9 Year Anniversary And A $30,000 Sale

bynathaniell

101K followers

Updated 5 years ago

The great thing about being an affiliate marketer is that there's always something new to talk about. This is a really interesting career, so as my 9th anniversary as a Wealthy Affiliate member comes around this June 2019, there's a lot to look back in the past year.

$30,000 Website Sale

In September of 2018 I finally sold off my oldest website. At one point, it was my highest earning website, with over $12,000 in monthly commissions at its height.

I built the website as a newbie though, and made lots of mistakes in the process. Over time, those mistakes caught up with it, and earnings dropped.

In the end, it was earning about $1,200 per month. Huge difference, right? At a multiple of 24x, I was able to sell the website for about 30 grand, minus commission, I pocked about $25k. Not bad, right?

So why did I sell the website?

I was just managing too much stuff. Running ONE website is a full time job. I had two main websites I was working on, plus my beer site as a side-project, so this older website was just not something I had time for. Plus, it was a topic that I was no longer interested in.

I won't reveal the website URL because it's no longer my property, but the niche was VPN subscriptions for people in China. (VPNs are a really profitable product to promote, and there are multiple niches you could do to promote them, including privacy, geo-blocked entertainment, and web security.)

Overall, I'm glad to have that site out of my hands so I can focus on other sites that I'm more interested in. I still don't have enough time to do all the projects I want to with my current two sites, but I like having the diversified income.

Lessons In Business

2018 and 2019 were very much about learning how to "run a business". I changed the structure of my business, and now I have to deal with things like payroll tax, unemployment benefits, and all that garbage. I'm paying someone else to manage that stuff, but I still feel like I need to understand what's happening, so have spent some time learning the basics.

The saying is true: More money, more problems. It was much simpler to just focus on publishing articles and collecting paychecks!

Forging Relationships

Throughout the year I've been reaching out more to people within the WA community who I've known for a while and asking more questions. One of the best parts of being a long-term member of Wealthy Affiliate is the relationships that come from it.

Where else can you talk about Google updates and changes in RPMs without getting confused looks?

Though I completed the training long ago, staying an active WA member has made me a better marketer. One of my favorite posts from Kyle this year was his blog about getting instagram followers, and how automation is not their goal, so it shouldn't be a factor in your strategy.

Concepts like automating social media posts are touted by typical online gurus as a way to make easy money, but the WA strategy of creating value, and building your business within the guidelines of services like Google or Instagram is really the right path to success IMO.

The interesting thing about talking to my peers and mentors in the affiliate marketing space is that there's not a single person that knows everything.

Everyone is still learning. Everyone has a chance to grow. There's always room to build a better business, earn more money, and make more time for the things you love (although hopefully you love running your business too!)

Always Trying To Achieve More

Though I've achieved "success" in affiliate marketing, there's always something more to do. It's frustrating at times because it can feel like you never "catch up". There's always a next level, and never a time to relax.

At the same time, it's a perfect business to be in long term. There's no limit to what you can achieve.

In many other types of work, there's a top to the ladder. There's a finishing point.

In affiliate marketing, there are people that earn $100,000 or more per month. There are people that work less than an hour per week. There are folks that do nothing but drink beer on YouTube and earn income, and there are folks that truly change people's lives through the power of the internet.

You can do anything, make any amount of money, and create any lifestyle you envision. Discovering affiliate marketing through Wealthy Affiliate truly has been a lifechanging experience for me.

10 Year Anniversary Coming Up!

Next year will be my decade anniversary in WA. I'm looking forward to it! Hope to see you guys around next year :)