Success at WA - Money & Rankings

33
3K followers
Updated

I am nearing my one year anniversary at Wealthy Affiliate (WA). For a long time, I didn't really appreciate the WA community's rankings. If anything, I have always been a bit concerned that the rankings distracted people from the real goal of learning how to build their affiliate marketing business. The ranking is just a number.

I still care more about how much money from affiliate income is being deposited into my bank account than I do about my ranking. Late this summer or earlier this fall, WA changed the ranking methodology. My rank turmbled. It REALLY tumbled. I noticed but I wasn't concerned because I knew that I didn't deserve a good ranking.

(When I started losing my focus, lots of other things, like my chickens, would distract me from working on my websites. My white silkie rooster IS very entertaining to watch.).


I had hit what I will call "the six month slump." The timing of the slump varies but it is the point where the average person starts losing their motivation. We start focusing on other things. The newness and excitement of starting an affiliate marketing business has worn off. We come to realize that building a business is a bit more challenging and frustrating than we had expected.

When we hit the slump, we also acknowledgethat the money doesn't come in as quickly as we hoped either. This is especially true if we haven't followed the advise in the training as well as we should have. In my case, by May, I earned $1.67 from Amazon. That sale was a blessing because it meant that Amazon wasn't going to close my Amazon Associates account due to lack of sales within the first 6 months of opening the account.

However, I don't dare tell my family or closest friends about how excited I was to get it the $1.67 because they would ridicule me. Compared to the salary I made in the past, $1.67 is nothing. It wouldn't even cover the cost of the white chocolate mocha coffee that I used to indulge in each day.

I believe that most people will quit when they hit this slump. Yet some of us hang on and refuse to give up. In the last month, I've been trying harder. I've been trying to be more disciplined. I've been able to rejoice at the well deserved successes that I've seen some of my WA friends achieve.

My Amazon commissions have tripled. Yet they are still less than $10 total. Lol I'm still here and I'm not quitting. As a former CPA/internal auditor, I truly believe training method that WA teaches will work. It is solid way to build an affiliate marketing business.

So, this morning when I saw that my WA ranking had dropped below 200 again, I was genuinely happy. It was like a pat on the back. It was WA's way of saying, "Good job. Your efforts of staying engaged, learning and helping others has been noticed. You haven't quit."

I sincerely hope that each of you will commit to NOT giving up when you hit the slumps that you will encounter.

-Sondra

P.s. I'm looking forward to WA's Black Friday sale. That is when I'm going to purchase my annual membership. Not only will I save money, it is my way making the commitment to not give up.

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training

Recent Comments

20

Well said I must be in that funk right now.

I applaud your efforts Sondra. I notice a significant uptick in blogging lately. I do hope the ranch work isn't suffering. What a beautiful white rooster!.

Great post, Sondra. Congrats on being top 200. Not giving up is how successful people become successful.

Great post Sondra, and it's very true that sticking with WA is going to work. What you've already proven to yourself with the $1.67 commission from Amazon is that the process works. You have built a site, got rankings, got traffic, and converted someone through an affiliate link. The process is there, volume of traffic is the main thing to work on now!

You've actually built a successful business already and now it's just time to scale your traffic. $1.67 will be $167, and it'll be $1670 as well. Learning what to do and how to do takes everyone different periods of time. You're doing it, you're succeeding, and I look forward to hearing about your next milestone.

Carson

PS: The Black Friday special pricing is truly going to allow you to focus on what matters...your business! Look forward to lots of updates from you in the coming year, this is exciting!

Thank you Carson! I took advantage of the Black Friday pricing this morning. It will save me a LOT of money.

Th at was an excellent post Sonrda, Building a business online is but that easy, although if you believed all the hype it should be as art as falling off a log. I hope a lot of folks read this, all of us can be hit with slow patches, it is a matter of sticking to our game plans.
Going yearly is definitely, a mindset changer, it kind of reinforces or commitment.

There’s a lot to be said for just sticking with the program and training and those small rewards make it a lot easier. I’m looking forward to the Black Friday sale too:)
Erica

It is a good idea to use the Black Friday sale, I did it and it becomes locked to the same amount, saving for sure as you say. And above all, you do not think about it every month, so you can focus on sites.

Thank you very motivational.

Fab post, Sondra. At the beginning, those first teeny amounts are super exciting and they do ineed lead to the bigger amounts.... yet it kind of feels like 2 steps forward & 3 steps back for a while.
You have the right idea. Keep going, don't give up, celebrate every little success... and yes...Purchasing annual membership last Black Friday was definitely a turning point for me Brilliant idea to commit to the process like that.
Wishing you every success.

Thank you! The two steps forward and three steps back is a great way to describe it. Similar to dancing. If you enjoy what you are doing, you will make it around the dance floor multiple times.

This is a great post. Many if not most do give up when they realise that work and effort is needed over a sustained period of time. I'm no quitter either.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen

Thank you Karen!

Grace and Gratitude - I love that. I think I'll make that my motto for the week , at least

See more comments

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training