I remembered that I said in an earlier post I would keep a weekly diary about the training and I just realized that I have not really done so. The end of week 3 is approaching and I am so excited I can hardly wait for week 4 to begin! It amazes me how much I have learned how to do in this short time.

To recap: In the first week we made the preparations for creating an online presence. I used to think the first step would be to build a website, but no, it turned out there are a few things to achieve before you get to that. Choosing a domain name, for instance.

In week 2 we learned the steps involved in creating that online presence – so much easier than everything I had tried in the past. Somehow, I’d got the idea that the first thing you need is a website. Well, a blog is a sort of website and it turns out that it’s dead simple to set up, especially when you have these very clear videos to follow that John has made for us.

In week 2 we also started making our first posts and signed up for Google Adsense. I had heard of Adsense before, but I did not really understand how it works. I’m learning.

I am wondering if one ever needs a “real” website. It will be interesting to find out.

This week has been much more technical than the first two weeks, but once again, thanks to the clear explanations in John’s videos, I did not find any difficulty in getting everything up and running. Google Adsense became a bit more clear – it’s all those little ads you can see scattered about the blog in little groups called “Ads by Google”. They are meant to match the contents of your blog or site. I was amused to see the first ones that appeared. They were all about French cooking or learning to speak French. I changed the title of my blog from simply “sue-french” to “sue-french’s internet marketing journey” and started to get some ads that were more relevant. John told me not to worry about it – the ads will gain more relevance as my site becomes more established.

The other major things we covered this week were getting an autoresponder service (Aweber, which seems to be rated as best by most marketers) and adding the opt-in form you can see at the top of the page.
As well as this, we carried on posting to our blogs.

I have found this very satisfying. At first I was worried I would not have much to say. I had no idea what I would write about. I didn’t really believe I had anything in me that I was expert enough to teach anyone else about and did not think anyone would be too interested in just reading about me, or about my life. So I followed John’s suggestion and planned to write about the program. I just wanted to get started. That’s one thing I have learned over the last three years – you go nowhere if you don’t start.

Well, something magic happened once I got started. Suddenly the writing was easy, and now it’s hard to stop. And another thing – totally unexpected, this – I realized that I have actually learned a few things over the last three years and that I will feel less as if I have wasted those years if I can pass on a few tips to others. That’s how I got sidetracked away from posting my diary about John’s coaching program.

I’d love to get a bit of feedback, so if you’ve got a comment or a question, go for it.

To a rewarding internet journey,

Sue