To read more about WA please read my in depth Wealthy Affiliate review or you can click the banner below and go straight to their website.

A lot of what I know now is being taught at The Keyword Academy and you can read my review if you are interested in learning more about how to make money with other people’s products. That is what affiliate marketing is: making money as an affiliate of another company or product. Make sure you read the comments because a lot of the questions you might have are answered there.

Also understand that affiliate marketing is NOT one of the quick ways to make money you see being advertised all over the place. You have to put in the time to learn a whole lot of things and be willing to work hard with no guarantee of success. The only magic buttons you push are the ones on your keyboard! However, the more you learn and the better you get building websites that sell things, the more money you should make.

Every month I get payments from over 10 different places. Some of them are companies like Amazon or Google and others are affiliate marketing networks like Commission Junction. In most cases, I can choose to get paid electronically by direct deposit or PayPal. A few of them still only pay with real checks that come in the mail each month.

Affiliate marketing networks are umbrella companies that manage the affiliate programs for other companies. For instance, any company that wants to have an affiliate program but doesn’t want to manage it on their own can get one of these networks to do it for them. So I can get one check from Commission Junction, for instance, that comprises all the money I have earned for many different programs (companies) within their system. Here is a list of most of the companies that pay me on a regular basis:

CashCrate

Commission Junction (affiliate marketing network)

NeverBlue (affiliate marketing network)

ROI Rocket (affiliate marketing network)

Market Leverage (affiliate marketing network)

Google Adsense

Amazon

Ebay Partner Network

SquishyCash

Swagbucks

Squidoo

Max Bounty (affiliate marketing network)

Not all of these on my list sell the same things or have the same offers. That is why I belong to so many of them: if one doesn’t have an offer I can promote in a certain area, one of the others might. Also, there is a lot of fluctuation in the Internet marketing world and so something I choose to promote today might not be there tomorrow. I need to belong to many different affiliate networks to keep my options open.

All of those companies listed have always paid me on time and they are 100% legtimate. I have never had a problem with any of them and that is over the span of 4+ years. I might only make $20 from some of them but make hundreds or even thousands from others. It all adds up and that is the important thing. I try to make money from whatever sources I can and I am happy making a little bit here and a little bit there along with the bigger payments because in the end it all contributes to the bottom line.

Please note that I started this blog in 2007 and I knew very little about what I was doing at that time. Over the years I have learned a tremendous amount of information by failing and succeeding at different strategies online. If you want to make money on the Internet, you have to get out there and start actually building something. You can’t go from eBook to eBook, forum to forum, and system to system hoping something will magically put money in your pocket.

Again, for anyone starting out and wanting to learn how to make money online, I recommend you read my review of The Keyword Academy. That is a great place to get started and it will teach you most if not all of the basics you need to know.

I had heard about something called “affiliate marketing” where you get paid to sell other people’s products and I even asked my business partner if he had ever heard about it. When he said he hadn’t, I announced to him that I was going to figure it all out and start making money online. I knew very little but I was VERY determined and considered it a huge challenge because I really didn’t know very much about computers. The “determined” part is the key because without that determination, I never would have stuck with it long enough to make it work. A large percentage of people who try to make money online quit too soon before they ever really give themselves a chance.

I started DayJobNuker.com with the plan that I would give myself 3 years to start making enough money to be able to quit my job. NUKE my job actually, as that sounds a lot more exiting than “quit” don’t you think? You can read about my 3 year plan by clicking the link and also read the three updates.

I Wish I Had Found Wealthy Affiliate University in 2007

It turns out I was never able to “nuke” my job as I was never able to make as much online as I was making offline at my job. However, the economy had deteriorated and my auditing clients were drying up which caused me to make the difficult decision to quit my job almost 4 years after I made my “3 year plan”. I was lucky that my steadfast belief that I could make money online and my determination to get it done had payed off enough so that I was making decent money when I decided to throw in the towel with my “real” job. Now three months later, I have continued to work hard and am making more than I was when I quit.

Wealthy Affiliate University has been around since 2005 but unfortunately, I never heard of them in 2007 when I started my quest to make money on the Internet. I didn’t hear about them until years later and it’s really too bad because I could have saved myself a lot of time spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. That’s what most people do for months and even years when they first go online to make money: they waste their time and money buying eBooks and systems that supposedly guarantee their success and they end up getting frustrated and quit.

What Type Of Person Is Wealthy Affiliate For?

With Wealthy Affiliate University you have a website membership site that is well, almost like a university or college. In fact, there is no doubt there is more material there than there is in most college courses. For anyone who is SERIOUS about learning the ins and outs of making money online, I truly believe this is the best place for them to start. There is nothing else online that I have seen in my almost 5 years doing this that can compare to the comprehensive tools and training you will get when you become a member of WA (Wealthy Affiliate).

Please note – Anyone thinking about signing up to WA should be honest with themselves and understand that they need to be committed and take action if they ever want to get somewhere with an online business. If you are someone that still thinks it is possible to make a lot of money with a craftily advertised push button system or magical eBook, you shouldn’t bother going any further with reading this because Wealthy Affiliate is NOT for you. There are a lot of very convincing copy writers out there and if you truly believe there are easy riches with another program or system, you should go sign up with them. Wealthy Affiliate is for people who truly want to learn how making money online can change their lives for the better.  Here is a list of some of the things you get when you sing up to WA:

•    30 Day Success Club – A 30 day course that walks someone from knowing nothing to having a successful campaign within 30 days.  You are given new actionable tasks each day.  This is a foundation building course that is included to all members.
•    WordPress Express – Gets a complete beginner up and running with a website in 3 minutes.  No FTP, no uploading, no HTML coding, no tech skills necessary.
•    Unlimited hosting provided at WA on the state of the art hosting.  You can host and build unlimited websites with the platinum package.
•    Live Video Training EVERY WEEK on current topics, techniques and strategies
•    Live Chat Training & Support – Get Instant Answers to your Marketing Questions
•    Five Keyword Tools that provide data the other keyword tools don’t provide through secret technology.  Example: You can find out exactly how much competition you have.
•    Affiliate Program Research Tools – Find the hottest affiliate programs on networks like Clickbank.com
•    WA Jobs – the ability to outsource work right within WA and also to find and get paid for jobs within the Wealthy Affiliate network. People can earn money right within WA.
•    The longest running Internet Marketing training – we have been in the business of training people to succeed online since 2005 and we have lasted this long for a reason, people succeed at Wealthy Affiliate.
•    Rapid Writer – A tool that allows article marketers to write efficiently, check keyword density, research, and submit directly to the top article directory directly within the tool.
•    A Spaces – A social network where you can communicate, network, and build relationships with some of the top Internet marketers in the world.
•    Over 550 training tutorials, videos, and guides that walk through many facets of Internet marketing and how to be successful within.  The training is current is added to daily by us as well as other members as it is an “open training community”.  Anyone can add and update training.
•    Advanced WA Affiliate Program tools and resources.
•    Accreditation Courses for Pay Per Click and Article Marketing
•    Over 50 System Updates per year.  We have a team of 16 people that work actively on improving the system.
•    Personal, 1-on-1 support from the owners, Kyle & Carson.  Yes, we offer support within Wealthy Affiliate to anyone that requests it.

Earning While You Learn

Getting started and making your first dollars online is very challenging no matter who you are. It isn’t easy and how much you work at it (hours, initiative), the skills you bring to the table (writing ability, creativity, computer knowledge), and luck (yes, luck can come into play) can determine how successful you are in both the short and long term. As I mentioned briefly before, getting past all the learning and getting to the point where you are actually earning money is tough for many.

Because of that fact, Wealthy Affiliate has a job board where anyone can post jobs and get jobs so that they can be making extra money on the side while they learn and build up their websites. It is for WA members only so it is a closed community and it is a great place for anyone starting out to get work and make some extra dollars. If you can write, create banners, or provide any other service that people might be willing to pay for you can make money by doing jobs that are posted on the jobs board. Little things like this is what makes the WA community so great: they want you to succeed and have done everything they can to set things up so that you have the best chance of getting your affiliate marketing career off the ground. You can offset the price of your membership by doing some of these jobs if you have the time and need the money coming in.

Additionally, there is a virtual gold currency system in play and every month you are given some of that gold which you can use to reward other members for the help or encouragement they give you. By being active in the community you have a better chance of being given some gold from other members. This is important because that virtual gold can be redeemed each month for REAL MONEY and it is another way that can help you offset your monthly membership fees.

Making Money Means Starting Your Own Website(s)

The simple fact is that in most cases, the ability to make money online is dependent on whether or not you have your own website(s). A website is similar to a store and it is hard to do business without one. There are other ways to make money on the Internet like with PPC (pay per click) and article marketing but most people have the biggest successes with a website.

Wealthy Affiliate University has all areas of Internet marketing covered and I really mean ALL of it: You can learn about PPC and article marketing if you insist on not owning a website but most of the lessons and materials revolve around researching and setting up successful niche websites in the pursuit of making affiliate commission dollars. You don’t even have to have your own hosting account as they will provide that for you for free if you want it.

No matter how much or how little you know, WA will walk you through the steps you need to make your online business a reality. Comprehensive help like this is what can save you tons of time over trying to learn it piece by piece yourself. I did learn most of it myself and I put hundreds of hours in 2007 trying to figure out how to get this blog up and how to get everything working right. The online world is always progressing and just when you think you have things figured out, something changes and you have to learn something new. Wealthy Affiliate is the best community for constant help and support you could ever imagine and I regret not finding them when I first started out.

What You Should Do

If any of this sounds like it might be what you are looking for I suggest you click on over to Wealthy Affiliate University and start reading more about what they have to offer. The number of tools and resources that come with your membership are extensive and the amount of learning there is to do is almost unlimited. I will note that they have just recently started a great new live chat feature where you can get answers at all hours of the day and network with other members. You should also be sure to visit the FAQ page as it answers a lot of the questions you probably have.

There are two “month to month” prices for WA which are $47 and $97 a month. Honestly, I would recommend signing up at the $47 a month price point because one of the main differences is that you get more installations and web space with the higher price. If you were to need that in the future, they will surely let you upgrade your membership and if you decide to host your own websites like I do then you don’t need it anyway.

Signing up commits you to only one month and you can cancel any time. Most people pay via PayPal and that means just going in and canceling the subscription you created when you signed up. It is quick and hassle free to cancel at any time and no one will give you any grief or trouble. Remember, Kyle and Carson”s Wealthy Affiliate University have been online since 2005 during which time tens of thousands of people have signed up. Wondering whether this is a scam is silly because WA has proven itself over the years to be one of the best places anyone can go to learn how to get involved with Internet marketing and making money online.