Affiliate Marketing is a LOT Like Waiting Tables

While reading a member’s blog post the other day, where he described some of the marketers he had come across as being “greedy marketers”... yup, I remember being introduced to a few of those types of marketers myself.

That description took me way back to the days when I was waiting tables... my favourite job truly was being a waitress. There just wasn’t enough money in that “career” locally, so I could not afford to stay on, else I would have.

Forgive me... I’ve started to get off my topic a bit here. Here is why I say that affiliate marketing is a lot like waiting tables.

When I first started waiting tables, I remember my dad warning me to NEVER count my tips in front of the other waitresses but to wait until I got home to count mine.

And, I was to never look at ANY of my customers wondering how much they would leave me in tips. Instead I was to focus on providing them with the best service that I possibly could.

It wasn’t long before I witnessed many other waitresses making it a habit to sit together at a table at the back, nearer the end of the shift, and they would each count their tips.
Some even bragged out loud about their totals... and yes, while there were still a few customers remaining in the restaurant.

Thankfully, my dad included something like “just you be sure to always be busy cleaning your section.

You know, filling sugar and salt shakers, cleaning the tables really well... maybe even wipe off the seats (they were vinyl).

Just you stay busy, and if you are ever asked, simply say, you don’t know and that you haven’t counted yours yet.” And NEVER EVER tell any of the others how much you made.

Needless to say, I followed dad’s advice EXACTLY, and it worked wonders for me.

As a waitress, it was always my belief that I was there to help the customer by providing them with the best meal in a timely manner.

I made it a point to always represent my customers, while protecting the restaurant’s reputation.

If my customers had a complaint, I would take their complaint to the manager and see that their issues were resolved.

Heck, I even complained for one of my customers who had ordered a New York steak.

Once he had finished eating, I returned to his table to remove the wooden board it was served on, and that is when I noticed the rather large (over sized, in my opinion) chunk of fat that had obviously ran allllll the way down one side of his steak.

When I mentioned this in surprise of the amount of fat his steak had on it, the gentleman said it was okay... I told him that I was not pleased.

I explained that it was my thinking that he paid good money for that steak, and I felt that he should have received a quality steak.

So... off to the manager I went with the wooden board (the fat left on it), to complain.

...my point here in sharing this brief story with you, is that I always made more money in tips than any of the other waitresses who sat around bragging.

And when I left that restaurant for a better paying job, unbeknownst to me, the owner of that restaurant was very upset.

He explained this all later to me and told me that I was his best waitress because I cared about the service and food that my customers received.

Apparently, many of my regular customers complimented how well I had served them and they were disappointed that I was no longer working at the restaurant.

Wow! What a compliment... but, wasn’t that my job?

Now I see it this way...

When I write my website content providing helpful information for my website visitors... any purchases that are made through my affiliate links... from now on, I will be looking at the payments that I receive for those purchases made, as my tips.

There are many restaurants (though, not local to me) where waiters and waitresses are actually making a good living on their tips alone!

Moral to my story: When doing affiliate marketing, the more you focus on helping others solve their problems and the less you focus on your commissions from affiliate links or clicks, the more likely you are to profit.

If I do my job right when blogging and using affiliate links as a source of income (example: choosing the right niche and offering unique, quality content) I could then be able to live on my “tips” alone!

So...yeah, affiliate marketing does remind me a bit like waiting on tables.

Desperate to earn NEVER works on ANY service career, whether affiliate marketing, waiting tables, bar-tending, etc.

PS: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/triblu/blog/why-do-click-on-...