Lets be honest
I wanted to take some time to be directly HONEST with everyone especially Newbies which seems to be the majority of us on WA. Everyone is new!
Anyway, I wish I was told at the beginning of my journy here at WA just how difficult this would be to become successful. I wish I had known how long it would take to succeed doing affiliate marketing.
I wish I had known what the statistics were or sucess rate. I wish I knew how much hard work and dedication it would take.
I would have like to have known how long I would have to work for FREE on my website before I started making any kind of steady monthly income.
This is serious stuff. I quite my day job based on what I thought would happen.
What happened and is happening is NOTHING close to what I thought. When I commit , I dont ever quit. I go and go until I succeed. Thats just how I am.
Therefore, I am dedicated and I fully commited to Affiliate Marketing here at WA. IM in it no matter.
But, I wish I had done more research and talked to more existing WA Premium members at that time back in August 2016. Instead I jumped right in without really knowing anything.
I learned a lot and still learn every day. The network here is great, although 80% is brand new members like I was nearly 2 years ago.
I am just now starting to make steady decent monthly traffic, but it is no where near what I had hoped it would be. Is it my particular niche? Maybe? Have I just NOT been lucky? Maybe.
Or, am I just normal like the rest of you and affiliate marketing nowadays is simply difficult as hell and takes many, many years to establish and succeed.
To start a company, everyone knows that it is a 5 year start up plan. People write a 5 year business plan and off they go.
Why would I think any different when I committed to affiliate marketing program here at WA>
If its not a hobby or something fun to fill your time....then this is a serious START UP company, Limited Liability Company. A real business.
Does that mean that the statistics of pass or fail apply? They surely do.
Most fail after the first year and by the 3rd year there are not too many businesses stil running in general. Its hard.
Affiliate Marketing is no LESS hard than any other start up business.
I neede revenue every month to pay my bills just like the rest of you.
I am counting on my site to produce enough revenue to pay my bills. This has not happened yet.
So, to be honest with you....most of you are looking at a 5 year business plan. Nothing good happens fast in business. Buckle up, get ready to work for FREE for at least 2 years straight before you start to see any income. This is what the majority of new members will experience.
However, NO ONE else here will tell you this. Sorry, IM just being honest and frank.
I wish I had been told more of the truth and more realistic when I first began. Im doing you a favor and letting you know what is realistic here doing Affiliate Marketing.
Can you be more succesful much faster? As in 6 months? YES, you surely could and some have done it. But, HONESTLY, once again I am telling you that this only happens to about 5% of people.
The majority of us....are facing a dedication of several years before we see success at a level that this could pay most of your monthly bills. If you stick this out for 5 years....I do believe by then you will be making some decent passive income every month.
That is if you had been sticking to the training and writing quality articles and still posting a few times every week.
It takes years before GOOGLE will even rank your site high today if you are refering to the best, most popular key words in your niche. 3 million other sites are trying to out rank you.
7 years ago or 10 years ago you could be very successful at Affiliate Marketing because it was so new. THINGS HAVE CHANGED. IT IS A NEW REALITY.
Write a 5 year business plan. You CAN succeed if you are patient and put in the effort of a longer term business like start up. Treat it that way and then you will have no surprises after 12 months of working your bum off and writing articles yet you have seen no steady traffic and ZERO revenue. Just say'in! Wish I had known and I may or may not have committed to this.
-Matt B.
Recent Comments
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I agree with you, Matt. It would have been very good to know, as an average affiliate marketer, that 6 months or a year is not enough time to achieve a sustainable monthly income.
But, over the last year, I have come to that exact realization - that it will take 2, 3, 4, or more years to achieve that goal.
With that being said, I'm still in it for the long haul. It's just that now, I have much more realistic expectations.
I do see slow improvement in my internet presence. I've made a few paltry affiliate sales here and there. Got a few commissions - enough for a six-pack or two.
And, I'll keep enriching my website - steadily - week after week - moving closer to that long term goal.
I'm too stubborn to quit!
Jim
I like your way of thinking and thank you for sharing. I will be thinking about this as I move on. All the best.
The way I see it, there are a lot of factors involved that will determine your success at affiliate marketing. The niche you choose, the time you have to dedicate to building your business, and how quickly you can drive traffic to your site.
I went into this with the view that I would try it for a year, maybe two, and see if I could get anywhere with it, and if not I would move on to something else. And I'm not talking about making a full-time living at it, just making some money to start. I've made a dollar so far, LOL.
But no one here promised me anything in the way of income or even a time frame for success, really.
I think having a relevant, topical niche and being able to drive traffic in many different ways, not just SEO, is the key to success here. I'm still working on the key myself but I've only been doing this for about 3 1/2 months.
Hi Matt, yes you are right and the right mind set is needed, when deciding a goal set. I have spent money on BS and here yes it may time some time to start earning, the value is learning the market and proving to yourself to keep going, and 90% give up just before a break thru.
Shields High
pilly pilly
Reese
Excellent post Matt,
a 5 year plan is indeed a great idea and also being coachable and finding a mentor who is already achieving what we would love to achieve is vital as well.
Marketing on the internet is changing and becoming more visible earlier is in my humble opinion a matter of being involved with the right networks via Social Media sites and not always the mainstream ones.
Earning an income online while working full time at it has many upsides and of course downsides as well.
I love your dedication and never quit spirit Matt, never let anyone or anything take that away from you my Friend.
Talk with you soon,
Tony
This is the realest post, much respect to you for saying how it is.
Like you I too quit my *full time* job after 22 years, I still work but only two days a week.
Personally - that extra time is dedicated to my mother I visit everyday.
The left over time I dedicate to WA.
And also I dedicate my time with God going to service on sundays and tuesdays.
I’m just saying, even with extra time I can only dedicate so much time to WA as well.
One thing for me is, for now I cannot dedicate much time to networking and encouraging and reading other people’s blogs, ...I could but then I will never get work done.
I cannot begin to imagine those with wife/husband and kids and a full time.
WA is not for the faint of heart, I knew this from the beginning.
This and any business is for warriors and weird people, people whom family and the world thinks they are crazy.
This is for passionate people, people who feel like a circle in a square hole. People with a heart to help others and are not afraid to stand up for what’s right and defend others if they need to.
And you my man are a warrior.
Yes I’m new *here* but i’m not new to knowing trying and failing at online business.
But i’m Still learning, and tho we both know what it is in this business sphere I’m still excited and up for any challenge.
May you grow in wisdom and continue to learn any life hacks you can learn, to improve and become more efficient in business and in life.
#DontLookBack #LookUpAndAhead #GrowthInTheProcess #FallInLoveWithTheProcess
If you reach a goal just move on to the next and grow.
Take care
-Robert
Hey Matt,
A five year business plan is realistic. But that also happens to be a five-year window within which there will be a huge learning curve. We will learn from so many little interactions and errors along the way, and each will contribute to the incremental improvement as much as the planning does.
On that note, I recently read about the surprising results of some business training conducted with startups. A lot of money was being poured into providing training for practical skill sets, but the business failure rates were persisting. Improvement only occurred after businesses received ‘psychological’ training.
It was fascinating. It basically determined the success rates of businesses and was a clear winner when comparing the outcomes of businesses that had only received practical skills training.
I suspect that somewhere along the way, the persistent affiliate marketer starts to understand some of these psychological factors on their own, as part of their learning journey. And that is as important as the wait for organic growth of business.
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This is a real inspiration.
Wish you had posted 6 months ago.
Wish I had known the steps you're telling now 9 month ago.
Anyway, many ways.We aren't late. We can do this.
Thanks for sharing your head-to-toe Honesty.