Let's not forget the reason why we joined Wealthy Affiliate

I joined Wealthy Affiliate with one goal in mind. That goal was to learn a tried-and-tested method of having a successful online business. I was ready to open myself up to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, in order to enhance or expand my traditional business which I believe has run out of steam or should I rather say run out of potential.

My aim was also to access a wider and larger international market with more spending money than what South Africa has to offer. South Africa's economy has slumped over the last 20 years and is continuing to slide downwards. I do not necessarily want to leave Africa, although I can easily do it with my qualifications. The point is my current brick-and-mortar business has reached its limit and I am trying to get a little piece of the digital economy pie.

Did Wealthy Affiliate live up to my expectations?

The short answer is no it did not. BUT it revealed the truth to me and that is that my view and expectations were not based on reality. It was based on only listening to the successful stories that are being shared everywhere. We do not really hear about the failures and why it happened. The hard work required etc. It was after all my expectation and nobody else.

Am I stopping my Wealthy Affiliate membership?

No! Definitely not! At the stage of joining WA I just came out of a "making-money-online" MLM business model which is in my opinion a scam. This little exercise of the previous MMO platform costed me thousands of $.

I considered every little aspect of the previous platform and the golden threat that runs through this platform is the emphasis that are being placed on the "emotional" reasons why people joined the program. In a sense they have developed an art of tapping into the emotions of people looking for a way-out and then manipulating those feelings in order to get their hands on those poor people's money, who only wants to learn the art of making money online.

The program try to create a feeling of belonging, because this human need is very powerful force that can remove all sense logic when making decisions.

Leaving the "online family" becomes as difficult of a decisions as leaving your own true real family. Although the main reason why you have joined was to learn a particular skill and not to be part of another social group. Social groups are everywhere, easy to find and easy to join.

Is Wealthy Affiliate similar?

WA is not similar in many respects. You only have to attend or watch the WA live recordings of every week and experience the emphasis that are being placed on learning and for that I would like to praise Jay Neill. The way he handles the sometimes emotional, non-related, side-comedy remarks that are being placed by members during the live learning. Many times those comments have no or little bearing to the topic discussed and has no value.

Jay could have been easily side-tracked into the nonsensical world but in stead he remains focused on the training and the knowledge he wants to transfer that members like me really need and are eager to learn.

Are there any red-lights in the Wealthy Affiliate community?

For now WA is a happy family but I see signs in blogs and members' material being shared and labeled as "blog-top-picks" which over dramatized personal emotions, family relationships and updates.

I am not saying it is wrong, for me I have no-interest in those kinds of "learning" material and it is still relatively easy to skip past the waffle that are sometimes being posted and actually learn something that can benefit my online business.

I enjoy reading the financial figures and success that are being shared by certain members and I think there is value in it, by showing the results and to everyone else that it can be done.

BUT WA was marketed to me as a learning platform and this is the No1 reason why I joined WA and pay money for.

Material should balanced and once the tipping point have been reached where little or no technical learning are taking place, nobody is going to have a successful online business and actually make any money in the digital economy, which is the primary reason most of us have joined WA.

All the best and good luck with your businesses.

Louis Munro (TFA)