Wealthy Affiliate is one of the most popular affiliate marketing courses online and there are many Wealthy Affiliate success stories that back that up.
Some people don't think that WA is worth it for many reasons.
We know this because we previously wrote about the Wealthy Affiliate complaints. If you're one of those people looking for an alternative, we break down the top options below.
1. Authority Hacker by Gael Breton & Mark Webster
Authority Hacker is one of the more high-end alternatives you can find to Wealthy Affiliate because of the amount of content that is contained in the program. These guys have sold multiple authority sites in the past 10 years and are still active in the game today. In 2018, they sold their 18-month-old authority site for mid six figures. In 2021, they sold another site for six figures, which was a site they used as a demo site in the first version of TASS (The Authority Site System - their beginner course that was created in 2016. The strategies taught in Authority Hacker and their beginner course are constantly being updated and kept current. Their podcast is the biggest in the industry, with almost 300 episodes. The podcast is a worthwhile listen if you're set on this business model.
Pros
Gael Breton and Mark Webster are 7-figure earners who have sold multiple authority sites for multiple six figures. In 2015, they sold their marketing agency that worked with several Fortune 500 clients. They've served over 9000 customers in over 120 countries.
The Authority Site System is the main starter program. You're provided with 125+ training videos and templates you can implement immediately. Authority Hacker Pro is the intermediate to advanced course with over 400 training videos, SOPs, custom tools and plugins to help you scale your business quicker.
There are two private Facebook groups. The Authority Site System (TASS) group has over 4700 students, while the Authority Hacker Pro group has over 2300 students.
Every week, you can tune into their podcast that has almost 300 episodes all about authority sites.
Cons
Investment in all the tools necessary to make the system work is expensive. They do not share how much more you need to investment until after you've joined. It would be nice to know before investing in it.
The pro package needs to do a better job at structuring all the information in the course
Price:
Authority Hacker costs $1,997
Rating:
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2. Income School (Project 24) by Ricky Kesler and Jim Harmer
Ricky Kesler and Jim Harmer are very much hands on with The Project 24 education platform. Thousands of people tune into their podcast each day, which proves that they're making a difference as an authority in the business model. Project 24 is a more affordable option than Authority Hacker, yet there's plenty of value to be taken from it.
Pros
Ricky and Jim have earned multiple 6-figures. They successfully launched Project 24 to help thousands of marketers worldwide earn an income from home. Aside from being an online entrepreneur, Ricky is also an influencer. Jim was an attorney and considered a top 40 photographer before getting into affiliate marketing.
Video training with hundreds of lessons covering topics such as blogging, YouTube, marketing, monetization and more. They designed the course to help beginner and advanced content creators improve their skills in affiliate marketing.
Several times per week, you can access live mastermind sessions virtually. They also host The Income School podcast where they share content within the community before it's released on YouTube.
Private forum where all members can interact with each other and ask any question. Very engaging.
They add new content to the Income School YouTube channel each week
Cons
Many students aren't showing enough results in 24 months to prove that this program is a worthy investment
There's a lot of work you need to put in before you see any kind of positive results
Price:
Project 24 costs $449 for the first year and $249 each year after
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3. Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity
Matt Diggity is one of the top SEO experts in the world. He was initially an electrical engineer, but once he learned about affiliate marketing and how to flip websites for $100-$450K at a time, his life changed. In his course, he shows you how to build, rank and make money off of your affiliate websites by flipping them. Other courses teach you how you can make money each month. Matt's method allows you to 32x-40x your income if your site is generating a healthy monthly income already. It's all about taking things a step further in the affiliate marketing game.
Pros
24+ hours of training - Over 160 training videos, templates, tools, SOPs & checklists to help you along as you learn.
In-depth backlink training
New Affiliate Email marketing module included
Members only Facebook group to ask any SEO question and have Matt himself answer your questions along with other expert members
Cons
Startup costs are expensive because you have to use your own money to rank your sites
No refunds
Price:
The Affiliate lab costs $997
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Local Lead Generation Coaching Program by Dan Klein & Ippei Kanehara
Local lead generation is by far the best alternative business model to affiliate marketing. Dan Klein has been teaching the business model ever since 2014 and to date, he's coached over 7400 students on how to build out their digital real estate empire. In this program, you get training videos where Dan shows you step by step how build everything out. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Dan holds live coaching calls to talk about the newest strategies, how to be better at sales, he answers questions, and you come away from those calls a better entrepreneur. This business model is the reason my over 50 lead generation sites pay me over $50K per month on autopilot.
Pros
This video training program teaches you how to build digital properties to generate more customers for local small businesses while earning a monthly recurring commission. The websites you're taught to build offer services such as roofing, plumbing, tree care, etc. There are thousands of niches. Once they're properly built, the next step is to shoot the site up the local rankings on Google.
The training is always updated and we teach new strategies during the live coaching calls
You're not being taught an outdated business model like most courses do. By following what you're taught in the course, you will get a website ranked and rented.
The private Facebook group has over 7000 students worldwide. Every day the more experienced members provide value and support to other members. Very engaging community with many contacts and resources within to help you succeed.
Cons
This is not a get rich quick scheme
The work is not easy
Price:
The investment for joining the local lead generation training program is all dependent on what package you want. There are no monthly subscriptions for this course.
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Affiliate Marketing vs Local Lead Generation
AFFILIATE MARKETING
PROS
CONS
No need to deal directly with customers
No control. You're at the mercy of the company providing the offer. If they go out of business, so do you.
Automated payments
The platform you join often changes their re-direct links. When they do, you need to go through all of your sites and update this link. If not, you'll can lose out on hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Many types of offers to promote
Some training platforms don't update their content.
PPC ads can help you scale quicker
Organically ranking for many niches that are already saturated.
More of a passive income than a regular 9-5 job
Paid traffic is a hassle because you have to monitor your ads and how much you spend testing them.
LOCAL LEAD GENERATION
PROS
Recurring Passive Income - once a business gets leads from you, they'll be hooked
Speed - it's so much easier to rank locally on Google (less maintenance)
Thousands of opportunities in the form of niches & cities to enter
Much higher earnings than what the Wealthy Affiliate compensation plan lays out
Scalability - it's a repeatable process that you can rinse & repeat to rank more sites in more niches and cities while you watch your income rise
Solving a problem - By generating leads, you're going to get paid handsomely because they are the lifeline of businesses. Many business owners don't know how to market themselves. That's where you come in with the skills you're taught in this program.
Final Thoughts
I've had my success with affiliate marketing in the past, but I no longer want to focus my energy there. Local lead generation has earned me my most passive income to date and offered me a better lap top lifestyle. I've also made more of an impact on local small business owners.
To learn how to build your digital real estate empire and earn a predictable income each month, check out the local lead generation training program.
