When I first started on my Internet Marketing journey, I knew that there was money to be made and ways to make it, but I thought that I had to “sell my soul to the devil” in order to do so. Internet Marketing (to me) was all about tricking people, scamming people into buying some useless piece of fluff or PDF or overhyped software.
I got hooked on so many of the GURU’s outlandish promises. I bought so many rubbish products (some good), but because I didn’t understand the ropes, I never made any sales. I had over 50 websites, which quickly became fabulous targets for comment spam, and I was never able to keep up. Hostgator quickly shut me down for my overuse of plugins which were killing their servers, and my sites all disappeared in 404 errors.
I never understood the importance of knowing your target audience, giving them really good information, writing my own articles (not stealing someone else’s), being an “expert” in your niche, and how to attract visitors to my websites.
I was attracted to the next “shiny object” and never spent enough time learning the ropes.
That was 2011. I dropped out of IM in 2012, as I just couldn’t keep up the time and money, nor could I work out how to get Hostgator to show my sites to the world again… I’d drained my bank account by signing up for a “training” program which set me on a path that I hated (drop shipping). I’d strayed to Warrior Forum and bought every $5.00 WSO that looked like it had promise. I learnt so much I was completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the whole concept of Internet Marketing. I felt like a complete scammer with every automated post that went onto my 50+ websites.
Fast forward to 2013.
I don’t know what made me re-establish my desire to be in Internet Marketing. It may have been that I was really strapped for cash! I still believe there is alot of money to be made from the internet. One of the emails which I hadn’t yet unsubscribed from, came from “Pot Pie Girl”, and she’d found a new way to rank really fast for keywords. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, ranked really well and really fast, and with the adrenalin that produced, I was hooked. She led me to Wealthy Affiliate, which has been a god-send.
Does Wealthy Affiliate Work?
In my opinion, it is the most exemplary training and guidance to be found on the web. It will help anyone to get started and really succeed with making money online. It does so without any black-hat techniques, without selling you the next shiny object.
My progress thus far
I’ve completed training 1 and 2 and learnt stuff I never knew. I’ve committed myself to making the internet a better place with everything I do. I enjoy contributing to the forum and offering feedback on people’s websites. I love that I’m visiting websites in niches I’d never have thought about, and finding fantastic refreshing and worthwhile articles. It seems most WA members are also keen to make the internet a better place.
I have created this website and commenced writing again.
My first website was about tattoos. I haven’t done much with it, because I’ve been more interested in my goal setting, self improvement site here. I’ve also started working on Starving Writer, which I made for my son (who appears destined to be a starving writer unless he does something about getting his work published), but I have yet to build this website out.
My successes?
I’m proudest of putting together my own writing on my posts. I spent all of 2011 ripping other peoples content from PLR, article sites, Clickbank etc., and never wrote my own. I’d forgotten how much fulfillment I get from writing something that is really well researched and supported by great resources from around the internet. I love ranking on Page 1, 2 and 3 of Google search results, thanks to +Jennifer Ledbetter for her incredibly easy to use RAM methodology.
My plans and goals for the next 3 months?
Get over Christmas. Actually have a holiday from work (I had 2 recreation days off work in 2012 and 2 recreation days off work in 2013 – I know it is ridiculous and my employer is badly failing in their duty of care to me!). I am hoping to actually take some time off to spend with my poor family (in January). My dear littlest son, 5 y.o, has never had a proper family holiday and my poor family have been subjected to all the stresses I’ve been facing with a workplace that won’t allow me any time off. In terms of my Wealthy Affiliate journey, I’m dying to get further along in the training, get writing more articles/posts on my favourite site (and maybe the occasional post on the others), and I can’t wait to start getting traffic to my websites.
My plans and goals for the next 6 months?
If I dream big, I would have to say I want to write a post every day, hire a housekeeper, spend more time having fun with my little one and less time at my J.O.B.
I am so glad I joined the WA community. I cannot believe how incredibly supportive the community is. I look forward to being a contributor to the community at Wealthy Affiliate and the wider community here at A Year From Today. A Year from Today, I’ll come back and tell you how my journey has gone.
For more ideas on how to increase your wealth and tips on wealth Goal Setting, check out our Wealth page. And to find out Does Wealthy Affiliate work, try it for yourself – it’s entirely free with the starter membership.
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