Can You Recognize Happiness When You See It?
Can You Recognize Happiness When You See It?
I huffed and I puffed, I wrote and I begged, I listed and I got listed, but still no traffic. When I first started my website, I did everything books and websites on self-promotion advised me to do. I went out and promote myself in e-mails, groups, forums, social networks and even to people I meet. It didn't work, mainly because a lot of the people in these places were trying to promote themselves too.
It was pretty depressing: I worked so hard, spent hours churning out materials, then spent more hours promoting myself. I spent so much time on my website, I was becoming anti-social. If it was not for the need to get up and eat, sleep or "ahem" every now and then, I would be shrouded in cobweb lace by now.
Then something happened. I met someone online who was trying to make friends, practice his English and trying to educate himself on how to use the computer all at the same time. He was very happy with the amazing opportunities that the internet was offering him in these areas. I was mortified, and I suddenly remembered why I wanted to write in the first place. It wasn't because I wanted to be popular, it was because I wanted to be happy.
Sometimes being unhappy for many years and seeing our visions of perfection shattered over and over again before our eyes will make us incapable of seeing our passion even if it is right in front of us. For example, I go to my website as often as I could, yet each time I would demean it (and hence myself) for not being good enough, interesting enough or useful enough. There was always something wrong with it.
However, receiving and replying to messages from that man made me realize that I already have what I needed to be happy. I already have a passion, and a website to showcase that passion. So then I took another look at my site and began to reevaluate what I can do with it. First I made a list of what I love and then I write out what I will do in my website that will reflect this feeling.
I love to write: I will use it to showcase my writing.
I love to teach: I will put up lessons about things I am passionate about.
I love learning from other people: I will put up free materials to enrich friends and strangers.
I love learning new things: I will learn new codes that I can then try out on my website.
I love a good laugh: I will put up some stories and articles just for fun.
I like to tell people how to do things: I will put up advices, tips and lessons and offer them up to people who want to learn.
Now when I visit forums etc., I am not promoting myself to get traffic, I am doing it because I want to help people as well as entertain them. When I changed my perspective, magic happens, and the very thing I had given up on seeking began to come to me. When you think about it, traffic is made up of people after all, and people can tell if they are being treated as a means to an end. I don't like that feeling, I bet you don't like that feeling either, so what gives us the idea that others won't mind if we treat them like that?
You may wonder, if I am putting everything up for free, and I am not making money out of it then why do I do it? Because although I am barely making money from Google Adsense, the act of tracking the traffic through Google Analytics has given me something else that people would normally pay money for, such as which materials get the most attention and where do these traffic come from. For example, in my stories area I get a lot of traffic from native English speaking countries, while my English drills worksheets gets traffic from countries where English is spoken as a second language. I had expected my Maths drills to get more attention, so I was quite surprise to see English doing so well. This kind of information has helped me focus on what works thus helping me streamline the content of my site. (Be warned though, the report only works if you are not getting friends and relatives to come into your site just to click on your Adsense)
Interesting how the exercise of recovering my source of passion has brought more traffic to me. I have learned the long and hard way that people are attracted to purposeful passion regardless of whether they are related to happy, sad or serious subjects. A magnet's pole after all is made up of both north and south. So find your passion. It's not hard to do because it is right there with you. Then think about how to present it in a structured manner, and make this world a better place in the process.
Macd The Happiness Gauge Best SIM Only Deals : True meaning of happiness Do You Want Happiness? Happiness Without Pain? Easy! Don't Worry – Be Happy: How to Develop Happiness Habits Personal Success And Life Happiness: You Can Make A Difference To Your Life How To Get Happiness What Are The Keys To Happiness Happiness is a Habit and Way of Life Being thankful - Key #2 to Happiness Happiness Beyond Belief New Years Day – How this day brings Joy and Happiness in your Life Wall Water Fountain Flowing Happiness and Comfort