Who Is Ian Pribyl, Really?

Wealthy Affiliate's 2016 Conference was incredible this year. All of WA's top affiliates (that could make it this year) were flown out to Vegas for a week where we bonded, laughed virtually 24/7, and even talked a little business.

This was the biggest year yet, with about 15 of us at the "round table" (only a handful of us are in the picture above, thanks to our shortsightedness of getting a picture before half the group left... whoops).

Who the Heck is the Guy On the Left?

A lot of you know me, but you don't know me like everyone in this picture does, which I'm at fault for. I consider several people within the Wealthy Affiliate community some of my best friends, including everyone in the picture above. They all know how goofy, fun-loving, and flat-out ridiculous I can be.

And that's BEFORE I drink a boot of beer.

I wanted everyone that's a member of this community to know me a bit better, particularly my personal referrals. At least half of you could care less, which is fine by me! But I wanted those of you that were interested to know a bit more about me, my personal internet marketing journey, and where I'm trying to grow my business to present-day.

Wealthy Affiliate is more than a training product, it's a community of like-minded individuals. All of the successful people pictured at the beginning of this post were once where you are, and are on personal journeys of their own.

My Personal Life

I'll keep this part brief and then get into the "meaty" stuff regarding my internet marketing journey.

I married a wonderful, beautiful woman on June 19, 2010 that's now a teacher where we live in Austin, TX.

When she's not working, we're probably traveling (one of the perks of owning an internet business). The image above was taken in Paris this past July while we were on a month-long trip across Europe.

I love dogs, and we have three furry little kids together:

I sprung for dachshunds because I wanted everyone that sees me to think, "My goodness.. he's so manly."

We live in a non-mansion, where I obsessively take care of my lawn and have a home office that overlooks a peaceful greenbelt.

My Internet Marketing Journey

I started researching internet marketing when I was 16 years old. I bought a bunch of crappy products until I was 19 when I finally "broke through" and started making a full-time income online.

I had no idea Wealthy Affiliate existed back then, and unfortunately didn't find it for years to come.

At that time, I started making about $3k-$5k per month promoting a handful of products including health, beauty, and trading. My favorite offers to promote were CPA offers that paid $20-$40 each if a user signed up for a free trial and paid shipping (they're still around, although they're more rare these days).

My business slowly trended down into nothing while I went back to college (because I just flat-out wasn't working on it), but soon before I graduated I got serious again.

That was only about 3.5 years ago, and it's been a roller coaster of a journey. What most people don't know is that, if you're constantly trying to grow, running an internet business isn't an easy thing. It takes a great deal of work and planning to keep achieving new heights. Every internet marketer has to constantly push themselves to learn new skills, and over the years I've learned:

• SEO
• PPC
• Content Creation
• Content Marketing
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
• Conversion Optimization
• Etc...

This isn't something that happens overnight, nor do you have to know it all in order to start making money. I started making a full-time living just knowing a bit about SEO and content creation - the rest was trial by fire as I worked to boost my income. Admittedly, a fair amount of my early success was due to luck because I just wouldn't give up.

What's the Point?

My point is, no matter where you're at in your journey right now, remind yourself that I was there too. Recognize the fact that all of the "super affiliates" in that picture were once there.

We may not be the same age, same sex, or live remotely close to one another.

But every internet marketer that's successful now was once where you are, and they're still on a journey of their own.

View this as a journey that will require you to push yourself personally and professionally, likely harder than you've ever pushed yourself before. Recognize every failure as a learning experience that brought you one step closer to success. Every time you're feeling down, defeated, and like you'll never succeed, recognize that each and every full-time internet marketer I know felt that way once too.

Don't give up. Keep learning. Keep growing. And make 2016 the year that you break through.

My Commitment to the Wealthy Affiliate Community

I spend the vast majority of my working hours growing my business. I'm either managing my team of content creators, planning ways to expand my business and grow my affiliate revenue, or calling on prospects that I could manage SEO for in exchange for a monthly fee.

But this year I'm committed to giving more of myself and my time to this community, which I value so much and recommend to everyone early in their internet marketing journey.

In 2016, I'm going to make an active effort to blog once a month here at WA to share the biggest lesson I learned over the last ~30 days. The one thing that, when I sit down and examine myself and the month I've just finished, I identify as my #1 opportunity for growth. These might be lessons in motivation, lessons in perspective, or just straight-up internet marketing strategies that I need to focus on more closely.

I hope you all find it helpful, and that even if it's not relevant to your business right as you're reading it, that it comes back to help you down the road.

I hope each and every person reading this makes 2016 your best year online yet. Thank you for being a member of this community, and for making it the place that we all love.