It Is Not All Lambos And Yachats!
Forget the pictures of mansions, fast cars, yachts, guys sitting in their pajamas, cocktails and beaches, etc. We will go behind the façade to look at the real truth about affiliate marketing.
The internet marketing industry is awash with hype and illusions. It is no wonder so many beginners enter the industry with excitement and quit in disappointment. They leave with a sour taste in their mouth when they realize that instead of making money, they have racked up massive bills on their credit cards buying rubbish products.
This is an inevitable process and most marketers go through it. The smarter ones come to their senses and wake up. They then make changes to their strategy and go on to make money. The majority never learn from their mistakes until they quit… and even then they don’t.
Now we shall look at the hard truths about affiliate marketing.
1. It is not easy and it will NOT happen in a day.
You may often see headlines that sound like this, “Former Construction Worker Made $45,231 in 2 Weeks Easily With This Secret Traffic Loophole!”
The beginner marketer immediately gets hooked. Really? You can really make 45k easily in 2 weeks? Wow! I need to get this.
No, you don’t.
If the construction worker really made 45k, he wouldn’t be telling you his secret or selling it for $27. He is making money selling you the product.
This is the most important truth of all. It is NOT easy. You will have to learn a lot and take massive action before you start generating any reasonable income online. You will need to learn traffic generation, how to do keyword research, build websites, choose affiliate products and on and on and on.
You can NEVER do that in a few days. You’re looking at a few months of hard work… sometimes even a few years before you hit the 5 figure monthly income. Understand that it takes time and effort.
2. You MUST sell!
Intertwined with the earlier point is another point that most beginners NEVER pick up on even though it is staring them in the face. This point must be tattooed in your brain so you never forget it.
You will only make money when you sell. This is so simple but so POWERFUL! You will only make money selling stuff. Buying all the make money online systems in the world will not put a penny in your pocket. You only earn when you sell.
This applies to product creators and affiliates alike. You only make a commission when there is a sale. So, stop buying other people’s products and use your money to build your internet business. The money saved can be used to outsource some of your work or you could use it for paid traffic, etc.
Of course, there are certain things that you must spend money on such as a domain name, hosting, autoresponders, keyword research tools, etc. However, these are investments. They will help in your business.
3. It always comes in trickles
Many beginners who struggle for months finally start seeing an odd sale or two every now and then. On some days they may make two sales… and for another 8 days they may not make a single sale.
Instead of celebrating these small victories, they feel like their efforts have pathetic results. They are expecting 100 dollar days and 4 figure or 5 figure pay days. The occasional sale or two is paltry to them.
So what do they do? They say it’s just not worth the effort and QUIT!
This is one of the biggest mistakes most of them make. They quit just when the tide is about to turn. Most super affiliates started off with the small measly occasional sales. The reason they are super affiliates now is because these small victories motivated them to take more action.
It’s a mindset thing. They did more, tweaked their strategies, replicated what was working and discarded what wasn’t and slowly but surely fine tuned their business. The more they did, the more sales start coming in.
Once the commissions start coming in, they will keep coming in. For that to happen, you must not throw in the towel too fast. It’s a fight and you must stay in it till the end. That’s what winning at the affiliate marketing game is all about.
4.The learning process never ends.
The internet landscape is constantly changing. You absolutely must keep up with the changes, adapt and carry on. You cannot be obstinate and decide to stick to the old ways. You will get left behind and your business will collapse.
It may seem troublesome to keep learning and adapting. That is why you must enjoy doing what you do. If you don’t enjoy it, learn to enjoy it. There is no other way.
Once you are earning good money with your affiliate marketing, you will enjoy the process and it will all seem more exciting and fun. In fact, you will probably be trying to come up with new ways to stay ahead of the pack and others will need to adapt to keep up with you. However, to get to this stage, you will need to keep learning.
5. You will fail
This is inevitable. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, you will still make mistakes now and then.
You NEVER really know for sure if something is going to be a hit or a flop.
You never know till you do it. This is true even with affiliate marketing. You may think that a product is going to be a winner because it looks fantastic and the salespage is convincing and the visitor must be mad not to purchase it.
So you start driving free and paid traffic and all your efforts do not convert. You have no idea why. What are you doing wrong? Why are you failing?
The truth is, sometimes you just fail. Sometimes the only thing you learn from failure is that you failed. That’s ok.
Dust yourself and move on. Maybe you find an ugly doll that has a face that looks like an onion… and you decide to promote it not expecting it to do that well… but since there is not much competition, you go for it. Suddenly, the doll goes on to become a craze and everybody wants one.
You make a killing in sales and your commissions shoot through the roof. But why? Why did this happen?
Guess what? There is no answer to this either.
Run with the winners and dump the losers. That should be your mantra. You should plan as much as you can and do your best. If things fail, do whatever you can to salvage the situation. If the situation looks doomed, dump the campaign and move on.
It’s an affiliate product, not a marriage.
6. Dont Go It Alone
You can achieve quite a bit of success on your own. However, in order to take your commissions to another level, you will need other people. You can’t ever hope to achieve as much on your own as you could leveraging other people’s time and resources.
That means outsourcing certain tasks. Of course, the freelancer may not meet your high standards but if they are doing a reasonably good job, you should stick with them and guide them. This will free up a lot of your time to pursue other ventures.
Another group of people you will need are fellow marketers. Get to know other marketers on Facebook and make them your friends. Engage in discussions and offer value whenever you can. There are many groups where ideas are exchanged often. One idea mentioned might generate thousands of dollars for you.
You could also create your own products or have joint ventures with other marketers. You will be able to recruit affiliates who could sell your product for you.
You need other people. You can’t do it all on your own. Most infoproducts do not mention this… but it is a very pertinent truth.
These 6 truths should have opened your eyes. Now you know exactly what you’re getting into. Are you ready? You are?
Well done. Jump in with your eyes open and may the odds always be in your favor.