Most of the supporters of Wealthy Affiliate tout its greatest benefit is the community. And I agree, but I have not actually gotten into the community.  I go on and off since 2014.

What It Is Not:

It is not a scam. It does teach some good things. I just don't have the time to learn from it enough to pay for the 47$ monthly membership fee.

It is not a product. Or rather, it is a platform with products such as a website builder and community.

What It Is:

It is a community. It is a community of affiliate internet marketers. It is a place where one can be... an internet marketer.

It is course-based. There are a lot of courses. They are very hand-holding courses. So if you have absolutely do not know what you are doing, just look at the steps and do them.

What You Are Getting For Free:

• A course on how to create a niche website on their platform called Site Rubix. Things like using keyword tools are touched on.
• The community except for the chat.
• Affiliate program (all links to WA are my affiliate links)

What You Are Getting For the Premium ($47 per month):

• ​More courses.
• More website stuff.

Verdict:
If you can put in the time and effort in learning, get Premium. Otherwise, settle for the free membership.

FAQ:
Q. Are there upsells/additional products/hidden costs?
A. Yes, the Premium monthly membership (47$ per month), and the keyword tool (which you can get for free), and other products they promote. But really all you need is the free one. If you want domains on your website, that's a cost (but you can free ones anyways through here).

Q. Is the free trial limited?
A. No, it is forever,  think. If not,  my trial started since 2014. The Premium features are active for the first month, though, and you lose that as the month rolls.

The first piece of internet marketing tutorial I decided to critique is Brian Dean's excellent list for listbuilding. I will be listing the 17 things to see if I was able to implement them quickly.

1. Use Content Upgrade Popups
If you now notice the email subscription popup, that is the application of this item. Cool, huh?

2. Hack Qualaroo To Build Your List Fast
Qualaroo costs money, so I tried finding a free survey alternative. Haven't found it yet.

3. Optimize This Often-Ignored Page and Increase Your List By Up To 25%
The ignored page is confirmation page for a double opt-in. As this website uses single opt-in for various reasons, I don't need this action but it is noted.

4. Make Users Feel Like Idiots for Not Opting In
This is a bit tough with the platforms I am using for my opt-ins, so I can't give two choices.

5. Use This Simple Trick to Solve The “Social Proof Paradox”
The trick is using testimonials. I can probably lift up some testimonials about me somewhere.

6. Use BuiltWith.com To Steal Your Competitor’s Best Conversion Tools
I don't need to do this yet, but the website is bookmarked in My Favorites now.

7. Use The LPF Technique to Turn More Blog Traffic Into Subscribers
I created a Landing Page, but I have not integrated the actual page to this website yet.

8. Turn Your LinkedIn Group Into a List Building Fire Hose
I don't have a LinkedIn Group (yet).

9. Use These 8 Words to Dramatically Increase The Value Of Your Giveaway
The 8 words are:
“Featured”
“Exclusive”
“Advanced”
“Download”
“Secrets”
“Access”
“Special Offer”
“Limited Time”

I plant to add one of the words to the opt-in.

10. Giveaway a Bonus For YouTube Videos
No Youtube videos yet.

11. Use “Readers” or “Visitors” to Generate Social Proof
I'm not really comfortable lying about my site's numbers, and beside it only recommends doing that for those who already have 5000 visitors.

12. Pitch Your Email Newsletter to Twitter Followers
No Twitter account for this blog yet.

13. Surprise New Subscribers With a Free Bonus
I am planning a new bonus for new subscribers.

14. Use a Blog Post Teaser
I might use this on the next blog post... actually, I will do that now, ha.