As of this month, my blog has now been online for one year. In fact, my first post ever was on July 1st, 2009. It wasn’t until August of 2009, however, that I really started to make some good money online. I had several blogs running all over the internet that were making me a few hundred dollars per month total but the real income didn’t start coming until August of last year.

There was actually one simple thing that I started doing that turned everything around for me. In fact, the recent changes that I’ve made to my business and my online philosophies have been because I have been looking back on how I got to where I am today. My new standards and ideals are less of a reinvention and more of me just getting back to my roots.

The thing that I really started to do in July of last year that really paid off is that I started helping people… And I don’t mean that I charged for every piece of advice that I gave. I mean that I actively went in to forums and hunted down people that were looking for help. When I found them, I wrote up long explanations and, sometimes, even recorded videos of how they can solve their problem.

My timeline looked something like this:

2006-2009 – I made lots of blogs and built them to where they were making a combined total of a couple hundred dollars per month. This was not enough to pay the bills and when I lost my job in May of ’09, this was not going to cut it.

May 2009 – I discovered The Warrior Forum. I began to jump from one “make money online” method to another. I also began actively searching out people that had questions related to WordPress and blogging. I wrote long replies and tried to do whatever I could to help them solve their problems. I figured that if there was anything that I felt like I was an authority in, it was WordPress and blogging.

July 2009 – This is where things started to get exciting! I joined Alex Jeffrey’s coaching program using a credit card because I did not have the money in the bank to pay up front. One of the first things that Alex taught right in the beginning is that everyone needs to build a blog. The coaching program was great but there wasn’t a lot of explanation on exactly how to set up a blog…

This worked out perfect for me! I joined the right program at the right time. I jumped right in to the forum on day one and started offering to help anyone who needed it. I was able to help a very large majority of his students get their blogs up and cranking. I was the most active person in that forum.

I continued to record more and more videos for people so that I wouldn’t have to explain things twice. Eventually, I registered TheWordpressClassroom.com. I now had a place to send them to watch my training videos and collect opt-ins at the same time.

July was also the month that I set up MatthewWolfe.com. I wanted another venue to teach people but I wanted it to be a place where I can expand my teachings beyond just WordPress. MatthewWolfe.com allowed me to share my goals, my progress, my personal stories, and the general internet marketing tips that I’ve been learning along the way.

Since I was constantly going out of my way to help others, they reciprocated by visiting my blog, reading my ramblings, and leaving comments and feedback. This made my blog appear to be a very popular place right from the start. My search engine rankings climbed and when random visitors popped in off the search engines, they saw all of the of action going on. They decided this was a happening blog and they kept coming back. This created a momentum that has caused my blog to just keep on growing…

August 2009 – I opened the doors to the WordPress Classroom. I had no concept of what a launch was at this point… I literally just put the buy-now button up and started announcing it in the forums, on my blog, and to the very small mailing list that I had at the time (something like 300 subscribers).

I opened the doors late at night on August 1st, 2009. When I woke up in the morning on August 2nd, I looked in my Paypal account and started jumping up and down and dancing like crazy. I had 20 people join The WordPress Classroom over night. That was the first time that I ever made more than $100 in a single day online. This wasn’t a million dollar launch and I still haven’t paid off my mortgage but this was the day that I realized that I was going to have a legitimate online business. I knew from that point, that this would turn in to something much bigger.

From that point on it’s been somewhat of a blur. I kept working on more and more ways to get people to visit the site. I was introduced to the concepts of things like adswaps and JV giveaways. I also learned that I could sell The WordPress Classroom on the Warrior Forum, where I had originally gotten my start, and get it in front of a very targeted audience. That was a huge revelation for me and it eventually led to my first $1,000 day.

In April of this year, I launched The Autopilot Cash Formula which basically taught people the business model behind The WordPress Classroom. This time I followed the full launch process and had another huge success. It was a great product and it received a great reception but I always felt like The WordPress Classroom was my baby… If it wasn’t for me trying to teach people WordPress, I wouldn’t be anywhere today…

This leads me to where I am now. I have completely decided to go back to my roots. Hopefully, this has become evident by the fact that I’ve refocused my e-mail campaigns to almost nothing but cool free content. I’ve also shifted the majority of my focus on what got me to where I am today… The WordPress Classroom.

The WordPress Classroom has come a long way! It has just passed 750 members. To make things even better, I don’t think I’ve ever had one person tell me that they were unhappy with it.

Just this last week, I opened the WordPress Classroom 2.0 which features new videos, new themes, a new layout, and, best of all, a brand new forum where myself and the members can do the one main thing that got me to where I am today… Help people.

If you are interested in The WordPress Classroom, you can learn more by clicking this link. Check out the new design and the free videos that I’ve provided. If you feel like upgrading, there’s a special bonus offer in there too.

I am so grateful to be where I am today and if you intend to make a good living online, the best advice that I can give is to help as many people as possible. I give you my 100% guarantee that it will pay off!

“You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

If you like this post, do me a huge favor and click the “like” button. Please leave your comments. I love reading your feedback!

Here’s a look inside… Let me know what you think!

Leave comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

In anticipation of the release of this new product, I wanted to create a contest here on my blog. It will be really simple to enter and there will be three winners! I will have one grand prize winner and two runners up. The grand prize winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com AND a lifetime membership to The WordPress Classroom Pro. The two runners-up will both receive free lifetime memberships to The WordPress Classroom. This is over $200 in value that I am giving away for completing two simple tasks!

Here are the rules:
Step 1: Make sure that you are on my mailing list. I will announce the winners through the mailing list. To sign up for my mailing list, use the box that you see in the right sidebar or at TheWordpressClassroom.com. This will keep you updated with what’s new on MatthewWolfe.com and with The WordPress Classroom. You will also receive 15 free WordPress video tutorials right off the bat! So make sure you are on that list because you can’t win if you aren’t!

Step 2: Comment on this post! I don’t want just any random comment though. I want to hear two things from you. First, I want to know why you think you should win. I am selling tutorials that will teach you how to create a blog and generate a passive income with that blog. How will learning this information affect you and your lifestyle? The second thing that I want you to tell me is; what is it about WordPress that you still need to learn? What do you want to learn or what has been the thing that you have struggled most with? I intend to address the answers to any questions that I receive here in future updates of The WordPress Classroom.

If you don’t win, don’t feel too bad. I am going to be offering special bonuses and deals to members of my mailing list. Some of the bonuses include free custom wordpress themes, early access to the new WordPress Classroom, and discounts on current and future products. Trust me! You want to be on that mailing list!

So make sure you sign up for the list and answer my two questions. Why do you want free access to tons of WordPress Videos that will create a passive income AND what is number one question you have about wordpress?

Good luck to everyone!

I hate SPAM – Your email address will be kept 100% secure and you can unsubscribe at any time!

So I have finally done it. I have finally opened up the video tutorials that I have been talking so much about. I have called my program The WordPress Classroom. It has videos about setting up the blog all the way through installing various plugins and hiding affiliate links.

All of the videos are not done yet so I will upload more as they are finished. I just wanted to get this online and going so people can have access to them now. I know a lot of people from Alex Jeffrey’s course will get great use from these.

Please give me your feedback in the comments below!