But now it costs $97 each month to be a member at Wealthy Affiliate…and I definitely have mixed feelings about this.

Yes, WA has grown a lot over the years and I understand wanting to increase the price again.  If they had changed it to $49 I would have been behind, but I think $97 is too much of a sudden increase.

They said that making this change would mean catering to a new crowd…the more experienced online marketers who are already making money and have more to spend on WA.  But I believe WA is catered toward beginners-meaning people who are just starting out online and have no experience and are usually on a very tight budget.  Why increase the price and possibly exclude the people that need WA the most?

I know that when I first joined the site I had no clue what affiliate marketing was, and I was in bad shape financially.  $39 a month seemed like a lot of money, but I decided to try it (and it was a good choice!).  But if had cost $97 a month then, there is no way I would have been able to join.

They tried to justify the price increase by saying that they will be adding lots of cool new features to the site.  But the newest feature (Wordpress Express) was nothing special to me.  It is a feature geared toward beginners…the people who might not be able to join WA now.  There are also existing features that need a bit of work.  For example, the Rapid Writer tool is a bit dated now, and other tools could used a remodel too.

So…I understand wanting to increase the price, but I think $97 is a bit too much of a jump and hopefully they will lower it again sometime.  I am an honest member and admit that WA is not perfect-it has new features that aren’t very special, some old tools are outdated, and the owners don’t personally interact with members as much as they used to.

However, I am still happy with Wealthy Affiliate and plan on staying.  There is still a great community at WA and people will try to help you, there is plenty of great training if you are new to online marketing, and some of the tools and resources actually are pretty good.

Despite their reasoning for the new price, I still think WA is best for beginners.  If you are making a full time income online, then WA may not be for you.  But if you are new to the idea of affiliate marketing, the training and forum at WA are sure to help you just as it helped me get started.  But with this new price, it is something to think about seriously.

WA is a great training site still, but I’m afraid fewer people will learn that once they are scared off by the new price.  I hope this helps someone with this important decision.  In the meantime, I am going to try to put together a special bonus package that makes the $97 price seem worth it.

For better or worse…here is my blunt opinion with lots of details.

I love Wealthy Affiliate and am not planning on leaving.  However, I am not a fanboy that blindly approves of everything that happens there.  After reading the details about this new WP Express feature, I wasn’t that thrilled.

First of all, I was annoyed at the marketing of this new feature.  The owners of WA, Carson and Kyle, seem like pretty good guys and support honest marketing…so I’m not sure what’s up with this new thing.  The sales page makes WP Express seem like the latest and greatest thing to ever happen in the marketing world.

First of all you get to make websites fast and easy and cheap…not like the expensive Dreamweaver at $700 and the $50 per month hosting and the $200 WP themes.  Um, yeah right.  I have never spent that much making any site.  But with WP Express you get to make unlimited sites, make them fast and cheap, you get lots of themes to choose from, and it comes with several plugins.  You can really make a website in less than 60 seconds!!!

To a beginner this all sounds great.  And I admit, if you really are a beginner and haven’t made a website this probably is a good way to get your first website started.

But any existing Wordpress users can see the unnecessary hype.  First of all, WP is very easy to install in the first place.  With Fantastico (a free feature on most webhosts, which by the way should not cost more than 10 bucks a month) you can install WP and make a website in less than 5 minutes.  Maybe not 60 seconds…but it is still easy.  And there are countless websites out there that offer free templates or WP themes.  These plugins are also free.

Bottom Line: If you are a beginner, then the new Wordpress Express feature might be a good thing to check out.  You really can set up a blog on your own domain very quickly without any technical trouble.  But…there is no need to create hype about making WP blogs quickly, since it was already very easy to do and there are loads of free themes available.

WP Express is a decent feature for beginners, but it is really nothing new.  Perhaps new to WA, but most people have been using Wordpress without problem for years.  With or without WP Express, it is easy to set up a blog on your domain.  So this may be helpful to some beginners, but I don’t think it is an awesome new feature that is something to create a lot of hype for and market on the main WA sales page.

I hope this helps someone.  I think it would be wise to join WA, but for the right reasons.  If this feature is a main selling point to you, then don’t be fooled.  But WA still has a great community and some nice training.  The choice is always yours though.  Just my 2 cents from a loyal but honest WA member.

Eventually I decided to look online for some jobs.  There are countless sites that say you can earn a decent income in your spare time, and I decided to try some of these out.  My first experience was with a “secret shopping” service.  I actually found the site on a popular job searching engine, so I thought it was legitimate.  I found I had to pay $30 to join and they would start giving me job offers to go shopping places.  I could keep what I bought for free, and they would pay me to go places.  I decided to give it a try.  Oops!  After paying the money to join, they sent me one or two offers, but they were not anything like what they advertised.  I ended up not getting ANY real opportunities, and actually LOST money with that site.  What a scam!

Next I decided to try online surveys.  There are many free survey sites available, so I decided to try those since I didn’t want to get scammed again.  I actually joined about a dozen different survey sites so I could really crank out some money.  The problem was that I didn’t qualify for most of the surveys, and the ones I did take didn’t pay that well.  Most surveys average about $1 or less.  After about 2 months of taking surveys I earned about $50 combined with these sites.  They were legitimate, but I decided that the amount of time I spent doing surveys was just not worth the amount of money I was getting for them.  Also, signing up for these sites will get your email accounts working pretty hard.  I started getting HUNDREDS of spam emails everyday.  Surveys just weren’t for me.

After deciding that wasn’t for me, I spent time researching different things.  Eventually I accidentally stumbled across a site called Wealthy Affiliate, and didn’t know what to think.  The site looked really professional, so I liked that.  I decided to do some research.  I went to forums and asked questions and was shocked to find that there are absolutely NO bad reviews of it.  Even YouTube only had positive videos about it.  I decided to join the next day.  I’m glad I did.  I was wary at first, since it costs $40 to join.  I didn’t want to get scammed again.  But after joiningWA, I saw that it was not a scam, and was actually a really great site, especially for beginners like me.

I found that it was not a “get rich overnight” scheme, and actually did require hard work.  I decided to try to manage some time for doing affiliate marketing.  It was really confusing at first, but after time it all gets easier.  The first couple weeks I didn’t make any money, but a little after a month I had already made about $200.  That was more than enough to cover the costs of joining.  Long story short (well, ok, I know this hasn’t really been short), I decided that I loved the site, and I plan on staying for a very long time.  If you decide to join, feel free to contact me in the WA forum.  I will also try my best to help you succeed and offer help whenever I can.

Click Here To Join Me At Wealthy Affiliate!

Wealthy Affiliate Success Forum

The following picture is a screenshot of the General Success section of the WA forum.  It is a great place for inspiration, because everyday people post their success stories there.  There are countless newbies that post the typical “Yay, my first sale!”  But there are also professionals that keep updating their own stories.  Travis Sago, Thadroe, Kent Verge, and many other members are making over $1,000 every day!  I still haven’t had that level of success, but I’m working hard so I think I’m on the right track.

Also, there is one recent topic from the forum that I wanted to share.  There is a member named Brennen N. that recently posted his story, and I love it so much that I feel obligated to share.  Anyway, he joined WA without any experience and at the end of the first month he was already making $100 a day consistently!  After about two and a half months he was making $300 a day consistently.  I LOVE that story!  If you join WA, I would definitely go read his topic, as it is great inspiration.  I personally only want to make a little extra money for fun and to pay for school, and don’t desire to be what most would consider “rich,” but I can’t say I wouldn’t mind getting his amount of money!

Join Wealthy Affiliate Now And Get On Track For Writing Your Own Success Story!

Learning Center- This is the section with all the tutorials.  There are dozens of specific tutorials to help you learn everything you need to know about affiliate marketing.

Research Center- This is the section with multiple tools to help with keyword research.  There is the Clickbank Research tool, the Keyword Phrase Generator, the Competition Spy Tool, and a few more resources.

WA ShareZone- This section allows the site members to contribute their own tutorials.  There is a variety of topics.

WA Gold- Members earn “gold points” that can be exchanged for cash.  Contributing to the forum will help you earn more gold and you will have more opportunities to get money right on the site.

WA Forum- You have access to a huge, busy forum.  Ask questions and get help fast when you need it.

Personal Support- PM Carson or Kyle and they will offer one on one personal training if you need extra help.

Site Rubix- This tool helps you to build your own websites.  It makes it a fast and easy process too.

WA Hosting- After making your websites, you can host them at Wealthy Affiliate for free.

RapidWriter- This tool helps you to write and edit articles.  You can easily check keyword density and competition.

WA Spaces- Sort of like MySpace, you get your own page to talk about yourself.  Find friends and have fun!

WA Jobs- If you are good at one specific task (writing, web design, etc.) you can offer your services and get paid.  Or if you aren’t that good at a particular type of job, you can hire other members to help you.

Feeder Sites- WA has some pre-made sites you can use.  Just fill in your own information and you’re good to go!

MyLinker- This tool helps you cloak your affiliate links, making them more professional and safer from hackers.

NicheQ-  Each and every month you can use NicheQ to get detailed research about a new niche.  There are articles, websites, keyword ideas, and more for you to use…..less research and more money!

Million Dollar Blueprint- A super detailed look at one of the hottest niches, and a blueprint for making money with it.  Includes PLR articles, website templates, keyword lists, and marketing tips.

More- There are actually even more features, to the site….but I won’t bore you and make this list even longer!
Join Wealthy Affiliate Now To Get Access To These Tools And Start Making Money!

Here are the three bonus guides you can choose from.  Just select the one you want and use that link to join WA.
——————————————————————————–

Bonus- Beating Adwords

Beating Adwords is a popular ebook about how to make money with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.  This is a great guide and is a quick reference if you are trying to use PPC.  If you want to do PPC, then this would be a good bonus to choose.

However, if you want to stick to free methods of making money (like me), then maybe this isn’t the best choice for a bonus.  PPC is a great way to make money, but it does require that you spend money, which doesn’t appeal to everyone.  If you want to do PPC though, then this is an excellent choice.

Click Here To Choose ‘Beating Adwords’ As Your Bonus!

——————————————————————————–

Bonus- Inside The List

Inside The List is a great ebook that focuses on helping you build a profitable opt-in list.  This is when you get people to sign up for a newsletter and then you can send them offers and make money.  There is an old saying, “The money is in the list.”  If you know how to do email marketing effectively, then it is one of the best and fastest ways to make money.

Inside The List will help you learn how to create opt-in forms and autoresponders and how to start making money.  This is a great choice for a bonus, whether you want to do PPC or other methods of marketing.

Choose ‘Inside The List’ As Your Free Bonus!

——————————————————————————–

Bonus- Who Loves Money

Who Loves Money is another popular ebook all about affiliate marketing.  This guide is the most well-rounded of the three options.  Rather than just focusing on PPC or just email marketing, you will learn about a variety of topics.  You will learn things such as how to find profitable niches, how to spy on the competition to see what sells, and much more.

This is a great option for your bonus, and is a great supplement for Wealthy Affiliate.  If you want to focus on paid advertising, then Beating Adwords is for you.  But if you want to make money without spending money, then I would choose either Inside The List or Who Loves Money.  They are all great options though!
Click Here To Get ‘Who Loves Money’ As Your Free Bonus!