5 Common Sense Tips About Affiliate Marketing - It Is Okay To Be Honest, But Remember…
Discouraged Affiliates Ask, “Where The Heck Is All The Money?”
I have to admit that it is fairly discouraging to get my measly $150 check from my top affiliate program when I read that the top 5 affiliates in that program each made $78,000, $78,000, $74,000, 67,000, & $60,000 last month. I mean really, why don’t we just pour salt & vinegar into an open wound?
It has occurred to me and I still at times think that with all of this money flying around out there, when do I get my share? What I try to keep in mind is the good news that I am brining home some extra $$$ albeit not much, it is consistent. I remind myself, that I have seen the potential for these ventures to pay-off. Some of what I am doing is generating a result and that is cause enough not to be discouraged.
Getting Rich Quick Is A Fantasy
Yeah, that’s right, I said it, what are you gonna do about it? “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” – common sense words from every hard working person/mentor I have ever met continues to ring true. Well, it seems that common sense isn’t so common.
How many affiliates have asked, begged, pleaded for the magic fairy dust which will create the income stream described above? The more I read and research, the more I find that it just doesn’t happen over night.
There Is NO Magic Fairy Dust
One of the neatest posts I watched and then read the other day was by Shawn Collins of http://www.affiliatetip.com – as he was answering the age old question “How do I make money as an affiliate marketer?” he mentions that he would WORK new sites for a couple of months before making a decision whether or not they were working. Now, in the scheme of things, most folks have probably spent years becoming proficient in their careers, so a couple of months may not seem like a long time. But, if you are not used to generating new content daily – 60 days could seem like an eternity.
Be Consistent In Your Affiliate Efforts
Bottom line, if you don’t work it, they won’t come. I know from experience, if you do not consistently write and contribute new content daily for a couple of months, you will not see the results you are looking for. Treat being an affiliate like a part time job. Invest 12 – 20 hours per week, and then see what happens after a couple of months. If you do not put in the time, do not expect a return.
Do Something You Love And The Money Will Follow
It is not hard to come up with ideas or to be creative about things that you love to do, think about, participate in, etc. There are volumes out there that would suggest that you do the thing which is going to make you the most EPC or that you need to have a plan to get rich. Here is my honest, practical advice - Make sure that you have an idea of a plan in your head before you get started. But, the most important thing to do is to get started doing something you love. You cannot learn/do/create everything at once.
Good luck and let me know where the chips fall.
Thank you for reading this post. You can now Read Comment (1) or Leave A Trackback.
Post Info
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 and is filed under Affiliate Marketing.Tagged with: .You can follow any responses to this entry through the Comments Feed. You can Leave A Comment, or A Trackback.
Previous Post: Harmless Blogging Could Re-Name Our Favorite Site »
Next Post: Do Our Clients Perceive the Reality of Our Intent? »
- Christian The Lion
- Kieth Craft from Celebration Covenant Church in Frisco, TX
- Randy Pausch - Goodbye and So Long
- This is good for what ‘ails ya :)
- Pure Digital’s Flip Video Mino
- Randy Pausch Updated - May 18th, 2008
- Juice Feasting… NOT Juice Fasting
- The Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki
- Randy Pausch Updates
- President Bush Making Fun of Himself
February 22nd, 2007 10:36
Dear Discouraged,
I completely understand your frustration and I’m also the one responsible for posting the payouts of InsureMe’s top 5 InsureMe affiliates. To be absolutely honest, I don’t know how they do it. I do know that Google and Yahoo (more Google) will either hate you or love you. I also know that at least three of our top 5 affiliates work by themselves and have very little technical knowledge. Finally, they work full-time testing and trying just about everything they can think up.
Ultimately, our program can only have five people at the top. This means there will be at least 295 other affiliates striving to grow their volume and margin. My advice to all affiliates is to first and foremost strive to self improve. What does this mean? It means setting personal goals, ones that you can achieve and feel good about. For example, I might set a goal to reach $100 in GM per day from my Google account.
One thing that I’ve learned early is – don’t give Google a dime unless you can get more than a dime back. Sounds simple, but there is always the temptation of thinking you can overspend and then hoping Google will start showing you some love. Truth is – it is likely that you will never see the love you need to recover the loss.
Another thing I have learned is your Google sponsored ad must be compelling and your landing page must give your visitor a sense of security. A compelling ad can be strong enough to create a customer that is unstoppable in our form. A compelling landing page will be well written and targeted to just a few and maybe only one keyword. I’ve talked to affiliates who have learned to dominate and make a lot of money off a single keyword. I don’t advocate this strategy as it is a good idea to seek diversification.
Anyway, thank you for working for our affiliate program. I appreciate and value all of our affiliates – even the ones that send just a few leads. The important thing is that you enjoy what you’re doing and that your revenue exceeds your costs. Good luck.