My First Year! Should I STAY or should I GO?
Today is almost Spring and with that comes those positive feelings of Goodness around every corner. Flowers will start blooming soon and SNOW will finally start melting in other areas! What a glorious time of year. I love spring and I love JANUARY! Both give me a feeling of newness and a fresh start.
Funny how that goes. My first year is up at Wealthy Affiliate U. and the decision to continue or stop was heavy on my mind. Sorry if that surprises anyone here but honesty is what I am all about. It is so much fun to 'Look Successful' but more fun to 'BE' successful. I can say I am successful in learning as much as I have learned.
I can say I am successful in helping where I could and I am certainly successful in getting my sites up and messing them up...just ask support! :) sorry guys. I promise to be better this next year. YOAST would have a finger wagging at me for those two identical sentences above...LoL.
Yes, I have made a decision that is now firm. No more wobbling about. The truth is, I have not made any money yet in this past year, and I am finishing boot camp as I got off track with being too damned excited and two to many sites!! You just can't do that when you are new and learning!
Gosh, I hope I can encourage everyone NOT to do what I did. And you know, when we have people that have been here for 5 and 10 years that speaks volumes!! It does work. If others can then so can I. So can You!
Part of my decision was visiting GoDaddy and doing a comparison. Did you know that for just ONE website and without security it will cost you over $200.00 per year? If you add in the extras we have here your costs again for ONE is over $282.00. ONE site!!! You can't even compare those numbers to WA and what we have here.
The knowledge and support I have gotten from so many of you is just incredible and worth more to me than the costs. The #7 is my favorite number and this is 2017 so maybe just maybe this will be my year. I am not always the brightest light bulb on the block some days ( blame my hairdresser for putting too much bleach on my head!) I get to say that as I was a hairstylist before getting sick and kind of coined the phrase pointing the finger back to myself. Ha Ha BUT if determination says anything then I am good to go.
When it came down to the last day, the day before my auto pay I was a wreck as I fought with those thoughts that questioned what I was doing when I couldn't afford to spend more money on my credit card. Do I stay, or do I go? But when it came right down to the last minute I knew If I did not continue the pain in my heart would be too heavy to bear. I couldn't quit. I needed ME to be proud of ME for continuing and seeing the success hard work can bring.
I believe we can do anything we set out to achieve. Sometimes you just have to get out of your own way!! Thank you Craig and Barry for your last minute encouragement and thank you to my would me Mentors that I need to adopt this year.
I stayed! I am staying AND one of the best things is me recognizing where I got off track and fell into the ditch. Where I tried to do it my way which really wasn't the way to go. WA is awesome and the community help is awesomer!! So everyone reading, I hope you continue the awesoming experiences here because that is how you grow and learn and become a stronger You. ( just having some fun with words again Craig!)
Once again Thank You to Everyone who helped my first year at WA to be great. Sorry, I didn't mean to write a short story! :)
Recent Comments
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So glad to see that you are staying, I have greatly appreciated your help in my short time here at WA.
Your post has come at the perfect time for me as I too have lost my way and found it hard to commit the time necessary because deep down I can't see a way to bring in any money with my site.
I know I just push through these doubts and persevere to at least give myself the best chance of succeeding.
Just the kick up the butt that I needed.
All the best,
Gordon
Thank you Gordon! Wow, who knew I could help someone out by being real! I will stay in touch and we can kick each others butts! :)
Girl! I read back though the comments that your WA friends wrote about how happy they were that you were staying on. Now, see, its gotta be worth $50 a month to be loved like you are.
Seriously, I think that there must surely be some monetary reward for all of your labors eventually? Keep up the good faith and God will reward you.
Katherine
Thank you Katherine. I know, I am overwhelmed with all the love and was just thinking how special it is to belong somewhere where this happens and you get so much encouragement.
Dear MsMerry,
So glad you will stay as I have already received some good advice from you. I am realizing how hard this can really be and trying to stay caught up is most difficult for me.
Get the dishes done first thing, work a few hours on another non internet project and then in the early afternoon get on the computer. Next is dinner and once again hit the I.
Ruth
Thanks Ruth. I appreciate hearing that. Yes, it does take up some time doesn't it. I am going to be setting up a schedule for I can work on my posts and set a time to help others like yourself when I can.
Tonight I am trying to catch up on more than 200 emails. Cannot answer them all but need to try and get through them so I will have a clear slate.
Ruth
Congratulations in not giving up. As much as I'm struggling even with getting the answers. This is something that I will never do, is give up. It has so far been one hell of a challenge for me, because it's so alien to me. I have said it before and will say it again...this is an awesome place. And when it comes to my next year's renewal I will pay for another year, even if I haven't made a dime!
Well said, Thomas. Thank you for reading my post and I agree. Just reach out anytime you need help. I will help if I can and if I can't there is always someone who can.
good choose MsMerry, I am hoping and hoping that I will get off the ground before I get to the year mark. But that also depends on the type of niche your found for your self. At times I think I chewed of more then I can swallow. But this is were my passion lays and am enjoying doing what I am doing. Keep going you will make it sending Blessings your way Linda
Hey Merry! Thank you for sharing your story and your feelings here!
I'm glad you've made that commitment to stay... I started a little over a year ago. My first site I felt I really didn't know enough of and therefore had issues of trying to be an authority on it. Didn't even finish the lessons because I was not happy with my progress.
I started my second site this January and following the lessons from the beginning. Taking notes and have a checklist which is working great. My niche on scuba diving is my passion and I'm more excited about it and know with confidence it will be successful. I don't know why but I'm finding the information is finally 'sinking' in. Ya...lol... I color my hair too...
I haven't touched that first site since... i'll go back to it when I'm ready. Going thru it the second time is much better.
I know you can do it and you will do it!!
I'm glad you're asking lots of questions. I remember when you helped me on a question I had... thank you!
Stick with the one site... your very true passion and you'll be amazed!
You can do this... you will be successful!!
Oh Monica, thank you so much. You have just really given me an extra spur in my step. And thank you for remembering me. I will do this.........and so will you! Girl Power. Lifting each other up.
Thanks for sharing. I too have two many sites going and with a full time job I'm in full time overwhelm! But - I'm not giving up!
I'm going to learn to streamline and to plan each day so that I get something achieved each day. The learning here is awesome! What I've found is that there's not enough time to learn AND work on my sites! Hence the need to strategise and to streamline! :-)
Yes, so true Phyll. Funny that you mention that as I felt that I need to re-organize my time and re-set my goals so I can stay more streamlined. Thanks for reading my post.
Very important lesson learned. Very few people can get two or more sites up and successful at the same time. Stay basic. Develop a system. Make a point to do the best you can do for that day. Do that everyday and you will be earning passive (not so passive LOL) income before you know it.
Thanks for sharing, We all face dilemmas like this from time to time. It can be difficult but in the end, I believe that u have made the right choice. The fact that u realized your mistake and have been able to correct it is awesome! Keep up the good work and I wish u great success for this year and the years to come. Thanks again for sharing such a great article. :)
carl
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Stick for another year to see how it goes Merry, business success does not come overnight. Even brick and mortar business for hardworking people may take 3-5 years to turnaround if fortunate. Just as a rule of thumb, give yourself 24-36 months to see how things goes because site and interactions need to settle down Imagine if you give up now and later realize that sales could pick up in 18 months time, wouldn't that giving up be too premature Merry? Hope you can reconsider it. I now money spent with no returns in first year but consider it as a small investment and give yourself a chance and tell yourself in the mind frequently that I can make a return by end of second year. Hope this helps you Merry.
Yes Terry, thank you. And yes I did stay and had actually made the decision before posting. I just wanted to be real about where I was so others could see it can and does take time.