A Wealthy Affiliate Success Story - A Whole Bunch of SEVENs Going On

A few days ago, a member of WA asked me what my strategy was to rise so quickly in the ranks here at Wealthy Affiliate. I referred him to this blog I had written on November 10th, called It was not really one of my goals yet here I am top 200.

To this day, I still don't have a strategy (honestly), it is just happening.I guess my advice to any member asking would be this:

Don't focus on the rankings, focus on the work. The rankings will come (both in here with Wealthy Affiliate, and out there with the search engines), just do the work.

On December 5th, I posted a blog called The Wealthy Affiliate Fine Print Nobody Will Tell You About to celebrate my two months of being at WA.

And then a bunch of sevens started popping up.

As some of you know, I am a former Math Professor and, well, I just love patterns. Please bear with me as I take this opportunity to share with you what is really going on, and why. It is, in some way, my Wealthy Affiliate success story to date.

I would also like to highlight how a 2000 word blog can evolve from an idea as simple as "a bunch of sevens".

Posts = 7

---

My Fine Print blog post was my seventh post here at Wealthy Affiliate.

Every day, there are new posts showing up on the Dashboard. And truth be told, they are of the Smorgasbord variety. There is anything from one-liners to books being posted. There is stuff that is randomly thrown together to material that is well formatted and engaging.

As I move through the training, and see how things are developing on my website, I am gaining an understanding the value of good content. What I experienced over the last few days here on WA with my latest post reinforced that.

With every one of my blogs here at Wealthy Affiliate I have tried to implement what I have learned about content from the training. The "My Blogs" item in my profile is, after all, for creating and posting "Blogs". I have tried to find some appropriate keywords and used them to produce what I consider some Keyword Rich Content.

What are the other key elements of a good article? 1000 words, 6 paragraphs, and 5 headings. You can find these details in your Site Content under the Template for a Keyword Rich Content Page. As you go through the training, you will also note some important elements in regard to formatting (pictures and lines) your article.

I know it is not easy for everyone to write 1000 words, especially at the beginning, but I strongly recommend that you use the Blogs in WA to develop your skills for your own website. Take a look at this article you are reading about sevens. The number pattern was the spark that motivated me to write. It turns into a celebration of my getting into the top 100 in WA. And, is easily expanded to include some insight, motivation, and encouragement for other WA members. The lesson, you can make every post have value.

I posted my Fine Print blog late at night. I got some visits from WA members on the other side of the world, and then I went to bed. The next morning I was surprised to see the blog on the Top 10 list, it was ranked #6 and I thought, "That's pretty cool."

Later on in the day, I noticed that the blog post was featured on the Dashboard, and had a little flame in the top corner, it had become a hot topic. The blog post reached #3, then reached #2, and then it hit #1.

My very first #1, that was REALLY cool.

Thank you to everyone who commented with words of thanks and of encouragement, and for those who shared some of their own learning experiences here at WA. It was a very busy 24 hours replying to everyone, but it was well worth the experience.

Rank = 71

---

After cracking the top 200, my rank had dropped (or is that risen?) little by little until it hovered in the 120's. I had not been really busy within WA. I was just doing the bare minimum keeping up with a few things and not really interacting very much. My rank went to 148.

As we all know, there are different perspectives on what ranking in WA is all about. Some members chase the rank, others find it curious, others don't really understand it, and some just don't care about it. Bottom line, we all have a different view point on how important (or not) our WA Rank is to our business. Scroll down to the bottom of this article to find out which numbers are really important for your business and your website.

For me, the WA rank is what it is. A reflection of your involvement within the Wealthy Affiliate community. It does not affect your website, but it can be a measuring stick of the quality of your involvement in this whole process. And as my previous post shows, it does not take a lot of participation to move up, but it does takes consistency, and it does take quality. Rank is not my focus, but honestly, I am not going to complain about the Top 100 badge, it looks good on my mantle.

With one blog, and all the discussion it generated, my rank changed quickly. The next day I was ranked back in the 120's, and the following day I broke the 100 mark landing at 74.

Am I going to stay Top 100? I really don't know.

I might hover in the 70s, I might drop, I might rise. It really depends on how active other Wealthy Affiliate Members (you) are, and it depends on how much I remain active within the WA community. I am really enjoying the interactions and how much I am learning from all of you, and it is a really great place to "hang out" (productively of course).

Network = 743

---

I had never used ANY social network before joining Wealthy Affiliate so this is a completely new learning experience for me. And frustrating. I tried signing up to Facebook three times, and every time I got blocked trying to verify my account. Apparently I'm doing things "too quickly" and not using the code confirmation process "correctly". It must be a sign to "Stay Away from Facebook" :). It is the reason why I got "stuck" so long on Level 4... AARGH.

I have successfully signed up for Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google +. But signing up is one thing, figuring out how to use them, and benefit from them, is a whole other game. I am in the middle of this training right now and slowly making progress.

Until I get all those other Social Media platforms figured out, I am going to continue to learn on this one. It is by far the most user-friendly platform I have been on so far. And the Community of like-minded people here at WA is hard to beat.

I make it a point to follow new Members and new Premium Members. As I make my way through my the day-to-day activities, I browse the bios of different members and follow anyone who might have a "connection". I also follow Members selected at random.Oh, and one day, I made it a point to follow every single member that was in the top 200.

I currently follow more than 2700 Members and I am being followed by 744 Members.

A 4:1 ratio... I wonder if this normal in Social Media?

As I have come to understand, there are many inactive Members, or Members who do not spend a lot of time on this platform, and that's OK. I am so thankful for everyone who shares, encourages, guides, and teaches along the way, it has been a great social experience for me.

I think that one of the big reasons there was so much feedback on my latest post was due to an increase in my followers. And on the flip side, my latest post triggered a few dozen new followers.

What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

What I am appreciating on the "networking side" is that, if what I am doing within the Wealthy Affiliate works "in here", what I am doing on my website will also work "out there". I can look forward to some great things ahead.

Words Written = 72,825

---

This is where the numbers really matter for my website and for yours. As so many trainers have been emphasizing: Content, Content, Content.

I am a little surprised that I have written more than 99% of Wealthy Affiliate Members this month. I am thinking that maybe it is because I am long-winded (Case in point: this post).

When I told my daughter how many words I had written in WA, she exclaimed:

"You've written a novel".

True enough, when I looked it up, I found out that anything between 60,000 and 120,000 words is considered novel territory. When I add in the words from my WA blog posts, I am right around 80,000 words which is considered the standard for novels. Wow, it sure doesn't feel like have written that much, but words do add up quickly, especially when you are having fun.

Some WA members might not use Site Content and they do their publishing directly through WordPress. Their stats obviously would not be included in the WA numbers (and I am guessing that there are quite a few who do just that). But regardless of where you do your writing, or where you do your publishing, CONTENT is the key to success.

Personally, I like starting my posts in Site Content. I like seeing the numbers, and keeping track of my progress. But once I publish, I always use Word Press to pretty things up, and to add my links, and my pictures. I will often make some minor changes to the content once I read through the active post.

Whether you use Site Content or not, this is a number that needs to be growing. This one is not an option, this one is the substance of your website. If you don't have content, and don't increase your content over time, you will fall by the wayside.

This is one number that matters.

You need to care about the content, and focus on the content, because the content is where it's at. The content numbers are what really matter "out there".

Articles Published: 43, next target to hit 70

---

Understandably, not all of my written words have been published yet. My first post was published on October 6th, or 65 days ago. Since then, I have published 42 more posts, so I am averaging one post every 1.5 days.

Over that time, I have received 212 comments, or an average of about two comments per post (plus my accompanying reply to each post for those doing the math). I also have a list of 186 articles unpublished. They are in various stages of completion ranging from a Keyword Rich Title, to engaging Headings inserted, to part way done, to almost finished, and to just missing the finishing touches.Seems like an odd way of doing things to be sure, but it is my strategy.

Don't ask me why, it is just the way my brain works.

My goal over the next two months (by the end of January) is to have 70 articles published. I don't know if I can keep up to the 1.5 posts per day because we are entering into one of our busiest times of the year here in the mission field. But I am going to give it my best shot.

To everyone at Wealthy Affiliate, happy writing. Remember, a simple idea can evolve into a keyword rich content post.