Wealthy Affiliate (WA) is one of the oldest training platforms out there today. They’ve been around since 2005 which makes them over 14 years old at the time of this writing.

During this time they have continually added new features and improved on older ones. Today it is what I, and many others, would consider the most complete end-to-end platform in the world.

So, how does Wealthy Affiliate really work? Let’s take a look from the inside see what makes them tick.

What Happens When You Sign Up?

Unlike other training platforms where you have to shell out cash upfront, with WA you can sign up as a free member, no credit card required. Pretty cool, right! You get access to many of the platform’s features, one on one communication with the owners, and a full 7 days to try out some of the premium features. If you sign up for premium in the first 7 days you get your first month for just $19!

As a free member with there are no high-pressure sales gimmicks either. Which is refreshing, to say the least.

Why WA?

You can remain a free member as long as you like, with limited access to the platform, however, your first-month discount is only good for the first 7 days. You can even keep your free website for up to 6 months while you learn.

There aren’t many places where you can sign up for free and test drive the platform. Most training programs require upfront payment with an average refund limit of 30 days.

The Core Components – A Success Platform

WA contains all the basic tools you’ll need to get started in Affiliate Marketing. With most other training platforms you get eBooks and Videos, maybe a user forum if you’re lucky. Not at WA, you get it all. There is no need to purchase additional tools or training elsewhere.

If you’re just starting out, you have everything you need. Only when the time comes should you consider other tools. This will primarily be things like autoresponder services like Aweber or PPC campaigns. However, these things are down the road after you’ve started making money with free traffic.

With WA, as a premium member you get all the following core features:

• Online Entrepreneur Training: Covers everything you need, step-by-step, to build an affiliate business around any niche of your choice. This includes getting free traffic, PPC, social marketing, and much more.
• Affiliate Bootcamp Training: For those who are interested in promoting WA (a very lucrative option). This detailed training takes you through the process of building an affiliate business in the make money online (MMO) niche. Nothing is left out.
• Training Classrooms that cover everything from Creating Content to WordPress.
• Website Hosting for 10 websites, free or your own. An incredible value!
• Website Builder allows you to create a website with a push of a button, literally.
• WA’s own content publishing platform, complete with spell and grammar check.
• Weekly Live Webinars covering all the latest topics around Affiliate Marketing.
• Jaaxy – Keyword Research and Niche Research tool.
• Live Chat
• Ability to receive comments and feedback on your websites from other WA members.
• Your very own WA Blog which indexed high in search engine rankings.
• Access to the Community. Over 2 million like-minded members you can network with and learn from.
• WA’s Site Support. Site support is there 24/7 to help you with any technical issues you may have. A very responsive, top-notch, support team.

While WA provides you with everything you need to become successful at your own online business, it is more than just the sum of its parts.

The platform consists of over 2 million members. Real people from all walks of life, with a common goal. Through being an active member at WA you will learn more and open yourself up to possibilities you never knew existed.

WA is a vehicle of change and transformation. When you sign up as a premium member you have a basic goal, to build an online business. However, you will soon learn that it’s more than that. It’s about transforming into a better and more successful version of yourself.

How Does Wealthy Affiliate Really Work?

How Wealthy Affiliate Is Designed To Work

Now that you’ve seen everything that WA includes, let’s talk about how things really work once you’re inside as a premium member.

There are two paths you can follow in WA. You’ll start your training out with either Online Entrepreneur Training (OEC) or the Wealthy Affiliate Bootcamp. You can do both, but you should complete them one at a time. Most members choose one or the other depending on the direction they want to go with their business.

Each training path starts off at the beginning as though you have no experience in affiliate marketing. So you learn from the ground up and build a solid foundation for your business.

Whichever path you choose, you should take it step by step. Follow the training without skipping steps. I’ve seen people skip through training like thumbing through a book and in almost all cases it doesn’t work. You end up missing critical pieces and starting over.

You will learn how to use all the various tools and pieces that make up WA in the process of going through the training. So don’t rush, it will all come together at the right time.

Using The Other Tools That Make Up Wealthy Affiliate

While you’re on your primary training path there are other facets of the platform that you should begin using in parallel with your training.

These include things like daily interaction with other users, weekly live webinars (assuming you’re not jumping ahead), helping or getting help through live chat, and additional learning. Just be sure you don’t get too caught up in the social aspect of things. You need to set aside time for the social aspect so you have ample time for training and working on your website(s).

The Community

The community at WA is awesome. Some of the brightest, most caring, and thoughtful people I have ever known are at WA. Everyone is open to helping one another which is unique in itself.

Since WA does not allow sales promotions within the platform, you are NOT being constantly bombarded with messages about other member’s products and services. It’s simply not allowed. This allows for focused learning and individual growth.

If I had to pick one single thing that stands out about WA, it’s the community.

You are able to interact with other members through many channels.

These include:

• Sharing your journey through your blog.
• Asking questions to the community as a whole.
• Private message other members. Similar to private email.
• Answer questions from other members.
• Comment on other members blogs and questions.
• Build your own personal network within WA.

You can also use the Site Comments and Feedback section to build comments on your website and also get private feedback on your websites.

Being able to associate with other like-minded people is a critical component of the WA platform. Why is that? Because others outside WA who are unfamiliar with making money online will only see you sitting at your computer typing articles, etc. thinking you are wasting your time.

Until your family and friends start seeing the results of your hard work, they are not likely to be encouraging and understanding of what you are doing. I went through this and many of my online friends have too. So it’s important that you have a support system of other like-minded people. People that you can share with and hold each other accountable.

Success Stories

We all like to hear the success stories. Well, assuming it’s legit and not one of those one-offs, “this is not typical” kind of stuff.

WA encourages members to share their success stories within the platform. In fact, when you post to your blog, you have the option of flagging it as a success post. When you do this, other members will be able to see your success story within the Dashboard.

I think it’s important for people to do this because gives others encouragement and inspiration. After all, we are in this for the long haul. Success doesn’t come overnight, it’s the result of learning and applying what you learn consistently.

Here’s a sample of some of the success stories you’ll find inside WA.

As you can see, success comes in all shapes and sizes, and you’ll have many of them. Some small, some large, some HUGE. Getting your site indexed is a success story as is making your first affiliate dollar.

How does Wealthy Affiliate really work? Imagine posting your own success story having had your first $100 day, or $2,000 month… You know what I’m talking about!

Wrapping Up

We’ve covered the core aspects of Wealthy Affiliate and how things really work on the inside. Although this article is not intended to be a review, I’ve tried to give a feel for everything you’ll find inside and answer the question, how does Wealthy Affiliate really work?

I invite you to experience it for yourself. Sign up for a free account and see how things really work for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.