Affiliate marketing is rapidly changing and unpredictable, just like the words that come out of the Donald Trump’s mouth. In order to survive, you’ll need patience, perseverance and the ability to withstand the ebbs and flows of this dynamic market.
It’s not a game to be played by the faint of heart; however, if you have the cajones and the spirit of success to get in on the action, you can realize some serious prosperity.
So how do I prevent myself from failing?
First, let’s explore a common question: “What would you do if you had to start over tomorrow?”
This is not a question only rookies to the sport are interested in finding the answers to – experienced affiliates alike end up in the same boat at some point. What happens is, once they set out on their path, these affiliates may come across a WINNING campaign right of the bat, without having invested much at all – hello huge ROI! Assuming they actually manage to maintain it for a period of time, their egoistic monkey brain takes over and they get carried away proving it to their peers through treating themselves to designer clothing, luxury cars and expensive trips.
I have been in the industry for over 10 years. I witness this on the daily. Sadly, many people see this as an easy money grab and don’t respect the process, failing to treat it like a real business and assuming there is no end to the dollar bills in sight.
In traditional affiliate marketing, you don’t build assets. Once the offer goes down, so does you income stream.
Is it because most online marketers are immature nerds who lack financial wisdom? Or maybe they have no foresight and live too much in the present moment? #YOLO
Most people seek out affiliate marketing because they crave freedom – financial and personal freedom to do whatever the heck they want – but a lot of them achieve the complete opposite, burying themselves in more expenses than they had to begin with.
The fancy car, big house and vacations come with price tags that weren’t previously committed to prior to setting out on this new journey.
If you are getting into affiliate marketing for the financial and personal freedom, why would you tie yourself down with all of these expenses that you didn’t have to begin with?
And what strides are you making in achieving your goals by making extravagant purchases? None – unless your goals include impressing people that won’t matter in your life in a few months or years from now.
Next, I’ll offer my no BS advice to those moderately successful marketers out there:
- Lower your expenses as much as possible. If that means you need to downsize your home – do it. You also don’t need a gas-guzzling luxury truck or SUV to get you to the grocery store – a standard size vehicle will get you there. Remember: impressing people by flashing money is not going to attract anything great to your life.
- Save your coin – once you have a decent buffer ($100k plus) in your bank account and you continue to operate as a true business, you can afford to enjoy a few of the finer things in life. Everyone deserves to enjoy these; however, most people buy them but in reality they can’t afford them.
- Don’t become a slave to your money – put your money to work for you. Once you can afford to, invest in gold/silver/platinum which will hold their value even when your currency crashes. They are assets that are not reliant on anyone else’s liability.
Banks and currencies can fail, with whole countries and their people at the mercy of them. It happened in Cyprus, and could very well happen in your country.
Essentially, the message here is that once you get even moderately successful in affiliate marketing, save your dollars by living below your means as much as possible. Sacrifice luxury so that you can live life comfortably without having to combat the rat race like everyone else.
Remember: You need to give up short term gratification, for a long term success! Say no to that new car, say no to that expensive watch. Keep on hustling!
This simple strategy will keep you afloat no matter how high or low the tides are.