How To Succeed at Affiliate Marketing!

We live in an era of instant gratification. Movies on demand, coffee by the K-cup and information literally at our fingertips.

When you have a question, you pull out your phone and Google it.  Bam!!!

A hundred and fifty million answers!

We expect those answers, and we're frustrated when we can't get them. Maybe that's how you found this page… a simple tap of your fingers, “How to succeed at affiliate marketing?“

And… as expected, Google returned all the answers you could ever want, right? Maybe not…

How To Succeed At Affiliate Marketing?

There are millions of people today trying to earn a living online through affiliate marketing. Most haven't made their first dollar yet, but they're determined and searching for the secret. Everyone wants to know. And there's no shortage of websites, training programs and people that will tell you.

There are step by step guides, 10 ways to do this, and 8 ways to do that… Tutorials and how-to guides that would take you a lifetime to get through. They're fantastic, and allow us learn from the experience of others. We'd be lost without them.

But we need more than how-to-guides to succeed at affiliate marketing.

So, this is not another article about the nuts and bolts of affiliate marketing. It's not another step-by-step walkthrough of the latest strategies, and it's not a tips and tricks piece.

The secret to success online is much more than that.

If you're simply looking for the nuts and bolts of affiliate marketing, you can jump on over to one of my other pages.  I recommend starting HERE

If you've exhausted the how-to section of the web and you're looking for, you're in the right place. This article is about stepping out from the crowd, about pushing past your boundaries and going where most people just won't go (which, coincidentally, is where success is found).

In a way, it's about our struggle with instant gratification… because instant gratification doesn't exist in affiliate marketing. Success is not a done-for-funnel or the latest and greatest tool, and it's not just a Google search away.

Related  Is Affiliate Marketing Worth The Time and Effort?

Do Today What Others Won't, So You Can Live Tomorrow Like Others Can't.

When you're waist deep in the struggle, frustrated and ready to give up… keep going. When you reach the point where just about anyone else would quit, push harder. Success lies beyond that point… the one where just about everyone else quits.

Sounds easy enough, right?

It might be, at first… right up until you reach that point when it's not easy at all (which is different for everyone). Shady sites like Secret Affiliate Machine will tell you it's easy… but it's actually very hard.

In this article I'm going to talk about what you need when it's no longer easy. Or, to be a little dramatic… I'm going to share the secret.

But first, let me share a quick story about secrets (literally) and success… or lack thereof.

Pick A Card, Any Card… 

In the late 90's, I discovered by accident a magic shop.

I know… in one swift sentence I dated myself and revealed my inner geek.

Back to the story.

I was backing out of a parking spot in a Vancouver strip mall (Burnaby actually, if it matters), and a small hand written sign in an upstairs window caught my eye.

“Magic Shop”

Now, the sign may have said “Magic Shop”, but what I read was “Secrets For Sale”.  (This was before YouTube and Google, in fact, most people I knew in the late 90's didn't even have the internet yet or even know what it was.) 

I pulled back into the parking spot and went inside. It was great… literally hidden above a busy strip mall, through an unmarked door, and up a narrow staircase.

I was only moments from becoming the next David Blaine.

I bought my first book on card magic that day, and over the years have acquired a pretty big collection of gimmicks, gadgets and “secret” knowledge.

But here's the thing.  It's been about 20 years since I discovered that shop… and I'm still NOT a magician. Why?

Everything I need is here in my house… the cards, the coins, the magnets, the rings… the books and videos.

I have all the SECRETS.

So why am I not a magician? Because I didn't really want it (even though I thought I did).

If I really wanted it, I would be one. I would have put in the endless hours of practice, studied the psychology, perfected the patter, and I would have performed for people other than family and a few friends.

I would have kept at it, even when it was boring and repetitive, and even when I was struggling to get a move just right.

What does this have to do with affiliate marketing?

Knowledge Is NOT Power If It Just Collects Dust In Your Closet (or your downloads folder)

You can have all the knowledge, the tools, and the people ready to help you but it won't be enough.  They may be critical to your success…, but they won't be responsible for it.

The best training, the coolest logo, the most in-depth analytics, and SEO tool; all of these things may as well be buried in the corner of your closet inside a dusty box (just like all that magic stuff).

Oh sure, you might pull them out every once in a while. You might even get serious about things… for a few months until you get bored and/or frustrated.

How many people start going to the gym only to give up a few weeks or months later?  They were going every day religiously. They ate healthy foods and completely changed their lifestyle. But when they hit a plateau, or life got in the way… they quit.

Why?

Because they didn't want it bad enough. The ones that really want it… they're still at the gym. They're still eating healthy. They're still pushing forward, long after most people quit.

The secret to success at affiliate marketing (if there is one)… is that you MUST want it just as bad as those who stick it out in the gym, or go on to become magicians. In other words… you need to figure out and become obsessed with your WHY!

The internet can provide (and you probably have) all the tips, tools and guidance to get started with an online business.

What the Internet can't give you though… is your WHY.

What Do You Want?

If you want to succeed at affiliate marketing, you're going to have to really want it.  The good news is…  you DO WANT IT. You wouldn't be reading this right now if you didn't. But… how bad do you want it?

How to become successful at affiliate marketing is a question that ultimately, can only be answered by YOU.

This goes for anything in life.

It's obvious when we're talking about someone becoming a world class guitarist, or a champion prize fighter.

But earning a living from home on your computer? Who strives for greatness at that?

A list of “WHY's”

There are going to be times when you're frustrated, times when you're tired, times when you're in doubt and wondering what the hell you're doing it for.

And you're going to need a deep well of reasons to draw upon to keep you going.

It could be money (although personally I think most of us are motivated by the freedom money buys, rather than money itself).

It could be mobility, or maybe you're just sick and tired of trading your hours for dollars.

Not having to answer to a boss would be great, right? Or getting paid while you sleep.

Time to do the things you want, when you want to do them. Time to be with the people you want to be with.

Your list of “why's” is your secret your weapon to succeeding online. Not your arsenal of digital tools, programs, and plug-ins.

Keep your “why's” front and center, write them down, review them daily. And finally, a motivational rant wouldn't be complete without a motivational quote, so I'll leave you with this.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

Please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts. What are your reasons for wanting to succeed at affiliate marketing? 

If you found this article useful, or think it may be helpful for others… please share  😀

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