Do You Really Believe in Wealthy Affiliate?
Ever felt like giving up on your dreams? You’re not alone.
Before landing at the Wealthy Affiliate doorstep, I truly wanted to build an online business. I tried several, interesting programs that went nowhere but into my pocket. What drew me in was the community, the training, and the simple fact that whenever I got stuck, I could simply ask. I am an online vet, with ZERO experience in affiliate marketing and community building.
When I wrote, "I'm 62 and Can't Retire - YET" I laid out my 5-year plan. I will have a successful online business generating passive income to supplement my retirement income. Many of you who follow me, know that I give the man 60+ hours a week, just to survive and put a roof over my head and food in my belly.
I saw it said on a beautiful profile, I am "impecunious". Look it up I did! I believe that everyone who comes to create an online business is. We have a dream, a passion, a desire to be better. We believe in ourselves. We will have a whatever it takes mentality. Unfortunately, frustration will set in.
Doubt talks in your ear, "Are you sure about this"? Your technical acumen sucks. You have attempted to get through this technical issue with your images for the last 4 days, give up!
Time for me to move on?
A person has posted that he is frustrated and wants to quit. Time for me to move on? Did you notice the question mark? He really doesn't want to leave. Read into the post.
He is talking about leaving Wealthy Affiliate? I saw the question mark. Am I missing something? I see a person needing a helping hand, drowning in a teaspoon of water. I have seen it millions of times before in many other opportunities. It was me for the longest time. Frustration, impatience, and an F this, attitude that becomes overwhelming. I will never be a great salesman. Hell, I had just started. I watched, listened, read, and pretty much devoured anything and everything to help me get ahead. If you haven't noticed, I still do.
I was asked in an interview a while back, what is your biggest weakness? My biggest weakness is believing that everyone deserves an opportunity, some even a second or third chance.
I will work with struggling team members until they flat-out turn into the Michael Jordans of the industry. I always think that if I can do it, so can you. I have been a member of several Million Dollar Sales Clubs. Does it take time? Yes. Rome was not built in a day. Is it easy? No! Who do you know that is making $100,000 a month? Was this an overnight success? Hardly!
So I ask you, what would you do for one million dollars a year? No, seriously. How many lawyers chase ambulances for a living? How many Emergency Service Coordinators chase firetrucks? Both are upwards of $350,000 to unlimited potential. Do they want to do it? Not really, but the opportunity to get somewhere else exists by doing it.
If I showed you that you could start making $1,000,000 at the end of 5 years IF you applied yourself every day, 361 days a year (you get Christmas, the day after, and New Year's Eve and New Year's off). Would you sign up?
Go back to the question that was asked in the form of a statement.
Time for me to move on?
Unfortunately, I do not see a way going forward. I do not like the way WordPress deals with featured images. I do not like having a blog roll home page I cannot edit. ... I want to be realistic and realize that I have hit a roadblock and I don't know how to get beyond this.
Does this sound like someone wanting to quit?
Instead of seeing the problem, everyone who was commenting on this post was tossing dirt on him and showing him the door. I thought it odd. We have a very helpful community, or so I thought.
One of my superpowers is being able to sell. Yes, I can sell snow to the Eskimos, or a huge V-8 Ford Truck to a person coming to get something economical for his on-the-road sales gig. It is because I have learned to listen and observe. I am always looking to follow true talent and a passionate belief.
I am here because I believe in what I am doing. Do you believe in this opportunity or not?
The way I see it, if you are promoting WA, then you would take it personally when a frustrated individual says "I Quit!" Imagine an acquaintance of yours says "I can't take this life anymore, I want to end it." Would you pass that person the fentanyl or see if you could get them to reconsider?
I believe that success in Affiliate Marketing is life-changing. I will be successful and I will bring as many people along as are willing to follow. My route will be circuitous, it won't be direct. But I will get there.
If you’re feeling stuck, or losing faith, don’t hesitate to ask for help. We’re all in this together.
OR ARE WE?
MrDon
Recent Comments
42
Some great motivation here MrDon! I DO believe I will be successful, especially w all the help provided here at WA.
My first site was up before coming here but I’ve always persisted to get as much feedback as I can get, so I’m not totally lost. Sometimes I think I’m being one big pain in the a@@ but everyone here has been very patient w me…..so far. lol
I build up credits to get feedback and comments on my sites too. I also network with many other entrepreneurs outside of WA to pick their brains.
It’s been over 8 months with my first site but I’m staying the course because I believe in it. One thing WA teaches here is to provide value first before focusing on monetizing.
You’re so right about chasing the “shiny new thing.” Used to look at it as distractions but I now understand that learning new trends and techniques is just a part of advancing myself. Just have to rein it in at times. 😬
That is so true. Shiny new things lead you astray from your path. You will learn while you are out exploring, but then it is time to make up the difference to get back on track.
At the one year mark I will draw a line, assess the situation and decide the next steps. So far, the amount of work is gigantic and not sustainable long term unless something changes. I don't know what. I can't afford to outsource some of the work...Not necessarily related to WA per se, but more to the whole process. I think that even if I worked 365/24 I'd still be behind. I suppose I am doing things the wrong way, but since I do not know what is the right way or what would make a difference it is hard to come up with alternatives...
This does take a singular focus, which is not common among us newbies. I am all over the place learning everything and following everything that I find interesting. Like a rookie quarterback, there will come a time when this game does slow down. Until then, every time we see a "Shiny New Thing" we think squirrel and shoot off. Does it happen after a year? I have been here a year and a half.
I have days of complete clarity, other days, I am still in a fog. The saving grace was the Black Friday Deal which I will take advantage of again.
Imposing a time limit isn't it if you are not comfortable with the knowledge half of the business.
Just my two cents.
MrDon
If nothing is positive after one year and all I am left with are endless hours at a screen, what would be the motivation to continue? Every business has meetings to assess performance and if they are on track or not, making money or not ... I'd hate to spend whatever days I have left glued to a screen for 0 results ...of course the other side of the coin is equally daunting...I guess I will have to wait and see.
Did you know offline businesses take up to 5 years to turn a profit and cost on average 300 times your start-up in affiliate marketing? Food for thought, the wind erases lines in the sand as I once heard. They are but an excuse to quit just before traction takes hold. I work around 2-3 hours a day on 3 blogs and a social network I own. If you are overthinking the work required you might find that not enough hours for one blog. After 20 years I have learned to cut out a ton of the wasted time.
I don't work 3 hours a day. I work every awake moment I have. If I worked 3 hours a day it would feel like a walk in the park at this point. I am most likely doing some things wrong I just don't know what they are or how to do them differently. Businesses started 10-20 years ago had time to marinate when the market was not saturated... I cannot work for 5 years putting in the hours that I do not before I see a penny. Physically and mentally it is impossible. I do sleep more than 4 hours though. About 7. I can't go lower than that or I will be totally dysfunctional. It is simply overwhelming. Not necessarily related to WA per se as I said, just with the whole process...
When you are chasing the money it won't work. You will never catch it.
When you are truly helping, people will find your help useful and pay you for that help.
This is the paradox of the online world.
Ask yourself, how many of my posts are helpful?
Then ask yourself, what are you selling?
The things that you are selling should fit directly into your solution to the problem.
MrDon
Ten years in, I know I am never leaving by choice. I have seen too many success stories and know the concepts to be solid. My own discipline and lack of consistent action have put me behind many of my peers, but I still pay out of profits each year and keep learning new things that make my business stronger, so heck yeah, I am staying.
"My own discipline and lack of consistent action have put me behind many of my peers"
If I have one downfall, this is it. I have time issues which compound my lack of consistency. I have just created my calendar to keep me on track. The only problem is I have other things that need to be tied up before I can start on my calendar of topics.
Go figure.
MrDon
Sitting here clearing 2 years of clutter off my pc so I can focus on starting a content calendar again. I can relate. I have been time stuffing with little organization using my mental health as a crutch since my breakdown.
Sounds like we have both been shooting ourselves in the foot as we aimlessly wander about...
I can relate.
MrDon
I love quotes from the great motivational speakers of their day:
Les Brown:
“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let your reason get you back up.”
Eric Thomas:
“Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, or an hour, or a day, or even a year, but eventually, it will subside. And something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it will last forever.”
Tony Robbins:
“The path to success is to take massive, determined action. Don’t give up when the going gets tough—lean in harder.”
Zig Ziglar:
“It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.”
Jim Rohn:
“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.”
WA is a vehicle for whatever you want to achieve! If those who are here believe that and take daily action, success will come. Will there be bumps in the road? Yes, of course! Just seek help and keep going!
Have a Blessed weekend!
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Good morning Donald,
Thank you for your interesting and real post, Donald, it's appreciated.
I believe that any business takes a lot of work, whether it's online or offline, I have both. However, I guess with an online business, there are potentially a lot of distractions and for many people, everything is completely new to them, which makes a big difference. In other words, the a bigger learning curve than a traditional offline business.
I've been a member at Wealthy Affiliate for almost 10 years, I really like the friendliness of the platform and the up-to-date training. So, I really believe in the platform.
This is only my opinion; I do think we need to be very careful of AI writers. AI content is just awful, I see so many members on Wealthy Affiliate writing Wealthy Affiliate reviews which are all the same as everyone else's, as everyone is using AI! Or almost everyone.
We need to make our content our own, especially when it comes to reviews, it needs to be personal to our own experience, not what AI thinks.
Have a fantastic day.
Roy
The reality is people are always looking for a shortcut,
AI is that shortcut that people are taking. They are using AI to replace the knowledge that they do not have.
I use AI to learn what I don't know and then write about what I learned.
Same with watching our videos or anything else. I can take a subject, learn it, and then boil it down for understanding.
I always hope that I am effective in this.
MrDon
Good morning Donald,
It's true that, as humans, we always like to take the shortest route.
The problem with AI content is that it just doesn't sound genuine. I agree it can give us ideas and help us write, but learning takes time and I think people are trying to jump through the genuine learning process.
I would say that with videos, it's a bit different. For example, we can watch a Wealthy Affiliate training video and start to understand a certain process and then put it into words, which is fine. But from what I'm seeing with AI content, it's not people's knowledge it's AI's knowledge and they probably don't really understand what they have written.
95% of the reviews on Wealthy Affiliate are literally all the same, they are not someone's personal experience; they are just AI reviews. This doesn't run well with me.
Have a great day.
Roy
Have you ever searched for "Wealthy Affiliate" in quotes, and then hit the "tools" button to see how many posts w/ WA in the post have been created inthe last 24 hours?
Take a look.
Just a quick did you know, there are approximately 25 new Wealthy Affiliate Reviews every day?
I haven't actually, Donald, but I have now! I set up a Google alert years ago with the same title and one for "Wealthy Affiliate review". I hadn't looked at the reviews for ages, but recently I have taken more notice. I think I originally set up the alert when I first started at Wealthy Affiliate to give me ideas on what other members were writing.
This is where I see members using AI and not really making it their own. Before we were using AI, people had to give their genuine experience, whether it was good or bad, which I think is far better.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm using AI, but more as a helper rather than a writer. I know my niche fairly well, so I generally find it easier to write it myself rather than trying to write what AI has written. However, we are all different and we have to do what we find easiest. But I do feel it's important to give honest and genuine reviews we have written from our experience.
Roy
I must admit I didn't, Donald, but I'm not surprised as it's a very busy platform. This, again is why I really think we have to make something like a Wealthy Affiliate review our genuine experience. As the reviews that I am reading, are so similar and are clearly not the user's experience, just AI's experience!
Have a great day.
Roy