Never Stop Learning!

The Only Way You'll Make It

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When starting just about anything, most people focus on the end. Where will this take me?

A lot of people will do just about anything to get there faster than is actually possible.

That's where quitters come from.

When you make a decision that you are changing something in your life, and it ends with something better than you have now, the most important part of the beginning is managing expectations and planning to WORK.

One of the most important lessons you can learn in life is one that evades a lot of people, and those people sit around wondering why everyone else has it better than them:

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You Are Entitled To Nothing!

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Once you get that into your head, it makes the work seem...worth it.

On this particular journey, here at Wealthy Affiliate, the majority of the work you will need to do isn't sitting at the keyboard typing out millions of words a year. It isn't endlessly droning on and hoping something catches.

Part of it is the same as any other endeavour. Always learn.

It's called Deliberate Practice.

You can do something over and over ten thousand times and not get any better. That does NOT make you an expert. Time will never make you a master.

However, if you take what you did today, look at it tomorrow morning and DECIDE to make tomorrow 1% better, you are deliberately practicing.

Keep 1% better in your plans for everything you want to be good at.

Not getting the traffic you want? Learn more about SEO.

Not happy with Amazon's way of paying you (one click one sale at minuscule percentages)? Find a better affiliate program...or better yet, MAKE YOUR OWN!

I did and it was worth it.

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Follow Your Heart and Your Head

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You can learn all you want and still feel like you aren't successful.

Success isn't just people on your page or clicks on your links.

Success comes when you can sit at the keyboard, type out a 2,000-word article and it DOESN'T feel like work. Then, six months from now, having that 2,000-word article pay you every month for the rest of your life.

Don't just choose a niche because you think it will sell.

Don't choose a niche because you "might" get interested in it.

Really FEEL your niche.

Figure out what you have in your life that you can talk about for hours to someone who doesn't know anything about it.

Choose something that starts your fire, lightens your day, puts a smile on your face.

Then learn even more about it.

You are becoming an expert and that means you need to deliberately practice learning what you chose to have as your business.

You need to spend every day learning 1% more...getting 1% better. That's how you win. That's how you become an expert.

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My Journey So Far

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When I first started here at Wealthy Affiliate, I knew absolutely nothing about SEO.

I had tried drop-shipping and a few other online businesses, but always paid for ads and barely broke even.

I took a course for freelance writing, which led me to learn about affiliate marketing over gig writing.

That's a pretty short jump to Wealthy Affiliate.

I chose a topic I knew quite well: Electronics>Home Theater.

Now, the thing is, I was interested in learning more...I liked it.

But, looking back, I could have had a 5-minute conversation with someone that knew nothing about it without them wandering off. I knew it but wasn't passionate about it.

Don't get me wrong, it is definitely the right niche for someone. I haven't touched the website in over a year and it got over 3,600 Google clicks this year.

I had started a second niche at the same time, afraid to let go of the work I had done on the first one. Don't do that. It divides your attention and neither will do half as well. If you choose to switch, learn to let go.

The second niche took three times as much work, included lifestyle changes (for pictures for tutorials) and a ton of learning.

It didn't catch up to the home theater site for traffic with 5 times the content. It still hasn't.

I felt like a failure working at something that just won't win.

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I Was Wrong

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How many of you have said that and meant it, even just to yourself?

In this case, I was wrong in a good way. (Do whatever you can to kill negative thinking)

I stumbled across another opportunity. Something I am passionate about, but not affiliate marketing. Starting a business and keeping the profit for myself. Then, I realized, why not add everything I have learned together?

So, I did.

I took my passionate niche, an online store, drop-shipping and affiliate marketing and mixed it all together.

What I got is something I can't wait to get to work on every day.

I took the things that I didn't like about Amazon (that's where most of my affiliate links pointed) and got rid of them in my affiliate program.

I did my branding and put together a monthly plan for my customers (consistent income for me AND my ambassadors).

I made contests and promotions and did the best I could to make it fun.

I'm not making the money I want to be making yet, but this is one HUGE success for me.

Don't give up and KEEP LEARNING.

Use what you learn to find your brand of success.

It is worth the work.