Life/Website Advice That May Change Your Life (Or Just Make You Mad at Me)

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It's happened again...

Replying to someone's "question" on the platform spawned over 1,200 words.

Best to make it into a blog post, right!!

If you don't like what you're about to read, it's because you're mad at YOURSELF btw, not me! (You know I'm right, LOL)

Here's Shobhali's Question:

When Do I Need to Cut My Losses?

Here's My Reply:

Hey Shobhali,

You've actually answered your "question" yourself in the text above, LOL!

Okay, let's break everything down.

Where 2023 appears to be "the year of ChatGPT and AI", I would say that 2022 was "The year of the aged-domain case study".

Basically, it was more-or-less proven that having an aged domain name made very little difference in "speeding up" the process.

Realistically, for it to make any difference, the domain would need to have a fairly decent DA and a lot of relevant and quality backlinks pointing to it in order to "speed up the beginning process" (essentially, those who spent about $10,000+ on an aged domain MAY have noticed a difference).

So, owning the domain since 2020 will make very little difference in making this happen faster.

Next, "my website is NOT super niched" <---- BIG CLUE

In fact, I wouldn't even class Personal Development as a niche, as it's MASSIVE.

Personal Development could encompass:

Time Management

Getting Better at Talking to the Opposite Sex

Learning to Meditate

How to Give Speeches

Dealing With Stress/Anxiety

Learning to Play Guitar

Acting Classes

Basically, ANYTHING that can help you become better at a skill (mastering your own thoughts is also a SKILL) is Personal Development.

Now, there's nothing wrong with very broad niches, but your output has to be HUGE.

To give you an example, on one of my "Broad Niche" Sites, I had close to 500 articles published after 4 months (obviously, I used writers, etc.).

And even with that, although I was getting a few thousand visitors per month by the 4th month, it didn't really explode in traffic until about month 8-9.

Furthermore, with a broad niche it takes longer to really gain trust and traction from the search engines, so your output has to be twice as much as everyone else.

Okay next, let's look at your current content.

Let's say 18 articles at an average of 2,400 words each.

That's 43,200 words.

Over 4 months, this is an average of 360 words per day.

Can you see where I'm going with this? LOL!

Something else I often tell people is that it's great to have goals, but nothing beats consistency.

So, you should always set yourself a minimum limit of achievements on a daily basis.

When people ask me about article writing I say to aim for an average of 500 words written per day.

You don't have to publish, you don't have to complete an article a day, just make sure that you write AT LEAST 500 words per day.

This means that some days you will far out achieve this, some days will be 3,000 words, some days will be 1,200 words, but NO MATTER WHAT you always write AT LEAST 500 words per day (this is just an example btw, you should do what's best for YOU).

When people say to me, "I don't have time", the first thing I ask is

"Did you feed your children today?"

The answer is obviously YES.

I ask why, they say that their kids would die if they didn't.

I answer, "NO, you fed your kids because it's IMPORTANT TO YOU that they remain happy and healthy"

Basically, if something is IMPORTANT TO US we ensure we do it NO MATTER WHAT, e.g. 500 words per day.

"I hear people have been working on their sites for 8 years not earning a buck!"

NOPE!!! Us humans have an excuse for EVERYTHING!!!

I will say there are people who have been doing this years who have not earned a penny

BUT

They are proving Einstein's great saying:

"Doing the same things every single day and expecting different results - INSANITY"

Trust me, there are PLENTY of members here who dole out advice on a daily basis and always talk about "The Training Works"

To which (I bite my tongue) but feel like replying:

"How the Hell Would You Know that the Training WORKS?"

Was your intention to join Wealthy Affiliate, sing and dance about "getting indexed" and be getting about 1,000 visitors per month after a year or two?

Of course it wasn't!!!

Plus, this is NOT proof the "Training Works" (I'm not saying it doesn't, I'm merely saying that if you came here on Day One and 1,000 members said to you, "I've been here a year, not made any money, but I get indexed, and I have 1,000 visitors per month", You would turn round and leave and think they were all Crazy!!)

My point being, if something isn't working then you must look at "ways to fix it".

For most members here, this means educating themselves on a daily basis (I don't think most people realise that every ounce of human knowledge ever created in the history of mankind is on Google and YouTube, and yet few venture outside of WA to "learn something" <---Variety is the spice of life, don't limit yourself in terms of education)...

And secondly, most people don't work anywhere near hard enough...

I get that people are busy, they have lives to lead, bills to pay, mouths to feed (Same here for me folks!)

BUT

Most people “pretend” to work… They are BUSY, but not PRODUCTIVE.

And this also explains why many people are stressed and unhappy - being busy, but not actually achieving anything creates this stress and unhappiness (think about that warm glow you get inside when you have a fantastic day, write a great article, get it published, you get all the housework done, you read 100 pages of a book, you've worked for 5 hours in the office and YOU REMEBERED TO FEED THE KIDS, LOL, that warm feeling you get inside is pride and happiness ←- aim for this feeling more often).

As I said above, if something's important to a person, they will make sure that they do that something without fail, e.g. feeding you kids!

Personally, I would say that you need to break down your niche, and concentrate on one tiny aspect at a time.

There's no problem with having a broad niche website, but you can still concentrate on a tiny part of that niche initially...

As an example, 25-50 articles on Gratitude Journaling, then 25-50 articles on Productivity Journaling, then 25-50 articles on Anxiety-Relief Journalling.

These are just examples, but can you see how I've broken "Journaling" as a niche down into an even tinier micro-niche.

Shobhali, obviously I've seen you on the platform, you come across to me as a lovely person, intelligent, witty, and smart.

So, let me end this by asking YOU a question.

Do you feel you've done everything you possibly can over the past 4 months? (rhetorical, NO NEED to answer me, just be honest with YOURSELF).

Finally, you are currently in the "3-Month Hump" (Yes, I know it's 4 months now, but it can last a fair bit longer)...

This is an ACTUAL THING in online marketing - Most people who put some initial effort into this business first become full of doubts at around month 3-4.. Most GIVE UP at this stage!!

Nathaniell even wrote about this a few years ago.

Those who carry on MAY see success (go and read my explanation above again about people continuing to do the same things year after year with NO success)...

But this business (and most things in life) is about how well you educate yourself and how well you apply yourself.

Personally, I think you have a lot of great attributes, so please don't become one of these "The Training Works" members (who are still NOT getting rankings, traffic, or money after years <--- How do they KNOW the training works? Hahahaha!!)

Take this as a happy, smiley, soft kick in the butt. :)

Partha

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Recent Comments

42

This is so true, breaking down the niche deeper is quite important. I found out the hard way with my Africa travel website and now it already has about 60 articles on African BIRDS alone and continuing with just birds alone.
Ranking with just articles on the elephant and rhino doesn't work, because basically, everybody does that. It was only since then that I am finally getting traffic to that site.
Next niche topics could be just African insects, who knows lol

Hey Partha,

Thank you, as always, for another fantastic post.

Somehow you almost always manage to write something which was exactly what I needed to hear at this particular point in time!

With the limited time I have available, I thought I'd maxed out the quantity of content I was able to produce. I was very wrong.

I read your insights and I thought to myself, "Ok, most of my time is dedicated to the 9-5, then there's family commitments so rather than the 500 daily word commitment, I'll try 350 words".

That's what I've done every day since reading this post 7 days ago.

The result?

I've produced 5 articles of 1000 words or more which are of exactly the same quality requirement I try to achieve.

This really is a mindset thing.

The psychological angle of this is not to be underestimated. What has happened for me is when I commit to those 350 words, the creative juices get moving and I'll inevitably write at least double that quantity. Often finishing the article in one hit.

But there is no pressure to write more than 350 words a day. Even at that minimum I'm guaranteed 9800 words over 28 days. That's 10 articles a month easily.

In reality, I'm producing much more than that if I can keep this up.

Now I just need to find the time to prepare and publish but that's a good problem to have!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Awesome post Partha, as always! Thank you. I'm guilty with an explanation... It's true that I've been a member for 8 months and haven't yet EARNED anything financially from my sites... YET. I have every confidence that I WILL see monetary rewards in the near future. I have been on a learning implosion! My content-writing and website building have been at a very slow pace lately because, not only have I been distracted creating and marketing a new product in my niche, but I've also just been absorbing so much information, often my brain seems on overload and I have to take a break. Despite that, I'm more excited and enthused every day, (and I do try to do something every day toward achieving my business goals), and I'm LEARNING new things every day.
All this enthusiastically-driven learning engages and enhances my subconscious mind to be aware of opportunities and ideas that I may not have otherwise seen or thought of. Although I haven't EARNED anything financially from my training and work with WA, I've LEARNED a wealth of information that I'm not only implementing into my business ventures, but into new ideas and opportunities I believe I wouldn't have recognized or known about before coming here and learning so much.
I do understand where you're coming from inasmuch as we've got "veteran" members giving excellent advice that haven't yet produced much success themselves financially. Furthermore, I thank you for pointing this out, as some may not have yet made this realization.
However, from my personal experience, when I say that the WA program, training and platform "work", I mean that it has thus far worked for me to learn things I never heard of before, and to learn to do things I'd previously feared, such as building my own website(s) and learning how to properly do SEO, etc. And BECAUSE there is so much information on WA on a daily basis that I find valuable, I have to be careful that I'm not letting it dominate my valuable time as well. But, I can say that the WA platform, and all that comes with Premium+ membership, has as much or more valuable training and resources than any other program, online or otherwise, that I've EVER been an active part of, and believe me, I've been an active member in A LOT of different programs!
Please don't take this reply the wrong way... I'm not criticizing you or your post. Quite the opposite, in fact. I think that, as usual, you have given some EXCELLENT advice. Your posts are among my most highly valued and appreciated.
I just wanted you and the community to know that when I give props to WA and say that it works, I mean that it has worked for me in the ways that I mentioned above. It works for me in the fact that I'm gaining a better education than any other education or program I believe I could pay thousands more for. It works in the sense that daily I'm getting new information and advice, and any question I have I can get answered within a few hours at the most, usually within a few MINUTES!
I LOVE this platform and the changes it is helping me to make and accomplish in my life, and I would have paid TWICE as much as my annual membership cost me, (and I HAVE paid that much for other programs) just for the education and the wealth of information and available help that I have here.
"So, I apologize for the lengthy reply, but I wanted to let you and the rest of the community know how much I appreciate your willingness to share your skills, knowledge and information with me in an effort to help me succeed (financially) as well! This platform and community have truly changed my life for the better, and I have absolutely no doubt that it will continue to do so, as I continue to learn and implement what I'm learning.
Thank you Partha and the WA community as a whole!!!

Kevin

P.S. Love your title, BTW 🤣

I just want to add "same here". There are a few people that have really made a difference in my journey and Partha is certainly at the top of that list. Thank you Partha for sharing your Marketing Genius with us.

Hey Partha, well, you gave me something to think about. I have been producing very little content lately, trying to learn new things and, in the process, not drawing traffic.

Learning right now is a priority. Just to let you know, your message is right on time. I have been Kicked, LOL.

Have a great one!


Chet

So Partha, your response to this is interesting and informative. It leads me to question you about a super niche as opposed to a broad niche. The reason I say this or ask this is, I think that I have chosen a narrow one. It is elderberries. I even asked in a class one time if you could actually run out of key words for a niche. The answer was no, because you could write product reviews. That does give me some hope. But here’s the thing. When I write about elderberry and its benefits, there are only so many ways I can spin that so that it is not repetitive in my blogs. Then I can write reviews about the many ways elderberries can be used, but I am still going to run out of those.
So I will continue researching keywords. But there is a bit of despair, because I think that I have not chosen a really good niche to last me for a really long time. What are your thoughts? Thank you!

Hazel

Out of curiosity I took a look and wow, there really is a lot you could write on elderberry, although some of it would require the disclaimers. Just using one tool Partha recommends (Keyword Sheeter) this list was populated in like 20 seconds.(sorry for hijacking your comment section Partha). The list was just to large for the comment section when I simply input elderberry alone after just one minute of running it.

uses for elderberry
uses for dried elderberries
use for elderberry extract
edible uses for elderberry
uses for elderberry flowers
uses for fresh elderberries
uses for elderberry powder
uses for elderberry juice
uses for elderberry syrup
uses for elderberry tincture
uses for elderberry jelly
what to do with elderberry juice
uses for elderberry leaves
uses for leftover elderberry pulp
uses for elderberries after making syrup
medicinal uses for elderberry
medical uses for black elderberry
uses of elderberry
uses of elderberry syrup
uses of elderberry flowers
uses of elderberry extract
other uses for elderberry
uses for elderberry pulp
medicinal elderberry plant
benefits for elderberry syrup
medicinal elderberry for sale
medicinal elderberry syrup recipe
medicinal elderberry syrup
what is the elderberry used for
uses for elderberry balsamic vinegar
medicinal elderberry variety
what do you use elderberry for
recipes for dried elderberries
cooking dried elderberries
what to do with dried elderberries
what can you make with dried elderberries
how do you use dried elderberries

Some of these repeat of course, but there really are a lot of angles for you to attack.

You can be like the shrimp guy from Forrest Gump who could go on for days about different shrimp selections, hah hah.

The tincture part looks like it could be a good rabbit hole too.

Regards,

Jason

Hi - just to add to Jason's useful list, there are lots of specific questions you could answer, each one could be a separate post.

Are elderberries safe for dogs to eat?
Are elderberries safe for infants to consume?
Are elderberries safe for pregnant women to eat?
Are elderberries toxic to cats?
Are elderberries used in traditional medicine?
Are elderberries used to treat cold and flu symptoms?
Are elderberries high in antioxidants?
Are elderberries easy to grow at home?
Is elderberry jam easy to make at home?
Is elderberry a good addition to smoothies and desserts?

And then of course there is Partha's potion's word list found in

Thank you so much for this, Jason and your interest in helping me. I have written blogs about half of the list. The point I am making is that when I do write about elderberry, it is important to talk about the health benefits. That is the part that gets repetitive. Also, I have to make sure that these keywords are ones that would have the traffic and audience. And then in the long run a few years down the pike, they kind of peter out. Again, I appreciate what you have done. All the best to you.

Hazel

Thanks very much for your list. So that I don’t have to be repetitive, please see what I wrote to Jason.

Hazel

Thanks for this. I have it bookmarked.

Hazel

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