I’ve been a member of the Wealthy Affiliate community for just under 2 years now. About a year ago, I made the decision to actively promote the program to others. In that relatively short amount of time, while few and far between, I have heard some naysayers express their complaints about Wealthy Affiliate.
Now, it’s not that I have a problem with people expressing their concerns, everyone has the right to their opinion and WA certianly isn’t 100% pefect. But I tend to see the same few complaints thrown around by a handful of people, and I think it’s important to shine some light on the other side of the story.
So, here are the 7 most common complaints I’ve heard against Wealthy Affiliate (and my rebuttals)
#1. Wealthy Affiliate is not accreditted by the BBB and has an “F” rating
It is true that they’re not a member of the BBB, and that their rating was at one time an F (presently, it’s a B). But what most people don’t realize is the BBB isn’t really the almighty saint it’s cracked up to be. Sadly, money has corrupted the once well meaning foundation and you need to take their ratings with a grain of salt.
Most likely the small mom and pop shop around the corner, or that local restaurant you love aren’t members of the BBB club either, yet you probably still are more than happy to do business with them. Heck, even Disneyland isn’t BBB accredited, but would you acuse them of being untrustworthy?
The truth is BBB fees are expensive, and many smaller businesses just don’t have the budget to bother. Other companies, while they could afford it, simply don’t agree with having to pay in for the BBB seal of approval. After all, why should it matter?
There doesn’t seem to be any way of getting a good rating unless you actually pay them a fee to be accredited. Note the examples below.
Let’s take a look at Wealthy Affiliate’s BBB report (known as Niche Marketing Inc here).
They’ve only had 3 complaints filed with the BBB in the past THREE years, which is barely a dent in the thousands of otherwise satisfied customers. But, they only manage to pull a B rating (and only a short time ago, it was an F, even with only 3 complaints). I believe this a case where personal experience and common sense trumps any rating assigned by the BBB!
Take a look at some of the other BBB reports from companies within the industry:
Empower Network –
These guys (David Wood and David Sharpe) have gathered a pretty nasty reputation within the past year or so, as more and more people came to realize the company was nothing more than an eccentric pyramid scheme.
They’ve racked up 146 complaints with the BBB in the past three years, and keep in mind Empower Network actually wasn’t launched until late 2011, so they haven’t even been around for that entire length of time.
Actually, these reports filed with the BBB only skim the surface of the public’s overall disatisfaction. If you ask any former member they’ll tell you they were decieved and learned very little, yet persistently pressured to go “all in” (spend 1,000’s of dollars in upsells) or they’d remain a “wussy”.
It’s interesting to note that Wealthy Affiliate and Empower Network are both given “B” ratings from the BBB, yet the public opinion of these two companies could not be any different. Empower Network has been hit with nearly 50 times as many complaints (146 vs only 3) and most of its former customers would not recommend the product to their friends.
Project Payday –
This program teaches people how to make money promoting CPA offers and doesn’t forget to mention the fact they’re rated an A+ by the BBB.
Even though 39 complaints isn’t really a whole lot, it’s still a lot more than 3. It makes you wonder where this “A+” rating comes from, if another company with only 3 complaints can only manage a B?
If you ask me, something fishy is going on here. The BBB seems wildly inconsistent with how they assign companies ratings.
#2. There’s no free speech! Members get their write privelages revoked for NO reason!
It’s true that members have gotten their writing privelages revoked, but not without a reason.
WA is a spam free community. There are explicit rules that tell you not to spam and if you break those rules, you will be warned. If a very high number of your comments are marked as spam by members, you will be warned and if you continue to not follow the rules, then you will no longer be allowed to post anything within the community.
It’s definitely NOT that case where this privelage is being taken away from members left and right, it rarely happens and when it does, it’s for that reason. Don’t spam and follow the rules!
#3. I didn’t want to continue my membership but they billed me anyway… it’s IMPOSSIBLE to cancel!
Within their terms and conditions, they state that their membership is monthly recurring, and if you wish to cancel you must do so before the next billing date. Almost all programs involving monthly fees are set up like this no matter what industry – gym memberships, weight loss programs, magazine subscriptions, etc, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that this is how they work. You agreed to that when you signed up, and you’re personally responsible for keeping track of your membership renew dates so you can cancel if you so choose to. If you don’t know when your bill cycle ends, you can find out anytime by visitng your account settings.
I’ve gotten myself involved in one too many programs that made their cancellation process just short of a nightmare. You know, the ones where you end up having to call an 800 number to cancel, but the customer service representative insists keeping you on the line as long as possible, trying to convince you not to cancel! WA is NOT like that. It’s actually very easy to cancel, but you have to make sure you do it BEFORE your next bill date.
You just go within your account settings, scroll on down to the subscription settings and click manage. It really is that simple.
Sign up for WA here and see for yourself
#4. It’s only for TOTAL newbies!
This isn’t exactly true. Wealthy Affiliate is structured in such a way so people with absolutely zero knowledge of internet marketing can utilize the training to become successful online marketers. Because of this, much of the basic training courses are relatively straight forward and simple to follow. If you are someone that already has advanced knowledge of the industry you may find much of the training offered to not be much benefit to you.
But the training extends so far beyond the basic level. If you type any subject you want to know more about within the search feature, you’ll find tons of additional training materials that have not only been created by Kyle or Carson, but by the actual members themselves.
This is part of what makes WA so cool. Members will contribute their own knowledge, advice and training materials into the mix to help make it an extremely rich and helpful resource for any online marketer. There’s tons of members who’ve experienced success that stay with WA for a multitude of reasons, including the wonderful community, ongoing support, and not to mention their unlimited web hosting.
Some people get caught up thinking they must know absolutely everything before they can make money online, but that just isn’t true – you only need to know very little. The training provided is more than enough to make anyone find success online if they actually apply themselves.
All that being said, Wealthy Affiliate is not for everyone. If you join with a starter account and find it’s somehow below your level or won’t benefit you, then that’s fine. But for most people, it’s more than enough to acheive success.
#5. As soon as you join you’ll be pressured to do the Bootcamp training to promote Wealthy Affiliate. It’s the only thing they teach and the only way you’ll make money!
This simply isn’t true at all. Wealthy Affiliate has been around since 2005, and the Bootcamp training (introducing people how to build a business in the “make money online” niche) wasn’t introduced until last year, in early 2013.
The entire idea behind WA is that it teaches people how to build a business around their own interests. EVERY new member is pointed towards their Entrepreneur Certification training, NOT the Bootcamp.
But, let me discuss the reason behind why there’s people making claims that they only teach you to promote WA. It’s true that they have a training course designed to teach people how to promote Wealthy Affiliate in the MMO (make money online) niche. I think a lot of the confusion here (and I completely understand this) stems from the fact within the first training course, they tell newbies that it shouldn’t take any longer than 15 minutes to pick their first niche.
Talk about pressure.
Then, they go on to say if you can’t come up with a niche, to start with Bootcamp because it’ll walk you through a pre-selected one.
I really don’t agree with this but I do see both sides of the arguement. While I don’t think you should spend forever picking a niche, there’s nothing wrong with spending a few days making the decision. In my opinion, 15 minutes it a little ridiculous, and honestly it scared me away from doing anything for a solid 6 months (they didn’t offer Bootcamp at the time I started).
But that brings me to the flip side of the coin. Some people honestly have no idea what they want to do and as a result, will just do nothing. The Bootcamp presents itself as a way to get involved in starting an online business without having to come up with your own niche, which is a hardest part for a lot of people.
I think the mistake a lot of people make is getting involved in this training with no interest, creating a site, then instead of just moving on to another niche, they give up. If you start a Bootcamp site and find it isn’t going to be an area you want to pursue, move on to something else. With the experience you’ve gained from all the training you should feel more confident and able to build a business around any niche you want.
#6. It’s not REALLY free, you have to pay $47 per month!
If you want continued access to communicuate, the advanced training and unlimited web hosting, yes you will need to join premium.
The starter membership is awesome, but it is meant to be a showcase for what premium has to offer. This way, people can get hands on access to what the community can offer them without putting down any of their hard earned money to find out. People who do choose to upgrade to premium know that they’re going to appreciate what they get.
If you are serious about building a business, you’re going to have to put down money somewhere. It’s unrealistic to expect to do it for 100% free.
Even so, you still do have access to tons of training materials and member blogs, even as a free member. That is pretty awesome and I challenge you to find anything else like it out there.
#7. The help isn’t all that great!
Personally I think the help is fantastic. I remember when I first started there were so many people willing to help me out at the drop of a hat, I couldn’t believe it.
For example, Wealthy Affiliate has…
- 13 classrooms
- 24/7 live chat
- Ability to PM Kyle and Carson
- Ability to PM ANY member
- Ask questions within any training video, tutorial, blog or discussion
For the people that complain the help sucks, I wonder if they’re even taking full advantage of all the help the community has to offer. If you ask a question within live chat and nobody can help, you can always write out your issue within the appropriate classroom and you’ll usually get a response. If that doesn’t work, PM Kyle, Carson or another member that you feel comfortable reaching out to. In most cases, someone will help.
Even though the system they have set up is fantastic, I do agree it’s not perfect. Nobody is going to be holding your hand 100% of the time, and yes it’s true that you may not find every single answer within the community. But for the most part it’s pretty darn good.
It’s really rare to find that type of support system within any other internet marketing “product” out there, and in fact most offer none to very little actual support.
But still, you’re never going to please everybody.
Wealthy Affiliate may not be totally not perfect, and it isn’t for everyone.
But you can’t agrue that it isn’t a great place to start, especially for newbies. It definitely helped me (and MANY others) build successful online businesses.
And it’s not just another stagnent “product” that becomes outdated – it’s a continually changing, evolving community where the owners accept imperfection and continually strive to make it the best it can be.
It’s not the same place it was 5 years ago, and even in just the past 2 years since I joined things have changed tremendously. If you were a member once upon a time, I dare you to go back and see how things have changed. If you’ve never been a member, at least give it a chance. You really have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
Decide for yourself, put away your credit card and try it FREE.
If you have any additional complaints about the Wealthy Affiliate program you’d like to bring to my attention, don’t hesitate to drop me a comment down below!
I use to be a member of WA, I changed my bank and tried to make a payment with my new bank card and WA would not recognize the card. How do I take out the old card and put in a new one?
This article was very informative and I agree that WA is the best make money online tools out there.
Hey Bobbi,
You should be able to manage your payment options from your account settings (located on the bottom left of dashboard) and then click “Payment Source”. This should let you set the card you want to use. If you’re still having trouble, email [email protected]
Hi Wendy, this post is spot on. It truly doesn’t make any sense how the BBB could give a B rating to Wealthy Affiliate with only 3 complaints. As far as the premium membership goes, there is always a financial investment when starting a business and I feel like it’s a small price to pay for the value that WA provides. I became a premium member after only one week of the free membership and the community is awesome. This is a business that I decided to start with ZERO knowledge of the industry and the training and support from the members has been great. Great review, thanks!
I have spent a lot of money on on-line marketing schemes and have failed to recover anything because of my igorance. Now I would like to join wealth affiliate under you. Please hook with me
Yeah absolutely you can sign up with any link here on my site if you want me to be your referrer! 🙂
Awesome review! Very thorough and serious. So much so that I’ve decided to try Wealthy Affiliate. (BTW, I think it should read ‘privilege’, not ‘privelage’).
Thanks!
Awesome post! It really puts a lot of the complaints to rest. Although I’m new to WA myself (going on 3 weeks), I think these complaints apply to a lot of scammy sites in general and WA is NOT one of those.
I’m thinking of going yearly by next month. Really looking forward to reaping success from this!
-Wing
Great Wing! Yearly is a great deal if you are planning on staying longer than a few months. Good luck in your endeavors!
I love your motivation for creating this site. Getting a typical 9-5 has never been attractive to me either. To know that you have been making it work since 2013 is even more motivation! Thanks for providing a site to help people like me stay away from internet scams and give tutorials as well.
No problem Adrain.. I love to help people find alternatives to a typical job because almost everyone I know either HATES their job, isn’t getting paid enough or is unemployed! It’s really sad.
HI Wendy!
I’ve never seen a Wealthy Affiliate review that highlights the bad things people are saying about them, and then offers rebuttals for each “complaint”. Most of these complaints aren’t even that legit, or it’s someone who hasn’t dove deep enough into WA to unlock it’s full potential. Love it!
~Jason
Thanks Jason!
Wow this is a really in-depth article, enjoyed reading it. Very helpful for people who are maybe thinking of joining Wealthy Affiliate and are unsure or people that simply wish to make some money online. As a WA member myself I can assure people the article is as truthful and accurate as it gets. WA will teach you the ins and outs of making money online through affiliate commissions. Thanks for an interesting article on the subject.
Thank you!I am trying to put it out there as honestly as I can.. appreciate you taking the time to comment!
I am an online reviewer and people are going to complain. I have reviewed some real good training programs but there were still complaints.
As I investigated I found that the people that complained had broken rules repeatedly. As far as the BBB goes that’s nothing more than a pay for a rating scheme.
I have seen reviews on them that reveals the truth. Haters going to hate. I am sure there are some points about WA that are less than good and not everything is for everybody.
How about you tell us something that bothers you about WA?
The problem comes from all the lies online about making money so people are rightfully afraid to trust anybody.
I appreciate you putting the complaints out there and 3 complaints is nothing with the numbers this program does.
Yeah I know, I have seen it too. Haters will hate, lol. Nobody trusts anybody online these days, but at least with WA you can sign up for entirely free.. anybody can see exactly what they are getting so I don’t think they have any right to complain.. if they don’t like it, they don’t have to pay for the service.
Hello Wendy,
I think this post is great in the way you explain details about the way wealthy affiliate works. Is this program for everyone? No, and I say the reason for that is due to the fact that some “wanna be’s” want everything handed to them and to be making tons of money by next weekend.
I like the part where you talk about “having to start out with the bootcamp” . I did not start there because I had a niche I wanted to work with. I then went back and reviewed parts of the bootcamp.
You have done an excellent job on explaining wealthy affiliate and your readers should absolutely take this information and work with it.
Thanks,
Angela
I didn’t start out with bootcamp either (it wasn’t even around when I started WA) and there are plenty of others that go into their own niches.
I think honestly the environment at WA and what it teaches may not be for everyone, not only because some people want everything handed to them and to make money fast (which may be true for a lot of people) but rather, not everyone is the same, learns the same, or wants the same things. WA is a great approach but it isn’t the only way, and some people simply aren’t interested in it and prefer alternatives. To each their own, but to complain and say it’s some type of scam is just not true.
Anyway, thank you Angela for dropping by!
Hey Wendy,
I’ve always been liking your site for all your posts. It’s beneficial for everyone out there.
I do see some of the complaints LIVE in front of me when i was chatting in the live chat. As you were saying, most of them did complain on whatever you’re stated in your article. They just don’t understand and they just want a PERFECT program to help them earn as much money as possible. So far there is ONLY one type of Perfect program and that is SCAM. That not only earn money in their pocket and people who believe in it is losing chunk of money through it.
I’m glad that i found WA and continue to improve myself. Through Wealthy Affiliate, I realized that I have to work hard and focus enough to earn a living with online marketing.
Thank you for such a great review.
Mike
Aw thanks Mike! It’s good to hear you are benefiting from WA! Thank you for taking the time to drop by and comment 🙂
Excellent post there! I love how you posted the top wealthy affiliate complaints and pretty much debunked all of them. I really do love WA and you just can’t wrong with it. WA is not 100% perfect, but then what is? I’m glad I’ve joined WA 2 years ago. I’m not making much money yet, but I’ve learned a lot and will definitely keep pressing ahead no matter the challenges that come up.
Yeah nothing is 100% perfect, you’re going to get complaints no matter what. I think you really get out of it what you put into it. Thanks for commenting, Brian. 🙂
Hi Wendy, I loved your post. I always thought the BBB was a good place to find reliable information about a site. Apparently this is not quite right. I have not seen or heard more than a couple of complaints about WA. Compared with a lot of other places it does have much criticism at all. Don’t you think that we are responsible for our own success or failure here at WA? Keep to the rules, follow their instructions and keep at it is my recipe for success but many don’t think this way. Many want instant gratification with little of no work and that just isn’t how it works. That is why so many people for for the scams out there.
Hi Wendy, I loved your post. I always thought the BBB was a good place to find reliable information about a site. Apparently this is not quite right. I have not seen or heard more than a couple of complaints about WA. Compared with a lot of other places it does have much criticism at all. Don’t you think that we are responsible for our own success or failure here at WA? Keep to the rules, follow their instructions and keep at it is my recipe for success but many don’t think this way. Many want instant gratification with little of no work and that just isn’t how it works. That is why so many people for for the scams out there.
Hi Wendy,
I have read thousands of Wealthy Affiliate reviews, especially prior joining. Yours is one of the best I’ve seen, it has a unique point. I must admit I had my doughts, too when I started. Now, almost two years later I continue to be a paying member. I believe that f it wasn’t for Wealthy Affiliate, I wouldn’t be that consistent with my online business efforts.
Thank you for this article,
Daniela
Thanks Daniela, while this isn’t my official review on the program, I felt it was necessary to address the complaints I had been recieving. I know WA helps a lot of people who are struggling!
Great article and I was not even aware that there were people who had so many doubts about it. Personally, I love wealthy affiliate and I feel like I have been around the internet marketing scene for quite a while, yet I have never learned more anywhere else than what I have learned in this community. I agree with all your points. The help really is fantastic and there has not been any question I have asked that is unanswered. Once more I usually get an answer to a question I ask within 30 minutes of posting it. Most ‘help desks’ would take a lot longer than this. I am continually overwhelmed with how willing people are to help out here.
Great post. In my opinion, the people that are complaining are the lazy people who don’t want to do the work or don’t want to pay at all. Wealthy Affiliate is the only place I have found where you can get pretty far in building a business online without paying a cent. Of course if you want more help and training, you can’t continue getting it free. It just isn’t the way the world works. But great points on your post.
Thanks,
Sofia
Yeah there is an incredible amount offered to free members but the premium membership is the way to go in my opinion. If you want to be provided with quality education, tools and services you’re going to have to invest somewhere, and if you’re a total beginner it is a hard place to beat.
Thanks for this important and helpful information.
I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate now for around 18 months and to be honest I have never had a complaint.
I was not aware of this information you mention though so I enjoyed going through it.
With all the different programs out there offering money making opportunities, I would still choose Wealthy Affiliate over all the others, despite the areas of peoples concerns mentioned here.
Thanks 🙂
Chris
Thank you for offering your insight Chris!
Hi Wendy! Your post was very thorough. I suspect that the main people who complain either aren’t trying hard enough or are just looking for a get rich quick solution. When they don’t find that on the WA site, they just want to assume that it doesn’t work but in reality they just don’t want to put in the work. You get what you put into it. Money doesn’t just come to you.
Very true, WA is no magic bullet. It takes effort and hard work to get ahead.
People are all so different, with different learning styles, backgrounds, skill sets, and prior experience. There’s no way that one training community could please everyone. Personally, I’m a woman in my early thirties who has worked a retail job for far too long and I joined Wealthy Affiliate a little over a month ago to try to improve my situation. I’ve always wanted to work for myself, but simply don’t possess the knowledge to do so successfully. A lot of it probably has to do with a lack of self confidence, as well.
So I just wanted to point out that one of the things that has been the biggest help to me at WA so far is the welcoming atmosphere, the encouragement from the owners and from other members, and just having the support that I can access at any time, even the middle of the night. I’m still not all the way through the initial training, but I’ve got a website up with quite a bit of content and that’s more than I ever thought I would be able to accomplish. (I’m not so computer savvy.)
I would not have gotten this far without a structured training like they have at WA, and without such a multitude of people constantly encouraging me. In a previous comment I noticed someone referred to the owners as cold? That is a bizarre statement, as I have found the case to be the exact opposite.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience so far, and to say that I feel confident continuing forward, and more hopeful than I have in years.
Yeah you completely hit the nail on the head. I think WA is awesome, but is it for everybody? Nope. The structured training and support is designed to help most people, but some people out there may not fit into that style of learning or appreciate or benefit from the help given. This is why the ability to join for free is so beneficial because it gives people the opportunity to know if it is the right program for them before they put any money into it.
I am not sure what happened to that person to make them believe the owners are cold and heartless, but I know I have found the opposite to be true as well.
Thanks again Emily for sharing your experience!
Hi Wendy,
I’ve been a member of Wealthy Affiliate for a similar amount of time to you (possibly slightly longer) and I think it is a great tool and training program!
I’ve had a couple of the complaints you’ve had myself although they are very few and far between, I think most of the complaints stem from people looking for a “get rich quick” type of program which Wealthy Affiliate certainly isn’t!
Yeah the complaints are pretty few and far between, but they still exist. I have worked with many people and it’s extremely rare to have someone complain, but unfortunately you can never please everyone and there will always be issues no matter what.
Hi Wendy, I agree with one point you make especially about feeling the pressure to choose a niche so quickly! I think they mean ‘don’t overthink it’
But it is impossible not to. To find a subject that you are equally interested in, that there is enough to blog about, as well as some ways to insert affiliate links, takes a little bit of time to weigh all your options!
It is a lot easier to write about something that is close to your heart for sure.
Great article.
I joined Wealthy Affiliate a month ago and I dare all the naysayers to give it a go!
Thanks, Kris
Yeah choosing a niche is definitely something that needs thought. It completely overwhelmed me in the beginning!
Very nice wendy! It’s reviews like these that people need to see, with today’s huge internet market everybody wants a bite from the big cake and many scammy or fishy schemes emerge daily. The review you have written is very informative and objective, and WA is truely such a safe and good program to promote, and safety and honesty is really key to succeeding online and getting noticed. Good job, page well written. Keep the objectivity up.
I found your Wealthy Affiliate Complaints Review very interesting! I have noticed that facebook doesn’tlike our links although I post there regularly. I figured something happened once upon a time. I am a Wealthy Affiliate Bootcamp member and I have 2 websites. One of which I advertise for WA. I know it’s a legit company. There are a lot of haters out there. Empower network should not even be allowed to do business!
Thank you,
Edward Mijarez
Facebook and other platforms don’t like direct advertising and I think too many people tried using Facebook and other social platforms to advertise with their direct affiliate links over the years. People were just spamming, so there were probably many complaints. This is one of the reasons why it’s good to have your own website to do business.
It’s crazy for me to even fathom that people complain about a quality service like Wealthy Affiliate, but of course it happens. It’s impossible to run a business without ever receiving one complaint.
Honestly though, how can people complain when they offer a FREE starter membership – everyone has the opportunity to “try before they buy”. If they don’t think it’s a good fit, they can move on, and if it is, they can either continue as a free member for as long as they’d like, or go premium.
Do you know of any other online business building service that can even come close to Wealthy Affiliate in terms of quality training, tools, and support?
Wendy, thanks for your insight on the BBB. The information you presented about corruption and the cost to use their service is news to me. Thanks to you, I will be digging a bit deeper.
I have to be honest with you, I spent a lot of time going through your reviews. I must say that you are serious about responding to all the comments and I do appreciate your transparency.
Truth be told Wendy, I am a newbie at WA, but I can still appreciate, without bias and favor, your fine-tooth comb approach to debunk the existing myths and the fact that you could also state that WA is not perfect, is an indication that your words can be trusted.
“6 Ways to Make Money With a Website in 2016,” was my favorite blog post that you did and I am sure you can appreciate my interest in this training synopsis.
Thanks Wendy.
Awesome website Wendy. I like the way you addressed the issues that people have with wealthy affiliate. People will always have something negative to say, but as far as i’m concerned, wealthy affiliate is very fair and great for new starters who don’t want to my taken advantage of. Good job Wendy, best of luck.
Great post! And interesting, read. I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate and was not aware of these “problems” others have experienced as I had not experienced them myself.
I wanted to take the time to say that I’ve never been pressured into doing the Bootcamp training to promote Wealthy Affiliate. If that was their premise I would have never become a member. I built a website called, Internal Serenity.
If you checked out my website you’d see that WA helped me build a website that helps other people settle their overactive minds.
Yeah unfortunately no matter how great a service may be, you can’t please everyone. Thanks for sharing your experience Amberlee 🙂
Nice info. I am looking at WA and will join soon. I am very slow at learning “tech” stuff. Once I feel comfortable with lessons 1-10, and I know them I will join. I have my niche but want to fully understand the boot camp part of the training. I am very excited about the training aspect:):):) as I am a newbie. Again, Thanks
Sounds like a plan David. It’s great you can go through the training and get stuff figured out before you decide to invest money into it.I think it helps people really see what they are getting and weed out the people that aren’t going to be satisfied with the type of training and community WA has to offer.
The problem with most sites of this type is that the reviews get cherrypicked to fit in with what the blog’s author wants to hear. If it’s not what the blog’s author wants to hear it gets screened out.
I found that Wealthy Affiliate has extremely good training programs. But there are also very real problems. When I created domain-specific email addresses over there I discovered that it could only receive emails. I could not successfully send or reply to emails. I’m very surprised that the technical staff over there could not correctly identify the problem.
Before coming to Wealthy Affiliate I already had 2 unprofitable commercial websites at Inmotion Hosting. Inmotion Hosting has a training tape that specifically told me what the problem was with my email boxes at Wealthy Affiliate. Large numbers of internet service providers are blacklisting port 25 in the belief that this will reduce their exposure to malicious emails containing malware.
Wealthy Affiliate uses port 25. Inmotion Hosting uses a different port. When I created email boxes over there, no problem sending emails. I’m having a lot of problems getting locked out of my website at Wealthy Affiliate. I never had such terrible problems with that at Inmotion Hosting. Wealthy Affiliate uses an unconventional system for logging into your WordPress site. When the system doesn’t work as designed you get locked out.
Well I approve any comment as long as it’s genuine, I’m not scared of negative feedback. I’m sorry you’re having so many issues with WA. I have never had any issues getting locked out of my account and you actually can access your website externally from WA at the /wp-admin page – that is what I always do. I never login to my websites from their system because it is complicated.
The website email may be a different story, I know there are lots of problems going on with domain specific email in general these days, and it isn’t exclusive to WA. I have another site hosted elsewere (at an extremely good company) and I have problems with their email system as well. But that aside, I still believe it is hands down the best training and community platform for building an online business.
I have found the CEOs at WA to be cold, mercenary and unavailable. The bookkeeping is shady and the money may not be funny but WA is chiefly designed for already successful people who want to become even more successful. The fact is that professional web design and professional SEO mastery takes time and knowledge and it isn’t particularly offered at WA. They also incur huge costs. No index of all the instruction….exists. Sometimes a student hasn’t quite formulated their questions but without an existing written index at WA we have to learn in a slower more haphazard way. That earns more money from members because they are stranded in their progress. If you quit you will immediately lose access to your edit site and soon after, the read-only copy, contrary to CEO pledges. I never much knew about transferring addresses so I never got that down correctly after trying to change hosts. So I lost the site, and paid almost $400 for some basic training, but nothing I couldn’t have obtained for less or from reading a lot. The information is out there for building sites, but most poor people don’t have winning sites making money. The plan depends on most people failing therefore staying longer as if more time would equal site-success. Service oriented sites are not encouraged, but reselling WA is highly pushed, and most people are trying to do it. They owed me time on my plan but stole that back when I tried to log back in after quitting. I was patronized by the elitist types when I struggled with any phase of dealing with my site or WA. No statistics exist to the success-rate of this “university”. Language is used by the CEO’s in peculiar ways. WA is the furthest thing from a “University” as Burger King University. I was the truth early on and tried to quit twice before finally quitting. Good thing I was on the monthly because NO refunds, pro rated or otherwise, are offered. No phone number exists. The BBB rating might have changed but still don’t look right. All prior reports I have lodged on other sites, are gone.
A few things I want to point out –
The owners of WA are some of the nicest, but helpful guys you will meet within the industry. I’ve met them both in person and the passion they have for the WA platform and helping their customers is very evident. Their work load is obviously demanding but they stay active within the community and are continuously helping people on a daily basis.
Wealthy Affiliate isn’t specifically designed for successful people, it’s actually quite the opposite. Their training is designed for even the most inexperienced individuals to learn affiliate marketing. I started their as a total newbie with no knowledge and am now doing this full time.
You don’t need a mastery of web design to be sucessful online. They teach you how to create a blog using WordPress, and there’s tons of training included within the community specifically for WordPress. As for SEO mastery, they teach you everything you need to know. There isn’t a huge secret behind SEO and that is one of the main points the training at WA tries to make.
There is an index of the entire step by step training platform, both for the Entrepenuer Cert. and the Bootcamp courses. In addition, there’s an incredibley useful search feature within WA you can use to locate anything you are looking for – whether it’s in their main training, member added training, a blog or one of their classrooms.
You have 30 days to move your website to another hosting source after you cancel your membership, you can always contact Kyle at [email protected] if you have issues with accessing your website or moving it elsewhere.
Reselling WA isn’t highly pressured at all, in fact they actually encourage you to go with a passion niche or whatever will interest you the most. They may suggest to newbies who absolutely can’t think of anything else to follow bootcamp just to get them started, but that is only so they don’t immediately give up because they can’t think of something (like I initally ended up doing!) But no, there is NO pressure to promote WA at all.
They will offer refunds in cases when it’s necessary.
To sum this up, I’ve referred a lot of people to WA and I’ve never really heard these complaints come from anybody else. Everyone may have a different experience, and it may be harder for some than others to get started depending on their level of experience with computers. But at the end of the day it just comes down to deciding if it’s the right place for you or not, because it definitely isn’t the place for everyone.
I must admit that WA is not a perfect choice for everyone. Wealthy Affiliate teaches people how to build a business, how to expand a business and take it to the next level. So in one word it teaches you Marketing. If you aren’t willing to learn and to take action then the whole concept of making money online isn’t for you. But where I found that it fell down were the tools that you had access to and I eventually found another training system that gave me all that WA did but with much better tools but even saying that I think that the training is very good.
What is this other training system Mr harper? U seem to have forgotten to mention it, does it exist
Mr. Harper, it’s been it’s been 5 months, and we have been waiting for the ‘other training system’. No pressure, but, could you tells us if we should wait any longer or can you just send a notice that there is no ‘other training system’. Thanks and no hard feelings.
I’m not sure Mr. Harper is coming back Richard, and I do not know what program he is talking about. Have you tried signing up for the free version of WA? It is worth it to at least take a look around, I think. 🙂
Wendy, This is the best article I have seen on WA. Seriously Wicked. Tell Kyle and Carson I say HELLO. I mean that.. It might take a second but they will remember me. I have been a premium member a few times. But have bounce back and forth through other projects and well just let my membership lapse. Ok Back to your 100% view and Awesome article. You could not of said it any better and honestly if I did not know any better I would say Kyle wrought this HA ha .. Now Keep doing what your doing I love your writing style. Cheers Dave Dyer. P.S. I still get notifications from WA of new followers so look me up I am still there but not active which seems kind of strange. I put it to they have a wicked database and just leave you on and hope you return one day to your account that is intact. OK Cheers again and Good Luck to you and your career online.. Dave
Thanks Dave! Haha, nope Kyle had nothing to do with this lol. I’ll definitely look you up in WA! 🙂
Hey Wendy,
The best article I’ve come across. There is no such thing as a perfect site, however it doesn’t mean it’s a scam. Thanks for putting this out there. All the best to you Wendy. Evelyn
Great article Wendy, and I agree with you 100%.
Not much in this life is perfect, but WA gets pretty close.
Thanks Mike!
Outstanding article Wendy!
Might I add that actually the boot camp is pretty much discouraged for complete newbies, as it takes a bit of knowledge to really keep up and excel in the camp.
Also, and this is my opinion, anytime you can pop into a chat room and be able to talk to the owners daily, and on top of that get advice and help from members who are making 15 K a month plus, and that is an off the top of my head number, some make way more, some less, you can not go wrong.
Thanks for writing this article about an awesome place.
Shawn>>
Thanks Shawn. Yeah, most established members will discourage newbies from Bootcamp, but Kyle and Carson actually encourage newbies to go into the training if they can’t think of another niche (apparently even if they can’t think of one after just 15 minutes!) But I think their reasoning is otherwise they may not do anything at all, and it’s better to start the training than do nothing. They can always change the niche later down the road. However in some cases I think people need to treat it more just like a training site, then move on to another niche when they are able to think of something else.
I am very new to WA and really like it so far. I think what the ’15 minute niche’ is implying, I could be wrong, but that your niche should be something you know a lot about. A subject you are well versed in and/or passionate about will come definitely come to you within 15 minutes. Especially if you want to be successful. Giving people the Bootcamp option assures everyone can at least get started. I am getting ready to go all in and get the premium membership.Just trying to workout details about ecommerce, my site needs a store:) Btw, great article!
Yeah i definitely get the whole idea behind the 15 minute niche, but I think the issue is not everyone has a passion that may immediatley jump out for them… I had a really hard time figuring it out personally. But yeah, the bootcamp is a great start for people to at least get rolling and learn the process even if they decide they want to switch to another niche at some point. It’s better than sitting around doing nothing because you can’t think of what to do (like I did for 6 months)!
Glad to hear you’re getting started at WA .. good luck!
Wendy,
What a great read, and wonderful job with your explanations of each point.
# 1 I must commend you on your research, I have always looked at the BBB, as a friendly little legal extortionist kinda deal, but they do carry some clout..Great job setting the record straight!
# 4, I had 20+ years of working PC’s & Networks with a little NET & IT College thrown in and it has been nothing but a legitimate pleasure being a member. You are spot on describing the learning structure & the Search Feature..
#6 Wendy you said it all, try to find 7 days Free anywhere else that has what WA has to offer?
Use the Free time wisely, it costs you nothing to decide is this right for you or not? Personally, I was never pressured once!
Lastly, with regard to #7 concerning a lack of help. I am truly baffled by that one. Wendy, great job showing the process step by step, it never fails? I understand many are conditioned to an instant gratification world, but to build legitimate success online, like most anywhere is a slow steady process, if you want instant riches keep playing the Lotto!
Wendy, thanks again for shining the light where it belongs!
Gary
Thanks for the response Gary. Yeah I am as well a bit baffled with the people that claim the help sucks. You may not always get the perfect answer to every single question, but people will try their best to help! Nothing is perfect!
Wendy, you did a very thorough post here and I can definitely back you up on your work. I have been a member of WA since last October and it has been a huge positive in my life. Your points here are all well thought out and I am in agreement with you.
Thank you James! WA has definitely been a huge positive in my life as well. 🙂
Excellent article Wendy, addressing some of the complaints I’ve seen going around. I think a lot of the time people don’t find success, and blame it on the program rather than their own particular flaws. Like you say, WA isn’t for everyone.
Also one of the biggest “Complaint” websites out there is itself a scam full of lies, which doesn’t help keep things on an even keel.
Thanks Dom. 🙂 Hah, ain’t that the truth!
Great job on this post Wendy! I recently published a similar article on this subject (not nearly as thorough as yours!) I noticed someone bought a domain dedicated to Wealthy Affiliate complaints and I tore it apart point by point. The funny thing was, the formatting and the quality of the article was such that I could tell, the owner probably didn’t even go through the training.
As far as the BBB complaints go, when are people going to wise up to the fact that it’s a “pay to play” system that is as corrupt as the day is long?
Steve
Thanks Steve! Yeah, I have seen the Wealthy Affiliate complaints website you are referring to. It’s funny that the author spends so much time ranting about how all these people having their write access taken away for absolutely no reason and makes it seem like it’s happening left and right to anyone and everyone.. but in the 2 years I’ve been there, I have never met anyone who has had that problem. They revoke writing privelages for a reason, and the people are warned ahead of time!
Unfortunately so many people put blind faith with the BBB even after they pull crap like this… hopefully someday the public will wise up!