Well truthfully, it wasn’t just my Wealthy Affiliate experience that wrecked my online business… there were a few other factors that came into it too. But I do think that Wealthy Affiliate was the number one factor and I will explain to you exactly what happened.
You can read my full review of Wealthy Affiliate here.
Table of Contents
Why I closed my online baby store Kaboutjie
I started my online baby store in South Africa, Kaboutjie, 4 years ago. I knew nothing about working online and I’ll be honest here I struggled with a lot of things. I really thought that once you build a website it is there, people will find it. Nothing could be further from the truth. It took me a long time to get a handle on things, so learn how to publish content, how to get my content ranked, how to market it, how to do social media marketing… everything was a struggle to learn.
The reason for struggling is that when you search online for anything there are scams all over the place, there are websites that explain how to do black hat techniques that will damage your website and I didn’t know how to distinguish what was BS and what wasn’t. It took a lot of trial and error but things were coming along very nicely last year.
I came across Wealthy Affiliate University in June 2015 while searching for information on how to rank my website content. As soon as I found Wealthy Affiliate I couldn’t believe the wealth of information and training provided, so I signed up immediately for the Premium membership, whipping out my credit card with a smile on my face.
Within 2 days I had set up another 2 websites in my other passions, this website because who doesn’t love making money online right? And another one about recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction because I am an alcoholic and a drug addict.
Within a few short months I started making an income from both of these websites through the lessons at Wealthy Affiliate. I started to see how there is a better way to make money.
I started becoming very irritated and short-tempered with all the bad service companies in South Africa give. Our electricity supplier, Eskom, is a joke. Nowhere else int he world do you have a company begging you not to use their products or services. The SA Post Office is in a mess. You can’t even buy an envelope form them and if you do manage to send something you are not guaranteed it will arrive at its destination at all, never mind within a certain time frame. I won’t even start with Telkom because I will get upset.
Then there are the other smaller suppliers that I had to rely on… it just wasn’t working for me anymore. I take pride in my business, I take pride in giving great service. How can I give great service relying on others that don’t know what service means, never mind actually give it?
The whole process of marketing my products like mad, then packaging them, then freighting them and hoping like hell they would get to their destination on time just started to feel like chains around my neck.
I started dreaming about just being an online marketer, promoting products being an affiliate marketer.
I dreamed about not having to be chained to my products, about going away on a holiday with my children.
I dreamed about being able to take the day off and work a little at night if I wanted to.
I dreamed about not having to be next to my landline in case a customer called, or always answering my mobile phone in case a customer called.
I dreamed about having my children home with me in the afternoon instead of sitting in aftercare until 5pm so I could work. My son is 2 years old and my daughter is 4 years old, they are still so small.
I had a vision of being at my kids graduation ceremony and looking at my husband and saying “I really meant to have them home with me”. Time goes so fast.
By February 2016 I had enough. I decided to take a leap of faith! I decided to do exactly what I dreamed of doing. I closed my wholesale baby clothing website. I removed my store from my Kaboutjie website and made my blog roll my home page and I am a Mommy Blogger. I told my children’s daycare they will only be in half day.
A lot of people thought I had lost my mind and gone crazy, but no I had a totally clear head.
I have not looked back!
How I’m Making Money Online Now
This has been an incredible experience for me, and also just a tad bit scary too!
The beauty of my Wealthy Affiliate University membership is that I am always learning new ways to monetize my websites.
Youtube
Just last week I learned that I can actually monetize my Youtube videos… so I did that and in one week with only 11 videos and not adding anything new I made $0.34. Sorry I can’t astound you millions of dollars like other people claim they make, this website is about reality. But the fact is that if I can make $0.34 in my first week monetizing but doing nothing with Youtube, I know I can make a great income from that.
I am not quite sure what I did that made that income but I am now publishing more videos and I will see what works and I will share it with you.
Affiliate Commissions
Any product or service I find online that I love I check to see if they have an affiliate program. There are thousands of programs out there. Amazon has an affiliate program and I have started earning an income there. I earn an income from Wealthy Affiliate and a few other affiliate programs.
It takes time to build up to a good residual income but it is getting there. I have even started earning affiliate commissions from Clixsense now. The beauty of this is that you do the work once, as in publish a post and maybe a Youtube video too and then that content earns for you for a long time to come.
Mommy Blogger Promotions
On my (now mommy blogger) website Kaboutjie I have advertising packages available and I am earning from these too.
Wealthy Affiliate Training
I have put this separate to the affiliate commissions because although this is income from Wealthy Affiliate University it is completely different. Every time I learn something new, implement it and get it right I go onto the Wealthy Affiliate University website and I publish training on it. Once that training has enough views, comments and likes (as in it is quite good training) then I earn $5 a level. So each time my training reaches a new level I earn, this means one training tutorial I publish can earn me residual income forever.
This is working out to be a nice little earner for me. So not only am I learning how to make money online at Wealthy Affiliate, but I can help other people and get paid for it too.
My Verdict for Wealthy Affiliate University and how it has changed my life?
If you are willing to work hard, do lots of learning and implement what you have learned you just can’t go wrong. I have had the most incredible change to my life and it is due to Wealthy Affiliate. I am much happier as a person. I love the work that I do.
My advice? Sign up to Wealthy Affiliate and check it out, you won’t regret it!
What has your experience with Wealthy Affiliate been? Please leave a comment.
Hi Lynne, just watched your YouTube on WEALTHY AFFILIATES, it is very comprehensive and educational piece. As an ex-chef I have had my troubles with alcohol (I know it’s a bit stereotypical) so I get where you’re coming from on your other website.
The seriously I do love your embedded video. It makes your site sing.
Hi Donald
I’m so glad you enjoyed my Youtube video 🙂 It my latest mission and what I am busy learning about. And I must say what a lot of fun I’m having.
From what I understand videos not only improve your SEO, conversions are also higher, you have more chance of being found online because you will also rank separately on Youtube search and of course the cherry on top is that you can earn from your videos too! What’s not to like?
You go Lynne!!
It’s when we make those decisions for ourselves an our family, not what others “think” we should do, that true freedom comes into play. Good for you for making the decision, taking action on it and sticking with it!
The road might be a little bumpy, but there is nothing better then to be able to be there for our little ones.
When we focus and leave no other options on the table, that’s when we succeed.
I can relate to your story and I’m so grateful I made a similar decision years ago, it allowed me to spend precious time with my kids…
Thank you for sharing your story,
Vicky
Hi Veronica
Yes it is a little bumpy at times and of course I now have to get used to getting work done in 3 hours and not 8 hours like I was used to. Plus the parenting side of it is actually incredibly tiring! I have been doing it for just over a month now, and I am exhausted. But it has been so worth it so far.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience.
I really enjoyed reading about your story and about how online marketing with Wealthy Affiliate made the difference for you. It was truly an incredible read and I’m not sure I would’ve been able to make the leap of faith that you did.
I too am working with several web sites and monetizing them is the goal that I set for myself it is my hope the Wealthy Affiliate will be the lifeline that it has been for you.
Hi Debra
I am sure that it will work out beautifully for you with Wealthy Affiliate. They have set out step by step exactly what you need to do to make a success of your online business. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with!
amazing recount of the process it took to discover wealthy affiliate and how it immediately changed your life. I am also a member of wealthy affiliate and the resources and support given is overwhelming. I hope more people can discover this platform. I love how you have shred your story and it has made an impact in me. thanks
Hi Cheek Legend
It has been an amazing journey, I am so glad that you have had the same experience with Wealthy Affiliate!
Extremely well written website and one which I can relate to wholeheartedly. I have looked at your links and joined Wealthy Affiliaate and WOW! have I learnt a lot about online marketing.
This website is accurate and with a no nonsense approach and I really enjoyed the read.
I will be keeping an eye on this site for even more developements
Hi David
I am glad you are enjoying my website and see the value in it. I am personally so tired of all the scams and BS that is flying all over the internet. There are so many false promises and it gets disheartening.
I hope to bring you lots more no nonsense information and tips!
Youtube videos are something I want to start doing for our site, it just takes money & time to not look cheesy. Right now we are still working on launching our business, so videos are still in the initial planning stages. My wife & I started blogging with WA in Sept 2015. I’ve looked at online media & marketing in a whole different light since then. As a visual learner, I have noticed I will choose videos over posts most of the time for learning new material. Youtube is more than just funny cat videos & streaming full music albums from virtually every music artist ever.
Hi Josh
Oh yes I know exactly what you mean! I have been loving making Youtube videos. I just published some training on the Wealthy Affiliate website yesterday for Youtube, so check that out. I will be sharing some great training here too soon.
Hi Lynne!! Love the website and the vast amount of information! I must say you had me going there for a minute at the beginning as I am a fairly new WA member, I Had to keep reading to reassure myself I wasn’t making a huge mistake! So, thank you for the Reassurance that I am right where I am supposed to be, doing what I have Always wanted to do! Oh, and I can’t forget to thank you for the laugh after I kept reading!! Bookmarking your site now!!
Hi Shannon
How to write Captivating Headlines…. and this you shall learn too at Wealthy Affiliate 🙂 Yes you are in the right place, there is so much to learn at Wealthy Affiliate!
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lynne. It is inspiring and I am trying to get there myself too. Let us continue to help each other out for greater successes!
Hi Shaz
It is a pleasure, I hope you get there soon!
What an inspiring story! That’s fantastic that you found an easier way to earn income and followed through with making that happen! That’s also very impressive to be earning something from YouTube videos in just one week, even a small amount. Are you planning on doing some video creation tutorials on your blog?
Hi Kiersten
Yes for sure I would love to get some video creation tutorials done, I just need to find the time to do it! Hopefully I will get there soon. I have a few simple How To videos for working online, so check those out.
Hi Lynne,
You have a great story. My wife and I are celebrating our 32nd anniversary tomorrow. We have 3 kids the oldest is 25 and the youngest is 8. My wife has been home now for 23 years and we have managed all this time on 1 income. It hasn’t been easy but we’ve made it. I just wanted to let you know that in 20 years you will not regret the decision you made in February. Hope you stay encouraged.
Hi John
It has not always been easy but I have no regrets so far and my kids are much happier. Thank you for sharing your experience with me.
Just came across your page through twitter. Honestly the title drew me in, because I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate 🙂 Great work!
LOL Patricia, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist!
It is 100% true, Wealthy Affiliate did wreck my business. I no longer have an online store because of them. I am now just blogging on that website, and I must say being a mommy blogger is turning out to be a lot more profitable and buckets more fun! I am working much less and I have hardly any stress at all, plus in a lot of ways I can fit my business around my kids. They inspire my work.
Lynne, I just read your full review of Wealthy Affiliate and I am more impressed with you than ever.
I found WA both good and bad for what I was trying to do. As I said in my previous post, I’m a people person and I got so involved with the “Community” I found myself spending hours reviewing and replying to each new post. (all that got me was a “good rating”. I loved hearing/reading all the stories and learning about all those people’s lives and dreams. It actually saddened me because so many of them had such high expectations and they were setting themselves up for a great disappointment. I would be the last to say or do anything to discourage anyone because nobody can read another person’s heart.
That reminded me of a great book subject and title, “The Heart of A Winner” or “Champion”, etc.
Stay true… Luther
I am glad you enjoyed my review Luther, and yes I was in the Top 20 at Wealthy Affiliate. I loved it and I even published some training there on how your ranking benefits you and how to rank in the top 20. I do believe that having a good ranking there does benefit you greatly, BUT not to the detriment of getting the important things done for your business.