My progress so far
So far, I've reached course 2, lesson 10 of the certification course where you're asked to present to the community how you are progressing. Here's mine:
My Niche
I decided to concentrate on the weather resistant garden shed niche along with low maintenance outdoor storage solutions due to being quite taken aback with how convenient their composition is in comparison to traditional wooden huts topped off with roofing felt.
I's a growing market that's in the early days of progressing for the reasons people do not want the hassles associated with conserving, sorting rotting panels nor replacing disintegrated roofs.
My blogging inexperience
To be honest, I found writing naturally without a sales pitch along with putting my own spin on things quite a daunting task at first however over the process of 6 months or so I've enhanced my writing skills to a level I'm extremely happy with.
My inexperience certainly shows looking back at my first posts, they're terrible. I am currently upgrading one per week along with writing a new post, learning a new lesson, sharing posts on social media and generating an ongoing amount of comments that make my website look engaging.
Social Media
My social media skills are slowly improving.
Loads of followers and re-shares on Twitter, a few boards set up on Pinterest along with a few followers. Google+ is very engaging where many of us share each others posts (my favourite social media platform) whereas I can't seem to get to grips with Facebook, although according to Google Analytics a lot of my traffic comes from there.
Moving forward
Over the next 3-6 months my intentions are to get to grips with Facebook, I have to learn how to accomplish more followers and shares. I would like to complete course 3 of the certification course including regularly writing unique content along with an abundance of interactive comments to achieve higher search engine rankings.
As far as search engine rankings go, I'm improving. Surprisingly I have attained the odd first page status lately which shows I must be improving. Better on Bing and Yahoo for some reason which proves they all have different methods in the way they rank websites.
Conversions, I've had a few but like everyone here, a regular income is my goal.
Hope you enjoyed reading my progress thus far.
Bye for now,
Simon.
Recent Comments
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Keep writing Simon. Even if it's responding to other WA member's writing's, it's still practise in communication.
Co- mmunication is a sender and a receiver. You want to sell MORE plastic sheds, so you have to communicate why the receiver needs to buy your plastic shed, yes? From you, Simon the Shed Seller. And the benefits of the products you have to offer, like Jay's Friday live classes. (Or taking them the next day or after the replay is posted.) Heck, I don't understand alot of what he's teaching, but he often demonstrates benefits. Plus you will find your brain starts working on the other stuff Jay presents that we may have known nothing about, and now we have a little bit.
Over time the tapestry will fill in and we'll see the bigger picture. We'll attain it. You will attain it!
Let your heart, which identified your goal, not be stopped by the overly critical thinking apparatus. Just reach forward, and move in the forward direction.
Left, write, left, write, left, write, left, write! Keep it moving!
That's it, don't stop!
Suzay
Thanks for messaging Suzay, you are right, the more you write the better your communication levels improve,
I have seen a remarkable improvement over the last 6 months. When I look back on my older posts, they drastically need refining - Wow, they were dreadful.
Jay's lessons are superb, I must say. Especially the lesson where he achieves a 1st-page ranking position in 20 minutes. I use his 7 techniques every time I publish a post.
One day..........................
Onwards & upwards as they say or like you suggest; left, write, left, write - ha!
Thanks again,
Simon.
I enjoyed reading your progress post Simon.
I think most of us look back at all the posts and realise that we've improved. It just goes to show it's not worth trying to be a perfectionist since even if you think it's perfect at the time, six months down the line, it won't be.
~mark
Hi Mark, yeah that is so true, over time you do improve and we'll look back in 6 months and start improving again - ha!
Mind you I was very experienced in the beginning, they weren't good.
Cheers Mark,
Simon.
Hi Peter,
Thank you, I just keep taking the training steps one step at a time and implement what's shown pertaining to my niche.
Thanks for your support, all the best,
Simon.
Hi Donald,
I think I made pennies on my first commission too but this shows you have connected and converted which to be honest I thought the day would never arrive.
I make the odd commission but nothing regular due to these being my early days however regular monthly income is my goal.
Bit of work to do yet but I'm determined.
Thanks for commenting,
Simon.
Hi Phoebe,
Thanks for commenting.
I never thought of setting goals until I entered through Wealthy Affiliate's doors but I now set them every day, week and month, making sure I complete my goal each day. Still amazes me how much work I accomplish per week working this way.
Thanks again Phoebe,
Simon.
Very glad to hear about how it's positively affected your overall work productivity and output.
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Thank you for a great progress post Simon. I take some encouragement as I've been reticent about starting to write posts simply because of the newness of it all. I do write technical copy for a few blue chip clients but this is quite different. You have an interesting niche, best wishes for your increasing success.
Les
Hi Les, blogging is more about being helpful to visitors rather than writing a sales pitch. An honest review containing pros & cons comes across more genuine.
It took me about 6 -8 posts before I got the hang of writing naturally like this. It's simply because we were never taught to write in this style, therefore, I have done a lot of updating - ha!
Unfortunately; my principles have over-ruled my head where plastic is concerned. I can no longer promote something that is contaminating our oceans, so I have decided to shelve my website.
Wealthy Affiliate's training does work to land your blog-posts in the top spots of the Search Engines.
Best of luck,
Simon.
Well done on taking a principled stand with regards to plastic pollution Simon, I spend a great deal of time on the ocean and witness the tragedy of rampant plastic pollution often. Much of the plastic sheds and other synthetic "wood" products produced in South Africa and I would hope other countries, is produced from recycled plastic. So there is a glimmer of hope.
Les
Yes, all the plastic sheds I promoted were recyclable, however, after serious consideration, I didn't feel happy promoting something I wasn't 100% comfortable with.
Totally unforeseen circumstances.
All the best Les and thanks,
Simon.