I decided to write this post in response to a lot of reviews stating Wealthy Affiliate University is a Scam. You may have come across a lot of opinions by marketers reviewing Wealthy Affiliate stating all kinds of things from a rip-off to writing fake reviews.
So is Wealthy Affiliate University a Scam? This is what I will answer here and try to clarify a few urban legends about Wealthy Affiliate (WA).
Wealthy Affiliate University is an online training education program that teaches you how to make money online. It was first conceived back in 2005 by two Canadian Entrepreneurs, Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim.
At that time wealthy affiliate was basically a keyword membership that offered high value keywords for PPC or pay-per-click campaigns. This concept eventually evolved into a membership website where Kyle and Carson teach people how to be successful online.
Over the past 13+ years Wealthy Affiliate has blossomed into an all-inclusive community that provides you with the most complete and up to date education and training. Along with resources and 24/4 support that is probably the best in the world that I have come across.
I have gone through a lot of systems on how to make money on the internet and I have not observed anything come near as close to WA, that teaches you regardless of your experience on how to build a profitable online business based on your interests and passions. This is done by using affiliate marketing as the business model to generate revenue on autopilot.
Is Wealthy Affiliate University A Scam?
So with what I have said above, I can say with all honesty that Wealthy Affiliate University is definitely NOT a Scam! I have been with Wealthy Affiliate since 2013. During this time I have built many niche websites about different topics of interest. Thanks to the training inside WA I have been able to generate income streams online.
Here is my profile inside WA which shows I have been a member since 2013.
However, if you have being doing your research and wanting to find out what WA is about then most likely you will have come across some very negative reviews by bloggers on the internet about Wealthy Affiliate being a flat-out scam and a rip-off.
This is not just individual bloggers like Ethan Vanderbuilt who gave an a very misinformed review but also large companies like “Solo Build It” and “MOBE (My Online Business Education)”.
These guys like MOBE have tried to rip WA apart. I say “try” because the ruthless MOBE has since been shut down by the FTC for being a scam and a complete fraud.
In December 2015, MOBE sued Wealthy Affiliate for defamation over Kyle’s article called (“Another Obvious Scam“). To cut a long story short, MOBE were trying to stop Kyle from exposing the truth about MOBE and muzzle free speech. Its hilarious really since Kyle’s article has since proven to be right about MOBE!
As mentioned, the FTC shutdown MOBE’s entire operations in June 2018, for being a fraudulent scheme and taking $125 MILLION from unsuspecting customers who were simply looking how to use the internet to make an additional income online. Instead people lost THOUSANDS of dollars into this sickening scam.
Since the FTC’s ruling (and no thanks to the Canadian legal system) the suing of Wealthy Affiliate by MOBE has since been thrown out or dismissed.
Wealthy Affiliate has been awarded legal damages in compensation.
Half of this compensation Wealthy Affiliate decided to give to MOBE customers whom have lost their money.
Wow! I think this goes to show what sincere and incredible entrepreneurs Kyle and Carson are in protecting the innocent and protecting bloggers rights to tell the truth.
As for bullies like MOBE, for sure, fate does not pass without showing its sense of irony!
However, I really hope the customers (victims) of MOBE can get their money back. I will go into detail in another article about the lawsuit with WA and MOBE. It is been concluded that the lawsuit against WA should have never been allowed to happen since MOBE was acting unlawfully.
You can read more of this from Kyle about the lawsuit. It is a very detailed and astonishing read.
Does WA Promote Fake Reviews?
One of the negative dark things that have been said is that Wealthy Affiliate’ training encourages its affiliates to write fake reviews with the aim to direct people back to Wealthy Affiliate by labelling the other product as a scam. As a result visitors will be misled into signing up to WA based on propaganda information. Lets get this straight and start living in the real world. This is absolutely not true!
For starters, the majority of WA members do not promote Wealthy Affiliate but work on their own niches that they are passionate about. Second, if someone who compares WA with another product and highlights the problems of the product and where Wealthy Affiliate excels then that is perfectly legitimate. I will be discussing this in a moment about fake reviews.
What the Wealthy Affiliate program teaches you to do is the following:
- Find a niche,
- Find an affiliate program,
- Build a website,
- Drive traffic,
- And then promote and monetise that blog.
So what they are teaching you is to drive millions of people to your website. If you think about it, mastering the ability to drive that amount of people to your blog is an extremely powerful gift that needs to be used wisely. It is a powerful weapon that can be used for good or ill.
Knowledge is power but knowledge is not good or bad it is how you use it. This is very true in the internet affiliate marketing world since were there is people there is money to be made. That my friends is a very powerful weapon.
I came across the following quote by Robert Kiyosaki:
“Money only magnifies who you really are.
If you are a happy person, more money will make you happier.
If you are an unhappy person, more money will make you miserable.”
What he is saying is, money does not change you, it just makes more of who you are.
But what about the LOVE of Money? Well we really all love it. I do. Don’t you? This can be an even more a powerful and dangerous weapon, because lets face it people will do almost anything to make money.
Conscience Living
There are only a few people whom have honest intentions when they have the skills to drive traffic (people) to a website. What I am talking about here in this last sentence is the power to influence people so they buy in the way you would want them to.
This sounds like manipulation doesn’t it? But the truth is well all do it! Everyone does. Every single website out there does this in some shape and form. Even those with very spiritual minded principles.
If you look at what goes on out there, from billboards, newspapers, advertising (commercials on TV), and what is promoted magazines. They all do this.
In fact it is even worse when you consider all the hidden subliminal messages that are embedded in TV and magazine advertising to subconsciously influence the prospect.
Affiliate Marketing on the internet is simply Advertising. However, the way that Wealthy Affiliate program teaches it is a legitimate and honest way to advertise or promote.
The ability to drive traffic (people) to a website is something that even legitimate programs will charge as much as $5,000 – $10,000 or higher. Just to teach you the ability to drive traffic from one website to another.
I am not saying such programs should not charge that amount. After all if a program works then it works and if your knowledge is valuable then why not?
The difference is that Wealthy Affiliate will teach you the SAME powerful and valuable knowledge for only $19 in the first month. This makes the competitors to WA very unhappy.
This cost is something that has not change in over a decade. Plus unlike most dis-honest campaigns and scams out there Wealthy Affiliate does not have hidden expensive upsells on the back end of the initial purchase. Plus all their training is updated regularly. As you know in the internet marketing world things change from day to day.
Scams Online, The Evil Upsell
You can tell a scam right off in the make money online world. You will notice the online business opportunity has a very low price ticket (like $7 – $27) on the initial front end purchase, with a ton of expensive upsells on the back end. You eventually realise that the initial purchase is next to useless even though is was promoted to a solution to making an income online but really it was just all hype.
To your disappointment you realise that in order for the initial purchase to work you need all the additional expensive upsells – sometimes they are called One-Time-Offer (OTO). I have seen upsells with these scams in the range of $5000 – $15,000 or more. Before you know it, what you thought only costed $17 is know about $5,000 or higher on your credit card.
The founders of Wealthy Affiliate (Kyle and Carson) have made one of their principles to NOT promote any upselling with WA. This means that if you decided to sign up as a premium member then you pay $19 initially and then $49 each month until you cancel the membership and that is it.
Since the 5 years I have been with Wealthy Affiliate not once have I had to acquire any additional programs on the back end or been pitched in any way. Also every Friday night they hold a Webinar on different topics to help in your business online. All these webinars are recorded so you can refer to them later if desired.
Again not once have I been pitched at the end of these recordings about buying a product. I am sure some of you have been in many programs where they hold webinars only to promote their next “great” opportunity at the end.
WA Las Vegas Conference
The founders of Wealthy Affiliate also hold an annual conference in Las Vegas of Wealthy Affiliate. If you decide to promote WA and make 300 sales in the year or become a “Super Affiliate”, they will fly you out to Las Vegas all expenses paid.
Again I am sure you have been in many business programs online where they hold conferences but you need to make your own way there at your own expense – and then when you get there only to be pitched. So Wealthy Affiliate is the complete opposite of all the madness that is going on of late.
Wealthy Affiliate Is Under Attack…
So naturally Wealthy Affiliate is going to make some enemies because they don’t charge enough for the powerful knowledge you are given. The golden nugget of knowledge is learning how to effectively drive targeted traffic to your website, that is a very powerful weapon and even dangerous in the wrong hands.
Dishonest Reviews
So where am I running you with all of this? Well if someone writes a blog post whom does not have the best of intentions at heart. If he is able to get on the first page of Google with writing a biased fake review about the competitor’s product and thus influencing you to go for Wealthy Affiliate. There are two people whom are at fault here.
- First the blogger needs to be held accountable for his actions for writing a dishonest review to manipulate you to buy his product or service.
- Secondly, you also need to take some responsibility, the visitor to the website reading the review and then buying without making an informed decision.
You see if you are not doing your own proper research and thoroughly then it means you are contributing in some way to the scam for just accepting whatever the blogger is stating.
Think For Yourself
A good example of this is buying a appliance for the home. When you buy a new appliance (or any product for that matter), you shop around at different dealers. You will ask questions, you will get independent advice. Perhaps taking a friend who knows the sort of questions you need to ask. Basically you will do a lot of research before parting with your heard earned money.
Why should purchasing something online be any different? The fact is, it should not be any different.
So please make sure you do your RESEARCH before buying anything! Don’t just trust what I say. Don’t just trust what any other blogger is saying.
Make sure you compile plenty of data from different sources and then make a wise, educated and informed decision on your own.
What I have just said will not only help you make the right decision here but will also make the right decision for all aspects of your life.
Question Everything
Mastering the ability to drive 100s of thousands or millions of visitors to your website is certainly a powerful thing. This is the reason why Google has been coming out with all the Google Algorithm updates for the past 10 years. Such as Panda, Penguin and so on.
They do this to try and stop people from taking advantage of others on the internet.
However, the Google’s A.I. algorithms can only do so much. In the end nothing can replace a human’s own judgements on life. So again we come back to where part of the responsibility is down with you. So make sure you do your own research. If an affiliate is writing a biased review in order to sign up to WA, then it is the fault of that blogger and not WA. There is nothing in the training that encourages you to be deceptive to your audience.
How I Got Started
In my experience most WA members do not even promote Wealthy Affiliate. When I first got started, I never promoted WA. As I wanted to see if the product or system works. What is the point recommending something until you know for sure it is not a scam, right?
However, it was more than that. I wanted to offer something that was meaningful for the internet community. I wanted to start something that I am really interested in and passionate about. So I began working on building the following blog using the Wealthy Affiliate training.
This project is based on a certain area of regenerative medicine known as Limb Regeneration Research. It is one of the most proudest projects I have worked on. There is more to do, but the point is I used the training to take an idea and turn it into a revenue stream and something that is based on great purpose and meaning – helping and inspiring others.
Make Revenue From Your Passion
Wealthy Affiliate teaches you how to take any idea or niche, whether it be scientific research, horse riding, eating, swimming or even like feeding the hens each day. Learn to drive traffic to your blog on that subject and generate revenue out of it. And that my friends is an amazing very powerful thing.
So yes, most people do not promote wealthy affiliate but use the training to promote their own idea and what they believe in. In fact Kyle mentions inside the training during the online certification course to find your own niche first.
If you are completely brand new to this whole internet thing, then promoting the ‘make money online’ niche is very competitive. It is only recently that I have started to promote WA after all these years because of all the wealth of knowledge I have acquired. If the Wealthy Affiliate taught me to take really good programs and say they are all scams and go with WA instead then, would that not be shown cross this website and my Youtube channel. As you can see that is totally not the case.
I am continually updating this website with new content and trying to give you plenty of tutorials. So that if you did not go with Wealthy Affiliate then you could leave this website with enough information to get started online for free.
How To Write A Scam Review
In fact recently I wrote up an article about Hostgator and asking the question if it was a scam? I specifically write that even with my unhappy experiences and questioning their ethics, Hostgator is most certainly NOT a scam. Not least many people are happy with it.
I highlighted all the issues that myself and others have had and gave alternatives. I didn’t just promote WA Hosting platform but also Siteground as another option. But in the end people must make up their own minds.
If I was wanting to be really sinister and all for the money, then I would actually promote Hostgator. Why? Because they have a very good and lucrative Affiliate Program promoting their service. It would be very easy for me to write up a ton of ‘wonderful’ fake reviews about Hostgator and be dishonest.
However, I have had issues with Hostgator and if I want to be legit then I not going to promote them. I also want to sleep at night.
Wealthy Affiliate – Legit Way To Online Success
Wealthy Affiliate teaches you how to make money online ethically, legitimately and honestly without scamming others. The best way they do that is by letting you try it out for Free.
If you look at most other programs, a credit or debit card is required up front and if you don’t like it, then you have to figure out how to cancel or get your bank to dispute the charge.
A better way and SAFER option is to try Wealthy Affiliate University for Free. If you like it you can try the system for $19 the first month and then $49 in following months.
Also I will be YOUR Personal Coach and Mentor so you will not be alone.
If you use my link below to Join Wealthy Affiliate you will have me as a guide and mentor to get you started online all for free.
Is Wealthy Affiliate A Scam?
This is what many on the internet are saying but what is their reasons for saying that? What is there real intentions? As I said earlier question everything.
I say this, if you know of a training program outside of WA that provides the following:
- A free Trial Membership where not even a credit card is required.
- A FREE MENTOR to help you get started online and help you decide if you want to continue the paid premium membership or not.
- And above all a community that is wanting you to succeed?
I promote Wealthy Affiliate because I truly believe in it. I think they are the best you are going to find out there. It is the only system that has taught me how to make money online. I have been scammed many times, bought rubbish systems and fallen victim to the shiny object syndrome.
I think WA is the best there is especially for Beginners and will teach you how to avoid getting scammed.
The Wealthy Affiliate University is going to show you the right way to make money online that does not require you to be a scam artist.
The power of what you learn inside for $19 for the first month, is going to far exceed your expectations of the money you will make providing you put the knowledge they teach to good use. Which brings us to a bitter pill that needs to be swallowed…
Sadly Most People Will Fail…
Succeeding with affiliate marketing takes real effort! It takes a lot of time and work.
This means that there will be a lot of people reading this whom will not be successful online. This is where I am coming from in my title on this post about the liberating but painful truth…. You see you are going to give it a try and you are going to fail, for one reason or another.
After a bit of effort you may want to give up specially when you meet some challenges or bumps in the road.
However, if you are willing to do what it takes in time and effort then you will succeed online.
Kyle the co-founder of Wealthy Affiliate stated the following:
“The moment when you are ready to ‘give up’ is the same
moment when someone else is willing to push forward and they
will end up achieving much more success as a result.“
I will be posting another article of three reasons of why people fail online. In this article I wanted to bring to the surface and clear out all the cyber smog about Wealthy Affiliate University and if it is a scam. Putting to bed all the disinformation out there.
I want you to succeed in making money online and so does Kyle and Carson and the whole community inside Wealthy Affiliate.
I have heard of a wonderful line that goes, ‘If you have always done what you have always got, then you will always do what you have always got.’
So if you want to be your own Boss, fire the corporate world and start to change your life be sure to connect with Wealthy Affiliate and myself.
I hope this blog post was helpful to you and feel free to comment below with any questions and opinions. What kind of programs have you been involved with to make money online? Have you been scammed in the past? Share your experiences in the comments below. It is important to share your own story. I am always here to help if you have questions.
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