The Wealthy Affiliate marketing program is a popular affiliate marketing course by Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim. It teaches you the basics to get started as an affiliate marketer. The monthly membership gives you access to the training and tools. You can also earn by promoting the program as an affiliate. Wealthy Affiliate is legit despite the lawsuit from the MLM company, MOBE.
Wealthy Affiliate reviews are extremely positive, with a 4.8/5 rating on Trustpilot. Members mostly praise the helpfulness of the community and the easy-to-follow lessons. Complaints mostly deal with refund and payment issues, outdated training material, and lack of support from the WA staff. Wealthy Affiliate has an affiliate program for its members, which could affect the overall reviews.
This verified Trustpilot review from Lizzy Stabel made several points. She complained about speed issues when hosting with Wealthy Affiliate. Lizzy further complained about the poor advice given by coaches. She also said that they could not take criticism, as they responded with insults after she made a comment. She also complained about the customer service lacking responsiveness.
Lizzy ended the review on a positive note. She will keep her membership because of the addition of lessons on AI. She confirms that it is great for beginners but criticizes the community's politics.
I made 6 figures with affiliate marketing. But I also spent a fortune on paid ads. It took much of my time and was very risky, so I moved to other business models. In this review, you'll learn all about the lawsuit and what Wealthy Affiliate offers. I'll also discuss who Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim are. Finally, we'll discuss the state of affiliate marketing in 2024.
Wealthy Affiliate Pros and Cons
Pros
24/7 website and technical support. Wealthy Affiliate also has live chat and an active community for support.
Wealthy Affiliate has a free membership where you can access training and more.
Wealthy Affiliate includes AI tools and training.
Cons
There is a lot of duplicate content and fluff.
Too many spammy comments within the group.
Wealthy Affiliate has an affiliate program which affects the online reviews.
Wealthy Affiliate Pricing:
Wealthy Affiliate has 3 pricing tiers. Starter plan is free, Premium is $49 per month, and Premium Plus is $99 per month. Yearly plans are available for cheaper pricing.
Refund Policy:
Wealthy Affiliate has no refunds. You can stop your monthly subscription at any time.
Group:
The Wealthy Affiliate community has a forum-style group with over 1 million members.
Origin:
Wealthy Affiliate was created on September 2005.
Reputation:
One of the more popular affiliate marketing programs. Although reviews may be biased because of the existing affiliate program.
The quality of help you get with WA depends on the “expert.” If you are looking for a more personal mentorship, then look elsewhere.
Wealthy Affiliate Lawsuit
MOBE, an MLM, sued Wealthy Affiliate for defamation in 2015. Kyle Loudoun, co-founder of Wealthy Affiliate, wrote a fact-based article before this. It claimed MOBE was a scam. MOBE sued Wealthy Affiliate, claiming Kyle's article defamed them and hurt profits. This lawsuit was MOBE's attempt to bankrupt Wealthy Affiliate. It cost Wealthy Affiliate half a million dollars when all was said and done.
MOBE soon faced serious FTC allegations. They were running a pyramid scheme, duping members into joining a worthless opportunity. As more people joined and spent their money, those higher in the pyramid were the ones profiting. The FTC shut down MOBE and ended the Wealthy Affiliate lawsuit.
What Do You Get With Wealthy Affiliate?
Premium Plus+
Premium
Starter
What Is the Wealthy Affiliate Affiliate Program?
The Wealthy Affiliate affiliate program pays a commission for each membership you refer. You get access to the promotional toolbox to use in your marketing. It includes a keyword tool, custom links and landers, promo banners, and more. You also get access to the intensive affiliate bootcamp training. Every sale earns you an average of $121.
Who Is Wealthy Affiliate For?
Wealthy Affiliate Success Stories
Bryon Brewer is one of the more successful students inside Wealthy Affiliate. He joined Wealthy Affiliate in 2012, and it only took 2 years for him to go full time into affiliate marketing. Today, he's made 6-figures with this business model. On December 5, 2016, he shared a post about some sales he made on the recent Black Friday weekend. After promoting a simple offer, he made over $9K from 14 sales in just 40 minutes. By the end of the weekend, Bryon had done 55 sales and generated almost $40K in revenue.
Eddie got into affiliate marketing in 2015. He took a break for some time, but then got back into it in 2018. On December 2020, he shared a post mentioning that in only a 3-month span in October to December 2020, he made $116K. The goal he had set for himself was to make $120K. Although he came up $4K short, this was still a success for him.
Grace is another Wealthy Affiliate member who joined in 2016. After 4 years of being in this affiliate program, she had reached over $100K in total commissions. Grace's success has permitted her to earn the title of Super Affiliate. She is a top earner in the Wealthy Affiliate program.
Nathaniel is one of the more well-known Wealthy Affiliate affiliates. He joined the program 12 years ago. He also created a popular blog that helps people make money online through blogging. Nathaniel wrote one of the more extensive Wealthy Affiliate program review articles online. On June 10, 2019, he shared a post of a win he had. Nathaniel sold the oldest website he created for $30K. This site was generating him $1,200 per month in passive income. At one point, he was making over $12K per month on that one site.
To read about more students' successes, read my article on the Wealthy Affiliate Success Stories.
Vitaly Gershfeld- Honest Review From A 15-Year Wealthy Affiliate Student
Vitaly's Background and Story in Wealthy Affiliate
Vitaly introduces his 15-year journey with Wealthy Affiliate. He credits the program as the main reason for his success in the online world. Vitaly supports his claim with income reports. According to him, there are over 2,000 students in the program. He made six figures and won a ClickBank award.
Challenges Encountered and Top Lessons Learned
Long-Term Business: Vitaly advises students to stay away from get-rich-quick schemes. He emphasizes the importance of dedication and patience in achieving long-term success.
Gradual Business Building: Vitaly advises new students to favor slow growth over quick success. He said "quick fixes" will not yield permanent results.
Leveraging Passion: Desire matters in affiliate marketing success. Vitaly tells new affiliates to choose niches based on personal interests. Choosing a niche they love keeps them engaged.
Realistic Online Business Expectations: Vitaly advises new affiliates to manage their expectations. Understand the risk of failure. You need to consistently make an effort to achieve substantial income.
What's not mentioned in the interview: Vitaly claims Wealthy Affiliate gave him financial freedom. However, he never said how much it cost to start his affiliate marketing business. He says he has been in the Wealthy Affiliate program for 15 years. But he didn't say how many years it took to recoup his investment. Vitaly isn’t completely honest about the challenges of Wealthy Affiliate. He promotes the program using his affiliate link and earns a commission for every sign-up.
Wealthy Affiliate Complaints
1. Overdose of Wealthy Affiliate Positive Review
A search for reviews on Wealthy Affiliate will find many that promote it. One might think this shows how great the platform is. But, if you look deeper, you'll see that the many positive reviews may mean Wealthy Affiliate is now oversaturated with promoters. All the review articles on page 1 of Google are from students. They are getting most of the affiliate commissions within WA. This makes it hard to outrank them, especially if you're new to online business.
2. Lack of SEO Training
The SEO training in this program is not high level by any stretch of the imagination. You get many SEO training videos. It covers the basics from keyword research to content creation. However, there is more to that when building a successful affiliate marketing business.
One thing that lowers my confidence in this course's SEO training is a lesson where Kyle discusses making content readable. He says to avoid using an H1 tag for a new section in your content. Instead, use an H3 or H4 tag. If you know anything about SEO, you'd know when it is the best time to use a certain H-tag or not. It's not simply because it's too big.
As a Premium member, your SEO training is limited. You only get more training when you upgrade to Premium Plus.
3. No Phone Number for Support
If you need any kind of help, there is no way for you to call anyone on the Wealthy Affiliate team. You only get help through live chat, email, or private message.
For a list of more complaints, check out my article that lays out the top 7 Wealthy Affiliate Complaints.
Wealthy Affiliate Reviews
This premium member posted their experience on Reddit. It took about a year before they started seeing any results in their business. They credit Wealthy Affiliate for all the training they received. They also highlighted the helpfulness of the community.
This Redditor wasn't as pleased with the program. They feel that it's a scam because they felt they restrict you from doing certain things on the WA platform unless you upgrade your membership plan.
Simon is a member of Wealthy Affiliate for over 10 years. He credits Wealthy Affiliate for his successful businesses. He said he could quit his job and move to Thailand because of this. Simon highlighted the training, the AI tools, and the community.
Leonard from Italy had a bad experience with Wealthy Affiliate. He explained that he only received support with paying the subscription. He also criticized the training for being too basic.
Is Wealthy Affiliate Worth It?
Wealthy Affiliate is worth it if you are a newbie to affiliate marketing. But don't expect to be making 6 figures soon. Despite complaints about the platform, it has some valuable training.
Now, promoting Wealthy Affiliate is another issue. The best platforms to promote are Google, YouTube, and TikTok. The problem is there are only 10 spots on Google's first page. Those spots are filled by savvy online marketers with high-ranking sites. Other affiliate marketing mentors, like John Crestani, promote Wealthy Affiliate.
In my conclusion, it is better to take a program that specializes in a unique marketing strategy. An example is Adam Enfroy's Blog Growth course, which teaches you how to monetize a blog. The popular Authority Hacker is a great choice that can supplement your affiliate marketing business. It teaches you how to create authority sites to rank on Google.
Who Is Kyle Loudoun?
Kyle Loudoun is an affiliate marketer and the co-founder of Wealthy Affiliate. Heis very active in Wealthy Affiliate and regularly posts on the blog. With over a million students having taken his program, he responds to requests that are in high demand. Kyle is also active in answering the questions posted on his posts.
When he was a 21-year-old college student, he got started with internet marketing. In college, he studied computer science but fell in love with online marketing. After coming across the affiliate marketing business model, he went all in. He first had to borrow some money from his girlfriend, now his wife, to start using PPC ads to promote a product. His first month's profit wasn't much ($75), but he kept at it. In month 6 of Kyle promoting products, he reached $10K per month in sales.
Who Is Carson Lim?
Carson Lim is a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Wealthy Affiliate. He has extensive experience in internet marketing. He is active in the WA community and takes part in discussions and live chats.
Carson has a computer science background. Both his parents are teachers and come from a family of educators. He got his first computer in 1994 and has maintained a strong interest in technology since then.
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It in 2024?
Affiliate marketing is profitable in 2024 if you understand everything that is required of you. Knowing the challenges and risks is a must if you want to succeed.
First, to succeed, you must rank globally for the niche and product-related search terms. You must spend a lot of money to generate traffic. The "Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report" by Acceleration Partners says that the average affiliate program conversion rate is about 1%. Running ineffective paid ads to promote an affiliate offer could waste money. You also have to work hard creating content and managing ads. You may not see any commissions for months, if at all. The income is unpredictable, so you can't plan your budget.
Another issue for you as an affiliate marketer is low commissions. You may earn between 8% and 10% most of the time. High-paying affiliate offers are few. To earn a decent income ($10K/month or more), you must invest a lot. You need to create massive authority, like my site does. On top of that, it will take 2-3 years to reach your goal.
How Profitable Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is highly profitable for those who can master its strategies. The average affiliate marketer earns $8K per month, according to Authority Hacker. About 9% of affiliates make $80,000 to $1 million a year, says Rewardful. AffiliateWP says the top 1% can earn six to seven figures a month. Pat Flynn grew from earning $8,000 in 2008 to now making over $100,000 monthly. John Chow scaled his income from $360,000 in 2008 to $500,000 in 2009.
Profitability varies by niche, according to Authority Hacker. Education/eLearning leads at $15,551 monthly. Travel is next at $13,847 and beauty/skincare follows at $12,475. Commission rates are very attractive in some sectors. They range from 20-70% for SaaS products, 5-30% in finance and beauty, and 5-20% in education.
My Recommended Passive Income Business in 2024
Local lead generation is my recommended business in 2024 that creates passive and predictable income. Compared to affiliate marketing, where you only earn if you make a sale, you earn a stable monthly income in rent with local lead generation. Like Wealthy Affiliate, you will use SEO to rank a website on Google. But instead of promoting a product, you rent your website to local businesses. They then pay you for the leads your site generates.
You compete with only 10-15 local small businesses, not thousands of marketers. There are also thousands of niches to explore, even pandemic-proof ones like plumbing and HVAC. The best part of local lead generation is this: Once you rank your digital property, it will keep generating leads. There isn't much work you need to do, but check up on them to make sure everything is running smoothly. To scale, you just need to repeat the rank and rent process. I now make over 52K a month from multiple local lead generation sites. Check out local lead generation for my recommended business to create time and financial freedom.
