I can't afford the Premium member fee!
Whilst I am still relatively new in my journey with WA, the realisation sinks slow but sure that all of this online business affair could indeed be the beginning of a new way of earning your living.
After over a year, I am now in full swing with two websites under my belt, but still in full construction. I am making small earnings from Amazon sales (small not so much as I am not selling enough, but because Amazon commission rates are ludicrously low!!) and from a few sporadic WA referrals - none of them converted to Premium, I must say.
So, I am sure many of you will feel tempted to ask me: 'Hold on a minute, you've been there for over a year, and you are not even starting recovering the costs of purchasing your domains or of the WA annual membership? What are you doing all that for then? Why not hang the gloves!!'
Well, call me stubborn, but no, NEVER!!!
The point is this. My annual renewal fee to remain a Premium member of WA is going to be $299, which is equivalent to approx. GBP 230, based on ongoing exchange rates.
£230 is less than £20 per month. So, by putting aside £20 a month for the next 12 months, by the time my renewal is due, I don't have to worry about finding the money.
Now, I know I am still working part time for my employer. But surely I will have to give up something in order to save my £20 monthly, right? Well, no, not really. Because I am not a big spender in clothes or shoes or bags. And call me sad, but no, I don't have a gym membership or a monthly unlimited cinema monthly direct debit. My only regular expenses are physio for my back every 4 weeks, and my hairdresser every 6 weeks. And, if I stretch my physio session to every 5 weeks, and my hair makeover to every 8 weeks, the game is done.
But the other thing to consider is what I get every month for less than £20. I have always said that, if I am already getting referrals and Amazon sales by not putting 100% into this, it doesn't bear thinking how much more earnings I could reach if I dedicated myself full time to my online business.
And, at the risk of sounding boring and repetitive, surely you will agree with me when I say that the learning and the teaching material available here is truly second to none.
Whether you go through a tutorial a day or one a week, it's up to you. You are and remain in control of your progress. What is important is that the Premium fee never changes, whereas the stock of information gets bigger and bigger by the day.
So, if you think you cannot afford less than £20 a month, think it over. Not being able to afford the Premium membership means giving up on the key to building your own successful online business. Surely that should be motivational enough.
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I have the same thing going on too. I have been here a year got 2 websites and working on the affiliate links to get sales. But the only sales I have is from someone here at WA that picked me to buy through my Amazon link. I am still hoping it is all going to come together very soon.
Good luck to you.
I am glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling to take off. But I believe the journey is a long one, and the road very steep. I'm confident one day we'll message each other going down memory lane of these darker days :)
It is all relative, and each has their own measures of cost versus benefit. But with every angle I look at the dilemma of cost for Wealthy Affiliate, it represents a huge resource at little cost...
Not so much with some of my other expenses but I spend for them too, as each adds value too in some manner. From them all, this is pretty much at the top of the list though!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Also we do not have to afford the premium fee. Even starter members earn commissions. For those that cannot afford it all you have to do is to get busy and earn the premium fee. You can go premium without ever paying a penny out of your pocket. Not many places you can do that.
Giulia
great that you are staying, but if you do not make enough for the member fee you should consider to repolish your sites. I know it is none of my business, it is just a thought of mine. I know you say you don't spend much, but consider that is a business and at least it should cover the cost. I apologise if I offended you.
Cheers Sylvia
Sylvia, of course you didn't offend me! On the contrary, you gave me excellent advice. So, my action plan is to write more content, whilst going through the Bootcamp lessons to revamp my sites and make them more appealing.
Thank you :)
HI GiuliaB
I'm really glad this post was not what I was afraid it would be - someone giving up and pulling out - on the contrary, your post is very motivating and inspiring and there are signs you are definitely on track and just need to find where the money is. I have been here for years but can only blame myself as I have left it on the back burner for too long. Can't give it up though so it's more or less back in and bottoms up :) However, things have changed in my life now and as I would rather be working at an online business within WA I now HAVE to make it work. Onward and upward....and I want to tell the world how wonderful WA is, so I have to be able to demonstrate this. As I said, at the end of the day, it IS up to me and it's all here for the learning and applying.
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HI GiuliaB
I'm really glad this post was not what I was afraid it would be - someone giving up and pulling out - on the contrary, your post is very motivating and inspiring and there are signs you are definitely on track and just need to find where the money is. I have been here for years but can only blame myself as I have left it on the back burner for too long. Can't give it up though so it's more or less back in and bottoms up :) Things hav changed in my life and as I would rather be working at an online business within
WA I now HAVE to make it work. Onward and upward....and I want to tell the world how wonderful WA is, so I have to be able to demonstrate this. As I said, at the end of the day, it IS up to me and it's all here for the learning and applying.
Well, from what you are telling me about yourself Katzee, I am possibly in a similar situation, if not same. Of course I have still bills to pay, and that's why I cannot leave my 9-5 job. I would never advise anyone to do so, as I understand that this online game can take years to take off properly. In my case, as I try to work at it as much as I possibly can, at the end of the day my efforts are still on a part time basis. But, as I say above, if I have achieved this much, after giving it only little of my time and effort, can you imagine where we are going to be projected if and when we work at this full time? The sky is going to be the limit!!!
And that is why I am still here. Yes, we are probably are in a similar situation - my work takes up much of my time, and other things as well. But it really is time to put the "other things" on the back burner, so to speak, and after my job, make this the main focus - I am sure I will be writing a different post after a few months of this. It was a mistake (at least, for me) going straight into bootcamp, too, as how can I promote something I have not made successful first? The conviction has to come from personal success here first, then bootcamp. At least that's how I am seeing it.
Wow Giulia,
You had me there for a minute, the heading threw me until I read the whole article. I agree with you100% if a person really wants to do Anything; all they have to do is want it bad enough, have diligence, and apply themselves.
I am Blown Away by your Blogs and Websites, it is an Honor to be a part of Your Wealthy Affiliate Network. I Pray that all is well with You and Your Loved Ones and Our LORD Continues to Shower His Abundant Blessing UpOn You!
To God Who Is The Head Of My Life I Give The Glory;
I Shall Always Praise His Holy Name;
Hallelujah And Amen;
Your Brother In Christ;
Respectfully;
William
All budding online entrepreneurs have to struggle in the beginning to reach their financial goals. Some struggle for months and some for years.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder of Amazon, did not make a profit in his first two years of business. But he never gave up and look where he is now.
I think the attached picture says it all.
HI Robert - I want one of those on my wall! Great reminder. I know I can only blame myself for where I am at now.l But I think I also made a mistake in starting with Bootcamp, which I did because I didn't have a niche but loved WA enough to think I could do it this way. But because I can't point to a success in a niche, I have a bit of a block in promoting something I can't prove works. So I am now going to start the Certification course, keep my other site there on the side and develop that more slowly so that I can kick it off again once I am making progress with a niche I have yet to choose. I love horticulture but am no expert in any shape or form other than I have a garden and like propagating things. My expertise is in Property Management but I can't see how that would work as a niche - is anyone else doing it as a niche?
You do not need to be an expert in horticulture, you just need to have an interest in it and a desire to learn more about it. Then you promote what you have learned through the content you write on your website.
Just go to Google and search for Horticulture Affiliate Programs and you will find related affiliate programs. Or you can search for Home and Garden Affiliate Programs.
Thanks for your encouragement Robert - I do have both of those (interest and desire to learn more). I will do as you suggest - I am feeling excited about this already!
Oh. My. Goodness. Robert, is the image you use copyrighted? Or can I use it for my site? Because, like katzee, I LOVE it. Powerful reminder, powerful motivator!!
Katzee, when I started my first website on my border terrier and dogs more generally, I was a first time dog owner with massive bagful of love for dogs. As Robert says, I learnt along the way whilst researching for material for my website. If the passion is there, you are onto a winner.
Giulia
Hi Giulia
That's great to know and very encouraging. Thanks for sharing this with me - although it's not perfect, I love my garden, all gardens, I am always stopping and looking at other people's gardens too - Thomas Edward Brown's poem "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!" often comes to mind when I am in a garden.... so I guess I could call it my passion. That will be my niche, then - thanks to you and Robert for your reassuring words...... I am overjoyed and don't know why it took me so long to realize I already had what I needed .... the passion (and a garden)....... I will get right to work to make it really inspiring, as well as the website - can't wait - then it will be back to bootcamp when I am feeling successful with it, such will be my gratitude!. There's work to be done..............
You are so right!
Re: Commissions... I agree with EricPierre. You don't have to rely soley on Amazon for commissions. Do a search for
"dog accessories affiliate program"
"dog products affiliate programs"
"dog services affiliate program" etc.
Some affiliates pay a LOT bigger commission than Amazon.
There, you just got your money's worth for the month :-)
I'm definitely going to do so. I make a good amount of sales, but Amazon never pays higher than 7%, with lower picks. I am now branching out.
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There was a time when I helped people with their monthly fees at wealthy affiliate. I'll leave that up to the ambassadors and owners. There is another group that I am in it teaches bees WordPress classes for no fee. But they don't have the warm-and-fuzzy environment. In fact it is close to the real world.
When I first started I read some things in the Ripoff Report that made me very cautious about wealthy affiliate and that's the reason that I only pay month to month. There's nothing wrong with wealthy affiliate it does what it says it does. But Kyle has to feed his family like everybody else.
I think wealthy affiliate is a good deal just as it is.
Oh yes, I agree, we are all here for the same reason: making a success out of this business, hence monetising. And I'm sure Kyle and Carson are not into this solely for the glory. But as it happens, what it says on the tin is delivered much more effectively than on other platforms I have come across. And at least here you don't come across the hideous upsells!
Up sales are the things that took us from also-rans to winners. I guess up sales are only bad if you can't afford them. As professionals money has never been an issue for us. And besides why should you teach someone your hard-earned secrets for free?