My Experience After 2 Years

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13.8K followers

I joined WA in June of 2015 and, I am still here!

I wanted to share with you all how much I've learned since joining and also some of the "fails" and successes that I've experienced along the way.

I hope that by the end of this post you can learn from some of my past 'mistakes' and also get some encouragement to continue moving forward with the training and your business...

Things I've (re)learned about myself.

I come from a working class background. From grandparents to parents to siblings. All I ever heard growing up was the traditional "go to school, get a job".

So that is what I did. Which, there is nothing wrong with.

(My dad, who has a well-paying job, still suggests that I get another job to this day. Something tells me even if when I one day double or triple his 'take-home' with a business, he will still not be impressed and suggest I go work for someone else) lol.

While at my last mundane job and going through the same motions of daily tasks, 6 days a week, I forgot how much I love to learn and be challenged.

I love to learn new things. If you ask anyone who knows me personally, they might describe me as being omniscient knowing random trivia or 'odd' facts.

I am constantly reading and getting advice from people (usually within my niche) and love doing so.

WA helped reintroduce me to that. As well as (this may sound like a cliche) the fact that I love communicating and helping others as well.

Moving on.

Before pointing out some of the small successes, I would like to focus on a few of my mistakes/fails.

FAIL!

I'm sure there are more that I can add to this list, but for now, there are three main personal "fails" that come to mind.

Fail #1 - Stepping outside of the training I just paid for.

When you're new to online business and have been working hard, there's one thing you want/need to happen to validate the work you have done. To make sure you are on the right track.

That thing is a sale. Or revenue.

I found early success in that it took me about 1 month to see my first sale. It was all the proof I needed and my mind was filled with all of the possibilities that were soon to come.

After that first sale, there was a period of crickets.....

I remember thinking, "What happened? Did I do something wrong?"

"Is my site functioning!?"

Of course it was. What happened is that while following the WA training, my second blog post ever created, ranked on the first page of Google in the #1 Spot.

It was a (500-word review, if that) and someone found it and decided to take action. Could this review have lead to more sales?

Of course it could of. Looking back at it now however, I almost cringe. It was poorly designed, not very informative, and wasn't written that well.

But still, it resonated with someone out there. Which in turn motivated me to push forward.

Anyways, after the first sale there were months of no sales.

This worried me and so though I was paying for membership to WA, I started looking at outsider advice to help me earn faster.

This lead to more time and even money - down the drain.

(I bought apps to "get more Twitter/Instagram followers", paid for traffic, amongst other things).

It wasn't until I got serious, and paid full attention to the WA training that I started to see the results I initially joined for.

Fail #2 - Traffic Bots

While I was in a rush to earn, instead of learn the materials of properly building a business, I decided paying for traffic might result in more sales.

I spent some time on Fiverr (nothing against Fiverr) and found that someone will send "loads" of traffic to my site for a fee.

Again, all the endless possibilities came to mind. More people seeing my offers would result in more income $$$!

I was proven wrong.

Either my post and offers were bad, the traffic was low quality, I was being sent bots, or a mixture of all of the above.

Either way, this resulted in ZERO sales.

There are many effective ways to attract visitors to a website. My advice here is to avoid traffic exchange sites or paying for low-quality traffic from strangers.

Fail #3 - Complacency

To this day, I am confident I would be earning twice as much on a monthly basis had I not become complacent.

Again coming from a working background, I was use to going to work and earning a paycheck every two weeks.

Now, I was at home waking up to $100, $200, or even $300 on some mornings.

Wouldn't hurt to take the day off, would it? A single day became a few days, then week long breaks, and so on.

I went from writing 4-5 posts a week to 3-4 posts a month. Due to this, I began seeing a drop in traffic. I am still recovering, but traffic is improving.

For those who want to work from home, create their own schedule(s), spend more time with family, have sufficient income (whatever that means to you) and overall flexibilty...

Don't be lazy as I was. You have a business to grow and run :)

More success to come...

I've experienced some success along the way as well.

As I mentioned that first sale already, but there has been plenty more since.

I was serious about learning the materials and making this work. And so I have.

I had help from the community here, the training courses, and Jay's webinars. Take advantage of it!

Like I tell people all the time, I do not make a killing (yet) and there is much room for improvement. This keeps me motivated.

I do work from home 'full-time' and make enough to live comfortably in what I consider to be an expensive city in San Diego,CA.

Keep in mind this didn't happen overnight, but over time the investment I made to learn how to create an online business through WA paid off.

Another goal I accomplished was earning that invite to the annual WA conference early this year to meet Carson, Kyle, Jay, and some of the other guys:

You can read more about the trip here.

And as I pointed out, there is more success to come. For now, I am working on small goals, like more subscribers to my email list.

What made you join?

Like many of you, I can tell you that ultimately I joined WA for results.

I didn't fully understand what I was getting into when I joined.

But by taking the time to learn the process taught in the training and apply it to my own business/website, I have gotten results that have surpassed my expectations.

I see WA as a service and as a smart investment.

Feel free to share what made you want to join a service like WA in the comments below. I look forward to hearing your replies!

What to expect if you're just getting started...

I chose to work in the "make money/start a business online" space.

One of the most common questions I come by is: "Can I really make money?" OR "can people like me really make money online"?

The answer, Yes.

Realize, however, you can't just go from having some random idea into having a soaring business.

There's a process which includes work and effort that goes in between having that idea - to having an established/succeeding online business.

That process is taught right here at WA, along with all the tools you need to help you eventually work from home.

Thanks for tuning into my ramble/progress update/story. Hope that some of my experiences after just 2 years helps.

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Recent Comments

48

This is great - thanks for the motivation and reminder to keep going!

Keep going Tom! You got this.

Hey Jason, You know How I found WA right? not sure if I ever told you that story.

I was in the middle of looking for a second job, My current job was hitting a slow period and my logged hours were dwindling. As I was looking Online I literally stopped in the middle of filling out an application for some chump hack BS job trying to get hours for evening and weekends and thought to myself

What in the actual hell am I doing...

I exited out of that application and began looking for something that I am able to do from home, or by mobile or via laptop when I am out of town working.

During this process I came across several incredible scam sites claiming that I would make tons of money with very little work or make money by watching a damn video.

I found you in my search to SLAM one of these scam sites.

I found that you had already provided input regarding these sites bullshit, noticed some of the same things I had and that immediately drew a bit of trust from me.

Still hesitant I checked out WA and the free training.

I found myself staying awake all night working through the free certification course, trying to build my free siterubix.com site and ultimately trying to figure out how WA was going to try to (expletive deleted) me over.

I remained Hesitant during my time with the free trial as It seemed to me like many of the Users that were sending welcome messages were very robotic... Like I had entered some kind of trueman show esc type "Community"

Now I realize that many people just spam the same welcoming messages time and time again haha ( No offence Anybody but this is a fact of what I thought)

I eventually came to the conclusion that the premium membership is what I needed, My only regret is that I didn't come up with that conclusion earlier to be honest. Wasted a lot of time.

Anyways Pal, you eventually got me to see the light and continue to provide some really great Insights, for that I thank you.

I love WA! It pays for itself in the training that you recieve alone. Especially for a guy like me.

End Rant

-Rob (your friendly neighborhood nut-job)

Your story is somewhat similar to mine and how I stumbled across WA. I had been recently unemployed and while searching for jobs online, I got curious about how people were able to earn online.

More specifically, how were people earning through having a website. This search eventually lead me to WA.

I took a couple of weeks before going Premium as well due to skepticism and low funds. It hasn't been a "cakewalk" but it certainly has been worth the effort.

Thanks for commenting Robert, hope to hear more success stories from you soon!

Great thanks Jason for the motivation I am three months in still being commited around my time frame and keeping my passion and goals in place. If I'm not sure of something I'll seek in WA or research external without further expense. Iamquute excited I have now chosen to Drop Shipping inclusive Blogging and social integration if possible instead of affiliate marketing. This will be my first test run site and am aware of the work required at the moment I try to put in an hour a day to WA around my family and work. So glad I came accross WA again after 9 years.
Have a great day everyone.

Nice. It's good to test different business models out!

Keep working hard, your efforts will pay off!

This is freaking awesome. You know I was this close to paying for traffic on Fiveer

I am glad you didn't. Not recommended lol.

I was looking for shortcuts but ironically ended up slowing down my progress had I gotten serious sooner.

Good luck Kenisha!

Thanks for sharing your experience. For readers like me who want to work from home one day, its a great reminder for two reasons - 1. it won't happen overnight, even though sometimes I still search for the easier, faster way (have not found) and 2) working through it and learning on my own is worth it. You show me that in your own success and every other WA member who posts and shares their successes - keeps readers like me so glad to be part of WA. So thank you.

Thank you, Glenda. Glad I can help inspire others in some way.

I completely agree with you as well. There are no shortcuts in business.

Fantastic post. Thanks so much for sharing that. I love hearing people's personal stories,and how they managed to succeed. I can't wait to write my own.

I was thinking the same thing.

I am the same. Love hearing and seeing results from others!

What was that saying about "great minds..."? Ha ha

I think sharing these stories is important, actually. People who are struggling need to hear them.

When I get to where I want to be, I'll be telling the whole world. I won't shut up.

Spectacular post, Jason. I'm here cuz of you and one of your posts! Great way to share your experience! Thanks for everything man!

And by the way, next year the 4 of us are taking a pic together. You, me, Kyle, and Carson!

Sounds good man. I'll see you there!

Thanks for sharing this with us. It's very inspiring!

Hi Glen. No problem!

Very inspiring and informative ! Thanks for sharing your experience with WA!

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I saw your post while writing this on the increase in traffic, way to go!

Thanks a lot ! I learned some from you and the training !

Thanks for sharing your experience here at Wealthy Affiliate. As you read your blog, you can tell it's written from your heart. I have read quite a few personal experiences here at WA. I believe all Affiliates go through a growing process like yours.
Only to realize success takes time, effort, and a lot of dedication. There are no shortcuts to real success whether here at WA or in any other business venture.

You somewhat summed up the underlying intent of my blog post in just a few sentences, ha.

Thank you, Kevin. And I agree.

We all are in the struggle.

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