Why join Wealthy Affiliate when you can make passive income anywhere?

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I already make money online, why do I need WA?

I've been successfully writing content online for years.

In fact, I make enough passive income to cover my business expenses every month. The bulk of that passive income stream comes from a site called Hubpages and five evergreen health articles I wrote in 2013-2014.

Hubpages and other sites like it are called revenue sharing sites. You write, and they handle the rest, no mess no fuss no technical worries.

They also take a decent sized chunk of what your writing earns, hence the revenue sharing model.

I thought it was great back then. All I had to do was write an article, throw in some pictures and Amazon links and boom! Done!

But it wasn't done, not by a long shot.

It took about a year to start seeing traffic, and it started to get respectable after about three years.

The problem was I was only seeing a fraction of the income I could have been earning had I been a member of WA. If I had spent that time using my skills to build and optimize my own sites - and give the domains time to age for Google to take notice - I would be making triple or quadruple what I've made from Hubpages.


Passive income is passive income who cares where it comes from?

Well, as I discovered a year into my online writing adventure...it matters.

I was feeling quite pleased with myself as the traffic started pouring in until I discovered that their editors were constantly tinkering with my stuff.

Then they decided to plunk Adsense ads wherever they pleased. Sure I got some of the money from Adsense, approximately half, but I had no control over any of these web pages. None.

At one point, they decided that certain Amazon affiliate links on my articles needed to go, so they removed them. Grrr...! I should mention that I am a less- is -more kind of marketing person. If I use affilate links, I use them sparingly. I don't like overwhelming my visitors.

The fact that they would randomly decide to remove the one lone affiliate link that was earning some Amazon sales on one of my articles was beyond infuriating.

It also occurred to me that if they decided to close shop - all the writers were out of luck. That happened with a massive site called Squidoo. They were acquired in a merger and much of their web content was slowly removed.

Imagine relying on and living off of income from a revenue sharing site that suddenly goes belly up. Not a pretty picture.


And the list goes on and on...

So, when I realized I had no control over what was happening on my published work, it dawned on me that this was not going to work long term.

Hitching my writing to someone else's wagon was never going to earn me the money I deserve.

The place where you can completely control your financial destiny - Wealthy Affiliate

That's when I decided to revisit Wealthy Affiliate. I had dabbled with WA around 2009 and knew that Kyle and Carson were the real thing. There was no hype or upsells, just a genuine desire to help people manage their own financial destiny from their computer.

If you want to make money online you have to know what you're doing

As a life-long educator and student, I feel qualified to say that the comprehensive training on WA is a top-tier education in website building, affliate marketing, social media, SEO, etc.

Even back in 2009 their training was methodical, thorough - and simple enough for someone who had never touched a couputer to master.

I joined and then un joined back in the day because my teaching career got too hectic. I wasn't succeeding at doing both. And I was tired. I lacked the confidence I needed to believe I could take Kyle and Carson's training and run with it.

I'm still tired. But as I edge closer to retiring from teaching, I've perked up.


WA is probably the best place to get that side hustle off the ground

I'm also closer to needing a decent side hustle that generates at least $50,000 a year, because my teacher pension is not going to cut it in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

I want to retire from my first career and have options in my second career. WA offers me options, and lots of them.

NYC is not an easy place to live. And itt still sometime boils down to writing a paragraph or two a day when that's all I can manage. Maybe looking at a quick tutorial from another member at lunch. Maybe re watching something from the certification course.

Some people have the time to run with the training here. Some of us have to crawl. It doesn't matter how we get there - just that we get there.

Trying to teach everyone from Kindergarten to Eighth grade and fix computers at the same time all day long is wearing me down.

You can only do what you can do

By the time I get home at night all I can do is make dinner, pet my small herd of three cute cats and shower. I have nothing left to give by 7pm on worknights, let alone write compelling content.


But WA is my bright spot. The community here keeps me going. The all in one domain hosting makes life so much easier. The stories are inspiring and there is always someone to help out when I'm stuck or confused.

The training here has changed my writing life as well. I no longer write anything without proper keyword research thanks to what I've learned here. I think Jaaxy is the best keyword research tool I've ever seen. And I've dabbled with quite a few.

I've only finished Course 2 so far because I want to make sure I understand and can implement everything I've learned into a coherent website. I will have to finish the rest when I can.

However, I knew I was on the four year plan when I started. I'm ok with that. I don't have the same financial pressure as members who don't have a full-time income.

What I do know: As a member of WA, my second career as a webmaster and content marketer is guaranteed to be successful. I have everything I need right here in one spot.

A shout out to the residual income sites

Thanks to Hubpages I have actual proof that the WA model for building a business actually works. And if Hupages can do it, anyone can.

Here's what you need:

  • A quality keyword tool for direction
  • A steady stream of Informative, engaging content to keep visitors happy
  • A supportive, helpful community of like-minded entrepreneurs
  • Easy access to manage all of your websites in one place
  • Ultra secure hosting - security is big these days
  • The patience to let your site/s gather steam with the search engines

Wealthy Affiliate has all of this and more. If I don't succeed here then that's my own doing.

The reason Hubpages and Maven and other sites like them can actually attract traffic is because of people like me who write evergreen, interesting content. They have built up credibility with Google and other search engines. They have longevity on their side.

They also have an army of writers who think that revenue sharing is the best they can do.

Well, this writer now knows better.


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Recent Comments

17

Well, for someone who is too tired to write when they came home, you wrote a beautiful post here, Wendy!

Although I don't have a 9 to 5 and people often think I'm younger, my body remembers that it's 50...and it doesn't hesitate to remind me every day.

Some days I can push my limit, and other days, I'm ready to go to bed by 8pm!

I know that I'll have doubts and frustrations whether I take a 9 to 5 job or not, so I might as well do something that I thoroughly love. I often tell my friends that I'm not looking to run all over New York City just to earn a buck, so I need to develop what's already in front of me.

But when all is said and done, I'll take a "bad" day here, that a "good" day working for someone else, developing their dreams.

You are right on track Veronica. Running around this city makes no sense. Plus, after commuting costs it makes even less sense. It's about determining each day to do a little something towards reaching a goal. Some days I can whip out something like this. And then there are some days where I can't string a sentence together. On those days, I do research or watch some training. As long as I am doing something, I feel like I'm on the right track.

School ends June 26. I've got three weeks until a three-week vacation in Europe. I have the luxury of coming to you. Lets me up. :-)

Sounds like a plan, Wendy! I look forward to it!

Great to hear from you Wendy. Your success is something that encourages me.

Tried and True

Elaine

Thank you Elaine. :-)

Thanks, Wendy. Your experience online helps me realize that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. After one year, I still haven't made anything and only have 2 referrals from my bootcamp site, and neither one has even finished the profile. No giving up though. It'll happen.
Grant

Yes, it will. The people who persevere are the people who win. ;-)

Thanks Wendy you have really convinced me now, looking at your experiences. Again I thank you for an informative post.

frank

Well written and encouraging!

Very informative and thanks for sharing. Great post

Many thanks, Wendy for this valuable piece. Taking control is what being self employed is about, and we should not give up on that freedom. Welcome back to this great community.

Very enlightening. I had never done anything online before WA. It is good to know I have started with a winner.

Sheila

Wonderful article, Wendy. You do know how to write! I am sure you will achieve success quicker than you know it.:))

Thanks for an excellent post, Wendy.

All the best,

Brian

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