Taking a Familiar Path

byRSteffens

300 followers

11 years ago

So much to learn. So many avenues to explore. And the sky is the limit.

I thought this was going to be easy. The courses are great, as well as the Bootcamps. The member blogs and articles are so inspiring. But the further I went, the harder it became. One potential niche turned into two, then three and suddenly, I found myself on overload. The ideas were spinning out of control in my head. it seemed the easiest way for me to get started with my new found WA knowledge, would be to take a familiar path.

A couple years prior to joining Wealthy Affiliate, I made handmade jewelry and sold my creations on Etsy. In support of my online "shop", I created a couple of blogs and despite doing almost EVERYTHING WRONG with the blogs, they did help me promote my jewelry and direct traffic to my shop! There was the occasional sale and a couple of the people who followed my blog became repeat buyers. Somehow, I even earned a few checks from Adsense along the way!

I wondered what kind of success I might have realized, if all of this information would have been at my disposal 7 years ago. But, I do realize things happen for a reason. Hurricane Sandy roared through my area, changing landscape and seascape. It all but ended my 5 year run as a sea glass jewelry designer and a pretty poor blogger.

But now, I'm learning something new everyday and as I mentioned, I wondered, what if? I don't have any intention of going all-out with my sea glass jewelry making. I have been inspired by WA to reopen my shop and give it a second go. I love sea glass, the hunt, the thrill of finding a beautiful piece. The ocean takes a piece of man-made trash and turns it into a thing of beauty. Taking that beautiful creation and turning into something that the public found commercially appealing was empowering. It felt so right.

So I am back on a familiar path, a path that feels so right. But I also know it is only the start of a journey that I suspect will take me a (hopefully) several different directions. And I have my sights set on a crossroads that lie ahead.

It's just several courses and bootcamps away and I can't wait!