I promised I would write a bit more about my experiences with the Wealthy Affiliate paid forum.
After spending quite a while researching affiliate marketing I have gotten used to the sales pages and the phoney reviews that go hand in hand with promoting these kinds of products. There are hundreds of pages describing any of these products and I’m not sure if any of them can be trusted. Especially when the prices can reach into the thousands of dollars! I’m sure there’s a case to be made for spending a huge amount of money for something if it is a worthwhile investment but that’s the kind of money I simply don’t have.
Every other day some “guru” marketer releases a new ebook with the “latest technique” to make millions. Most of these marketers are only successful at selling their own product and building the kind of frenzied hype that can earn The Rich Jerk and Day Job Killer their millions.
Have you ever been trying to learn something, a language, a computer game or a in a new job and found yourself wishing that there was someone you could ask for help?
Sometimes you walk over to the coffee machine and can’t figure out how it works, so you just get a glass of water instead?
Nobody wants to feel stupid, nobody wants to be the one student in the classroon that puts their hand up and says “I don’t get it”.
The one thing I feel most embarassed about is when people think I’m stupid. And to be honest I often feel stupid because I’ve been trying to make a living from the internet for over a year now and I still haven’t received a check.
I’ve read the same blog posts as you have with people talking about their six figure incomes (per month!)
So, enticed by a sales letter I signed up for Wealthy Affiliate. Why was this time different to the the last time I was suckered by a sales letter? Because three months later, I don’t feel like a sucker. I feel like I’ve learnt something.
The heart of WA is its forum. At first it’s less than impressive, it runs phpbb and has the bog standard template and features, but its value is in the quality of its posts.
There are quite a few people new to affiliate marketing and they, understandably, ask beginners’ questions.
Anyone who has frequented regular webmaster forums has probably seen the flaming and the directions to “use the google” that usually follow.
WA actually have pages of posts responding to users’ specific questions and offering advice. The sites founders Kyle and Carson are available to answer questions via PM and the founder of “Bum Marketing” Travis Sago is a bit of a superstar on the site because of his informative and insightful posts. His South’rn Draaawl stands out when you listen to one of his videos also!
I’m learning how to think about making money from the internet as being the same as making money anywhere else. There’s lots of specific advice and tools for learning how to identify a target market. For most people trying affiliate marketing that means finding a product on Commission Junction or Clickbank and then trying to sell it.
The proper way to go about this is to find that potential customer with a need/problem
and fix that problem or satisfy that need.
If you can provide a product that can do this there’s no way that people won’t buy it from you.
I’m learning how to separate the tire-kickers from the buyers. There are plenty of people, like myself, that do the vast majority of their research on the internet before they make a purchase. There is little point in trying to sell something specific to someone when they are merely trying to find more information about what kind of item they will buy.
Identifying someone in the right part of the buying cycle can avoid costly mistakes when you’re driving your traffic using PPC marketing from google or yahoo or MSN.
One of the reasons I am attracted to doing business as an affiliate marketer is because I don’t have to do things like customer service that take up so much of a business owner’s time. So I was surprised to find that it’s mentioned frequently on the site.
Taking a longer term approach than “Making the sale and run” means more profit and having an advantage over your competitors. This advantage can be the difference between a loss and big profits on your advertising spend.
The lessons I’m learning are not narrow or tied to a specific search engine or type of site. (although there are subforums for PPC with google and yahoo) I’m learning how to be a marketer. How to create something that people will value. And by providing value, I can make money. Everybody wins.
This is one of the longer posts that I’ve made on this blog and to be honest, it was one of the easiest to write because I’m excited about the topic. I’m excited about the community in Wealthy Affiliate, I’m excited about how I can apply the knowledge to my existing projects and websites and I’m excited that I could earn enough money from this to earn a living.
“To do what you love means never working a day in your life”
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. If you’re new to affiliate marketing and would like to make an effort to create a real business online from anywhere in the world, I can recommend Wealthy Affiliate. The techniques are suitable if you have money to invest in Pay per Click or if you need to make a start for free, writing articles, promoting them and making sales from the items you recommend.
If you’ve already done research and understand some of the techniques involved you’ve probably put your mouse on all the links in this post and realised they’re affiliate links. You’re right! I will make some money if you sign up to Wealthy Affiliate by visting through those links. If you do be sure and PM me! I use the name scoby on WA forums as well.
I’m going to keep you updated on my progress as I go and I hope to bring you all more good news as I make my journey to become a Wealthy Affiliate.
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Alright,
I’m happy to update with the news that my first commissions have come in.
I wrote a few articles when I joined Wealthy Affiliate and 2 of them have converted for me. One is a recurring sale which means as long as that person stays a member of that site, I’ll get paid. Thank you mysterious benefactor
The other was a once-off commission for clickbank that was almost $20.
My adsense account has been slowly ticking away in the background and has reached $30.
In total: ~$65.
My traffic across all of my sites is tiny so it’s just more motivation to replicate this and make all the commissions add up to something really worthwhile.
Have to admit, no I haven’t.
I’m in the process of writing some content for an email campaign
and a free ebook.
The idea then is to offer the ebook to people as long as they sign up to my list. Once I’ve got a few subscribers I’ll use the list to promote some affiliate offers.
In the meantime I’ve been offered some web design contracts which have taken my eyes off the ball…
The contracts will pay for my next few campaigns though, so I won’t complain.
Hi Scoby,
Just wondering…following WA’s stuff for 3 months, have you earned any money already?
While I haven’t devoted anywhere near the amount of time I should, the commissions are still coming in from bum marketing.
I’ve been looking at other people’s articles and I’m starting to see what makes me think about buying certain products. I’ll try and incorporate these things into my own articles from now on
Write once and earn often
I’ve been reading reviews of Wealthy Affiliate for several days now and yours is one of the best. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.
Thanks,
I’ve been away doing some personal stuff for the last 2 weeks and I’m now getting back into the swing of creating my campaigns.
Send me a pm if you’re browsing the WA forum.
I went on holidays a few weeks ago and decided that I should cancel my WA subscription while I was away. I only checked my email twice on holidays and both times I had emails telling me I had earned money from sales.
It wasn’t an awful lot but earning cash while on holidays has to be the best feeling in the world
I rejoined once I got back and found that I had been assigned a new affiliate id. My articles still used my original id so I pm’ed Kyle one of the owners to see what I should do.
He replied in literally 6 minutes(!) to say that it had been fixed and I wouldn’t have to change any articles. Any commissions would be applied to my current account.
They’ve updated the Wealthy Affiliate homepage since they’ve added some new features, I’ll add an updated review soon.
Click here to check out the new Wealthy Affiliate homepage
Hi -
I’m considering signing up to WA….
How are things going for you now?
Regards
Lloyd
I feel bad that I haven’t done more work on affiliate marketing
because I’m only earning about low $xxx per month from my sites.
I’ve got a day job and I’m also doing some contract work.
If you can devote time to building up your business you definitely won’t regret it.
WA has paid for itself many times over.
Myself and 2 other members have started an informal group and we’re helping each other and reporting on our progress.
I’m hoping this will help all of us.
If you join be sure and send me a message
Fair enough – I appreciate the fast response!
I have a career, and I do some freelance web design…maybe when i get my next contract (it’s in the pipeline) i’ll join up and see what I can make of it all…
I guess I’ll be in a simlar position to you really, but 3 figures a month isn’t too bad!!!
Definitely give it a go at some stage, there’s a lot of ebooks that will essentially give you the same information as you get in WA.
But being able to ask a question and getting a response from a wide range of people including a few experts is a much better way to learn
(for me anyway )
Will do – thanks again for the advice
Agreed with the other poster, your site is one of the few that provides real information about WA.
Agreed, success is about finding a need and filling it. To WA, it is about finding people that want to make money. These type of programs will never go away, and I think they tend to be backwards in their approach.
Hey there,
Check out the link above for my detailed review of Wealthy Affiliate.
Discover how Wealthy Affiliate has taught me how to average $1000.00/day!
A pretty nice review you have here. Also, I’m positive that the longer you work and the harder you try, the more successful you will be. Patience, determination, and hard work are the keys to success. Please check my Wealthy Affiliate review and let me know what you think of it, Scoby. Good luck to everyone!
I’ve been a member of Wealthy Affiliate since January/2007 and have no intention on ever leaving, it’s the only resource that has ever taught me anything of real value in regard to making money online, Now I make a full time living online!
You can check out my Wealthy Affiliate Review and see what I have to say
Everyone’s jumping in on the comments here to tell me about their own review lol.
I’ll be updating this review soon, wealthy affiliate has added a lot of features since this was written.
Wealthy Affiliate is great. I have been a member for over 6 months now.
Hi Scoby,
Thanks for the honest review. I just signed up for WA through your affiliate link. Enjoy
Paul
Groovy
Thanks Paul.
I’m seriously thinking about joining, but I just can’t seem to take the plunge. It seems like some people say that they’re making a lot of money and others say that they aren’t making anything. I guess I want a guarantee. Why do some people make a lot and some none? Also, is this the kind of thing that if you work really hard you can make money faster than a couple of months? I really need some help here.
Whitney it all depends on how much effort you put into it. It WILL NOT be easy and you WILL have to work but the rewards will be great if you actually take the plunge.
Scoby…how advanced must someone be to get involved with WA. What would a beginner be? I don’t have a website and I’m not technical but I have everything else needed to make it. Great review. Honesty is so key.
Hi Bill,
WA is aimed at beginners, I always point out that if you buy an ebook that’s not suitable for your level you’re stuck but with the forum you can always catch up by asking questions.
There are certainly members who start without ever having made a website or put an article online.
There’s a great 8 week plan to get you started which will take you through the basics. You’re given a few tasks to do as part of the plan and if you’ve any problems you can ask in the forum or just send me a private message.
There’s hosting included and one of the members has done a series of videos about using the WA hosting to setup a website.
I thought I had a great advantage in having some technical skills already ( I worked as a programmer ) but I’ve seen people who start with basic questions make incredible progress because they’re determined. I think that’s a more important attribute. You can always ask or even pay someone to do the techy stuff.
Try the free Bum marketing course by Travis. You can sign up through his link if you want ( I did ) but even if you don’t want to invest yet – take action. There’s good info in Travis’ course.
You won’t make money by just thinking about it
Best of Luck,
Scoby,
This is all so encouraging. Thank you so much for the quick response I’m deciding on a laptop (any suggestions?). I’ve used a computer for over 20 years so I’m not a novice there. The last laptop I had is now toast. So, as soon as I decide on a new one I’ll be joining WA.
By the way. I’m Irish, last name Moore. Both parents roots were in Ireland. Grandmother was a Fitzgerald, mom a Tiernan. My niece married an O’Connor, born in Ireland and now works for Coolmore America in Kentucky. he’s from Kildare. I believe Coolmore is well known in Ireland. My son dated his best friend’s cousin while she was visiting here. She’s from Meath. I was hoping it would work out but too much distance.
Well, I’m going on and on. Thanks again Scoby. Look forward to chatting again.
Bill
Hi Bill,
For laptops, just get something with a decent sized screen and keyboard. Those tiny netbooks are cheap and very popular at the moment but you’d want something bit bigger as you’ll be using it quite a lot.
I use a sony with a 13inch screen which is about the smallest size I find usable. I’ve owned 2 acers and they both served me well also.
Coolmore is quite famous in Ireland alright, even to people like me who don’t know anything about horses
It seems you can’t go anywhere in the world without meeting some Irish people, always a good thing.
Good luck with your Internet Marketing.
Scoby,
Thanks for the response. Got a laptop yesterday and will be downloading WA ASAP. How should I indicate a referral from you? You get a commission, correct?
Success to us both.
P.S. Yes, Declan…meeting Irish people is always a good thing!!! I’ll raise a Guinness to that…Slainte!
Click Here to sign up to Wealthy Affiliate. I’ll get a commission if you do so, yes.
My user name is scoby on the forums as well
If you have questions let me know.
Hi Scoby,
I’ve been reading all of your posting and it sounds great that there is a program that can generate money for people. However, I am still questioning how WA generates money for their subscribers. Do companies buy products from your websites or do you get money for people visiting your sites and signing up for WA on your website. I guess what I want to ask is how does one recieve money through wealthy affiliate? If there is more than one way, could you please list them. Thank you very much
Hi Doug,
What WA teaches are the general techniques of Affiliate Marketing.
You write articles or create websites that tell people about products. Many companies selling online have affiliate programs so that when someone buys their product ( after reading about it on your website ) they will pay you a commission.
WA has an affiliate program, if you were to sign up after clicking the link here on my site, I get a commission.
But you are not limited to recommending WA, there are thousands of companies doing this. Dell, Apple, amazon, ebay – all have affiliate programs.
You can write reviews about everything from baby clothes to exercise machines and if people buy from the merchant after reading your review, you earn the commission.
The biggest commissions come from recommending information products – ebooks, online video etc.
because it’s essentially free to copy a digital file the merchants can offer commissions of greater than 50% of the retail price.
You don’t have to ship the product yourself, or buy stock, you just need to find customers that will be interested in what you’re talking about.
There’s lots to learn – it’s not a “get rich quick” scheme. But it is a real business method and it’s worth literally billions per year.
You can start with completely free methods – If you’re not ready to splash out on WA you can try the free courses on Bum Marketing and Long Tail Treasure. Both of those courses are written by WA members and have some great ideas for starting out with free methods. If you sign up to WA through either of those courses they’ll get the commission.
Best of Luck Doug
argghh I want to sign up so badly, but sadly I’m only 15 and broke… oh well.. good review though the minute I get the money to sign up for WA I hopefully I’ll get to meet more wonderful people to help me learn.
_________________________________________________
My new years resolutions:
Work harder
Hold on to my Dreams and never give up
Become one of the richest teens on the net
I am trying to sign up for the WA but the website is down. Do you know what is wrong with it?
@ Tina
The website seems to be OK now, I’m on it at the moment
It might just have been something temporary…
@ Isaac
Try the courses mentioned in the comment above yours, you can get started for free. If you do want to sign up is there anyone in your family that would let you use your credit card? If you’re going to be a rich teen, don’t let something like this get in your way!
Take action and get moving towards your goal. Let me know when you make your first sale
Are you online now?? I am trying to join. The website is running fine when I click on the link to join it says unable to display website.
I got as far as the paypal page
which is after “click here to join” and after entering my name and email address.
I’ve tried it in both firefox and internet explorer 7.
Are you having trouble getting to any other websites?
Hi Scoby
Can you talk to me about how you are able to keep your identity private and yet you can work safely online and receive payments to your real identity lol
I am Irish by the way and absolutely love your honesty and am very impressed with the way you have dealt with others trying to steal your thunder by posting their review links!!!
I wish you well!
Star
@ star
I just use a paypal account for receiving money, it’s linked to my bank account and I can transfer money easily.
I don’t hide my identity online really, it’s pretty easy to look up my real name ( it’s here on the site ) and using just a nickname sometimes makes it look like you have something to hide.
If I’m going to ask someone to buy things on my recommendation, I think it’s fair to be as transparent as possible.
I had mixed feeling about the Wealthy Affiliate. It sort of helped, but in the end, I wasn’t sure if the money was worth it. I tend to be skeptical when it comes to paying internet marketers to learn internet marketing.
I have two reviews on the Wealthy Affiliate here:
Wealthy Affiliate Review View 1
Wealthy Affiliate Review View 2
They are both slightly tongue in cheek, but not really. I hope you will understand why I have mixed feelings about the program. Btw, you have a superb site, much better looking than mine, haha.
Surely they’re the best people to learn from?
When I first joined wealthy affiliate I used the tutorials, read the recommended posts and had plenty to keep me busy for weeks.
Once I had learned the basics I was also able to make contact with other marketers, I’ve gone on to meet 2 members in person here in Dublin and I keep in regular touch with others via pm and email.
It’s true that Kyle and Carson – the owners – can’t answer every question or PM themselves . People who try to PM members like Travis or Thadroe to ask a question may get no reply simply because the other person is too busy
but almost no question in the forum goes unanswered.
In comparison to ebooks or videos I still think the interactivity of a forum is better for both beginners and gurus to improve on what they know.
People who learn something can contribute ( there’s a special page for uploading reports, pdfs, vids and tutorials ) and if you don’t understand something you can ask a few hundred people what you can do to improve.
Thanks for the comment
Scoby,
I have just recently been looking into internet marketing and making money alot in the past week. Im what you would call a newbie to the whole thing so it had me discouraged and worried a little bit at first. After finding your site and reading your reviews and other affiliates im more determined now to get the ball rolling and see what I can do.
Thank you all
TJ
Hi,
read all the comments and really like you honesty. I am someone who is trying to make money on line for years and wasted lot of money and did not get no where. I understand that there is work involved with WA like anyother business or work in life which is not a problem with me. My big question is on an average what kind of time I am looking to put into to understand the system and besides the free info.on an average what kind of expenses I will be looking to make reasonable money. I am not into computers or do not have any computer skills besides reading , sending emails and surfing the web. That is it. I would really appreciate your honest answer . You can reply on my email also if you like . Looking forward to your reply. Thanks again
Internet Marketing will take as much time as you have!
The more time you spend on getting things done – writing articles, making web pages, bookmarking etc
The more results you will see.
That said, you can sometimes see sales from a single article or blog post.
If you have a routine of doing things whether it’s 5 hours per week or fulltime, you should have success.
In terms of spending, there’s enough information in WA to keep you going for a long time and you’ll get new information from other users all the time. The only other necessary expense is an autoresponder like Aweber
The sooner you build an email list, the better.
I really appreciate that your review isn’t a fake post attempting to prove that WA will make you money for doing nothing. I am curious, how are you doing right now aside from the commission that you are making off of WA affiliates and is there any guarantee that comes with WA? Thanks again,
Paul
Didn’t notice your comment until now Paul, sorry.
My earnings are still small because I had been trying too many different methods and not spending enough time building up my articles and sites.
In the last few weeks I’ve chosen a new niche and am already starting to see results. I’ve quit my day job and am now a full-time affiliate marketer. I’m delighted to see income coming from more than 2 different sources now as well.
I’m not rich but I love working on this day to day.
It’s scary and exciting but I know that working on my business more will mean more money and that’s reassuring.
There isn’t a refund or money back guarantee with Wealthy Affiliate actually – I know it might worry some people but you do sign up for a month at a time so the most you would have paid is $40 and you have 30 days to decide whether or not it’s for you.
I think one of the main reasons for this is that WA is a community of people who have a desire to earn money online and build a business. As such they’re ideal targets/customers for spammers who want to sell make-money-online products promising the world.
If there was a refund option the forum would get carpet-bombed daily. But it is something I would like to see for genuine people.
Hi Scoby,
I will be joining WA this week, I have done a lot of reasearch of who is the best to go with some say PPC coach but most say WA because it is geared for learners. (which Iam myself)
My situation at the moment is bad I was made redundant in March and live in a part of Spain that isnt great for work so I am really determined to make it work. My only question is though with so many people joining affliate programs does not this decrease the chances of you making money for yourself if your helping other people on the WA forum. I know it sounds selfish but at the end of the day, the only reason why people are joining is to make money for themselves.
Look forward to hearing from you
Jon
Hey, stumbled upon your post here while searching for WA reviews. I like your style of writing, definitely. Now, just a simple stupid question:
1. Is this right for me if I’m on a budget?
2. I’m studying medicine, it’s hellishly difficult and I don’t really have time. If I do this part time will it work?
Thanks for your help and advice..
Hey Scoby, (what’s your username?)
Good to see another Irish person in the big bad world of IM
.
People who have to take ACTION to succeed in this.
BTW If anyone wants a free wealthy affiliate tutorial click on my name.
Great work
For a more in depth review checkout: the-true-wealthy-affiliate-review.com/
I have included over an hour of video, reviewing every single section of the membership.
Sign up to my newsletter to receive 5 eBooks that also go into extreme depth on what Wealthy Affiliate and Affiliate Marketing is all about.
Tony.
scoby,
The only question i have is does it really work if you put forth the time. And i have been looking for reviews an i have not found a bad one so the question is is it a scam
Hey Scoby,
Great review.
I think WA rocks, it’s a full comprehensive site full of tools to aid anyone who wants to make money online.
Infact WA is an essential tool, if you are serious about making money, and you are determined to be successful then all you need is WA.
Go check out my Wealthy Affiliate review to find out How and Why!