What Is An Ambassador?
To be an ambassador at Wealthy Affiliate requires a person to really get involved in the community. You get ranked by how active you are in the community. To be active in the community means that you are posting in your profile, answering other members questions and maybe even creating some training modules for other members.
This sounds all well and good but I have noticed that some people really work at being an ambassador so they will "help" other members out when they do not know the answer themselves.
Many times they also will post comments that really have nothing to do with the conversation just so they can be active and get a higher ranking.
My favourite comment posted though is "Sorry I cannot help you out" Does this actually help out your ambassador ranking? If it does I would say a lot of people are abusing the system.
The reason I bring this up is because sometimes I do not know whether the answer I have been given is the correct one. So how do I know for sure that I am being steered in the right direction?
One final thought this does not apply to the majority of the community it is a very small minority of the community and in all fairness they do believe they are helping out but unless you know one hundred percent then I think it is best you do not answer.
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Hi Maureen. You where certain to get replies from ambassadors with your blog.
I have to agree with you but only up to a point.
I myself am no expert and I say as much in my profile and there are sure to be other members (ambassadors or not) that are much more knowledgeable than I am.
But I do have a wealth of experience in just about every aspect of Internet marketing and I also do a lot of research and its because of these two that I feel I can at the very least point people in the right direction.
As for those members who are trying to manipulate the system to increase their rank. They will get their come-uppance eventually and nobody will suffer except them because they will fail in their own endeavours to earn a meaningful income.
Onwards and Upwards Maureen and have a great day.
Robert
Thanks Robert by no means did I mean you had to be an expert to be able to help someone out. Sometimes "street smarts" outdo "book smarts". If someone is answering because they have experienced it themselves then I would say that is pretty darn reliable.
Hello again Maureen.
I do agree with you that there are some very clever people and age is no benchmark, who have never been to university or had any kind of Higher Education like a lot of the members here have had.
I also tend to pay attentionn to people who are like you say 'Street Smart' because they have been around the block as the saying goes.
I also agree that you can't beat experience - been there, done that and read the book springs to mind.
At the end of the day it is entirely up to the individual whether they take tips and advice onboard and act on them and as long as people ask me for those tips and advice I will continue to do my best to - 'Point Them In The Right Direction'.
You have a great day or evening across there in Ontario and whatever you're doing Maureen.
Robert
When I first started out I felt it was only polite to acknowledge someones quest for help, now I will only respond to a question if I can help I have been here over 2 years now and my rankings have bounced around, we need to have a balance and understand that rankings here is no where as in important that getting your site ranked with google, we are always going to get some who will do this sort of thing just to manipulate rankings
Being an Ambassador does not automatically make you an expert in all things related to Internet Marketing and sometimes we have to type into the search bar to find an answer.
But I also have to ask, when people pose a question, have they tried to find the answer for themselves first by utilising the search bar and/or Live Chat, or do they want someone else to do that for them?
At the end of the day, we should all try and help each other out. Being an Ambassador means you are active - not necessarily an expert.
My two cents worth.
At no time in my post did I say you had to be an expert at all things to be an ambassador. If a question is posted and you honestly know the answer then by all means help the person out. But are you really helping someone out by answering a question that you really do not know the answer too? My problem is i am a trusting person and if a person steers me in a direction why would I even question this after all they are trying to help right?
I never said you did - I was merely pointing out that not all Ambassadors are experts. The other side of the coin is the number of inbox messages received asking all sorts of questions as people tend to assume you are an expert.
I hear that a lot from Ambassadors Jude (that their inboxes get flooded with message). And I agree with you. I know that when I first started years ago, if there was that title attatched to your name, I assumed you had to know what you were talking about and I trusted your answer to be correct.
Of course it came apparent that many "Ambassadors" knew less that I and was giving out false information to me and others.
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Hi Maureen, I do detect some of your remarks too, people who are trying their utmost best to place useless reactions to increase their rankings. I am here for almost 2 years now, and I have seen those people skyrocket the list, and then disappear into the forgetfulness, because the reason of the reactions is not a warm heart for WA but more the competition to get a certain position, and when they accomplish that position, they are not motivated anymore to be helpful in any kind.
Thanks for your comments Loes. There are many people here at WA you included that bend over backwards to help those of us who are struggling and I do appreciated it. You are right too when you say once they achieve their status they probably will not be helpful anymore. I just find it annoying when I am struggling already to be led down a path of misinformation.