My Two Year Anniversary at Wealthy Affiliate

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Two Years at Wealthy Affiliate!

It took my two days to get the courage to write this post. You see, I have been here for two years now and I have yet to make money. Well, in all honesty, I did sell one Wealthy Affiliate Membership to my sister, so that was $130. I am very grateful for that, so please do not get me wrong.

My First and Second Websites

My first website I created when I first joined was a bust and I only worked on it in tandem with the Online Certification Courses.

After about months, I created my number one niche site which concentrates on the beaches of San Diego. This has been a passion project, to say the least. My primary goal is for this website to become a go-to reference for anyone and everyone who would like to visit the coast of San Diego. But, here lies the problem, I have yet to find any products to promote.

As of now, I have created 60 posts and 31 are on the first page of either Google, Bing or Yahoo. I have between 300-400 visitors a week and 225 visitors have signed up on my mailing list.

I know that these numbers are small, but they have been rising, even though I have not done much on this site for a while. In fact, I just published a post on this site because I hadn't published anything for 4 months and it was indexed in less than 24 hours. Now that was satisfying!

My Super Affiliate Challenge Website... a Very Slow Process

I decided to join the Super Affiliate Challenge about 5 months ago and have only written 22 posts but have reviewed over 100 affiliate programs. As a rule, I am an extremely slow writer. I do not know what it is, but I am very envious of those of you that can create a 1200 word post in under 3 hours. I am not exaggerating when I say that it can take me days to complete a post. One of my last posts was 3700 words and it took my four days.

I think I may be too hard on myself as I feel as if the post needs to be perfect before I click on the publish button. It seems that you have a couple of months before you are found by the search engine with a new website. Is this correct?

Here is the Question...

I feel as if all the hard work and dedication that I have put into my niche website was all for naught if I do not at least try to find something to promote.

I do have a Zazzle Store set up, so I do have something.

But, do you think if I was to actively contact all the business that I have been promoting on my website for free and ask if they would be willing to add my website as a back link?

For example, I have several posts which list the entire San Diego Sportfishiing Fleet, as well as all the harbor tours, whale watching tours and San Diego Bay tours. Also, I have all the Nature Centers in the area reviewed. Many of these sites have website recommendations. As of now, I have yet to do the proper investigation, but I feel like it might help more people find my website.

What to do?

I have no problem doing the work, as for the last two years I have been on the computer for at least 6-8 hours a day. In fact, according to my Grammarly App, I have written over 7 million words these past 2 years.

While trying to promote Wealthy Affiliate on my Super Affiliate Website, I have learned so much, especially finding a wide variety of products and services that are available to promote. I just need to find the right fit for me and my niche.

What Would You Do?

Thank you for reading this if you have made it this far. Again, I was nervous to actually put this question out there. I do not want to be a quitter. I am determined to make this work.

On the one hand, promoting Wealthy Affiliate has the best potential in making money. But on the other hand, if my content is not getting indexed and therefore I am not getting traffic.... I am sure that you can see the dilemma. I know that the Super Affiliate Challenge is a one year commitment and I do not want to flake out.

Thank you for allowing me to vent and ponder my situation.

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Recent Comments

22

I'm glad to offer some suggestions, since I've been involved in affiliate marketing, for over twenty years.
Instead of looking for products for your Beaches site, offer travel services. Try booking.com or TripAdvisor Rentals so people have a place to stay. Viator for tours of attractions or things to do. Maybe bathing suits or backpacks or swim gear or beach toys. That's enough traffic to start earning for sure. You just need to put in some links.

Remember

Any noun, especially a proper noun, can become an affiliate link.

Thank you for your suggestions!

Hi Collen,
Thanks for sharing your progress and experience.
Alan

Thank you, Alan!

Why not become an Amazon affiliate and recommend beach related items, fishing, surfing etc. I am sure there must be many more companies you can become affiliated too that carry beach and water sport products.
You could end a few of the posts with a paragraph about laptop lifestyles to be able to enjoy the beaches more and add a WA link.
Just a thought.

Great suggestions Linda! Thank you!

Hi Colleen. I am no expert but it sounds like you have a genuine passion for the beaches. I am sure that the passion and knowledge you have will bring rewards, have a look at the suggestions put forward by more experienced WA members. I love reading blogs and sites that are built on passion. Good luck Mike

Thank you, Mike!

Congratulations on your two year anniversary. Don't be too hard on yourself. The time and effort you have put into your site and the skills you have learnt means your online business is built on solid foundations. Think of all of the items people take to or purchase at the beach, the activities undertaken there and the items they use to do those activities. Binoculars, waterproof cameras, action video cameras (go-pro etc.) picnic items, sun screen, children's UV protective swimwear, water sports, fishing, towels, nature guides, cool boxes, snorkels, goggles, sun glasses etc. etc.
Keep going - you've got this!
Justin

Thank you, Justin! Great suggestions!

Congrats and keep rocking!

Thank you!

Hi Colleen, Happy two year anniversary at WA.

Best wishes,
Michael

Thank you, Michael!

Congratulations!!

Thank you!

Congratulations on the anniversary!
I use Zazzle too.
Promote anything that you use at the beach.
Portable umbrellas, swimwear, snorkel gear, surfboards, tanning products, coolers, etc...

Mark

Thank you, Mark!

Thanks for a great article. The truth is. There is a lot of info out there, and even if we do everything right it takes time. Sometimes we need to spend money to get more traffic to our sites. That's what I do, and it works. But I'm still writing articles, since that is my real-estate. I know this for a fact. I could not have put food on the table if I did not "drive some traffic" to some of my websites. Wish you all the best :-)

May I ask how you spend money to get traffic? Do you mean paying for advertisements? Thank you, as I have no idea.

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