First Things First
Let’s start with the good news: it’s entirely possible to make money with affiliate marketing – heck, if I can do it, anyone can!
HOWEVER
If you’ve “failed” to get results so far, you are NOT alone and it’s probably NOT your fault!
There’s a TON of confusing information out there and a TON of people who want to sell it to you.
Most systems are presented as solutions to get you “rich quick”. They all come with big disclaimers, but still, it’s terribly difficult not to buy when you are told you could be a millionaire within the next few months! So before you know it, you’ve bought a ton of courses that promise you to make a ton of cash fast – but the only people to get rich are those selling you the courses.
SO – let’s get things clear.
To succeed in affiliate marketing, you need:
- To take the right action
- To stay focused
- To be consistent
- To give it time
What do I mean by that, exactly? Let’s go into each point a little deeper, shall we?
TAKE THE RIGHT ACTION
There are a few key points here, but it’s not difficult. Let’s take them one at a time:
Number 1: Publish content
You’re probably going to hate me for saying this, but you need to build some authority in your niche. And for that to happen, you need to publish content.
Find out where your audience is, pick a platform and produce content.
There are many platforms out there and it doesn’t matter which one you choose. It could be YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, your own blog, a podcast, etc. They all work! The important thing is to be sure that your potential customers hang out there.
Once you’ve picked a platform, publish content really regularly. If you’re a beginner in your niche, it doesn’t matter! Just publish anyway! Share what you are learning. You just need to be one step ahead, that’s all.
Number 2: Build your list
You’ve probably heard “the money is in the list”. It’s true.
As you publish your content, offer a free resource to your audience in exchange for their email address. It can be something very simple, as long as it’s useful to them. Make sure you offer these free gifts to your audience everywhere you can. It can be a link on your Facebook profile, a pop-up on your blog, a link in the description of your YouTube videos, etc. Just put it there and offer it to people.
Think of your audience’s problems and what simple resource would help them. Don’t overthink this! To quote Pat Flynn: “It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be helpful.”
Number 3: Build relationships
This is incredibly important. Always remember that most of us will NOT buy right away. Focus on helping people with their problems – in time, some of them will buy.
Make sure you email your list regularly. Don’t spam them. Give value, and be helpful; make sure you regularly remind them of what you are offering and how it can solve their problem.
Number 4: Make offers
Offer your audience good quality products that you have tried and tested yourself. Make sure what you are offering is right for your audience. It needs to help them with their problems and pain.
This should come naturally as a “consequence” of the first 3 steps. If you’re publishing content on a certain topic, gathering email addresses and forming a good relationship with your audience, then it just feels natural to offer them products that will help them.
Ok, so, this is basically the action you need to take.
Next, you need to…
STAY FOCUSED
Focus on one main platform where you build your content. Go really deep into that. Focus on getting better all the time. This is what will give you momentum and results.
Focus on learning and taking action on everything you learn.
So many people start doing one thing, and then switch to something else after a couple of months. Then they switch again a few months down the line… and so on. Nothing ever solid gets built that way.
If you decide to build a YouTube channel for example, focus all your energy on that. Don’t give up after a few months because progress is slow. Focus on getting better, on learning new tricks.
Similarly, stay focused on learning about affiliate marketing and improving all the time. If you do 3 or 4 different things at the same time, it’s virtually impossible to master anything properly.
BE CONSISTENT
Turn up EVERY DAY.
Again, I know this might not be what you want to hear… but I would be wrong not to tell you this.
They say 80% of success is just showing up – and I have experienced this to be true. I take very imperfect action but I make sure I do it very consistently.
When you’re consistent, many things happen:
First, people learn to trust you – because you show up all the time. Your audience sees that you are reliable, that you won’t suddenly disappear, that they can count on you.
Second, you get better and better, because you are taking consistent action. It’s very difficult to get good at a skill without consistent practice.
Third, there’s a compounding effect. Taking small, consistent steps means that your content and influence really grows. It’s often slow in the beginning, but then it suddenly “explodes”.
And last but not least:
GIVE IT TIME
I can’t stress the importance of this enough!
SO many give up way too soon!!
I know we’re all impatient and we want to change our life this very minute. I get it! I’m impatient too! But we need to learn patience or we might just never get there.
Affiliate marketing is a relatively “easy” model. But you still need to learn how to do it properly. This is a business you’re building. You haven’t just bought a lottery ticket.
If you do it the right way, you will start making money while you sleep, while you’re at the beach, while you’re enjoying time with your family, while you’re doing the thousands of things you dream of doing. It will happen! But you need to give it time.
I hope this helps!
Here’s a little video summary of all this for you: