Meet Alenka – Founder of Affiliate Marketing Action Today
Single Mum, Alenka Ponjavic-Vojnic manages to stay at home caring for her 3.5-year-old twins while balancing her career as an opera singer and coach and doing Affiliate Marketing. Alenka is the Founder of Affiliate Marketing Action Today, where she posts reviews with both written content and YouTube videos daily. RESPECT!
Alenka has a really full plate yet she still found a gap to give us this awesome interview.
What do You Do for a Living?
Lauren: In your own words, what do you do for a living?
Alenka: I am an affiliate marketer, a freelance opera singer and I also teach/coach singing
Lauren: If you wear many hats in business, which of these do you love most, which takes most of your time and which brings in the most income?
Alenka: In my affiliate marketing business, I do, indeed, wear many hats. I love creating video content; most of my time is taken up by the research for my next article; the most income comes from the written content on my website.
Lauren: Who did you have in mind? Who do you serve?
Alenka: I serve people who would like to regain their financial freedom and free their time to work from home. We should spend our working time being productive and successful in doing what we enjoy.
Why choose Entrepreneurship?
Lauren: When did you take the decision to become an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: I’ve always worked as a freelancer, so entrepreneurship is how I’ve always perceived my working life.
Lauren: Is this your first entrepreneurial pursuit?
Alenka: It is my first online entrepreneurial pursuit.
Lauren: Why did you take the decision to become an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: I’ve never liked working for someone else and I love being my own boss. However, this doesn’t always mean less work, but I wouldn’t change it for any other type of work. My decision to start affiliate marketing, in particular, came when I had my twins and had to start traveling again as an opera singer. I didn’t want to leave my babies for weeks on end, so I decided to look for work online I could do from home. Joined Wealth Affiliate, learned about all things affiliate and honestly, this was one of the best things in my life.
Lauren: What prompted you to start your own business? How did you come up with the idea?
Alenka: My wish to be a stay-at-home mum was the main motivation. I browsed the internet for different online work options. With no big capital to start a business, affiliate marketing seemed like the best thing.
Highs and Lows as a Mum Entrepreneur
Lauren: Would you like to share any highs or lows in your career as an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: Highs: Doing what I really enjoy; working the hours that suit me; being at home for my children; unlimited income potential.
Lows: It takes some time for income to manifest and stabilize; and much harder work than people imagine.
Career Highlights and Challenges
Lauren: What has been the number one highlight of your career?
Alenka: Getting my first page, #1 position rank in Google with my articles. Then, achieving sales through that success.
Lauren: What has been the greatest challenge for you to overcome in your career?
Alenka: Learning all the new things I needed to know to run my online business.
Motherhood Highlights and Challenges
Lauren: What has been the number one highlight of Motherhood for you?
Alenka: The constant outpour of love from my children.
Lauren: What has been the greatest challenge for you to overcome as a Mother?
Alenka: My children are now 3.5 years old and starting to express their own wishes and opinions. Finding ways to negotiate with two 3.5-year-old’s is my daily challenge right now. They are very sweet, but there are only so many ways one can say: “No, you cannot leave the house in your swimming costume, it’s snowing outside!” 😉
Work-Life Balance
Lauren: Has it been tricky balancing work and home life?
Alenka: Yes. I am a single mum, so it takes a bit of organizing to get everything done However, I think this is a challenge for all mamas out there. I salute every one of you!
Lauren: What do you love most about being a Mom Entrepreneur?
Alenka: The opportunity to be at home when my children need me. Showing my kids a good example of how they can work on their own terms.
Lauren: All things considered do you feel it was a good decision to become an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: Yes, absolutely.
Lauren: Where do you work most days?
Alenka: In my living room.
Lauren: How many days per week do you work, on average?
Alenka: 6 days a week.
Lauren: How many hours do you estimate you work per day, on average?
Alenka: At least 8hrs.
Lauren: Do you have any daily rituals to maintain a work-life balance?
Alenka: No. Just get on with the work.
Are You Living Your Passion?
Lauren: Do you feel you are living your passion?
Alenka: In both, affiliate marketing and singing – yes.
Lauren: Do you feel you have already created your best work?
Alenka: No. Every day is an opportunity to create something better than yesterday.
Lauren: If you were to die tomorrow, would you be at peace knowing you had lived a full, happy and meaningful life?
Alenka: In many ways, yes.
What’s Your Message for the World?
Lauren: Do you have a message you would like the world to hear?
Alenka: Yes. Have the courage to leave your comfort zone and amazing things might happen.
Lauren: Is there a book or a song or a movie that has had huge significance or meaning in your life?
Alenka: Poem: Robert Frost “The Road Less Travelled”
Advice for Mum Entrepreneurs
Lauren: What advice would you give someone just starting out as an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: Now, that you’ve started, don’t give up even when things get discouraging.
Lauren: Is there anything you know now, that you wish you knew when you started out as an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: I’ve always expected things to be a tad challenging so there were no surprises.
Lauren: Is there anything you know now, that you wish you knew when you first became a Mom?
Alenka: Yes. It is possible to survive not sleeping for three years straight.
Lauren: Is there anything you feel you missed out on by becoming an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: No.
Lauren: Is there anything you feel you gained by becoming an Entrepreneur?
Alenka: Yes, the freedom to do what I love.
Hopes and Challenges in 2019
Lauren: What are your hopes for 2019?
Alenka: To make my online business grow to be my full-time income.
Lauren: What are your fears?
Alenka: No fears. Only some challenges to overcome.
Tools of the Trade
Lauren: Which tools of the trade have been enormously helpful for you?
Alenka: Wealthy Affiliate platform.
Lauren: Who has been enormously helpful to you? Do you have mentors in business?
Alenka: The community at Wealthy Affiliate.
Lauren: Are there any courses or studies you feel have been essential to your success?
Alenka: Online Certification Course and Bootcamp Course at WA.
Lauren: If there was anything I could help you with, what it would it be?
Alenka: You already are helping with this interview! 🙂 Thank you.
Lauren: Who is your target market? If I were to give you a referral, who would I be looking for?
Alenka: A person who is looking to start their own business online. Someone highly motivated and wanting to take charge of how they spend their working life.
Are you a Stay-at-Home Mum looking to build a viable online business?
Come join us at Wealthy Affiliate.
Read my Wealthy Affiliate Review here or sign up free here.
Connect with Alenka
You will find Alenka blogging and providing expert reviews at Affiliate Marketing Action Today.
Photo by Adriana Lushezy
Subscribe to Alenka’s YouTube Channel
Great post that was a wonderful interview. This was really motivating to read I will be sure to sure to tell my mum about this since she is retired and will have plenty of time at home to work at it. I really appreciate her answers, especially when a question about fear came up. Her response was she has no fears, just some obstacles to overcome. That is the mindset of a true entrepreneur and a winner.
Thank you for the inspirational interview.
Hi Ken, Thanks for your awesome comment and for passing this info on to your Mum. My Mum is 75 and she’s been blogging for just over a year. She’s absolutely loving it, it’s like a whole new lease on life for her, even though she almost missed the Digital Age. I agree with you, “no fears, just obstacles to overcome” was a brilliant response from Alenka. I’m definitely going to take a page out of her book.
Ken
Thank you so much for your comment and very glad you are going to introduce your mum to the online business world.
Happy you found the interview inspiring – that is one of the main motivators in my affiliate marketing business, to inspire people to achieve a better life-work balance and earn the income to live a comfortable life.
Have a great day,
Alenka 🙂
Hello Lauren,
You took a great interview with Alenka. This article is the best article I have ever seen. This type of article is really helpful for everyone because everyone can understand very clearly what you trying to say.
At first Thanks Alenka for her wonderful interview. This interview is really helpful in your interview, you describe Affiliate marketing. I support every word on Affiliate marketing you said.
Wealthy Affiliate is the best platform for affiliate marketing. And you discuss it in detail. Let me add that I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate. The training there is second to none and I’ve never been a part of such a great community. The tools, training, and resources are too good here. I am very glad to work with that type of huge community. In my experience, I can say this a wonderful platform for affiliate marketing.
Thanks for writing such an amazing and helpful article, Lauren.
Hi Khobayer, Thank You for your input. So happy to hear you enjoyed this interview so much. Perhaps it’s a technique you can use on your own posts.
Also wonderful to hear that you’re also finding Wealthy Affiliate’s tools, training, resources and community support second-to-none. Me too. Hear, hear.
Khobayer, hello and thank you for the kind words.
Yes, Wealthy Affiliate is simply amazing! And in so many ways too.
What one gets for the fee is truly astonishing and the training is simply second to none.
I could not recommend it more!
Best,
Alenka
These Mompreneurs are such an inspiration!
It’s encouraging for mom’s to be able to wear both hats of earning an income and taking care of their children. I grew up earlier when you could only do one or the other. Even though I went back to work later after the kids were grown, there was still a gap. I feel that the affiliate marketing help bridge that gap.
I would be interested to find out more about the affiliate marketing before I try it for free. How long is the free trial, will there be a cost after the trial?
Hi Zikora, you make an excellent point. Yes, Affiliate Marketing can bridge the gap beautifully by giving you a chance to work from home, around your children’s needs.
You can essentially stay on the free trial as long as you like, but I found I was ready to pay for Premium Membership once I had completed the first course, (Online Entrepreneur Certification Level 1) and set up my first website.
There are way more tools, training and resources available to Premium Members. Premium Membership costs $49 a month or $359 a year. I secured my annual membership at $299 a year on Black Friday and now I’m locked into that low, low price for life. It’s unbelievable value because Wealthy Affiliate keeps innovating and adding new features (with no upsells).
For example, they just launched a brilliant Affiliate Program where you can access all the best Affiliate Programs on the net in just about any niche you can imagine, all in one place.
You can find more details in my Wealthy Affiliate Review here but this latest improvement is so new I haven’t even had time to update my review yet. For now, you can read up on the new Program here.
Zikora, Hi
How right you are!
Yes, affiliate marketing can definitely bridge the gap for the parents and carers who would prefer or need to stay at home.
I am so grateful for the fact I can stay at home with my children and be there when they need me without worrying about getting a day off from my boss. The very thought of that makes me want to work even harder on my website and get more and more people on board Wealthy Affiliate to take advantage of the fantastic training they offer there.
Have a great day,
Alenka
As a single parent myself, I found this to be quite interesting. I wasn’t so sure what Affiliate Marketing meant until I researched it and then made more sense as I did my MBA. However, I am greatly motivated to work from home hence I believe it is easier. This is due to scheduling your own hours as one places chores, parenting, errands on scheduled times. Yes, I also said parenting. lol
Absolutely, Linda. To quote Melina Lewis, another Mom Entrepreneur I interviewed recently “The juggle is real.” Wishing you well as you find the perfect schedule to balance parenting with your chores, errands and online business. You’ve got this!
Linda, thanks for your comment.
Yes, I agree, we have so many things to organize with work, children and everything else that working from home makes things that much easier and also gives you the freedom to choose what you do and when.
Only last week I went on a short notice holiday with my twins and I could do that because I didn’t have to ask anyone if I could take a leave from work (the said holiday was totally exhausting btw, and unless I travel with an army of nannies, I am never travelling again lol). 🙂
Have a great day,
Alenka
Intersting interview with a bubbly and energetic person. It takes some determination to change your career when you have small children and the responsibilites that comes with them. Well done Alenka.
Since I love opera I would have liked to hear a bit more about this part of her career although this was probably not the aim of your interview.
A very inspiring article which I have entirely enjoyed reading.
Great point, Martin. Yes, I agree with you, it takes courage and determination to make that shift.
I’ll ask Alenka to answer your comment, expanding on her Opera career.
I found a stunning video of her on Facebook. She’s a brilliant singer! Have a look at this post.
Martin, hello
Thank you for your kind words. Very glad you found the article inspiring.
Yes, we have mainly concentrated on the online business side of the career in this interview.
If you’d like to find out more about my singing you could maybe Google my name and there will be plenty of info and my videos too.
Best,
Alenka
Nice topic nice blog, I’m a single mum myself starting as a marketer through WA and love this line of work and its good to combine it with the children and let’s be honest if you do your work well you can make a great living of it way better then any job. You can choose the niche you like and work with the things you like love and enjoy. Much success with your website
Hi Frencis, Thanks for your comment as a Single Mum and Affiliate Marketer. What niche have you chosen? I’m very interested to watch your progress.
Frencis, hi and thanks for your comment.
I couldn’t agree more with you – if one works hard, affiliate marketing business can definitely bring in the financial rewards that could never be had in an ordinary job.
At least not with the same amount of freedom in the time management.
Not to forget, affiliate marketing also brings in a passive income – you are not exchanging your time for money (after the initial period while you are setting up your business online) but your website or/and YouTube Channel, works for you 24/7/365.
Have a great day,
Alenka
Hi Alenka,
My mom has been looking for an online opportunity for so long. After reading your article, I think this is a good option for her and why not for me too. I like when you encourage people to try, there is nothing to lose. I will share this with my mother and tell her that I have found a place where she can get motivation and create her own online business.
I love those articles, even if I’m not a mom, I have my grandmother and my mother and finding this information to help them is satisfying.
I will share this post with them to see what they say. I’m pretty sure they will want to try this and see how it goes.
Thank you!
Hi Andres, wonderful to hear that you’ll be passing this opportunity on to your Mom. That’s exactly what I did too. My Mom is now 75, she’s been at Wealthy Affiliate for just over a year and has her own thriving online business, I’m so proud of her! It’s so exciting for her to be able to earn Dollars when a year ago, all she had to live on was her pension.
Andres, thanks for your comment and so pleased you are going to be introducing your mum and your grandmother to the online business world.
It’s truly amazing and not too difficult to learn and implement.
Also, if you are looking to do something really interesting and financially satisfying, affiliate marketing is it! You don’t need to have your own product nor to worry about customer support, shipping, etc.
All you need to do is to promote a product or a service you feel it will benefit your audience and your business will be off.
There is, of course, a lot to be learned but since you are learning as you are doing and implementing that knowledge, it really does not seem that hard.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Alenka
What joy to be able to earn from home while taking maximum care of your family.
I agree with Alenka that affiliate marketing takes much work than it looks on the surface. Persistence is key, and only through this, will one be able to create the lifestyle they desire.
Wealthy affiliate is one platform that guides its members through this path, and eventually, success.
Thanks for bringing us this great interview.
Hi Carol, yes, persistence is key. It took me longer than Alenka to start generating income because I strayed off the path somewhat. Alenka has been laser-focused on creating helpful reviews and it’s paying off for her.
Carol, Hi
Yes, it is really a joy and a great relief to be able to be at home when my children need me to be there. Since they are still very small, I would have been broken hearted if I had to leave them in the daycare all day long.
I shall forever be grateful to the Wealthy Affiliate for providing their training that is nothing short of amazing for such an affordable fee. I continue to learn something new there every single day.
Have a great day,
Alenka