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Elite Blog Academy is one of the most popular blogging courses for both new and experienced bloggers. I first took Elite Blog Academy, also known as EBA, in 2017. This review will highlight my experience with Elite Blog Academy 3.0 and the upcoming Elite Blog Academy 4.0, which is due to be released in March 2019.
Why exactly have I waited almost two years to publish my EBA review? I wanted this review to be thorough and transparent, a standard which I feel I can finally meet based on my progress through the course.
I am working my way through implementing every aspect of the course in the limited time I have — basically, at a snail’s pace.
Believe me, I would love to have 40 hours per week to spend pouring through the curriculum. But a full-time teaching job, a time-intensive real estate side hustle, keeping my blog fresh with new content, and spending time with my wife and one year old son keeps me busy these days.
And before we dive into the nitty gritty review of EBA, I’d like to highlight what exactly what makes my review different:
My blog has grown consistently despite very little time I have available to invest in implementing what I’ve learned through EBA.
Please note, I am a registered affiliate of Elite Blog Academy, which means I may earn a commission on any sales initiated through links in this post at no additional cost to you. I only recommend EBA because of the life-changing results it produced (more on that below), and as I learned in the course, I do not recommend any product or service I do not believe in 100% — because this is a good way to lose trust in readers and see your business crumble.
What is Elite Blog Academy?
If you’re reading this and wondering, “What’s EBA?” you’re not alone. I wondered the same thing when I first saw the course mentioned in several blogging Facebook groups.
EBA is a comprehensive online blogging course designed to help bloggers of all ability and experience levels transform their blogs into successful businesses. It is self-paced, comes with lifetime access (even when the course gets an update, like EBA 4.0, which is due out this spring), and provides a step-by-step sequence to help you make money blogging.
The course includes video, discussion elements, detailed assignments and reflection guides, more bonuses than any other course I’ve ever taken, and a bold guarantee: If you do all of the work and can prove that it didn’t work for you within 180 days of your enrollment date, EBA will give you a 100% refund.
You can learn more about EBA enrollment here.
When and Why I Bought Elite Blog Academy
I first started Elite Blog Academy in February 2017. My blog was about a year old, and my already low traffic had been in a rapid free fall for months at this time.
I was basically spinning my wheels.
The harder I tried to making this whole blogging thing work, the more my frustration grew and my results worsened.
Honestly, I wanted to quit.
Things weren’t going much better in my personal life around this time. I hated my job as a school administrator, and my grandmother passed away in early 2017 after a lengthy battle with a myriad of health problems. In hindsight, I’m sure the depression I experienced after her passing didn’t help my motivation to keep blogging.
Two things changed my perspective and gave me the motivation to keep going:
- Grandma left me and my wife a small inheritance. We weren’t expecting it, and we had absolutely no idea how to spend or invest it.
- I received an email blast from one of my favorite bloggers, and she shared her story about joining Elite Blog Academy. Her pre-EBA blogging story seemed even more hopeless than mine, but post-EBA, she was making a full-time income from her blog.
Now, I’m not one to expect God to write messages in the sky or tell me what to do in a dream. I do believe He orders our steps and even re-orders our missteps, but it happens more subtly.
Even so, it was clear to me that this e-mail and the small inheritance, which I received within days of each other, weren’t just a coincidence. EBA is only available for new members for 5 days out of the entire year, so unless you’re on the waiting list (which I wasn’t), you basically have to perfect timing. (You can get on that waiting list here.)
I’ll be honest: Every fiber in my body cringed at the thought of spending so much money on a blogging course (When I enrolled, the cost was $797.00). It honestly didn’t make sense, but even finance nerds like me sometimes take chances.
It is still one of the best chances I have ever taken.
My Elite Blog Academy Research
I know what you’re wondering— no, I didn’t just buy EBA after reading one review. But that one e-mail was the catalyst I needed to start researching a course I otherwise knew nothing about.
In a matter of days, I read as much as I could about Elite Blog Academy from as many sources as I could find. I searched Google, combed through Pinterest, and even found some good Facebook group threads about the course.
One other thing that helped me decide to commit to EBA was the opportunity to basically take the course for a test drive through the freebies offered. Each one was helpful in its own way, and I could tell that if Ruth Soukup, the founder of EBA, and her team were willing to give away so much information for free, the paid course would be well worth it.
Here is a list of the four free resources I checked out (plus several that I missed):
The Essential Blog Post Promotion Checklist *This was a game-changer for me
120 Awesome Blog Post Ideas **Ditto!
7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight
These resources were (and still are) really helpful for virtually anyone trying to their blog into a business.
I also recommend checking out these other freebies:
The Beginner’s Guide to Branding Your Blog
20 FREE (or almost free) WordPress Plugins
How to Set-Up a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog ***Perfect for anyone who doesn’t yet have a blog
10 Steps to Take When a Blog Post Goes Viral
The New Blogger’s Guide to Guest Posting
Secret Blueprint for Blogging Success
8 Bad Blogging Habits and How to Break
A few days of research and gleaning value from the free guides convinced me to buy Elite Blog Academy. Again, I highly recommend you check them out, even if you think there’s no chance you’ll ever buy EBA.
I mean, free, quality advice is hard to find.
If you don’t have a blog yet and are curious about how to get started, my tutorial will walk you through the entire process. As I always say, when hosting is available for under $4.00/month, you’ve got very little to lose when starting a blog!
How I Got Started With Elite Blog Academy
I already had a blog when I purchased Elite Blog Academy, so getting started was easy.
In fact, I was so excited that I worked through the first few course modules in only a few days.
Over the next several weeks, EBA helped me transform my hobby blog into a profitable business. Instead of working hard and seeing very little results, I started to see evidence that my work was paying off.
In those first few weeks, Elite Blog Academy taught me how to do the following:
- refine the message I wanted to share and who I wanted to share it with
- apply smarter tactics for promoting my blog on social media
- develop effective lead magnets to grow my e-mail list
- brainstorm product ideas that would resonate with my audience
- better monetize existing and new blog posts
My Results After Going Through Elite Blog Academy
Before starting EBA, my blogging income was low. OK, it actually fluctuated between non-existent and “enough to buy a few double cheeseburgers.”
I like double cheeseburgers, as you can probably tell if you’ve seen my picture, but I wanted more from my blog.
When I started FinanceSuperhero, I told myself that any money I made would be a nice bonus. After all, it was just a hobby blog. I figured if I could start earning a consistent $500 per month or more it would be a mind-blowing accomplishment.
I started EBA in February 2017, and by May I had already eclipsed that goal.
Ten months later, my blogging income had steadily risen to consistent four-figure levels. In very limited hours each week, EBA had given me an easy-to-follow game plan for transforming my hobby blog into a business that paid my mortgage payment.
At the time I’m writing this post, I have now generated over a 40X total return on my investment in EBA, all in the very limited time I spend blogging each week.
(Note: I don’t typically post income reports on my blog any longer. I just don’t feel good about sharing that information on the web. But I do send out blogging strategies, tips and occasional updates on my income to e-mail list subscribers. If you’re interested, you can join the list below.)
Here’s the bottom line: I owe all of my blog growth to EBA, and I would 100% purchase it today if I were a newer blogger myself.
Are My Results Typical?
This is one of my favorite questions to answer about EBA! Whenever people learn that I spent nearly $800 on a blogging course, they inevitably ask about typical results.
Though I love the question, I’m not a fan of the word “typical,” and here’s why:
If you’re considering joining Elite Blog Academy because you think it’s the magical solution to making money blogging, you’ve got it all wrong.
EBA can be that game-changer you’re looking for, but you have to do the work and commit to putting everything you learn into practice. You won’t get results if you don’t roll up your sleeves and take massive action.
Last fall, I traveled to Tampa to meet with over a dozen incredibly talented and hard-working Elite Blog Academy alumni to participate in round table discussions and filming for Elite Blog Academy 4.0, and we all had one thing in common: Each one of us did the hard, smart work to grow our businesses.
You can take a closer look at many of their success stories here if you have time, but I’ll give you a snapshot of some of the most inspiring results from my EBA friends.
Jennifer’s craft blog grew from earning $108 per month to over $20,000 per month in less than one year.
Carly earns a full-time income from her mom blog.
Tasha gave up her partnership at her law firm and now earns far more money from her home design blog.
David and John went from struggling new bloggers to becoming the biggest voices in their niche.
JoAnn has tripled the size of her business and became a guest on The Today Show.
I still get excited when I think about the crazy levels of success my friends have reached. They inspire me to make the most of the time I do have to keep my blog growing.
And the best part about it all is that the people I mentioned above are real, down-to-earth people. They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you and I do. They’re kind, humble, and gracious, almost to a fault.
The difference is that we decided to bet on ourselves, knowing full well that we could achieve wild success with our blogs if we had the right playbook. Will you?
EBA Isn’t For Everyone
As a personal finance expert, I have to be clear that Elite Blog Academy isn’t an investment I recommend to everyone. It’s a huge investment, and it’s not cheap.
When I signed-up for EBA, I knew I was taking a chance. But I also knew that I was going to be committed to doing whatever it took to start earning money blogging. I knew I would follow every step, do each assignment, and go back and repeat steps and assignments more than once if necessary.
If you’re ready to go all-in and bet on yourself, I wholeheartedly recommend you sign-up for Elite Blog Academy. The course is a proven game plan for building a profitable blog, and I’m confident it will work for you if you do the work.
If you’re just somewhat interested in growing your blog or starting a blog and not really sure if you’re ready to commit, you should scroll back up to the free resources section and start there. They’ll give you a great head start and prevent you from wasting a lot of money on a course that you’re not sure you’re going to implement.
Even if you’re 100% committed to your own success, you still have to find a way to actually pay for the course. Unless God drops an inheritance in your lap at the exact right time like He did for me, I know this can be tricky.
Maybe you need to pick up a side hustle and save for the next year so you’ll be ready to join EBA next time around. Perhaps you could sell or flip some old items you’re not using. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Reasons Why You Should Sign-up for Elite Blog Academy
I strongly believe any EBA alum would tell you that EBA helped them to see their blog as a business and gave them a clear guide to grow it. If that kind of direction sounds like it’s exactly what you need, I believe Elite Blog Academy is meant for you.
Here are a few more strong reasons to consider enrolling:
- EBA will help you clarify your message, writing skills, and define your target audience. It will help your discover a crystal-clear purpose for your blog.
- EBA will help you monetize your blog beyond ad income by improving your affiliate marketing skills and helping you develop your own product
- EBA provides clear guidance on working with brands, sponsored posts, and other ways to make money blogging
How to Sign-up for Elite Blog Academy
Elite Blog Academy only opens its doors for 5 days each year, and enrollment is limited. The best thing you can do is make sure you’re on the waiting list and check your e-mail at least once per day to make sure you don’t miss the cart opening.
