Getting Started

byTLeeC

97 followers

12 years ago

This morning represents the first 24 hours as a Wealthy Affiliate starter member. I haven't come across "blogging" in the training yet, but I hope it's there somewhere. I just saw the option on my page and decided I would keep a daily journal of my progress here.

I was introduced to Wealthy Affiliate by my spouse. He was actually doing online research to convincingly debunk yet another get rich quick scam. His mom gets excited when she gets emails from these jerks and forwards them to us with the thought that she is helping. We take each one, do a quick google search to find the websites that reveal the scam, and send her the links. Neither of us ever put any stock in these things, and we hope to help her understand there is no value in it either.

Well this time, the scam reveal was written by "Steve" a Wealthy Affiliate member, and somehow my sweetie was directed to Steve's site www.ivetriedthat.com. He read the whole thing carefully and thought it might be something I'd be interested in. I write obsessively - journal mostly, which becomes discouraging because ultimately there is no purpose for it besides my own catharsis. He often hears me say things like "Wouldn't it be great if there was a website about . . . " or "If I ever learned how to do a blog I'd love to write about . . . " or most often, "I wish I knew how to make some damn income from all these ideas!"

I've come to understand that a major theme in this community is "Taking Action", which resonates with my own personal beliefs. I've never bothered blogging because I didn't think anyone would read it, except maybe it would make me vulnerable to on-line predation - being mocked, having ideas stolen, identity theft, etc. What made me take the step to peek into Wealthy Affiliate and overcome those fears is a bit of a mystery. All I know is that I need to do SOMETHING. And I don't want to go back to school (I have a BA, double major in Psychology and English).

From Steve's introduction, Wealthy Affiliate seemed to be a course of action that could lead to an meaningful outlet for my drive to write, a way to focus and organize my thoughts and creative passions, and even maybe a way to make some money. I won't let myself believe I'm going to make gobs of money and can quit my day job. I'm too much of a skeptic for that. But since my "day job" is in the film/television industry, and this is a season of unemployment, I will let myself use this time to jump in and explore as far as I can with my starter membership. I haven't spent any money on it yet, and I am not using my time for anything more pressing, so what have I got to lose?

Here's what I've gained so far: A cursory understanding about how internet marketing works, and a glimmer of hope that it could even work for me. I've begun the Getting Started course and finished last night with the first page of content on a website. I see that it isn't live though, so I'll have to find out what I did wrong there . . .

Also, I woke up to 24 "Followers". I don't know what this means really. Is there some benefit to members besides connecting with like minded people? I am following 7 - three came with the membership: Kyle, Carson, and Steve. 4 are people who I stumbled upon, read the bios, and felt there was a link between what they appear to be about and what I want to accomplish. I'll likely remain a little shy about the following for a while until I can figure out what it's all about.

Today I hope to be able to finish my web page. I'm not sure if that's too ambitious for one day's work or not. I am having a little trouble with my goals because the tech side of this venture is like landing on the moon for me. I don't know what to expect to accomplish, what's realistic. But for now I'll just keep working through the Getting Started class and go with the flow.

If anyone is reading this, have a great day, good luck with all you attempt, and thanks for your attention and support.

Tracy