The advantage of paying it forward.
Hello lovely WA community!
Thought I'd write a few words about the resource that is WA. So here goes.
What is paying it forward through WA?
Essentially at it's bare basics it means engaging with the community. You'll notice that throughout the training you're doing that Kyle has set tasks for you to complete where you provide feedback or comments on other members sites, posts, pages and whatever else they might have created.
These are more than just arbitrary tasks to complete, they're far more than just a hassle to do to progress in the training, they're a learning tool. They teach you that feedback and constructive criticism are the core to success and the core of the community we have here. So if you ask for feedback and someone highlights that your images are not relevant or that your grammar is bad they are not being mean. They're being helpful!
Never take criticism offensively, we all want to help each other to succeed here. I've only really just started to get properly invested in the community here and that's mainly down to my own personal issues with anxiety and engaging with others.
So what does paying it forward teach?
It teaches contribution.
Value doesn't come from nothing, it's one of the reasons we're all doing what we are here. Trying to provide value for our potential customers. By contributing to WA as a community you're providing value in your feedback and criticisms to other people and it may even help you too. Perhaps you'll take a look through your own site and see where you can improve on your own.
But there is of course requesting feedback. On an article, your site in general, anything you have created. This is the benefit of paying it forward as you can't request feedback or comments until you've made some yourself. You've provided value to someone and now others are doing the same for you.
If your site is new look at any feedback or comments you might recieve as learning how to deal with your first traffic, even if you asked for people to do it. It's still traffic. Always remember how you respond to those comments is just as important as taking action on the feedback you've gotten. Never act defensively, noone here is out to get you or harm you, we're all in this together.
WA is a community. Use it.
Community is at the heart of the site, next to learning.
There are hundreds of people here with levels of experience from newbie to veteran. With that said noone is above learning new things, even the vets among us might discover something new someone else brings to the table.
Become a sponge. Absorb all the help and feedback you're given. Then squeeze that sponge and act on it, as all you've taken in is released funnel it towards your own progress and contribution.
And remember, never be afraid to ask for help. Don't suffer in silence!
Have a good week!
Regards,
Matt
Recent Comments
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I love this! Feedback is awesome and working with a team is the best. We can help each other and celebrate successes together! I am an introvert and do not have many friends and no family - so having an online community is amazing!