Like many of you out there I have been trying to find a way to make money from home on my terms instead of punching the time clock for someone else. This is my personal experience with AWOL Academy and why I chose Wealthy Affiliate.
How I Started In Online Marketing
When my most recent “JOB” position was eliminated due to the company downsizing and restructuring I found myself unemployed and wondering how employers have no personal regard to their employees well-being, lifestyle, financial struggles or personal growth.
It led me to the decision that I was not going to be in this position again. I was not going to let another corporate CEO determine my worth and dictate my life.
So I searched for another way to earn an income on my terms and it led me to becoming an online marketer and this is what I found.
A Peek Into AWOL Academy
AWOL Academy (stands for Another Way Of Life) was one of the first online marketing training programs that I found. I came a cross a video on Facebook that promises that with their training you can make $10,000 in 90 days. They actually “guarantee” it.
They have multiple training courses that you can purchase separately paying as you go or they offer a huge discount and mentorship if you jump right in with the AWOL Elite program.
My Personal Experience With AWOL Academy
When I signed up for AWOL Academy in September 2017 the cost was $9,999 period. With a $10,000 guarantee that if you do everything they say for 90 days and don’t make $9,999 they will pay you $10,000.
I eagerly went through the training courses of the ProAcademy and when it came time for my “Coaching call” I was already invested into the training over $200 with the other websites they instruct you to sign up for. (Hostgator, Leadpages and Clickmagic)
The coaching call turned into a sales call where they tried to get me to commit to paying the $9,999 for the Elite program and basically making me feel guilty for not having that kind of money just lying around and not wanting to sell everything I own to pay for it. After making me feel humiliated and discouraged he said there could be financing available if I’m interested…heck yeah I was interested I still wanted to make this work. So he said they have someone that can work with me on financing and he will have them call me in a day or two.
“The Guy” called me and said that he is a broker and they work with someone that could get me business credit cards that would total the amount I needed to pay for AWOL Elite and if I’m interested he will have them contact me. Naturally I said “yes” I’m still interested and determined to make this work.
Another day or two go by and someone contacted me but instructed me that I would need to get a business license and it would have to be an LLC (Limited Liability Company) That was another $200 for the business license and another 2 to 3 days to get approved for it. Then I was told I had to have a business bank account but I had to wait until I had my actual business license in the mail before I could open that account. Another 2-3 days go by and I’m out another $100 to open the business account.
While trying to get things in order to obtain the funds I continued to work through the lessons of the ProAcademy, and when I finished ProAcademy I watched all the webinars that were offered to me and listened to all the Monday night calls that were available. During this time I started to get reminder emails that the promotional offer of $9,999 was ending October 31st and they were raising the cost effective November 1st, 2017 to $17,999 per year.
YES THAT’S RIGHT $17,999 per year for the AWOL Elite program!!
Throughout this time the loan broker kept reminding me that it would take approximately four weeks to get approval after the application was submitted. Almost 3 weeks had already passed and I was running out of time, the price increase was just over a week away and I was worried that I wouldn’t get the credit until it was too late and I would still be stuck trying to come up with even more money, putting my family deeper in debt with no clear definite way out.
What I Found Instead
I felt defeated and discouraged and totally ripped off!! I told the loan broker to stop the process and I started to search for other online training and that’s how I found a video asking if AWOL Academy was a scam. So I watched it and found out about Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate offered a free membership where you could actually have two free websites and they didn’t even ask for payment details. I was able to check out what they offered without spending a dime. Just click here read my review and create your free account.
My First Choice, How I Rose Above
Wealthy Affiliate has training, website hosting and a great community where you can get your questions answered and also get tips and feedback on your websites at any time. It is a full circle support system.
There are two levels of membership, the first is the free membership that allows you to have two free websites that includes hosting and you have access to the first lesson so you can see what it’s all about.
The second option is a Premium membership that allows you to have 25 free websites and 25 of your own websites. It includes hosting and you have access to all the training courses and the support of the whole Wealthy Affiliate community with all the knowledge of other members at your fingertips.
The Premium membership is very affordable at $19 for the first month and then goes to $49 per month after that, but if you can pay for a yearly membership it brings the cost down to just $29 per month. This is by far the best deal I have found for any online marketing training. It is my first choice and I’m so happy I found it.
Wow, what an experience. I have dealt with some other affiliate programs, but not AWOL Academy. To think that you spent that much time and money and were still not even in the program! Yes I have looked at Wealthy Affiliate as well and what I love about their approach is the free time to check it out. That tells me that they are willing to be transparent, something AWOL certainly doesn’t do!
Thank You for reading my post. It was quite the ordeal, I am just so glad that I found Wealthy Affiliate. After spending so much money already when I found this training platform and it was free to start I just had to check it out. I’m so glad I did. Best Regards, Pam
Thank you so much for making me aware of ProAcademy. I will definetely be avoiding them.
Thank you for reading my article, I was flustered with the whole experience to say the least but I am so glad that I found Wealthy Affiliate. Regards, Pam
Pam, I can relate to your negative experience. I too was a victum of a scam (Digital Altitude), almost identical situation. BUT, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I can vouch for Wealthy Affiliate. What a wonderful and helpful community. The training on technical topics are presented in such away that even newbies can understand and implement. Not to mention the FREE Starter account. What can be better than free? I saw the value right away and invested in the Premium account. This is my second month using the Wealthy Affiliate platform and I am very happy. If anyone reading this has a sincere desire to build a website or blog, I would encourage them to try Wealthy Affiliate.
Hello, thank you for reading my article, I was so skeptical after my experience with AWOL that I was so worried about getting ripped off but I am so glad I joined Wealthy Affiliate, I even did a review, you can read it here if you would like. I am now making some money so that reinforces that I made the right decision by joining this wonderful community. I am so glad you have found Wealthy Affiliate and are happy with it. Best Wishes, Pam
Hi Pam, I fell for AWOL in the beginning, too. Well, I watched one of their ubiquitous video ads on YouTube (they must have spent a lot of money for those long video ads to be on YouTube videos). Then I watched the “live” video class (which I later found out wasn’t live at all, just a video that they used over and over), and then I was sufficiently sold from the “live” video to buy their $99 Pro Academy with free extra lessons.
I went through all the lessons in Pro Academy and he just repeated everything he had said in the “live” video! Plus, he would do the hard sell to get you to upgrade to the next level. What got me was the testimonial video from some poor guy who had actually bought the $17,999, and he was talking about how it was like buying a franchise. What? And yes, K from AWOL did advocate selling your things, your car, whatever you needed to do to be able to buy their course.
That really turned me off and I decided to ask for my $99 back after I did all the lessons, and they did refund it, no problem. There was really nothing new in the lessons that he didn’t cover in the “live” video. It was all fairly deceptive.
And, you know, I had come across WA before AWOL. I signed up for WA’s free membership and then I got tangled up in AWOL. After getting my $99 back I went right over to WA and signed up for their Black Friday deal and haven’t looked back. It really was a screaming deal and you get so much for the small annual membership.
Anyway, just thought I’d throw my two cents in here. :^)
First off thank you for visiting my site and reading my article. I’m sorry you had to go through the AWOL experience like I did. I just feel that most people don’t have $18,000 just hanging out in the bank account to spent on training. Training that you don’t know will actually work and produce the results that we all are hoping for. I found that with Wealthy Affiliate I didn’t have to break the bank and I received A+ training and I have access to thousand of people that are all very supportive in helping me be successful. Thanks again for commenting, I hope you at home now with Wealthy Affiliate, I know I will be here for many years to come. Best wishes, Pam
Hello.
Thanks a lot.
I just read a review about how good is Awol Academy, now I know what it truly is.
I’m also a member of WA, before WA, I joined other programs which cost me about $50, I’m glad I found WA and not searching for other programs that will waste my money.
It’s so hard to know what a scam looks like and what programs are legit. I wanted so bad to believe that AWOL Academy was the right fit for me but I just couldn’t make it work. My morals were being tested and that’s not the way I do business.
I am so glad I found Wealthy Affiliate and I have never doubted or questioned my decision to upgrade to the premium membership. I know it is the right place for me and my websites.
Wishing you much success
Pam
It surprises me that companies like this do not get sued. How can you offer a’guaranteed income’ if you follow their methods. I’ve followed the methods of one of these scams before and made very little. I think next time I see ‘guaranteed income’, I’ll know NOT to join. Many of these companies also don’t tell you of the extra marketing fees such as Facebook adverts you’ll have to pay for. I’ll steer clear of this one, cheers.
Thank you for reading my article. I had spent a few hundred dollars before I finally decided to look elsewhere for training programs. I wanted so bad for it to be a legit viable option for me but there were several things that screamed “put the brakes on”.
With any business there can be additional cost involved but with the wordpress themes offered at Wealthy Affiliate there are hundreds of free plug ins so any additional costs are greatly reduced.
I hope you have found the right training platform for you
I wish you much success
Pam
Well Pam, first I felt sorry for what you have experienced with AWOL.
Secondly, glad that you have not fallen deeper into their Sale Funnel and on the way you found Wealthy Affiliate.
Third, I totally agreed that Wealthy Affiliate is the real deal where you can earn while you learn. The best part is that you can join them as free Starter Membership, No Credit Credit, No Risks, No obligations. You can stay as long as a free member as you wish.
Once again, thank you for enlightening us the modus operandi of AWOL.
Thank you for reading my post and touching base with me on your thoughts and feelings of this frustrating experience. I’m glad I didn’t give up and kept looking until I found Wealthy Affiliate.
Having this experience has made me even more thankful for Wealthy Affiliate and the fantastic training and community here.
Wishing you success and happiness
Pam