How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing - 6 Important Lessons

bycld111

5.6K followers

5 years ago

I've been reading some great blog posts here at WA and I kind of wanted to gather them up and talk about them. They all talk about (in their own way) how to succeed at affiliate marketing.

How to Succeed At Affiliate Marketing #1 - Don't Lose Your Focus and Motivation

First we have DaleMaz's great blog post: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/dalemaz/blog/all-newbies-ple...

Dale talks about how he was a newbie and got SO excited about the possibilities of affiliate marketing. As happens with anything new, his excitement died down, he lost focus and motivation and he quit.

Womp, womp.

I get it, Dale. We've ALL been there. I always compare starting an online business to starting a diet. It's so exciting at first and you KNOW this time will be different. But after a few days, you just want to eat those damn brownies. You lose motivation. And that's it. Back to the comfort zone where everything is nice and familiar. (But suckier.)

The good news is that Dale is back for round 2, and he has regained focus. What he points out is that if you STAY focused, you will be FAR ahead those who lose it and quit.

Stay focused. WHY do you want to be a successful affiliate marketer? For me it's because I like having control over my day. I like the fact that I got to go to my son's science fair in the middle of the day yesterday with no stress or worry. What's YOUR why?

How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing #2 - Don't Fear Rejection

Next we have MegaWealthy9's post about fearing rejection: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/megawealthy9/blog/one-fear-w...

This is a BIGGIE. This one used to stop me dead in my tracks. (In some ways it still does. Like, I'm DEAD if I even THINK about doing a YouTube video. I have a huge fear of rejection there that I need to get over.)

Why do we even care if we get rejected? One affiliate program might reject us, but there are many fish in the sea!

You might get some nasty comments on your blog eventually once you get a lot of traffic. That used to scare me. I want everyone to like me! But screw it. I don't like everyone out there, so I don't expect everyone to like me. It doesn't matter. They don't have to stay on my site. My tribe will come. Yours will come, too. Don't worry about the others.

How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing #3 - Set Your Expectations

This is a post from Kyle from the summer: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/kyle/blog/expectations-of-on...

I read it then and thought it was worth another read. Here's a quote from this post that explains this article well.

"There is the tendency to expect things much quicker online than offline. We can connect with each other instantly, we can send messages to others with the click of a button, access any information we could ever imagine with a simple search. The expectation is instant.

However, that “mindset” bleeds into the Internet business world. Partly because of this instant expectation and a load of misleading information and offers out there claiming “instant riches”.

Not the reality. An amazingly successful business won’t happen in a few months. Sometimes even a year. Sometimes two."

I understand why people expect to make money right away:

1. Everything is so fast-moving these days and it's harder and harder to be patient.
2. After reviewing so many "make money fast" products, you would THINK that it's easy to do based on all of these sales videos.
3. People are strapped for cash and paying for a membership like Wealthy Affiliate can be stressful when you have no extra money. (This is why I recommend going for yearly so that you pay it all in one fell swoop! Plus, you save money this way.)

Even our family members can start expecting us to make money right away. They keep asking "Have you made any sales yet? Any sales? Any sales YET???" lol

Meanwhile, if we had an offline business, no one would expect sales right away.

This is easy to overcome. Right off the bat, expect that it will take at least a year to make money. (Another reason to go for that yearly membership!)

I also want to add JerryHuang's fabulous post here too. This is great to read once, twice, maybe 10 times. :) https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/jerryhuang/blog/a-very-impor...

How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing #4 - Take ACTION!

Finally, we have RoopeKiuttu's amazing post: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/roopekiuttu/blog/1-reason-wh...

This is a problem I used to suffer from myself. The first three things roll into this one. You lose motivation. Your expectations aren't set correctly. You fear rejection. And because of all of these things... you don't take action.

How can you succeed at affiliate marketing if you're not consistently working at it?

I know it can be tough when you have kids, pets, a house, a job...

But we ALL have the same 24 hours in a day. We all choose how we want to use those hours. You can find the time to take consistent action no matter how busy you are.

I was just watching a YouTube video of someone who just turned into a six-figure blogger and she did that WHILE she was working full-time. No excuses, people. If you want it, GET it.

How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing #5 - Create a CLEAR Vision

I am a huge fan of Bob Proctor, and this is one of my favorite quotes:

If you can create a CLEAR vision of EXACTLY what you want as an affiliate marketer, it WILL happen.

I think this is trickier than we think it is. It's hard to know exactly what we want. I think we have a lot of wishy-washy thoughts about what we want, which causes wishy-washy results.

What do you want to accomplish as an affiliate marketer? How many people do you want to bring to your site? How many sales do you want to make per year? Per month? Per day?

What will it feel like when you accomplish those goals? Really see yourself as the success that you imagine. What kind of car will drive? What will you wear? How will you act? What will your surroundings look ike?

Really see everything. Visualize what your life will be like every day. Write it down. Write down your vision of how you see yourself. (There's seriously something magical about writing things down that you want.)

How to Succeed at Affiliate Marketing #6 - Set BIG Goals

This is my absolute favorite Bob Proctor quote, and I'm just going to leave it here. This is all that needs to be said.

How are YOU going to be a successful affiliate marketer this year? What are YOUR tips for success? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! :)

- Christina