In affiliate marketing, getting started is the hardest part. Even the most successful affiliate marketers had to start somewhere. A fortunate few were able to see success VERY quickly, but most of us had to put in months or even years of hard work before we could even remotely call ourselves successful.
Don’t worry, with my help you will see success much sooner, especially if you sign up for the same training course I used to become successful.
I won’t speak for other full-time affiliate marketers out there, but I can tell you from my personal experience that the most difficult thing about affiliate marketing is getting started.
Getting started in affiliate marketing is so “difficult” that 99% of people never make it past that stage. Even if you only last 1 year, you are doing better than most others who try to become affiliate marketers.
I’m not telling you this to scare you. In fact, that’s exactly why I built this website – to make sure those who find my site DO succeed in the shortest amount of time possible. The main reason I’m telling you this because it’s important to understand that affiliate marketing is not quick or easy! It will be challenging and it will take time, but the rewards are more than worth it.
I was able to quit my full time job as an over the road truck driver in less than 1 year (read my story here). So yes, it really IS possible to earn a full time living online as an affiliate marketer. I’ve been doing it for years.
Additional Reading
- Affiliate Marketing For Work At Home Mom’s
- How To Find The Best Online Affiliate Marketer Training Program
- Why I Started An Affiliate Marketing Business
Ingredients To Success For New Affiliate Marketers
Below, I have written down some of the most important things that I think all new affiliate marketers should know. Not all of the below ingredients are going to be what you want to hear, but I’m here to give you the truth. Not sell you some $9.95 e-book that claims to make you rich by next week. It’s important you know this stuff right now as it will greatly increase your chances of success.
Keep in mind, however, that every affiliate marketer has his or her own ingredients to success. If we asked all successful affiliate marketers to write down the top 5 ingredients to success, they might have some similarities, but they would all be totally unique. Make your ingredients unique, too.
- A Proven Affiliate Marketing Method: Learn About The “CTPM Process”
Having The Right State Of Mind
I want you to ask yourself a question and then really think about the answer. Be honest with yourself.
Do you REALLY believe it’s possible for YOU to earn a full-time income and enjoy life as an affiliate marketer?
If the honest answer is no, we have to take care of that problem RIGHT NOW. If you don’t truly believe with 100% certainty that you can succeed as an affiliate marketer, you will not succeed at it. Period. You MUST believe you can do it.
I understand your skepticism. With so many “make money online” scams and with so much you don’t know yet, it’s natural for doubt to enter your mind. Besides, you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into yet, so how are you supposed to know with 100% certainty that you can succeed?
Just know that you CAN. If at any point along the way you decide you don’t like affiliate marketing, there’s no problem with changing direction. But you have to understand that you CAN succeed if you CHOOSE to.
There are not many reliable sources showing how many full-time affiliate marketers exist in the United States or the World, but we know that at the very least, the figure is in the thousands (and more likely 10’s of thousands) in the United States alone.
If THOUSANDS of other people can earn a living as an independent affiliate marketer, so can you! Here are some people just like you who have succeeded at making money online.
If you do not think you can succeed at this, you have a negative belief about yourself that needs to be changed. Until you can know, without a shadow of a doubt that you can succeed at this, you won’t.
You CAN do this!
Patience, Grasshopper! In Affiliate Marketing Getting Started Takes Time
What do we want? Money! When do we want it? Three weeks ago!
When I was getting started in affiliate marketing, I had one thing on my mind. Money. That’s probably because I only had about $200 in my bank account. Fortunately, when I got started, I went through the training program over at Wealthy Affiliate. They wisely teach that in order to earn any substantial revenue for yourself, you have to provide value to others first. They call it the CTPM process.
- C = Content
- T = Traffic
- P = Presell
- M = MONETIZE
Notice how monetizing is last? You can read more detail about the CTPM process here. It’s a crucial concept to understand.
The way I like to provide value to others is by creating a website and writing about a topic I’m already familiar with, know and love, or want to teach as I learn it myself. I’ve found that it generally takes about 6 to 12 months and 100 to 200 pages of fantastic and high quality content before I see revenues and profits coming in.
By the way, once you do start earning some profits, you can just outsource all of the content creation and basically outsource your entire business without hiring a single employee. It’s like a perpetual motion money machine!
So, assume it will take you about 1 week to learn how to develop and design your own website (easily doable without knowing any computer code – but there is a learning curve). After that? How long will it take you to write 100 – 200 pages of high quality content? That’s about how long it will take before you start seeing revenue coming in.
But don’t worry; when the money does start coming in, your revenues will consistently go up exponentially over time (called the “snowball effect”). All of the work you’re putting in now will continue to pump money into your bank account passively for years to come. Earning residual income is amazing.
Do NOT Stop Until You Receive Your First Check
It isn’t all that difficult to earn 1 affiliate commission or a few dollars using something like Google Adsense. But most affiliate programs don’t pay out until you earn at least $100. When you receive that first check and cash it at the bank, you will get a shot of motivation like you never knew you had. I remember my first affiliate commission of $7.48. I about hit the roof! But that was NOTHING compared to getting my first check in the mail. It was for a couple hundred dollars and I couldn’t have been happier with that.
Then, a couple hundred dollars turned into a couple thousand. And then one day not much later, I walked into the bank and cashed over $7,000 in checks for the previous 30 days. It’s a feeling I can’t describe. There’s no word for that emotion.
To this day, I still request my clients pay me by paper check, because I just love the feeling of walking into the bank and cashing them. Yesterday, the teller said in a very matter-of-fact way, “it looks like you have a very healthy bank account.”
Little did she know that seemingly insignificant comment made my day week.
When you receive that first check, things change. You not only know it’s possible to make money online, you’re actually doing it! All you have to do is replicate the same thing and your income will go up exponentially. Talk about financial security!
And yes, over time, you really CAN become a millionaire doing this. Many have already done so and I’m well on my way already.
Promise yourself right now that you’ll do whatever it takes until you at least make that first check. By then, if you decide it’s just too hard and you don’t like affiliate marketing, there is no shame in trying something else. But my guess is by then, you’ll be hooked.
- Keeping Things Real: Can You REALLY Make Money With Affiliate Marketing?
Change Is Constant
There’s a quote that says something like “the only thing that stays the same is constant change.”
That’s the perfect way to sum up affiliate marketing. The Internet is changing incredibly fast. Heck, the majority of the global population still doesn’t have internet access. The changes have come fast and they will continue to come fast. You must be willing to adapt and accept change.
It’s incredible how so many affiliate marketers complain on forums and even in their own blogs. They scream and yell about the latest Google algorithm change or that social media is getting too challenging or that email spam laws are too restrictive or some other complaint. Those are the ones who go out of business. Change happens. It might not always be best for your business in the short term, but you can always adapt and use changes to your advantage. Expect constant change.
The Learning Curve Never Stops
If you’re already frustrated about the affiliate marketing learning curve, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. This might not be a great business venture for you. The learning never stops and it never gets “easier”. You will always be growing, learning, and adapting to change.
Your main objective should be to turn the learning curve into excitement. Does it make you excited that you’ll be involved in a constantly changing industry where you’ll get to learn new things all the time? I, for one, love affiliate marketing because of this. This industry is always fresh with new challenges, ideas, and innovation. Be prepared to keep up!
To get the ball rolling, sign up for the same course I used to find success. It will sling-shot you into a path to success.
