Affiliate marketing is a popular online business model in which affiliates get paid for online product recommendations. Not everyone is successful with affiliate marketing and there is a massive abandonment rate. But it doesn’t have to be that way and anyone can learn affiliate marketing if they are prepared to put in the work, follow through and commit to the process.
Unfortunately, affiliate marketing is difficult, especially in the beginning. Most new affiliates will quit long before they hit 1000 subscribers (on their email list). If you know this is the case, you are aware of this issue. To be forewarned is to be forewarned!
The affiliates who eventually exceed their job income from affiliate marketing are the ones who see this bigger picture. They have learned to suspend the need for instant gratification and maintain consistency over a longer period of time, before making judgments about the business model.
For many, working for months before seeing results is simply too much. But if you can see the long-term benefits of building an affiliate business, it will keep you going. For example, affiliate marketing can give you a passive income. You can scale an affiliate business if you use the right model, creating an income that can grow quickly once you’ve put in the hard work up front.
In a traditional job, this is simply not possible. That’s because in traditional work you trade your time for money. With affiliate marketing, you are learning how to use systems and products to generate income without sacrificing your time. Eventually, these systems can work for you, even long after you’ve stopped working!
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based business model. This means there is no income limit, like in traditional employment. It also means that there is a lot of work to be done initially in learning how to generate sales online. But once you’ve dedicated this time, this knowledge can free you from employment, potentially forever!
It’s the affiliates who see this bigger picture, and have a strong enough reason to do the work required, who are successful in affiliate marketing. Many people who turn to affiliate marketing are completely fed up with their job, working in meaningless careers or for an ungrateful boss. This is often the reason why someone needs to be motivated enough to put in the required amount of work and passion.
Unless you have a big enough “why” you are likely to join the 95% of affiliates who quit!
An affiliate marketing mentor is a definite plus when it comes to affiliate marketing. I struggled for years trying to make money with affiliate programs. After joining a mentoring program in 2014, things started to change for me. It wasn’t a sudden change in income overnight, but it definitely caused a change in my thinking, which made all the difference.
Instead of only thinking about what I wanted, I changed my mindset to provide value to help others. Instead of selling low value products on Amazon, I was able to sell high cost products and recurring commissions that paid much more when I made the sales.
By following others who were ahead of me on their affiliate journey, I was able to better understand what I needed to do to be successful. Much of my struggle with affiliate marketing was simply in my mindset. I lived in my little comfort zone, doing only those activities that I felt comfortable with. I held on to the things I knew and hoped for a different outcome.
By aligning myself with coaches and mentors, I was able to see and understand what I needed to do to get the result I really wanted. I had lowered my dreams to fit my comfort zones! I hope this is a common problem.
But unless you change your awareness of the cause and effect relationship of your actions, you will continue to perpetuate the same results in life and blame the weather, or some other arbitrary circumstance beyond your control!
This is the real hard work of learning a new skill or building an affiliate business if you have no business experience. Your way of thinking will always be the glass ceiling of the results in your life, not just in an affiliate business. By following a coach or mentor, you can see what kind of thinking it takes to generate the results you want in the form of online income.
Mentors can show you how your business is limited because your thinking is limited and how to change it. They can point you to resources that helped them. All you need is to bring an open mind and a commitment to the trip!
Since I found an online community of like-minded entrepreneurs in 2014, my internet business has thrived. It has given me the freedom to choose work according to what is aligned with meaning and purpose for me, rather than because I needed the money, as I used to before.
If you are considering affiliate marketing as a means of changing careers or finding a more useful job, I highly recommend it. But get help and get a mentor you can connect with. Don’t do it alone, it’s too hard!