I quit my job on December 31, 2007 to work from home, have my own business and get the heck out of the rat race! I had a good job – civil service, great pay, outstanding benefits – so it was beyond scary to give it up. Especially since I was divorced, living alone, and solely responsible for supporting myself.
For three years prior, I searched for ways I could work from home. I found all the typical ways to make money online like getting paid to answer surveys, selling an Ebay, Amazon – freelance writing, even shopping for income. Finally I settled on Ebay. I like girl-stuff like makeup, jewelry, handbags and skin care. So that’s what I chose to sell. I’d buy out large inventories of products, then sell the items individually.
It worked.
My Ebay business was successful and supported me for eight years. I have to say I really liked it – it was fun owning my own business, working at home in my pj’s – running my own schedule, being my own boss. I knew early on that I’d never work for anybody again – I’d always have my own business.
Then along came Leo.
I met my husband Leonardo in 2012 and my life changed. Several months after meeting, we moved in together, and eventually got married in 2015. What changed was the fact that for 13 years prior, I had lived alone. That meant it didn’t matter when I worked. My business was such that I could work anytime I wanted, day or night. So, for example, if I wanted to go do my grocery shopping or have lunch with a girlfriend on a Tuesday afternoon, I could do that – then just finish my work later in the evening. But when Leo came along, I found I wanted to be “off” when he was. I wanted not only to be done with work by the time he came home every day, but I began to loathe the fact that I was working on weekends.
My Ebay business was so successful and did such a large volume, that it was necessary for me to do shipping at least six days a week, seven during the holiday season. I wanted weekends off to spend with Leo. Also, taking a vacation when you’re a high-volume Ebay seller is difficult. Since I was a one-woman show, there was no one to do the work and keep my sales/shipping/income flowing if I wanted to go away.
So, suddenly my job wasn’t working for me anymore.
About two years earlier, I had come across the concept of affiliate marketing – where you have a website, you become an affiliate for a company – then you put their advertisements on your website and you get paid a commission every time someone buys something using your website/link. I played around with it a while – did some affiliate marketing training online, but I was unable to be successful at it. I just didn’t know what I was doing.
Finally, in August of 2015, I searched for more affiliate marketing training. I knew that affiliate marketing was the thing that would accomplish all of my requirements as far as what I wanted to do for a living: having my own business, working from home, making money online, having unlimited income potential, setting my own hours, and being able to travel. So I really (really really) wanted to figure out how to do it and actually be successful at it. That’s when I found Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate is a company that TEACHES you how to become a successful affiliate marketer. And what I liked most was the fact that there were so many training classes available for FREE. These guys are smart – they go ahead and give you a ton of training – get you interested and educated and actually seeing fantastic results – before they ask for a dime for their time and effort. I was so impressed by that. They have gone way above and beyond the “try before you buy” concept by really letting people not only get their feet wet – but they let us swim in their pool for months on end, learning all kinds of stuff – for FREE!
I watched training videos for several weeks for free – started my own website for free – learned how to create valuable content, how to add affiliate links to my site, how to find and apply for affiliate programs. All for free. It really was amazing. The training videos were so fun and easy – very simple, step-by-step training. I loved it!
Now I’m an Official Affiliate Marketer
I eventually signed up to be a Premium Member at $47 per month. That is not required, but by that time I knew I’d found my new career and I wanted access to more and more training and wanted to be a full member of the Wealthy Affiliate Community. You get a huge discount if you pay annually, which I decided to go ahead and do just last month (now it works out to less than $25 per month…the question/answer section on the site alone is worth ten times that!)
I have no doubts about this whatsoever. My website is fantastic, and I love working on it. I love the subject I chose to focus on (pets!) – I love the interaction with my visitors. And most of all, I cannot believe that not only do I get to work from home, set my own hours and be my own boss, but I get to do something I love, which is helping animals!
You Can Do It Too!
If there is something – and I mean anything at all – that you really love – chances are you can create a website around it. This can be a part time job or a full time job, whichever you prefer. You can have your very own website, which can be as big and as busy as you like, or as small and easy-to-handle as you like. It’s all up to you.
If you can send an email, you can learn this. It really is fun and easy. Make a list right now – get a piece of paper and a pen – and make a list of your hobbies and interests. I bet by the time you write down less than three things you’ll have the perfect idea for a website!
CLICK HERE to read my review and sign up!
If you’ve ever wanted to have your own business and work from home, this is worth checking into. I’ve been working online for years, and I can tell you, this is top-knotch. Imagine actually liking your job…hey, there’s a concept!!!!
Please comment below to let me know what you think, and feel free to ask me questions…I will respond! And please keep me posted on your progress!
Best of luck and good fortune,
Debra
Hello. Your story sounds so similar to mine. The biggest difference is that I am disabled and have had ‘too much’ time to think about having or creating a successful business. I’ve tried paid-to-click, paid surveys, and website testing–not to mention all of the time and money I wasted on programs that didn’t live up to their promises. Oh, the frustration! I have even tried affiliate marketing, but then didn’t know how to advertise effectively. We all have heard of one of the richest affiliate companies around the world Walmart, so I know the method works. I am glad you’ve found a program that works for you. I will give their program a try. Is there a difference in the level of assistance you receive if you join free?
You can do a ton of training within the free membership. And don’t worry so much about the advertising – they’ll teach you how to get free, “natural” traffic to your website. Please contact me once you’re inside Wealthy Affiliate – my profile name is shermand2268. I’m so excited for you!
Hi Debra, it’s nice to “meet” you! Your story is encouraging. I dabbled in eBay, but never really took a head on approach.
I’ve been interested in affiliate marketing as well for a couple years now but haven’t really been able to grasp the concept. I’m not sure I could build my own website.
Is Wealthy Affiliate something I could do, with no experience? I really need a step by step kind of guide.
I look forward to your response!
I think you should read this article, How to Get Started as an Affiliate Marketer. It covers all your doubts! Don’t be nervous – you can do it! 🙂
“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.” That’s where I’m sitting these days. I stepped out of my stay-at-home mom role in 2012 and started working in the big girl world. I don’t regret returning to the workforce. However, I desperately miss the freedom. I tell myself that I can’t do what I didn’t know about. So, I’m thankful I’ve found what I have found, so I can start today… or rather when I did actually start.
Freedom is priceless. I worked 9 to 5 for 22 years, never knowing there was any other way! I’m so glad I can set my own schedule now. Makes me a much happier woman! 🙂
Debra, thank you for telling us your story. It is sad that you had given up your Ebay business which I am really appreciated. If you ask me, I definitely feel that building up an Ebay or Amazon business is much more harder than building an affiliate-marketing-based business.
I have seen your website and that’s amazing. I am happy with your success.!
I definitely love having my own website. It’s way less work and much more fun than Ebay! 🙂
I actually first came online to work in 2005 and eBay was my first port of call – selling English antique ceramics to American customers ( I made an absolute killing ). But that was before ebay became fashionable and the competition was low – these days any old fool is taking to it there to try and make money (the shipping is also a pain!). Nice to meet you by the way!
I enjoyed doing Ebay a lot, but two things turned me off: one is that yes, the shipping is a pain. I was shipping 6 days a week, 7 days a week during the holiday season. And the second thing was that Ebay used to be “pro sellers.” Now they seem to care only about the buyer’s protection and they give automatic refunds, etc., – the surest way to put even its top rated sellers out of business. It got too frustrating working for a company who didn’t appreciate the nearly $1 million in sales I generated over about 8 years enough to protect me as a seller as well. Wealthy Affiliate is just the opposite – they’ve given me nothing but support every step of the way!
I am looking for a way to make money from home. I’m on a fixed income.
Hi Brian,
Go to this link – it will tell you how I learned. Sign up for the Free Starter Account and you’ll get more than 50 free training classes. Keep me posted on your progress! Debra
http://workathomeonlineforfree.com/how-to-work-at-home-online
Hello Debra,
I love your videos and have joined Wealthy Affiliate, but have gone beyond my allowed time where as a starter I can contact my personal coach. I would like some advice are you able to help?
I am in the process of building my site, whilst trying to be daddy day care to my kids who have been home schooling.
I would like to communicate with you by email. I know this is possibly a lot to ask.
Thank you
Peter Robinson
Hello Peter, and congratulations on starting your training! Yes, you can contact me directly with any questions in my profile at Wealthy Affiliate here: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/shermand2268. I’m happy to help! Debra
Hi Deb, Pahrin here again, I sign up with Wealthy Affiliate in the late 2016/early 2017 and did not have a clue what I was doing, could not figure out what my nitch should be. didn’t really understand what a nitch really was. I just could not get with the concept. All I wanted to do was take what I had in my hands and create a revenue for my life. I jumped in to fast with out even considering what it was I really wanted to do. I lost my job and could not keep up with the $ 49.00 monthly payment and had to let my little page go. Here it is a few years later I have some idea now what it is I would like to do and at some point would like to use Affiliate Marketing as a means to help my business create a foundation. I’ll keep you Post.
Hi Pahrin! Thanks for the note. I’m glad you’re trying again. If you’d like to give me some ideas on what topics you might be interested in making your website about, I’d be happy to help you think of some ideas to make money with it! You can contact me by replying here, or else send me a message in Wealthy Affiliate at my profile. Don’t give up! Debra 🙂