Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be successful when you start out in your affiliate marketing career. In fact, only 5% of all people will be.
As for the other 95%, not only do they have to live with that horrible feeling that they failed, but they are likely to lose a lot of money that they invested trying to make things work.
There are a ton of resources online to learn about affiliate marketing – you’ll no doubt have read a ton of eBooks and blogs and may have even signed up to membership site to ensure that you don’t become part of that 95%.
But if things still don’t feel like they are working out, I likely know why.
Affiliate marketers who are struggling to see the success that they want to seem to always fall into one of three categories:
Mr(s) non-starter
You may be a non-starter if you have read every blog imaginable on the topic and bought a whole lot of products to get you started. But you haven’t actually done anything to start and just keep dreaming about how great it would be to work online and have a passive income. Every day you say that you will start tomorrow, but something keeps you from actually going ahead and starting your business.
Mr(s) lack of results
Even though you’ve read a ton of information and bought various products like the non-starter above, you’ve actually been working on your business and have seen some success. But you are nowhere near where you want to be and don’t understand how other people are using certain products with much more success than you.
Mr(s) plateau
You’ve already been doing pretty ok. You’re bringing in at least 4 figures every month, but you are dreaming of so much more than that. Even though you feel like have the skills and the know-how to get where you want to be, you’ve simply plateaued and don’t know how to get out of this rut.
Do you see yourself falling into one of those categories?
I thought so.
How crazy would it be that no matter which category you were in, there was the same reason for not succeeding in an affiliate marketing career?
The real reason 95% of beginner affiliate marketers fail
As humans, we have certain belief systems and boundaries imprinted in our brains. Because of these, we are actually restricted in living life in the best way possible.
These belief systems hold us back from being successful, from getting a promotion, from reaching our goals, from fulfilling our dreams and from making as much money as we would like.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that these belief systems exist, and even though they are different for many people, the outcomes are the same.
We don’t ask for that promotion
We don’t reach our goals
We don’t fulfil our dreams
We don’t make the money we want
And…
We don’t succeed in our businesses
So how does that relate to affiliate marketing? It’s all about your mindset and how you apply yourself to your business.
Let’s have a look at a couple of examples of marketers with different belief systems so you can see what I mean.
Affiliate marketer #1
Affiliate marketer #1 has a lot of negative thoughts when it comes to thinking about their business. They feel that everyone else is doing well and they are not good enough. They lack confidence in their skills to promote a product and are jealous of everyone else’s lists. They kind of wish that they hadn’t started but are in too deep to stop now. They don’t want to seem like more of a failure by giving up.
Affiliate marketer #2
Affiliate marketer #2 has a positive outlook on their affiliate marketing business. While they wish that they were doing a bit better than they are, they are grateful for every sale and feel a sense of accomplishment every time they get that confirmation notification. They like celebrating their successes, no matter how small they are, and look forward to learning more and starting new campaigns.
See the difference?
Which one are you?
When it comes to promoting new products, there is a definite difference between the two.
If you are like affiliate marketer #1, you’ll no doubt not be too excited at the thought of promoting a new product. You’ve lost your passion and enthusiasm and are pretty sure that this campaign is not going to be any different from the others. Even though you have these negative thoughts, you still get an email together and send it out to your list.
But now your feeling of failure worsens even more. There are no sales coming in.
The self-doubt voices crowd your mind – does my list suck? Did I get into this too late?
Now your belief system is worsening. It was already pretty bad before and now with all these negative thoughts you’ve just made it worse. You’ll probably get to the point where you think that quitting is your only option.
No matter what business you’re in, or what your situation is, you will always sabotage positive outcomes by having negative beliefs. It’s just the way things work.
Now if you had a more positive outlook, things would be a lot different.
Take Affiliate Marketer #2 for example. They are extremely excited at the chance of promoting a new product and having the potential to make some more money. They spend a lot of time and care to craft an awesome email to send out to their list.
They feel motivated to get their campaign going and confident that they are going to start seeing some sales.
Affiliate Marketer #2 is strengthening their positive beliefs and will be far more likely to succeed in their campaign.
So, what can you do?
The key takeaway here is that you need to adapt a positive frame of mind not only in your business but in all parts of your life. If you are able to feel good about what you do and celebrate your wins, you’ll have a higher chance of being able to increase your sales and see success.
A negative belief system doesn’t do anyone any favours, so believe in yourself and your abilities, and see how things change.