Your success was by a Coach or a WSO?

No.

I did try WSO's at first, on the specific subject I wanted to use as my traffic-generating method, but they didn't work out for me. (I didn't know why, at the time, but I learned later: it was because they were full of nonsense and misinformation. Their sellers were perhaps making some money from selling those, but not from using them, themselves!)

I learned "how to do" what I do by trial and error, by reading one good book I bought about it, by reading posts here contributed by people who were really making a living from doing it themselves (rather than from "coaching"), and a couple of people here also helped me out, informally, with some very welcome advice by private message, when I had specific questions.

I'm still doing it now; people who use it for their IM businesses tend to be making their livings from doing it, rather than by offering WSO's or coaching services about it (which would generally work out much worse paid for them, I think).

.

Neither. I've never had a coach. I've never bought an WSO.

What I did instead was this (in no particular order):

• Studied and read books on businesses and organizations -- not IM businesses, but regular businesses and organizations bringing value to their customers. I have an MPA (similar to an MBA, but focused on non-profits and government) so I learned about budgeting/financial management, economics, management, data analysis, etc.
• Observed how real, profit-making businesses succeed and not just IM businesses. Business strategy is business strategy, whether it's online or not. And frankly while I think that the successful IMers do understand business strategy, their voices are too-often drowned out by the multitudes of people looking for a thoughtless, effortless, push-button system to getting rich.
• Got real and valuable work experience working for others, where I was not only able to improve my skills, but I got paid to do it. Also by working, I had numerous mentors, but again, I didn't pay them. I just called them "boss" and they paid me.
• Came up with my own business ideas. To do so I thought about areas where I saw there was a hole in the market, where there was a consumer demand that was either not being served well or not being served at all -- and also areas in which I could make an impact given my unique skills, knowledge, talents and interests.
• Used forums and other information sources selectively. For instance I looked at places like the WF or StackExchange when I needed tactical information (e.g., what's the best way to implement a multi-tier, autoscaling web architecture to cost effectively manage traffic spikes caused by viral social media posts), but avoided them when looking for strategic information (what niche should I target, what types of products should I market, etc.) Your strategy should come from your understanding of basic business principles, your knowledge of your customers and their needs, as well as a self-awareness about what you are good at -- not from some WSO-method telling you to do steps A, B and C because that's what (supposedly) worked for the author in his/her unique situation.
• Had some good luck along the way.

What gives you the idea success comes from a WSO or a coach? Success comes from finding a product people want, need and can afford and giving it to them with a smile. That's it. That is the basic business model that has worked since medieval times and even before.

People come here with wild ideas of the mysterious top secret ways of the "IM niche." It's baloney. Find a workable business plan and provide massive value. Stay with that and you will succeed eventually.

I never bought a WSO.

Back in 2006 my mentor came to this forum and offered help. I was desperate to make money online after 5 years of FAILURE and 6 months later after following his training, I was doing pretty good online.

Neither one.

If I'm to be blunt:

1. Intelligence
2. Ability
3. Hard Work
4. Research
5. Implementation

20 years ago, I don't think WSOs existed. Though, even if they had, I still would have chosen the same route. Most of the low-level information you need to become successful is freely available. And success can be achieved with low-level information: we're talking about affiliate marketing, design, offline-online hybrid systems, content marketing, and so forth. Where I discovered I needed assistance, and it happened rarely, was when I tackled methods where the information was not available to the public - or, at least, not found by mean. On those occasions, I paid for e-books, or to go to conventions and chat to the right people. But - again, to be blunt - most of the success I've had has come from good old-fashioned hard work, not trying to find the magic answer in a WSO or from a coach, neither of whom has a cracking reputation.

GRM

When I was younger, I built a few drop shipping sites, ranked them through SEO and generated $500 a month. I than sold them for 10X the monthly earnings. This was over 10 years ago, and it was incredibly simple to make good money online.

I strayed away from IM as my main income for quite a while, and got heavily involved in programming and web development. I ended up taking a job offer for a company that was heavily involved in direct response marketing. All of their sales came through affiliates with no in house media buyer.

I ended up with the responsibility of driving traffic and sales. I had the financial backing of a 10 million dollar company, so I was able to test and test until I finally found what worked. Testing has always been the key to success, and I was very lucky to have someone else funds to do so.

Few years went by, and I got tired of making other people money. I became my own affiliate, and than a product creator. The rest is history.

I bought WSO which helped me set my mind straight and get me on the right track. But only really through forums or groups ( such as in Facebook), where you can share thoughts and ideas, successes and failures with one another, that's when it really starts to become interesting and that is the time you start succeeding. It will be very hard for you to get along alone in this business, it takes motivation, effort and a really good team ( such as WarriorForum) to get you to the top.

At least, those are my thoughts.

Regards, Sven

I believe my first dollar came from the Tooth Fairy. I can't be sure though as I was quite young.

Combination of both- but everyone's situation is different

Success in IM can neither come solely from a WSO, nor from a coach.

As for me, success came after years of trying and failing, hard working, lots of read books and forums, being banned from Google but never giving up and finding the right people along the way to help me at the right time. So yes, in my opinion finding help in tough times is important for achieving success. Today I'm happy to help other affiliate marketers with my experience, along with running my company and multiple affiliate websites.