How do I make money here anyway? The Answer!
Someone asked this question today in chat (and I see it asked every single day in chat) and I responded with "How far along are you on the training? It's about building a website, maximizing its presence on the internet through SEO and excellent content, and using affiliate marketing to leverage the incredible content you have written."
Now, at time of writing, they had not responded yet, but I re-read my answer and copied it so I could use it here.
There is truly amazing training here at Wealthy Affiliate, but unless people are prepared to do the hard WORK, nothing will come of it.
(To clarify, this is my husband doing the "hard work"). *edit. He is actually washing this cutting board in his suit, and no, he is not a "suit", we were getting ready for a night out.
The resources here are endless! Not to mention the biggest resource that we have which is the entire world at our fingertips. I spent the better part of yesterday researching a problem online, and went through countless pages of code to do what I wanted to do, but I did it, and am a smarter cookie because of it.
Sarah, you mentioned making money...when does that part happen?
For some of you it will happen within weeks (or even days) of signing up, and going through the process. Maybe you have a friend who is as keen as you and they signed up as an affiliate, or maybe you jumped right in to sign up for affiliate programs and stayed up all night for a week to blog and review and write, write, write.
For some of you it will be a more gradual process, perhaps you want your website to look "Just so" (I wouldn't worry, Google doesn't see pretty, it sees quality content). You are ensuring that you have lots of quality writing on your blog, driving traffic to it that wants to come back, sharing it with your existing networks and a little beyond, and paying careful attention to what is working and what isn't when it comes to Google. For you, maybe you will be 3-6 months before you are seeing something happen.
And then there are those who have a long term plan. 1 year plan. The point is, you have a goal, right? You wrote about those goals when you first joined up. I remember it was one of the first things I did here, and it has guided me throughout this whole process. I have a goal, I have the processes in place to complete this goal, and Wealthy Affiliate is teaching me, step-by-step, how to achieve it.
Lastly, Sarah, what is IT?
I cannot say when or if you will actually succeed here with your new website, with your learning and teaching endeavours. What I CAN say, is that you have the tools, but you need to be prepared to use them. Luck will have nothing to do with it, IMHO. Work hard, have goals, and keep pushing forward. You will achieve success. How that will materialize, what the definition of that success will be, is up to you.
I look forward to continuing this journey with you all. To all our success!
Best, Sarah
Recent Comments
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This is a really great post Sarah! This is an incredibly well written answer to the question that continues to be asked!
Thanks for posting this and answering the number 1 question that everyone has on their mind. I just joined and from what I've seen so far, I like the idea of focusing more on educating yourself and implementing what you've learned. Once you start to apply what you've learned, you'll be making money in no time.
Great piece of writing, I don't believe that your Hubby is washing up in his suit though lol !
He actually was! We were getting ready to go out and there was that one thing left in the sink and he wanted to clean it up! :)
I understand what you are saying, but at the same time I believe there are a lot of people that NEED to generate some income soon. If this is the case, they are concerned about how much time to devote to this before looking to other resources for income. Maybe they only have 3, 6, or 12 months of financial reserves? It looks like your hubby, doing the dishes in the photo, is wearing a business suit and I will assume he brings income home from some other business, correct? Maybe you are a stay at home mom who does not NEED the income so you can take all the time necessary for it to pay back. For some people at WA, this place is a great way to leisurely build on a hobby or additional income stream. For others, it may be a much more timely financial need. therefore, I understand the question and why it comes up so often.
I appreciate your comment. Perhaps I should clarify the picture.
My husband and I are self employed. We run a small construction company in our hometown, and just over two years ago he was in a hospital bed in ICU clinging by a thread. Neither of us worked for two years or received any income in that time because I took care of him while he waited for his double lung transplant. (received on Jan 29th, 2013) Nope. No business guy here, just dressed up for a night out, and I thought it would be fun to take a couple shots. (got one of him unloading the dishwasher - I'm thinking of a series :) He just went back to working our business at the beginning of March.
I understand needing income, I also write a lot about living a very simple life and definitions of success at my new blog http://www.lavieinspiree.com.
We will all do this together! I know this for certain. :)
Thanks for clarifying that. I hope I did not offend you, I just see posts here at WA all the time saying "be patient and take it slow" and I feel that there are a lot of people that don't have that much time before they need to have results. I'd like to see more 'real life' time frames than vague answers like 'it will come someday'. Does that make sense?
Absolutely and none taken at all! I hear you. I work for every penny, as we all do, and hubby wears a suit for "dress up" about 4x/yr so when he DOES, I snap lots of pictures! :)
This question drives me nuts sometimes because it can be a bit short sighted. I don't mean that to be insulting. It is a valid question. But how you can possibly tell anyone what they will learn, what experiences they will gain and how they will USE them?
I have sold products recently on my site that I never intended to promote and had never even heard of until recently. This is something that will develop over time but you have to give yourself time.
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Sarah as usual your insights are right on and your energy is amazing. Plus now we all know just how handsome your hubby is :-)
I'm biased, but will agree wholeheartedly! Happy to share, and great to "see" you! Hope you are doing well. Sarah