If you’ve been around in the affiliate marketing field for a while, or even if you’re just starting out, you’ve probably heard of Wealthy Affiliate. That’s the reason you’re here after all. But with the way online programs work, there’s a lot of shadiness. So you may be wondering: is Wealthy Affiliate a scam? That’s the question I want to answer for you today, so you can know if it’s right for you and your online business and money-making goals. So get comfortable, and let’s get started!
Wealthy Affiliate History
Wealthy Affiliate was founded by Kyle Loudon and Carson Lim back in 2005. Hailing from British Columbia, Canada, they’d already been building online businesses and had managed to create several successful online businesses, including in affiliate marketing.
They became experts in the online world and wanted to help others be able to find success in the online world just as they had. Thus, Wealthy Affiliate was born.
It started out as only a keyword newsletter platform. Every week, they would deliver a list of keywords to their subscribers. This was the basis of the platform.
As they gained more users on their site, they realized the importance of having a method of communication between them and members. So they added a forum where anyone could go to chat with and learn from Kyle and Carson, as well as other affiliate marketers on the platform.
The next addition that was requested by users was training. So, Kyle began releasing his training modules for anyone to use and learn from. This evolved to include other excellent affiliate marketers who have added their own training, and now anyone can add to the thousands of hours of learning content on Wealthy Affiliate.
They began adding even more to their platform, progressing at an incredibly fast rate. They even developed their own web hosting platform for their users, which is lighting fast to provide the best Google rankings.
Adding even more content and training with many successful entrepreneurs and affiliates, as well as their own site builder, Wealthy Affiliate left all other platforms in the dust.
Next came commenting and reviews for sites, as well as Live Chat, so users could ask questions and talk to each other in real-time. They also added ways to encourage members to comment and like others’ posts, as well as upload more of their own training.
They’ve even stepped up their keywords game, with the release of Jaaxy, their own custom-made keyword research tool. This allows anyone to look up any keyword and get real-time, accurate data on it. This helps out significantly with any sort of research that must be done.
And they aren’t even close to done. They continue to add new content all the time to keep their site fresh, exciting, new, and very far ahead of the curve in the online business industry.
Kyle and Carson’s Track Record
You may be wondering, what kind of background gives these guys their credibility? Well, let me tell you a bit about each of them!
Kyle went to college for computer science, with an emphasis on programming. He began to dabble in the online business market and found a passion and love for it that he never knew.
Carson comes from a computer science background as well, which is how the pair met. Both Carson’s parents have been teachers his whole life, so he had a large interest in that as well.
Hence, in 2005 the two of them teamed up and created Wealthy Affiliate, which has only evolved and grown bigger ever since thanks to their constant efforts to improve it.
They both have 25+ years of experience in affiliate marketing, meaning they are extremely knowledgeable, and they pride themselves on continuing to advance their education and dabble in new markets and niches as they grow.
A few of the affiliate marketing sites they have created in the past are StreetArticles.com, WaystoAvoidScamsOnline.com, as well as many others. In the training programs, they share more, as well as create sites from the ground up to show the process to you.
Both are very active on social media, having their own Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, as well as being extremely active on Wealthy Affiliate itself. Unlike many other affiliate marketing and online business programs, you actually get to meet the makers and brush shoulders with them on a daily basis.
They are very invested in every member’s success, and want to make sure that every person that joins feels welcomed and supported as they begin this journey of making money online.
Pros and Cons of Wealthy Affiliate
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. What makes Wealthy Affiliate good and not so good? Take a look:
Pros
- Very warm, welcoming, and inviting community.
- Engaged owners and other successful entrepreneurs.
- Outstanding support, as well as live communication for any questions you may have.
- Thousands of hours of training covering a vast amount of topics, as well as creating your own.
- Built-in domain purchasing, as well as website hosting and management, top-notch security, and a slew of other high quality bonuses built into your website.
- High-tech keyword research tool.
- A community centered comments and reviews program, where you can give and receive comments on your posts, as well as custom-tailored feedback for your site.
- Look up thousands of affiliate programs for any niche you would like.
- An outstanding affiliate program, so you can start making money fairly quickly!
- An extremely useful content writing platform built into the website to make writing quick and easy.
- And so much more!
- Did I mention it’s absolutely free to try out?!
Cons
- This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. All the training and resources are yours for the taking, but you must put in the time and effort to create a thriving business.
- Staying motivated to keep working at it can be difficult, as in the beginning you will see little to no reward from your efforts. But small efforts every day add up over time!
- After your free trial, it costs money to continue, but in comparison to other affiliate marketing programs, Wealthy Affiliate offers an extremely low price for far more value
My Experience with Wealthy Affiliate
To be honest, I love Wealthy Affiliate. It’s seriously amazing! For years, I had been looking for some way to create my own business and make money online. But it seemed like their was a million different things to do and it all got so overwhelming.
I tried countless things, many business types and numerous avenues but I couldn’t get any of them to work. It seemed like every time I had a question and found an answer, three new ones would pop up and I’d have to search for more answers. It was stressful!
I sunk hundreds of dollars over many years into multiple programs. And while some of them truly taught me good things, none of them could take me all the way. And some of them were straight scams. It’s difficult to tell what’s what in the online world, and it’s easy to get tricked.
In my experience, anything that says “get-rich-quick” or “easy money” is usually either a scam, illegal, or extremely saturated and dryer than the Nevada desert by the time you’ve heard about it.
That’s when I came to Wealthy Affiliate. I was actually looking into another program, when I looked up a review for it. That program was insanely expensive (almost $2000 up front) and I was considering it. But the review mentioned how while it wasn’t a straight scam, it might as well be with a price that high.
Then it mentioned something that sounded far too good to be true: Wealthy Affiliate.
This magical program that had all the answers I could ever need, more support than I’d know what to do with, AND an extremely low price compared to all the other ones I’d heard about? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!
But as I looked into it more, I realized it was all true and far more. I couldn’t have possibly asked for a better environment and platform from which to kick start an online business.
So I signed up. Not even an hour after I sign up and start looking around, I get a personal message from Kyle himself welcoming me to the platform. I chatted with him a bit. He’s an amazing guy.
By the end of the day, four other people on the platform reached out to say hi and introduce themselves. I was shocked at the community and how amazing it was!
Everywhere I went, all I could find was support and encouragement on Wealthy Affiliate. Not a bit of negativity. Even the criticism and reviews are constructive and are meant to help you improve at your craft.
I personally see Wealthy Affiliate as a miracle. It’s everything I needed and far more, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it. I can’t thank the community their enough for their willingness to help and support me through the beginnings of building my business. There’s truly no place like it.
What Do You Want?
What is it you want in your life? Is it more money to buy the things you need or want? Or maybe to provide for your family? Or do you want time to spend on hobbies or with your family?
Whatever it is, I promise you that you can have it. That’s the amazing thing about online business. You are in control. No one else. You are in charge of your schedule, your work, and your income. It’s truly a liberating feeling to have freedom like that.
If you want to finally achieve your dreams, now is the time.
If you’re truly serious about changing your life for the better, I seriously encourage you to give Wealthy Affiliate a try. You really can’t go wrong with it at all.
You can get a week trial of Wealthy Affiliate for absolutely free. NO credit cards. ZERO commitments.If you don’t like what you see, you can leave and never have to worry about a thing.
But if you, like me, want to make true change, it’s time to take the steps necessary.
Your Future with Wealthy Affiliate
Imagine the next month with Wealthy Affiliate. You sign up, and you get a message from the creators (and yours truly) welcoming you. Any questions you have, they can answer. You get your profile set up, and you take a look around.
You start going through the program, and you get your first website setup. Your own website. How amazing is that?! And as you keep going you get more and more thrilled with every bit of progress you make.
Any question you have, it’s answered in minutes. No need to stress. Any issues, solved.
And as things progress, you can truly see the potential in affiliate marketing. Not just in making money, but in creating freedom for yourself financially, physically, and mentally. No more stress about board meetings and projects and annoying coworkers. For once, you are in charge. And you love it.
And that’s only a month. In six months, you’ll see how much progress you’ve made, and potentially even start making money!
After a year, you could be doing this thing full-time. How amazing would that be?
This is all possible for you. I know it is.
All you need to do is commit right now to make a change. To be disciplined. To be dedicated. To take the steps necessary to change your entire life.
I want you to join me. So start your free trial for Wealthy Affiliate, and I’ll see you on the inside.
Click here to begin your FREE trial of Wealthy Affiliate today!
If you have any questions or comments, or even just want to chat, feel free to leave a comment down below, or shoot me an email and I’d be happy to respond!
Cayden
Website: GainYourWealth.com
Email: Cayden@GainYourWealth.com
This was very interesting to learn more about the history of Wealthy Affiliate and how the platform has grown and evolved since the start in 2005. I have been a part of the Wealthy Affiliate community now for nearly three years, and can confirm that it is not a scam.
The community support is awesome and you will get world class training. And the best thing is that you can start for free to test drive the tools. Something that very few other affiliate marketing courses offer. Thank you for sharing this great review and all the best with your online business.
It was very enlightening for me as well to learn about it as I researched. That’s awesome that you’ve been with Wealthy Affiliate for so long! I’ve been with it for a few months and I absolutely love it.
The community and training are my favorite things about it. It’s something truly found nowhere else and it’s refreshing to see. I wish you the best as well and thank you very much for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts. Have a wonderful day!
Thank you for this informative article. I too enjoy wealthy affiliate very much. They have made it easy to get my website up and running. Without them I wouldn’t have even known where to start. Like you said it is not a get rich quick scheme but if you are willing to put in the work they lay it all out for you.
One of the best things for me is the website setup and hosting. That’s something that I really struggled with in previous business ventures. If it wasn’t for Wealthy Affiliate, I’d most likely still be trying to figure things out with my site!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. Have a wonderful day!
I actually found out about Wealthy Affiliate in 2019. I’ve been making money from it ever since. I have seen a lot of scam. But Wealthy Affiliate is a 100% legit company. I do not think the traing program is available anywhere else. I highly recommend WA to join WA and start earning money legit. Thanks so much for this post. Keep posting like this.
Hey Pasindu! That’s cool to hear you’ve been with Wealthy Affiliate for a few years now! I’ve definitely seen a lot of scams as well, especially programs that only teach you to sell their own program, and not anything you actually want to. It’s refreshing to see a platform that teaches you to go off on your own and find success for yourself, as well as give you all the tools for you to do so.
Thank yo uso much for sharing your experience and opinions! Have a wonderful day!
I am a premium member of the wealthy affiliate community. I started my journey 5 years ago and today I own 4 successful websites. These people helped me a lot when I was new to this field, the videos they provide helped me a lot in understanding the basics of this field, and moreover, these people were always ready to help me whenever I was facing any issue. The SEO they provide is also pretty informative and does its job. According to the this is an emerging field in which one can see their future if they are good in writing, this field requires patience as you will have to keep working hard without thinking about the return, your main motive must be to gain the trust of your readers, once it is done then there is no looking back.
It’s so nice to see so many veterans here! That’s amazing you have not one but four successful and profitable websites! Their videos and training has helped me immensely in getting started and getting to where I can finally begin to understand what I need to do to be successful with online business and affiliate marketing.
Of course learning is a lifelong endeavor, and I plan to purchase more courses and programs in the future to expand my knowledge, but just starting out, there’s no deal better than Wealthy Affilate! It requires a lot of patience and hard work to see results, but it’s totally worth it in the end!
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me! Have a wonderful day my friend!
Hey Cayden,
I can certainly vouch for Wealthy Affiliate, been part of it for more than six years and counting. When I first started online marketing I was looking for a website to have all available tools for a great price. I found WA had everything I needed and more.
I did fall victim to the one Con you mentioned; staying motivated, it is very difficult haha. But I’m back on it again and seeing results, it will pay off in the long run and once you start seeing the results of your efforts you realized what an amazing thing you’re accomplishing, love the site and loved the history lesson, was not aware of that, thank you for this.
Wow, that’s quite a long time! It’s so cool to see many veterans of the platform. I was looking for the same things coming onto Wealthy Affiliate and I found them and much more as well!
I’m so glad you’ve gotten back into the swing of things and you’re seeing good things happening in your business! In time you will definitely see the fruits of your labors and it’ll make it all worth it. Just keep at it! I loved the history lesson too as I studied to write this article, it helped me appreciate how far things have come since the beginning.
Thank you so much for coming and sharing your experience and thoughts. Have a truly wonderful day!
I have been diving into affiliate marketing and Wealthy affiliate for quite some time now and I totally agree with all the pros and cons that you mentioned in this article,especially the part where it’s very affordable compared to other marketing courses online.
One question though, do you think its worth going to premium plus instead of basic premium, do you think that I would learn much more to be more successful and that it would be worth the extra price? thanks
Hello Lizzy! I’m glad you got something out of my article and it helped you!
In the beginning, I think it’s perfectly alright to stay with a Premium membership. You still get all of the training, and you get 10 websites hosted on their platform (which is more than enough for even some experienced marketers!) so you should have no problem creating a thriving business and making some decent money before upgrading to Premium Plus.
Once you upgrade you do get up to 50 websites, as well as many other handy quality of life bonuses, such as Jaaxy Enterprise. As you grow your business and your income, it is well worth it to upgrade but not necessary in the beginning.
Thank you so much for your question! Have a wonderful day!
Wealthy Affiliate pays you to refer to others and only once right?
Can I earn money by the time I’m done with the training of the online entrepreneur Certification?
Wealthy Affiliate has a cool and helpful community that has all the answers to your questions that is website related. It has training courses for you to pass but also learn the fundamentals of affiliate marketing. Learning how to create an online business and see it grow as an opportunity.
I am an affiliate marketer and I love being with the WA community. Their courses are easy to learn and have videos that will show you step-by-step how to create your website from the bottom.
Wealthy Affiliate has helped me in many ways as I see the progress and also the that my hard work is starting to pay off soon! Never stop to think to try something go for it to see how it goes. WA has free training for those who are wanting to check it out but it is legitimate, I am even a member there and it gives you such a wonderful experience.
Hello Caleb! Actually, Wealthy Affiliate pays you everytime your referral renews their subscription, forever! It’s quite the affiliate program!
By the time you’re done with the certification, you will have all the tools to start making money. And if you’ve been doing the action guides at the end of each lesson, you should have a very healthy, working site for you to make money from. If you aren’t already making money by the end, then with consistency and hard work you’ll be making money soon!
Yes! It’s quite an amazing place to learn! The community is my absolute favorite part though as it’s so warm and inviting. I feel as though everybody wants to see me succeed, and it gives me the motivation to push myself harder.
It truly is a wonderful experience. And in time I know you will make money Caleb, just keep working at it! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and asking questions! And thank you for the article suggestions too! Have a wonderful day!
Hi There,
I have been in Affiliate Marketing for a while and Love Wealthy Affiliate. I have learned so much since I joined I would have never learned on my own even I tried.
I love the community at WA and the 24/7/365 Support is also great.
I have heard others say it is a scam but not the way I see it; it is a great platform to be a member with.
Thanks for a great Article
Elke
I can see why others may call it a scam, but in my experience it’s a wonderful place with a thriving, welcoming community. Everyone is so supportive of each other and it’s exactly what I needed to get me started in the world of online business. I’m in the same boat you were- I would never have made it where I am now by myself!
Thank you so much for sharing! Have a wonderful day!