your sites in the beginning are totally impressive and greatly improved. ^_~
Thanks.