Exploring the Wealthy Affiliate Points System
Hey there, fellow creators! If you’ve been diving into Wealthy Affiliate like I have, you’ve probably noticed the points system buzzing in the background. It’s this neat little engine that rewards us for pouring our hearts into the community, and I’m excited to unpack it with you—think of it as a treasure map for earning while we grow.
How Points Are Earned
The system’s all about action. Drop a thoughtful comment. That’s 5 points. Reply to someone with a helpful nudge? Another 5. Answer a question with some wisdom. You’re looking at 8 points. For me, crafting a blog post like this one nets 10 points, while a video blog—something I’m still warming up to—grabs 30. It’s like planting seeds that bloom into points when we engage meaningfully.
Bonus Opportunities
Here’s where it gets juicy. If folks like your work, the points pile up—2 per like up to 9, then 5 once you hit 10, 8 after 20, and 10 beyond 50. I love the idea of my stories sparking that kind of buzz. Plus, if I can zip back with a reply within an hour, there’s a bonus waiting—perfect for those moments when inspiration hits fast.
Limits and Caps
Fairness keeps this system humming, so there are caps. You can earn 500 points daily commenting or 16,000 monthly, 50 daily for blog posts up to 1,550 monthly. Video blogs cap at 120 daily and 3,720 monthly. It’s a nudge to focus on quality over flooding the platform, which suits my style of savoring each word.
Fraud Prevention
Trust is everything here. The system flags odd patterns or generic “Great post!” comments—stuff I’d avoid anyway. If things get spammy, points get revoked, or worse, you might face a cooldown or ban. It’s a reminder to keep my contributions rich and real, like the worlds I build in my tales.
Earnings Insight
Here’s the magic: points translate to cash from a monthly pool. Say it’s $1,000 split across 50,000 points—if I snag 1,000 points, that’s $20. It’s all about how much I contribute compared to the community, a fair shake that rewards those who dive deep, which feels right for a storyteller like me.
Personal Strategy
For now, I’m leaning into blogs—maybe two a week to start—drawing from my *Resurgence Chronicles* to keep it vivid. Video blogs are on the horizon, but I’ll ease in with my phone and simple edits. Quick replies will be my secret weapon, fitting my flexible mornings, all while dodging those caps and spam traps.
So, let’s make this system work for us! Share your own tips, ask me anything about my approach, and let’s see where this journey takes us. Your voice matters here—let’s build something amazing together.
Recent Comments
100
This is great - don't you think?
The good thing is is that before the Leaderboard was put up, I regularly commented on other people's posts so that I could rank below 200 mark.
I do hope this lasts though because a few years back, you could earn money in Site Comments by giving insightful comments about other WA'ers websites. In the end, that extra money-maker was cancelled.
Meanwhile, I will make the most of this by making meaningful and interesting comments for others to read.
Just like this one!
I see a flaw in this which I learned in 2013 when I built and ran a social media website that had a similar system, but they were also able to cash it out through an online game that was the community about. In the game there was a currency, the earned points transferred into that currency and could be sold in various channels for real money. The concept was working great, brought traffic, activity, etc.
But!
Humans... and their greed.
I soon started noticing that some members started to mass-commenting. posting, etc. For example posting a blog post only a few words or a copy/paste text. Takes a few seconds, cashed in the points. Or responded to comments like "nice". All of them, and banked the points. I had to implement extra steps and eventually eliminate the point system that could be transferred to game currency and just turned it into a badge system. Eventually I let the website go because it became a money hog, my advertisers were not happy, because members did not interact with the ads. Lesson learned.
I see some extra work is cut out for the WA devs to deal with the human factor.
Having a payout period rather that real time earnings and immediate cashout solves most of those issues. Earnings based on percentage of activity related to the group combined with monitoring and capping shows this is well thought out.
See, I did set up a minimum to have to get paid, didn't help. The pay-out period idea, well I certainly missed that. Oh I am sure WA team will do it better.
Nothing is perfect, and I think that WA will for sure make some changes/updates in the near future regarding Points, but you are definitely right.
I have looked at several reward for activity type programs. Many of them don't work out because of people trying to scam the system. I think this is one of the best I have seen. It looks like the stops they have in place will work. This community will let Kyle and Carson know pretty quick if they see something suspicious. :)
This was such an insightful and refreshingly human breakdown of the points system, Jd—thank you for making it feel less like numbers and more like a real opportunity to connect and grow. I especially loved how you described engagement as “planting seeds that bloom into points”—beautifully said!
I didn’t realize there were time-based bonuses for quick replies—what a great incentive to stay active without overthinking. I’m curious, though—how do you balance writing meaningful posts with staying within the daily/weekly caps? Have you ever felt limited by them, or do they help you stay focused?
Also, major kudos for planning to bring your Resurgence Chronicles into your blogs—that’s such a creative way to add value while staying authentic. 😊
Thank you, Alice. Truth to tell, I have not been very active here lately. Besides working on my various stories, I am also caring for my parents who have health issues. But, that being said, I am also a Procrastinator Extraordinaire. So once again I am trying to break that bad habit, among several others, and be more active here (the point system and new UX help). I am also going to try and be more active on Substack, and my Website. My website is mainly intended for my books, I haven't been bitten by the must blog bug. So, most of my blogs will center around my stories on my website or things I find here that I feel need mentioning.
JD
Thanks for this explanation Jd. I haven't really looked at the nitty gritty as it were but it's all good to know. I agree that we need to focus on quality not quantity with the goal always of helping others.
I like the idea of being able to earn a little towards my membership fee though and I think that sits well with people too. Have a productive day. Gail
You are most welcome, Gail. We should always focus on quality over quantity. Quantity is the tool of the all-mighty money which is driven by the demon-god Greed. If quantity becomes more important than quality, then we are making garbage.
JD
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JD,
great post and I think everyone is wondering the same. If it can be used as a subsidy towards the membership for interacting and helping others it's definitely a good thing, although building your own online business is clearly what we're taught and has to be our key priority.
Thanks for the insight
Peter
ps delighted to give you a few extra points 😀👍
Thanks, Peter.
I will return the favor when you post. :)
JD