Climbing up to Online Success

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Our recent trip to Greece had brought numerous lessons for me personally. Climbing up the steep mountains is similar to starting an online business in terms of the challenges, perseverance, and ultimate rewards involved.

As you stand at the base of a towering mountain, ready to embark on a challenging climb, the mountain would represent your goal of establishing a successful online business.

At a glance, it seems insurmountable, with its steep slopes, unpredictable terrain, and treacherous obstacles. Similarly, launching an online business can feel daunting, filled with uncertainties, fierce competition, and countless hurdles to overcome.

As you begin your ascent, you quickly realize that the path is much tougher than you initially expected. The journey is fraught with setbacks, such as slippery rocks and unexpected crevices. Likewise, when starting an online business, you may encounter unexpected obstacles, like technical glitches, marketing challenges, or financial constraints. These setbacks can be disheartening, making you question your decision and tempting you to give up.

However, it is at this critical juncture that PERSISTENCE, DETERMINATION, and HARD WORK become your greatest allies. Despite the difficulties, you press on, relying on your unwavering dedication to reach the summit. With each step, you learn to adapt, sharpen your skills, and navigate the intricacies of the mountain’s terrain.

In the world of online business, you continuously educate yourself, seek guidance, and refine your strategies in response to the ever-changing landscape. Wealthy Affiliate had provided experts that will help us along. Technical resources that can guide us as we navigate through. And the ever- efficient Site Support that is always ready to resolve issues that faced us!

As you progress, you realize that the journey is as much about personal growth as it is about reaching the peak. Climbing this mountain demands resilience, as you face physical and mental challenges, pushing beyond your limits to overcome them. Starting an online business requires personal development, as you develop resilience, problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Finally, after relentless efforts, you catch a glimpse of the summit! Persistence has paid off, and you stand on the peak, taking in the breathtaking view that stretches out before you. Similarly, in the world of online business, your hard work eventually pays off, and you witness the realization of your goals- a thriving business, financially stability, and the satisfaction of creating something meaningful.

Climbing up a steep mountain mirrors the journey of starting an online business. Both require PERSISTENCE, DETERMINATION and HARD WORK to overcome challenges and reach the desired goal. Just as climbing a mountain may seem overwhelming, remember that success in an online business is achievable with unwavering commitment and the willingness to persevere through the difficulties along the way.

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Recent Comments

87

Great analogy Maria! (I have been MIA for the last couple of days so excuse my tardiness here)!!

With determination, persistence, a positive mindset and a never give up attitude....

there is nothing we can't overcome my friend!

I hope you are well rested now and.....

Cheers!!!

🤣🥂🍻🥂🍻

Hello Nickster! I was wondering where you were? I thought,” Hmmm, Nick is busy somewhere else!”

Hope everything is going well on your side, Nickster!

Thank you for chiming in! Always appreciate you!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

I was pretty busy sorting stuff out at home before travelling down to Spain for 3 weeks Maria!

So far so good!

I may not be chiming in as often as usual though... let's see how things go!

Always appreciate hearing from you as well my friend!

Cheers!

👍🥂

Wow! You’re again on your travel mode Nickster?

Should I be jealous?

As you just traveled before I did, and now you are traveling again? I think I am jealous! 😊

Just have a great time! Traveling is always fun!

Still waiting for the details about the island property that you may look into. The owner of the property is also inGermany at this point.

Stay safe my friend!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

End of May and the first couple of weeks of June is always our first poolside barbie trip of the summer Maria!!

Spain as usual but I would love to get back to Greece though!!

I'm the jealous one here!!

I await further info my friend and very much appreciated!

Cheers!!

👍🥂🍻

I think we have to coordinate with Roy, as he frequents Greece more than any of us! He’s on his way there maybe next week!

Let’s be jealous of him! 😂🤣😅

He does have a Greek wife after all Mariaster!!

I'm still jealous though!!

👍🥂

Don’t get jealous Nickster! Let’s just join then ! Let’s invite ourselves in their place in Thessaloniki!!! I don’t think Roy & wife would mind! 😉

That is a great plan my friend!

See you there!!

👍🥂

When Nickster?

It's going to have to wait until I get back from Spain at least Mariaster!!!

👍🥂

With your three weeks in Spain, it might be a start of the cold days Nickster!

But ok, I shall wait for until you get back from Spain!

Not a bit of it my friend....

When I get back the seriously HOT days will just about begin unfortunately.....

Worst time of the year for me....

👍🥂🥵🥵

Then that would be the worst time to go there too. Let me ask Roy!

Good morning Maria,

I hope you're well. Thank you for your blog post.

Those Greek mountains, sea and sunset look a very familiar sight to me! I'm not quite sure how relaxing your holiday is!! I hope you're having a great time.

I agree with your example, we have to keep climbing the mountain was determination and persistence!

Have a great day.

Roy

Thank you so much Roy!

I hope everything is going well with you and your family!

My husband has been under the weather for the past few days coming home from our high-strung vacation!

It is taking me a longer time to recover as well.

I must have forgotten that being older, I should have chosen a more relaxing vacation.

I appreciate your weighing in with your insights Roy!

I am reading Paul"s letter to the Ephesians. And it's giving me a very significant message differently than before I climbed up the mountains where Paul's was imprisoned!

Cheers,
Maria🌹

Good morning Maria,

It's always a pleasure to read your blog posts, Maria!

Everything is okay this end, thank you. We are looking forward to going to Greece very soon.

I'm sorry that your husband has been under the weather, maybe you should have spent more time on the beach! It sounds like you had a really busy holiday! I hope you both get back to normality quickly.

It's amazing that when we read the Bible, we can often see things that we didn't see before.

A very happy Sunday to you.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

I am jealous that you can go back and forth to Greece anytime you want to!

That sounds amazing Roy!

We both have another week to recover from the high-strung vacation we just had.

May you both have ave a great time as always in your trip back to Greece, Roy!

Safe travels!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

It's good to hear from you, as always! We are very fortunate, I have to say that we don't get to Greece as much as I would like, despite it not being far away. We are relatively close to the airports at both ends, which is ideal. And it's only normally 2.5 to 3 hours in the air, I know there are the other bits to deal with, but it's not bad!

I can't remember how long your flight was and if you flew directly. I know that New York to London is around 6 1/2 to 8 hours. So I am guessing your flight is probably 10 hours plus.

I hope you both make a quick recovery and get your strength back.

Have a great day.

Roy

Hello Roy!

Our direct flight from New York to Athens was 9 hours and 40 minutes!

Thanks you for all the good wishes in our recovery Roy!

My daughter, being that she’s very young , just bounced back to the normal rhythm! 😂🤣😅

A 3 hour flight is not bad! No wonder you visit Greece so oftentimes!

How long shall you be in Greece Roy?

Have fun and be safe ! 🙏🏼

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Hello again Maria,

My guess wasn't too far out! You're a little bit further away than we are from Greece!

As we get older, it appears that age makes a big difference! I'm glad your daughter has bounced back quickly!

I really like it when I'm sitting at the airport waiting for a flight and it's pouring down with rain in the UK. I know normal terms that I will be in much better weather in a very short time! However, this year is the most unsettled weather I have ever seen in Greece, hopefully, that will change soon!

I think it will be around two weeks in July. However, I would like to try and get to Greece for a few days in June. When the lockdowns were on, not many people were flying, I managed to get a flight for £9.99 and that covered me for everything! I only had a small bag for luggage as I already have things over in Greece! I went the following month and the price had gone up to £13.99, how shocking!! I never thought that I would be able to get a flight so cheap!

We came back from Greece a couple of years ago with Jet2. My wife received a phone call to ask if we were coming to the airport as we were the only two people on the plane! I thought my wife had made a mistake! I don't suppose that will ever happen again! We had four air hostesses looking after us and the captain came out to speak to us! Apparently, the captain said on one occasion, he had flown with one person on the plane! I guess the plane has to get back to the airport for the next flight; however, many people are on the flight!

Enjoy your Sunday.

Roy

PS: I hope I have rambled too much!

Wow! That would be a dream for me, if that happens to us!

Your flight fare is very cheap Roy! £9.99 is so very cheap! Even £13.99 is still very cheap!

I’m surprised that the airlines flew with only 2 passengers on board! That’s so special!

No wonder you keep flying back to Greece! I will fly back every week if that is the case Roy! 😅😂

Very nice experience!
Thank you for sharing that Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

I don't know if you have a few budget airlines in the States, we have a few here in the UK. From time to time, I see very special offers, although they are not flying somewhere where I want to go. I think the flight was so cheap as not many people were flying, but the company still had to the flight.

Prices vary for return flights, normally anything between £60 and £200 depending on the time of year, so not too bad.

Last year I went for four months running, as my wife was already over there. Even for a long weekend, it's very doable! Of course, in the States, you have so many places with different climates, you almost don't need to fly to Europe or elsewhere. On the other end of the scale, I guess it's good to see something different.

It's good to chat.

Roy

Yes we do have budget flights here in the USA as well.But it’s usually, when they announce the flight, you should be ready to fly. And that doesn’t work for me and Tom, as we have work schedules to fulfill!

I would like to be able to fly at a short notice! That will be cool! 😎

That's interesting, Maria! This is the problem; often, budget flights don't fall at the right time, maybe that's something you can do later on!

I think it's time to make a video!

All the best,

Roy

We both shall be retiring next year! So maybe we can fly Budget at any given time!

That will be cool!

What video are you doing Roy?

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Really! I'm surprised, but it is not a bad idea! Yes, you can take advantage of those budget airlines and enjoy yourselves.

This is a video for my newest channel, in general they have a newsworthy item, which is normally gloomy, unfortunately. However, I offer hope in the Christian faith offers a solution to the problem!

Roy

That’s cool that you’re getting into the video like a pro Roy!

Cool beans! 😎

I keep trying, Maria! Sometimes I wonder, however, my faith is strong and that helps a lot.

On another channel that I have about Internet marketing, I enjoy creating videos, is something that I have a passion for and it's good to be able to help others. It is just getting time to do everything!

Roy

I understand that Roy!
Time has been the essential part of our online business!!

We just needed to use our time wisely and well !

Wishing you all the best Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

It certainly does, Maria!

How is your website going? I hope things are moving forward!

Enjoy your Sunday.

Roy

My website is doing really slow!

I was so disheartened when Amazon did not pay me my commission from the shower sales that generated about $3k, just because the shower sales were from my work place.

Amazon was so dishonest. I don’t want to do business with them again.

I joined Kyle’s new PPC program and is trying to promote Wealthy Affiliate. So, this is where my focus is right now.

So,we shall see where this would lead me.

Thank you for asking Roy!

How about you? How is your online business going so far?

Good morning Maria,

I'm really sorry to hear about your website, as I know you were putting so much effort into it. I have never liked Amazon's affiliate program; can you not find a better affiliate program?

I don't know about your niche, but I do know that here in the UK that we almost have an affiliate program for every single niche. I would take a look at other affiliate programs and see what they offer. For your interest, I have made minimal commissions from Amazon! Just carry out a Google search for affiliate programs in your niche!

I must admit I didn't like the way Amazon lowered their commissions when we had Covid! That was a period when many website owners could earn more money from their websites. To me, that was a very devious plan on Amazon's part! So I do understand where you're coming from, and I would definitely look for an alternative affiliate program! Especially as you have been working so hard.

I think a lot of people are following Kyle's PPC training. PPC is quite complex, but we are learning from the right man. My Webmaster has carried out the majority of my PPC campaigns; he knows the platform well, as in Google pay-per-click.

I want to encourage you, Maria! Every successful business owner runs into problems all the time; we have to overcome them, find alternatives and keep moving forward! Sometimes that's not easy, but I know you can do it!

I would also like to be moving forward faster; however, I have an offline business that keeps me quite busy. It's good that it pays the bills; however, it does limit the amount of time that I can spend working online. We just have to do what we have to do!

Wishing you a very happy Monday.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! It was a disheartening for Amazon to be to be so dishonest about the commissions and all.

My niche is all about helping “new and beginning parents in their need for guidance in the care of their babies “. This was my big project! Everyone at my work place were trying to support me. So when 2 different departments threw out a shower party for their co-worker, they used my website and shopped from Amazon through my website. And from all the sales, I didn’t get any commission.

I will be looking for other affiliate marketing programs, Roy.

Thank you for your continuous support.

Have a great Monday!

We are celebrating Memorial Day today!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

One of the many good things about the Wealthy Affiliate platform is that we can encourage and help each other. I really want to see you succeed, as I see you putting in so much effort!

Out of interest, did the people who shopped from your website use their own device as in computer or phone etc.? If they did, I can't see why Amazon would question the sales, unless they all happened at once. Which may have sent alarm bells to them.

I'm almost 100% sure you'll be able to find alternative affiliate programs.

Oh, I didn't know it was Memorial Day today in the US, that's good to celebrate.

All the best.

Roy

The principle that Amazon holds on to is that any sales connected from a friend of a friend of a friend, doesn’t warrant a commission from them.

My contention was, “A sale is a sale, no matter what “

The people who shopped from Amazon used their own phone, but we are all using the same area code.

And according to Diane, the sale should be organic. So if it was through any of my friends, I wouldn’t get any commission.

I think this is so wrong!

But I can’t do anything.

I am just moving on, Roy.

I don't know much about Amazon's terms and conditions, but from what I understand, they are not very clever. When Amazon first started and they wanted to gain traction, I believe that their affiliate program was brilliant. However, now they have their foot under the table, it does not appear that they care. As you rightly mention, this is not right!

Over the last couple of years, I try and not to use Amazon, I try and find someone who sells the same products but not Amazon, as I feel they have become too large. I would also prefer to help someone smaller. Of course, the Amazon website is brilliant because it has so many products on there and they do next-day delivery. But I still think is good to look for alternatives, I'm not talking about affiliate marketing I'm talking about people who are purchasing from Amazon.

You are doing the right thing, Maria, moving on, but I would move on by changing the affiliate program and keep writing on your website. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised by what the alternative affiliate programs are!

All the best.

Roy

I appreciate your wisdom Roy!

Thank you for your great advice!

So, as not to foster negativity, I am continuing on writing for my website.

Hopefully, it will surprise me one day from its organic growth!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

It's a pleasure to help, Maria, and it is also a pleasure to see people succeed.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how your website builds momentum when you keep adding content! Don't keep checking stats, just keep writing!

Roy

I will do that Roy!

I certainly appreciate all the support!

Thank you for your wisdom as well Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

That's good, Maria!

That's what we are here for!

Keep moving forward and have a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

Once again, I appreciate your kind support and encouragement!

That’s all we need to do. Keep moving onwards!

Enjoy the beautiful Tuesday morning!

Cheers,
Maria🌹

Good morning Maria,

It's always a pleasure, Maria and it's good to encourage others.

I hope you have a great day and keep moving forwards.

I'm off to a country show today, I go there every year, it's called the Suffolk show, for your info! I always enjoy this show, it's a great day out and I could happily spend two days there, but time doesn't permit it!

All the best.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

Country show is always nice! Is this where you bring your machineries and sell it to the public?

I remember, I always like to go to those shows before when my husband used t make scented candles as his hobby. He makes them in the basement of our house and we sell them in country shows!

So after this, are you going to Greece? How long will you be there for Roy?

Have a fun and safe travels!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

I hear you, I always enjoy a country show; it kind of shows off our heritage and makes us grateful for farmers and people who helped to move things forward over the years. I don't actually take anything to sell there, it's actually quite expensive to have a stand at the Suffolk show.

That's interesting that you made scented candles, it's amazing what people do, I do find it very interesting! Does your husband still make them?

We should be going to Greece in July, however, we are hoping to go for a few days in June.

Wishing you a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

I am jealous that you can go to Greece whenever you wanted to!

June & July? That’s so nice!

Making scented candles has been a very interesting hobby!
My husband always have fun doing them until he got more into gardening, so he sold all his candle-making kit, so he can have the one part of the basement as his starter room for the seedlings 🌱, next to his office!

Now that he is about to retire next year ( and so would I ,I guess), he wants to concentrate on doing his garden! He’s got all the tools he needs for it anyway!

Hopefully by next year, I can see some good outcome of my HARDWORK Roy!

Wishing you the same Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

I hope you are all doing well and have fully recovered from your holiday!

We don't actually get to Greece quite as much as we would like, I haven't been since early March! However, I am very grateful indeed that we have the option to be able to go there!

We are both looking forward to going very soon!

I have always found it fascinating what people do for a living and for hobbies! I think it's very important that we have absorbing hobbies and something that we can enjoy. Gardening can be very therapeutic and very rewarding. Having the right tools can make the job so much more enjoyable!

Yes, keep following the training, keep blogging and I'm sure you will see some results.

Did you find another affiliate program?

Have a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

I am sure you are excited to go back to Greece! I will be too! And with the plane fare of £9.99, who could beat that? I want to fly to Greece with that amount of money!!!

Maybe I can go to Thessaloniki this time!!!

How many days are you staying for?

Yeah, Tom is enjoying gardening! And he does an awesome job with the vegetables!!!

I am getting back into YouTube shorts Roy! I did not continue as I suck in editing. But with AI providing me great ideas, I am bound to continue!

I was not looking to get into a new affiliate program Roy! I have found Wealthy Affiliate, and I am sticking with Wealthy Affiliate all throughout!


When are you leaving for your vacation? Have a safe flight and have fun!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Hello Maria,

How are you doing?

I must admit I'm still shocked at how cheap those two flights were, I don't know if it will ever happen again!

I can definitely recommend a visit to Thessaloniki, Maria. You can also go to Halkidiki, which is not that far from Thessaloniki. If you google it or look on the map, you will see that there are what's known as the three fingers. The first and second fingers are for anyone to visit, but the third finger is for men only as it is covered in monasteries! It's a fantastic coastline!

That's great that Tom enjoys his garden, and its also fantastic to have fresh vegetables. Good for him!

I'm glad that you are getting back into YouTube, Maria. You could always do what I do with YouTube videos and not edit them! I do occasionally edit, but in general, I just make them raw! That's good that AI can give you ideas.

I thought you were going to look for a new affiliate program for your website rather than using the Amazon affiliate program. I think that would be a good option.

We will be going to Greece in July, but we are hoping that we may get there for a few days this month.

Have a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

Hope everything is going great with you and your family!

Even I , myself was so shocked at that too low a plan fare!

Hope they offer the same low plane fare again!

I am sorry that I misunderstood you! Yes, I am going for some other affiliate marketers aside from Amazon, as they a big cheaters when it comes to paying their affiliate associates commissions.

But right now, I am concentrating on creating YouTube videos using Canva for thumbnails.

As the competition with blogging and YouTube is getting fierce, we should really stand out given the available tools that we can use to create videos.

It is really great that Tom enjoys his garden.

Enjoy your Saturday Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Hello Maria,

I hope you're doing well, everything is well this end, thank you.

That plane fare was unbelievably cheap, I don't know if it'll ever happen again. They are a budget airline that flies within Europe, they like to have their planes full!

I must admit that your Amazon experience is very disappointing, however, I have never been a lover of their affiliate program.

I wish you every success with your YouTube videos. Don't forget that Roope and a few others have classes about YouTube.

It's good for all of us to have absorbing hobbies.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

Those plane fare are priced greatly! I wish they offer them again. Let me know if it got offered again. As Tom and I want to go back to Athens and maybe to Thessaloniki and it’s neighboring place!

I am not even counting on Amazon anymore. Just focusing on my YouTube projects at the moment. Once I kept this going, I may just continue to do it as Roope does it.

Thank you for your continuous support Roy!

Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

I hope that you had a great Sunday.

Of course, those plane fares are from the UK to Europe, I'm guessing it may be different when you have to fly across the pond! Although when you both eventually retire, you may be able to go at short notice and reap some benefits! Just avoid school holidays, as the prices always go up.

I understand your situation regarding Amazon, the great thing is there are plenty of other affiliate programs available!

It's good that you want to do YouTube, it's a good platform providing you go with their narrative. If you're doing news-type items or using Christian principles, like I am doing, YouTube may not necessarily like it.

It certainly worked for Roope, however, he has been extremely consistent and persevered. Just remember that it is still good to have a website, other platforms can take you down without any notice at all! At least with your website, you own it!

Have a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

I understand that the plane fare is from UK to Greece! I have my cousin in London. I may ask her to keep an eye on those sales!

I am still keeping my websites Roy! Just using YouTube to enhance my possibilities to other things.

Thank you Roy for your insights!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

My apologies for the late reply, it's been a really busy week!

That sounds like a useful contact to have someone in London!

That's good, it's always good to have our own platform. However, we can help our websites by using platforms like YouTube.

Have a great weekend.

Roy

This is summer and everyone is busy! Are you now in Greece?
Have a safe journey to and fro Roy!

I am intently studying two major things with my editing. It’s a little complicated, but I am slowly getting it figured out!

Enjoy your summer Roy!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good morning Maria,

That's very true; summer does seem to be very busy.

We are not yet, my wife will be going to Greece in a couple of weeks.

That's good that you are studying editing, Maria, that's a good thing to learn. Everything takes time to learn, but the more we do it, the easier it becomes. Out of interest, what software are you using to edit your videos?

Have a great day.

Roy

Good morning Roy!

I thought you and your wife are going to Thessaloniki this month and then July!

I am studying capcut and canva together. WE have a lot of available tools that we can use. If our goal is to stand out among the many YouTubers, we have to patiently learn the various editing techniques, that appears very easy but is a challenge to learn!

Enjoy the beautiful Monday Roy!

Cheers,
Maria🌹

Hello Maria,

I was hoping to go in June, but unfortunately, I don't think time is going to permit, which is a shame! However, I will be going in July.

That's good, I don't know about capcut, but I'm sure Canva is very good. I use Canva for YouTube thumbnails, but I know it's capable of much more! I also use Camtasia and Snagit for screen recording and editing. It's always interesting to know what other people use for video editing.

Have a great day.

Roy

That is a great analogy. I think lots of us talk about the "uphill struggle" but you have experienced it and applied that experience to life. Cool pictures and a great life lesson.... bonus!!!
Jim

Appreciate your chiming in Jim!

Thank you for your insight!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Good. Keep it up fellow affiliate you can do it 😊

Thank you Justin!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

It's very inspiring, Maria.
You must keep that momentum going but it's always good to take of yourself and take breaks.

Myra 💜

Thank you Myra! Climbing those steep mountains was a tough experience!

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

I can imagine that, Maria! Definitely!

Myra 💜

Thank you Myra!

😊🤗🤜🏻🤛🏻😎🌹

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