Does Wealthy Affiliate Really Work? YES and Here is Proof
Recently I had seen a WA blog post by a member labeling all members in the top 200 rankings as Fake Experts. Though I am most definitely within that targeted category of members, I did not bother to reply because I knew the post was written out of anger and frustration.
Some of what this member claimed is true. There are many members within the top 200 and even the top 25 that are not making any money from promoting WA. The WA ranking is not an indicator of monetary success. But this does not mean that they are not making money from other affiliate programs.
THE WA TRAINING WORKS!
We all have a choice when becoming members of WA. We can either create an affiliate marketing website in whatever niche we desire or we can take the Affiliate Bootcamp and promote WA. Personally for me I do not see the benefit in promoting WA without first knowing how WA can help me earn.
Though I do promote WA, I only did so after creating two websites in other niches. It was my feeling that I could not effectively promote WA until I had seen first-hand how the training works in other niches. Once I completed the Certification Courses and had two niche websites, only then did I do Bootcamp.
PROOF YOU CAN MAKE MONEY FROM WA
I have never been one to share here within WA the amount of money I make online from WA and my other affiliate programs. I am not going to start now but I will show you in the below screen shots of what I made within an 8 day period from April 17th through 24th from WA.
It is probably too difficult to read all of that because of the small print, so I have provided better screen shots below. NOTE, when other members claim that they are getting WA referrals you need to understand that not all referrals make you money. Only premium referrals generate recurring income.
To better understand what is in the screen shot above and below, in short I had 5 recurring WA premium commissions, 1 new WA premium commission, 3 $1.00 credits for domain referrals, 5 new referrals "Invitation Accepted", 1 $1.00 credit for account set up, and 6 cash credit payouts for WA training tutorials.
I did have one new affiliate sign up to ClixSense within that 8-day period as seen in above images.
AND THE CORRESPONDING DATES
HOW CAN YOU ACHIEVE THIS?
The above displayed results are not my most lucrative 8 days I have had since becoming a member, I made just $187.50 within these 8 days, but for the sake of demonstration I think they convey the message that YOU CAN make money at Wealthy Affiliate. You too can do this and more if you promote WA, but you first need to learn and work hard.
I do not make all of my money from the WA affiliate program, as I belong to 7 other affiliate programs too. But because of the training here at WA and my desire to not have all of my money making eggs in one basket, I can definitely prove that the WA Training Works!
For any newbie reading this, just because you see members ranking highly within WA does not mean they are making good money if at all. The WA ranking is solely based on activity within the community. That being said there are plenty of members who are making money and you can too!
All you need to do is follow Kyle’s training, step by step. Do not rush to make money because monetary success rarely comes quickly. It could take you a year or more to start making consistent income within your chosen niche. You just have to keep applying what you learn, have patience, and never quit.
Recent Comments
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When I first became a premium member, I got into the certification training and the bootcamp training. I was feeling overwhelmed. One of my first connections here suggested I go through the certification courses first, then tackle the bootcamp courses. Simple suggestion and a huge load off my shoulders. One step at a time.
Thank you, Robert.
That is what I did too Sue. I firmly believe it is much better to do the Certification Courses first before doing Bootcamp. You will gain a better knowledge of what WA can really offer.
Hi Robert, thank you for this.
It doesn't take long to realize the potential WA has to offer and those who are frustrated should tell us why! So we can help if possible :)
Can you please share the link for this post you read about Fake Experts in the top 200, would love to make a comment there ^^
Regards,
Kamil
You are welcome Kamil.
The link is no longer available. I believe the member deleted his blog not long after he posted it and because of many other members pointing out his misguided claims.
Work at it, like any other business. Learn all you can, plan out a strategy, be focused, be determined and it will work.
Just think, how did big name companies start out and how long did it take them to build their brand? It takes time.
Thanks Rob, for giving us a look at what you have achieved.
Blessings,
Cindy
You are welcome Cindy. I always use the examples of other big successful online companies as a motivation to myself to keep pushing forward. Doing so will eventually produce results.
Great insight! I agree it takes time and too many people want to rush the process and feel disappointed when they don't see monetary success in a month or two. You need to put in the time, go through the training, work hard, and really be patient. Success will happen if you put in the effort!
I like what Kyle said in one of his blogs about online success. He said that online success is more patient than you.
Robert, what an excellent, encouraging post! Thank you! I am excited about learning and walking through the training. I am making progress, albeit a little more slowly than I would like. But that's because I do have a full-time job and don't have as much time to devote to WA as I would like. But I'm working the program! Thanks for the reminders!
You are welcome Julie. As long as you are making progress is all that matters. You will get to where you want to be at some point in the future, as long as you keep pushing forward.
Everyone has different goals. The online training and education alone makes the WA worth the price. You can even apply the concepts you learn here to many other business models and you could be successful.
I understand why you waited to take Bootcamp, and I know people are making money here.
Yes, we all can take what we learn here and apply it to other job opportunities online outside of WA.
I take my knowledge in keyword research, SEO, Social Media Marketing, and content writing - all which I learned from the WA training - and offer these services to small companies with websites but have no person or time to do these things themselves.
The rush to make money quickly seems to be a force that will eventually cause one to throw in the towel and join the negative bandwagon. As I went along I realized that I have to manage my expectations and also complete the required lessons.
Having said that it does not help when there are members who portray a picture that they made money so quickly without giving details of their background eg. they are from IT background or that they had been mucking around internet marketing outside this community and learned bits and pieces (and failed) which help them progress faster in WA. Those watching them will begin to feel inadequate and the notion of giving up sets in.
At the end of day, Robert has shown us all it is possible but there are lots of things to learn before we can make it. Let's help one another make it.
If people who begin this journey realize the one fact, that financial success does not come quickly and depends solely on an individuals time and dedication, then there would be less people who will fail.
Anyone can go up on Google and do some simple research into how long it took online billionaires Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and others before they started to make money.
It took them more than a year of hard work every day.
I wonder if WA could do an experiment by taking on someone who knows nothing and follow him/her go through the lessons and see how long it will take for him/her to make their first dollar.
It would be a good experiment to really gauge how effective the lessons are and the average time one needs if you don't anything to make a dollar. But then again - will it depend on the niche or other factors....Just thinking out loud.
You are right, Robert...
Common sense tells you to never rely on one stream of income, and in my case experience tells me that hehe...
That experience started at a young age for me...I was 12 years old!
At that time, I was doing Summer and Winter yard work for other family members and the neighbors, delivering newspapers, and getting odd jobs (i.e. harvesting hay, working to harvest trees for paper and lumber) that all provided various streams of income...
So what did all that provide me? I got my first car (It cost me $50?!) at the age of 15 (and paid for 2 motorcycles prior to that car).
The motorcycles made more sense at the time, because I had no license, even though I was driving vehicles and a tractor on our property...
How does that relate to what we are here for you ask?
It is the same with online marketing. You have to look at all options and see what will work for you...
The training itself here works, there is plenty of evidence to include yours...
In my case, I took the lessons here and applied them to various online market segments, i.e. affiliate marketing, e-Commerce, Drop Shipping, creating and selling my own products, and building systems (this last is a work in progress, kinda like they all are)...
You too have had success and likely in some of the same areas I am attacking and some which I have not touched...
Bottom Line:
Any one of us can do the same...
It is more HOW you use what is provided here that determines your failure or success with an online marketing business...
You can't blame the system, you have to look inwards to see what corrective actions you need to make...
I call this Tough Love 101...Sometimes you just need to hear this (I include myself in this group)...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Well said Dave...Well said.
There are plenty of online marketing tasks that those outside of WA will pay money to have done for them and their websites.
It is up to each of us to take the training we receive here and apply it in various ways, not just to the creation of our websites.
Thank you for sharing. I saw one comment which I would like to say a lot of things come into play. I would imagine that some niche catch on quicker than others. Some learn and understand faster than others. There are too many variables to address when asking when did you start making money. I came in because I too am a newbie and given the niche that am working it could take a year for it to take off. I read where some got traffic immediately so again too many variables.
Yes, there are way too many variables to give a definitive answer to when and how much will a person make. Everyone and every niche will produce different results.
But the one constant for those who wish to make money online is to keep applying what you learn by never quitting.
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Thank you for posting this. I was feeling a little guilty because I'm just not comfortable promoting WA right this minute; I have one niche website that needs a LOT of tinkering besides posting content, an old site I still have to move here, and a couple of ideas for additional sites I'd like to begin. And limited time.
I have to admit, I was wondering about the newbie sites I see that ONLY promote WA. Made me feel like I was so far behind in my training. I really appreciate people like you and many others who keep telling me just stick with it, keep learning, and be patient. I'll get to it eventually, just not ready now.
Rank isn't terribly meaningful for me either anymore. I'm getting a feel for whose blogs are useful, and whose aren't regardless of rank. I'd rather not comment at all if I don't have a good answer, and I don't blog much for the same reason.
That is a good approach you are on. You do not need to promote anything you do not want. And frankly I think too many of the WA promotional websites seem to almost follow a cookie-cutter characteristic.
I did not want mine to follow that characteristic and made it more different in its approach. Unlike many others I do not do a lot of product comparisons and scam reviews. I really do not think those are that necessary.
By knowing how WA can help anyone to start an online business from scratch and without prior knowledge, I feel is a better selling point than comparing WA to online scams. By offering ways that WA can help people, it is a more open approach to getting referrals.
Creating niche websites before promoting WA can lead to a better understanding of what WA really is. Just my personal opinion.