Overcoming Initial Fears: A Professional Guide to Affiliate Marketing

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Recently, a poll captured the essence of the anxiety associated with new beginnings: "More than half of workers ranked starting a new job as scarier than skydiving or holding a snake."

This struck me as very intriguing and this correlation prompts an exploration of the fear one might face when stepping into the field of affiliate marketing, or starting an online business.

Drawing Parallels: Skydiving, Snakes, and the Online Business Landscape

Just as the thought of jumping out of a plane and plummeting towards the earth elicits a thrill of fear, launching an online business can create a very similar sensation. The unpredictability and unknown elements are similar...you're venturing into unfamiliar territory, trusting your skills and hoping for a safe landing.

Holding a snake, too, I suppose can mirror the experience of delving into affiliate marketing. The snake, being a creature that is unfamiliar and potentially unpredictable to many, can be daunting to handle (my kids seem to be fine holding snakes though lol).

Similarly, stepping into affiliate marketing requires the courage to manage a variety of elements: identifying suitable partnerships, building traffic, and optimizing conversions.

I see it all the time. People have the tendency to fear the UNKNOWN, but the reality is that anything that is new to you and that is unpredictable will lead to this felling. Hence why we like to sit in our comfortable pocket, and we spend our days doing what we know well, instead of learning new things...which is actually the only way to achieve newfound success.

Harnessing Fear to Drive Success in Affiliate Marketing

Despite the initial anxiety, just as a skydiver learns to control their fall and a snake handler masters their craft, an individual can learn to navigate the complexities of affiliate marketing. Through experience and learning, initial fear is replaced by proficiency and assurance.

I ran a class last week, which was a comprehensive Introduction into Affiliate Marketing (which was available to Premium and Premium Plus+ members). This was attended by all levels of affiliate marketers, some people just getting rolling, some with 10-15 years experience.

I broke down the concept in the most simple manner, and that SIMPLICITY resonated with everyone. It goes a little something like this...

You have a PRODUCT, and you have a POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. Your job as an affiliate is to connect these two things.

That is it. There are 550 MILLION products that you can promote as an affiliate, and over 5.25 BILLION potential customers buying things online every millisecond.

Connect these two items, and do so within any niche, and you are going to be sitting on a very successful business.

The moment when you're able to transform the uncertainty of your new venture into concrete, positive results, that's when you'll realize that the perceived fears were catalysts for growth and learning.

Thriving Within Your INTERNAL Challenges: The Rewarding Journey of Affiliate Marketing

The entry into affiliate marketing, although intimidating at first, holds the promise of being a very rewarding journey. It's a challenging mountain to climb, but the view from the top - the successful conversion of traffic into sales, the realization of your business goals - is indeed worth the initial fear.

So, as you contemplate your journey into affiliate marketing, consider this: the fear associated with the new venture is not only natural, but it's also a stepping stone to your success. It is a requirement for you to succeed to have this initial fear, if you didn't you wouldn't be able to acquire new knowledge, skill sets, or newfound success.

Embrace the challenge, hold the metaphorical snake...jump from the metaphorical plane...and leap into your new venture. The process might seem daunting at first, but the rewards are plentiful for those who dare to take the leap.

Are you feeling this way, or did you feel this same way when starting out in the online world? I would love to hear your feedback, insights, and comments below.


PS. Upcoming class alert. Tomorrow, Thursday May 25th 2023 at 5PM PST, I am going to be running the 2nd class in the 6 class Affiliate Marketing series. This is available to both Premium & Premium Plus members (upgrade here if you are still a Starter member). I hope to see everyone there!

You can regsiter for this class here:

==> Mastering the Basics of Affiliate Marketing: Crafting an Unbeatable Affiliate Marketing Gameplan

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Recent Comments

33

Hi Kyle, what a great article.
When I first started out, I literally freaked out, especially when building my website, and I knew nothing about my niche either. Not to mention that English is not my mother tongue. But it was so exciting and fun that I just went on:) It's funny how our minds are working.

I think we all freak out when learning anything new, it is natural...it is because we don't really understand our own fear and why we are scared of that very thing. The reality is that it is the "unknown" that is leading us to these feelings, the same as holding a snake...or jumping out of a plane (both of which I am not keen on btw lol).

Kyle,

Nice one about the fear new members to affiliate programs have initially. At a point in life, one has to face challenges that might be beyond what is expected. It doesn't matter if you want the stress or not. This affiliate program is one of them even though 'self inflicted'. Because a member made a payment in a way to get on to the program.
Personally, I will rank down two things that are my fear of starting anything, 'Myself' and 'Worries....I'll like to disconnect these two things then I can focus. Having said that, I believe those who have achieved on this program might have experienced fear and uncertainty in the beginning? As they say, no beauty without pain....hahaha

We do have to face challenges, but I think as we get older we aim to stick to our comfort zone and try to stay within that...versus stretching outside of that. But this is key to learning anything, from our infancy when we learn to walk and run...the building a successful affiliate marketing business.

Hi Kyle,

I also think that many are deterred because of their self image.

Obviously some affiliate bloggers remain anonymous, but most of the successful ones are very open on who they are and take ownership of being a leader in the niches they are in.

I think one of the largest hurdles to building a business is changing ones view from a follower (employee) to a leader (owner). Our education system has devolved over the years and focused more on social cohesion to the point where critical thinking skills take a back seat a lot now. Folks are being molded into taking their spots in the world of jobs and not as entrepreneurs who will break new ground.

I believe if we can get someone to drop that view of themselves and adopt the one where they see themselves as capable of leading it will go far in dispelling the fear.

On a side note, snakes scare the crap out of me, bugs and rodents not so much.

I was laughing at my coworker who is scared of bugs. I commented imagine dinosaurs being scared of us, hah hah.

Thanks for this thoughtful post. You really nail one of the largest considerations a blogger must also take when creating an empathy for our audience. Many things such as WA require one to see themselves in a not failing scenario or of course they will be scared.

Regards,

Jason

Haha, not a huge fan of snakes either Jason!

Thanks for sharing your insights, and I absolutely agree with you. Critical thinking is becoming a thing of the past, and those that are able to creatively think and that alone, are going to be able to thrive in our new world which is going to be largely driven by "creativity" + "AI" (along with critical thinking). Those two elements are an absolute powerhouse!

Awesome Kyle, I see you as an Expert in this affiliate world and hence I must keep up to date with all your teachings that you offer so willingly, well done you are indeed a leader in online business.

Congratulations for sharing great works!

Wishing you the wisdom to keep doing what you are thriving at here in WA!

Kind regards
Erica

I aim to lead with my best foot forward, and to share my experiences including all of my failures and where I see others failing. I work with a lot of people on a daily basis and I see the traits and attributes of someone that achieves a great deal of success, and those that are not succeeding.

The most common reason people fail is they stop doing, and stop taking risks...which aren't actually risks in the long run. Learning is the foundational building block to fulfillment in life, and to success.

Thanks so much Kyle for your valuable opinion!

I agree people give up too soon :)

Kind regards
Erica

Really interesting metaphor with some degree of unpredictability as we venture out in an unfamiliar territory!

Indeed, stepping into affiliate marketing requires courage to manage those various elements.

In fact, it is only in learning new things can we really find SUCCESS!

Entering into affiliate marketing would bring in very rewarding journey. Although one may climb series of challenges, learned skills in order to achieve this. As we embrace the challenges associated with this venture, keep an eye on the prize, for it’s all worth it.

As you say, “The rewards are plentiful for those who dare to take the leap”.

Cheers,
Maria 🌹

Anything that is new, is confusing and overwhelming. That is because it is new lol.

We embrace new challenges as kids, because in order for us to learn and to accomplish anything, whether it is walking or it is riding a bike, or it is passing grade 2...it requires us to learn new things on a daily basis.

As we get older, we tend to fall back on what is comfortable, what we know, and that doesn't require us to push ourselves into this "fear" zone. The problem with this is that that is going to lead to lack of growth, an in many cases, lack of fulfillment.

Push yourself, learn something new, and naturally you will succeed at a higher rate.

An absolute fact of life Kyle!

As we grow older, we cling to the process that is familiar and that doesn’t require much of the brain work, as we fear the opening of the Pandora’s box of new knowledge may string us along the depths of more web of intricacies!

Complacency is a very tempting state to be!!!

We absolutely do, I even find myself doing it on the occasion and I know better lol!

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