Though affiliate marketing can provide many benefits as in
earning unlimited income and flexibility on managing your time, spending
more time with your loved ones and enjoying life, they will only happen
if you know what and how to do it correctly.
Because if you don't, you could end up in square one and the sad fact is that when people are in that situation, they gave up their dream of achieving financial freedom and internet lifestyle and go back to their 9 to 5 jobs.
Even sadder is that when they become parents and their children want to be entrepreneurs, they objected exactly the same way their parents did. Hence becoming an obstacle to what their children want to do rather than helping them.
Having watched webinars of various successful internet marketers such as John Thornhill whom I subscribed to regularly, these are the important things you need to know and implement if you are serious about achieving success in affiliate marketing and live the life you want instead of just daydreaming.
1. Having The Right Mindset
This is by far the most important of all.
Most people want to make money but they have the wrong mindset in regards to the process of doing so.
They see internet businesses as get rich quick ways like lottery and betting.
Just because they see other marketers earn thousands and millions in their salesletters and videos, they have the misperception that if they signed up for their courses, they will earn the same amount by tomorrow or in a week or month.
Because that is what most hyped up salesletters and videos say.
But if you are a mature adult and entrepreneur, you know as well as I do that is not going to happen. Like any businesses, you need a lot of dedication, hard work and effort to get to where you want to be.
And if they don't earn, they will either give up or signed up for another course with the same mentality.
2. Stop Buying One Internet Marketing Course After Another
That brings me to the second point.
That was also my mistake when I first got started online. It is also what I defined as Newbie Trap or Shiny Object Syndrome.
What they do is signed up for a course and tried out for a while say 1 or 2 weeks or just 2-3 days. And if they don't make money, they bought another program.
And this trend could continue and do more harm as they spend more and more money without making any in the long run.
If you are a complete newbie in starting your online business, you should read again and take note of this so that you will not fall into the same trap which could ruin you as it had for others financially and emotionally.
3. Investing Into Your Internet Business
As much as it is important not to earn your hard-earned money buying one internet course after another, it is just as important to invest into your internet business.
In contrary to what most average and lower income earners especially family and friends, one thing I like you to know - according to what I learn from my mentor friend and Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad - is that there is a difference between spending and investing.
To put it simply in internet marketing, if you buy courses after courses just to learn everything without taking action to achieve success, you are spending your money for nothing.
But if you put your money into one proven course or system by a marketer who has succeeded in what you want to accomplish and genuinely want to help you as well as tools like autoresponder, domains and web hosting, you are investing your money into what can make you more money in the long run.
Just like you have an office, shop or cafe for offline businesses, you need those things for your online business as well to grow your income and customer database aka subscriber lists.
The only difference is while offline businesses require thousands of dollars in capital, you only need 20 to 30 bucks to start an online business.
4. Follow Instructions And Do The Necessary Things
Just because you have taken the first step to signing up for a course by proven mentor, it does not mean you are on track to achieve your ideal income and lifestyle.
Another most important thing is to be able to follow your mentor's instructions and do what is necessary to accelerate your success.
In order to do that, you need to forget and let go everything you need to know or think you know about making money online.
Why?
Because those things you learn and even implement so far does not really generate full time job replacing income into your bank account.
Moreover because your mentor has gone through various trial and errors and actually achieved success, he knows what is best for you and you to do what he says.
5. Staying Focused And Productive
As you are working on your own, it is very easy to get distracted by all kinds of things be it on-or-offline.
Unless those things help to generate thousands of dollars for you regularly, they are not really productive.
As your own boss, you should stay focused on the essential things that mattered. This is very important as it helps you to not only accomplish what you need to do faster but also sets a good example for you should you decide to hire people and run your own company.
6. Set Daily Schedule For Your Activities
This is another critical factor.
Besides working hard and being productive, you need to be able to do so in the least amount of time.
It does not make sense to spend 8 to even 20 hours of your time but not being able to achieve the results you should have as compared to what another people can in just 4 hours or less.
This is what I learn from reading a book called 4 Hour Work Week.
You need to set certain amount of time for each of your tasks aka your work and the time you need to spend with yourself and loved ones as well.
7. Stay Healthy
If you have to, turn off your computer for 2 or 3 days a week and engage in healthy activities like jogging, swimming and working out at the gym.
Also take note of what you eat as well as having a healthy and balanced diet are just as important for you to remain productive in your work.
8. Network With The People Around You
Besides families and friends, it is also essential to network with the people around you.
Besides socializing in sites like Facebook and iPhones which everyone does these days, you need to go out and connect with people.
Although you can research on your niche and target market, nothing beats communicating with real people and hearing what they have to say.
Especially those in your niche.
You can take part in your local community club activities and events such as the ones in Meetup whereby people either conducted or joined outdoor group activities to get to know new friends.
9. Giving Value To Others
Zig Ziglar once said: You Can Have Everything You Want In Life If You Helped Enough People To Get What They Want.
This is especially true when it comes to running internet business.
You see, most people get into these just to make money for themselves.
However one thing I need you to take note of and understand is that as much as it is important to make money for yourself and loved ones and pay bills, it is just as important to give value to others.
As in what they can benefit from buying your products and services rather than your competitors.
According to what I learn from my Facebook friend and successful entrepreneur Sant Qiu, people don't just buy products and services.
Besides buying based on their needs and wants, they buy from marketers they liked, trusted and saw as the go-to-person or consultant.
10. Keep It Short And Simple
Though there are many ways to make money, you do not need to learn and know everything to make money.
What you need is one way that you feel comfortable and confident with and stick to it until you are making enough money to replace your job income consistently and regularly.
Then you focused on other ways.
Makes sense?
Someone once told me in my early job interviews that it is better to be a master of one than to be a jack of everything and master of none.
Though there are many others, these are my 10 core factors on what it takes to succeed in affiliate marketing.
Because if you don't, you could end up in square one and the sad fact is that when people are in that situation, they gave up their dream of achieving financial freedom and internet lifestyle and go back to their 9 to 5 jobs.
Even sadder is that when they become parents and their children want to be entrepreneurs, they objected exactly the same way their parents did. Hence becoming an obstacle to what their children want to do rather than helping them.
Having watched webinars of various successful internet marketers such as John Thornhill whom I subscribed to regularly, these are the important things you need to know and implement if you are serious about achieving success in affiliate marketing and live the life you want instead of just daydreaming.
1. Having The Right Mindset
This is by far the most important of all.
Most people want to make money but they have the wrong mindset in regards to the process of doing so.
They see internet businesses as get rich quick ways like lottery and betting.
Just because they see other marketers earn thousands and millions in their salesletters and videos, they have the misperception that if they signed up for their courses, they will earn the same amount by tomorrow or in a week or month.
Because that is what most hyped up salesletters and videos say.
But if you are a mature adult and entrepreneur, you know as well as I do that is not going to happen. Like any businesses, you need a lot of dedication, hard work and effort to get to where you want to be.
And if they don't earn, they will either give up or signed up for another course with the same mentality.
2. Stop Buying One Internet Marketing Course After Another
That brings me to the second point.
That was also my mistake when I first got started online. It is also what I defined as Newbie Trap or Shiny Object Syndrome.
What they do is signed up for a course and tried out for a while say 1 or 2 weeks or just 2-3 days. And if they don't make money, they bought another program.
And this trend could continue and do more harm as they spend more and more money without making any in the long run.
If you are a complete newbie in starting your online business, you should read again and take note of this so that you will not fall into the same trap which could ruin you as it had for others financially and emotionally.
3. Investing Into Your Internet Business
As much as it is important not to earn your hard-earned money buying one internet course after another, it is just as important to invest into your internet business.
In contrary to what most average and lower income earners especially family and friends, one thing I like you to know - according to what I learn from my mentor friend and Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad - is that there is a difference between spending and investing.
To put it simply in internet marketing, if you buy courses after courses just to learn everything without taking action to achieve success, you are spending your money for nothing.
But if you put your money into one proven course or system by a marketer who has succeeded in what you want to accomplish and genuinely want to help you as well as tools like autoresponder, domains and web hosting, you are investing your money into what can make you more money in the long run.
Just like you have an office, shop or cafe for offline businesses, you need those things for your online business as well to grow your income and customer database aka subscriber lists.
The only difference is while offline businesses require thousands of dollars in capital, you only need 20 to 30 bucks to start an online business.
4. Follow Instructions And Do The Necessary Things
Just because you have taken the first step to signing up for a course by proven mentor, it does not mean you are on track to achieve your ideal income and lifestyle.
Another most important thing is to be able to follow your mentor's instructions and do what is necessary to accelerate your success.
In order to do that, you need to forget and let go everything you need to know or think you know about making money online.
Why?
Because those things you learn and even implement so far does not really generate full time job replacing income into your bank account.
Moreover because your mentor has gone through various trial and errors and actually achieved success, he knows what is best for you and you to do what he says.
5. Staying Focused And Productive
As you are working on your own, it is very easy to get distracted by all kinds of things be it on-or-offline.
Unless those things help to generate thousands of dollars for you regularly, they are not really productive.
As your own boss, you should stay focused on the essential things that mattered. This is very important as it helps you to not only accomplish what you need to do faster but also sets a good example for you should you decide to hire people and run your own company.
6. Set Daily Schedule For Your Activities
This is another critical factor.
Besides working hard and being productive, you need to be able to do so in the least amount of time.
It does not make sense to spend 8 to even 20 hours of your time but not being able to achieve the results you should have as compared to what another people can in just 4 hours or less.
This is what I learn from reading a book called 4 Hour Work Week.
You need to set certain amount of time for each of your tasks aka your work and the time you need to spend with yourself and loved ones as well.
7. Stay Healthy
If you have to, turn off your computer for 2 or 3 days a week and engage in healthy activities like jogging, swimming and working out at the gym.
Also take note of what you eat as well as having a healthy and balanced diet are just as important for you to remain productive in your work.
8. Network With The People Around You
Besides families and friends, it is also essential to network with the people around you.
Besides socializing in sites like Facebook and iPhones which everyone does these days, you need to go out and connect with people.
Although you can research on your niche and target market, nothing beats communicating with real people and hearing what they have to say.
Especially those in your niche.
You can take part in your local community club activities and events such as the ones in Meetup whereby people either conducted or joined outdoor group activities to get to know new friends.
9. Giving Value To Others
Zig Ziglar once said: You Can Have Everything You Want In Life If You Helped Enough People To Get What They Want.
This is especially true when it comes to running internet business.
You see, most people get into these just to make money for themselves.
However one thing I need you to take note of and understand is that as much as it is important to make money for yourself and loved ones and pay bills, it is just as important to give value to others.
As in what they can benefit from buying your products and services rather than your competitors.
According to what I learn from my Facebook friend and successful entrepreneur Sant Qiu, people don't just buy products and services.
Besides buying based on their needs and wants, they buy from marketers they liked, trusted and saw as the go-to-person or consultant.
10. Keep It Short And Simple
Though there are many ways to make money, you do not need to learn and know everything to make money.
What you need is one way that you feel comfortable and confident with and stick to it until you are making enough money to replace your job income consistently and regularly.
Then you focused on other ways.
Makes sense?
Someone once told me in my early job interviews that it is better to be a master of one than to be a jack of everything and master of none.
Though there are many others, these are my 10 core factors on what it takes to succeed in affiliate marketing.
Coming from the small Southeast island of Singapore whereby
communications, education, moral values and networking are essential
skills to survive let alone succeed, Xu Siyuan has been marketing online
for close to 7 years now.
