Category: affiliate marketing

affiliate marketing, entrepreneur journey, Make money online

Ready for the new email rules?

Sophie Sion

I was way more productive this week!  Yay!  Exciting stuff coming – I’ll tell you more at the end of this post (if you have the courage to read it until the end lol!).

But let’s talk “pain in the neck email updates” first. 

If you’ve been growing your list, this affects you – and it comes into place on February 1st – so it’s literally round the corner…

I first heard about it from Dean at the end of last year, and then from everyone else.  Because this is pretty significant really, a big update in requirements from us bulk email senders.

So here’s what’s happening: starting in February, anyone sending bulk emails (ie the same email to many addresses, using an autoresponder), needs the following:

  • a verified sending domain
  • a DMARC record
  • DKIM and SPF records
  • DNS records
  • a one-click unsubscribe
  • AND… a spam complaint rate lower than 0.3%

Anyone who doesn’t comply with these rules will basically see his/her emails not get delivered, and in time risk being kicked out of their autoresponder service.

To be honest, the spam rate is what scares me most.

Not that I send spam – I NEVER do – but more that people hit the spam button easily, sometimes even inadvertently!

I recently found two people on my spam complaint list who are in very regular contact with me by email and reach out to me for advice.  I highly doubt they thought my emails were spam.  One of them was subscribed to my list with a few different email addresses, so my guess is this person wanted to unsubscribe and hit the spam button instead.

Anyway, all this to say that keeping your spam rate lower than 3 in 1000 seems truly tough to me, and I’m not quite sure that new rule is realistic.  But there you go.  

As far as the rest of the rules are concerned, the good news is, it’s not complicated to be compliant.

In fact, my autoresponder, Convertkit, organised everything perfectly.  We were invited to a short group zoom call where they told us exactly what to do. 

They take care of the DKIM, SPF and DNS records, as well as the one-click unsubscribe.  

All I had to do was verify my sending domain and set the DMARC record.  It took me 10 minutes, literally.  Then Convertkit checked it out for me and confirmed I’d done it all right.  

I LOVE Convertkit – they rock!!

I’ve seen that all the big companies are helping their customers set this up, so if you’re not with Convertkit, don’t worry, just reach out to your autoresponder if they haven’t reached out to you already.

Quick reminder: if you do affiliate marketing, you need an “affiliate marketing friendly” autoresponder.

In my experience, there are 3 big ones that are:

The most affiliate marketing friendly one is GetResponse.  I used it and found it great.

The only reason I switched to Convertkit was that I was taking an email marketing course that used it, and it just made sense to switch.

But I found both GetResponse and Convertkit very user friendly.  And if you’re looking for a good autoresponder, I can only recommend them both.

Ok, so now onto the exciting stuff!

Well… in my January coaching call with Dean, we talked about my goals and plans for 2024.

As I wrote before here, I’m committed this year to focusing exclusively on what’s worked so well for me over the past 2 years: Facebook ads and email follow-up.

Dean agreed with me (that was a big relief!)… and he agreed this was something I could start teaching too.

So I’ve been working on a new product of mine… to be launched on February 2nd!  

I’ll say no more for now, there must be some mystery about it right?  But let’s just say it has to do with the incredible traffic method that I discovered thanks to Dean and his team, nearly two years ago.

It’s funny the way things change…

Last week I was frustrated.  But this week, I was really efficient; it was like I was in “flow” every day, at least for a few hours.  When I can tap into this, it’s great.  It’s like I have wings!

I guess I’ve said enough for today – must go and work on these emails of mine!

What traffic source has given YOU the best ROI?  Let me know in the comments ?

affiliate marketing, entrepreneur journey, Internet Profits, Make money online

So much to do, and so little time to do it…

Sophie Sion

I’m hoping this post won’t be too negative… but sometimes I seriously just need to have a good rant…

Maybe you, my dear reader, will relate to what I’m about to share?

Ok, so here we go: today’s January 13th, nearly half the month has gone, and I’m already running “behind”.

It’s maddening!

It drives me nuts, because it’s not that I don’t work and it’s not that I’m not motivated… it’s just that there are too many things in my life.

Well, I say “things”, but maybe that’s not the right word.

Rather, I mean, “responsibilities”, “people”, “roles”, “chores”.

Now don’t get me wrong: I LOVE my family to bits; my kids are absolutely everything for me and I would go to the end of the earth for them (well, if the earth wasn’t round, that is lol).

But with the family come sooooo many “things”.

Granted I don’t make it easier on myself by not sending the kids to school – but that’s a choice we’re not going back on, ever; it’s a non-negotiable, so I just have to work with this.

Apart from “school”, there are so many things to oversee, it’s insane.

Cooking, for one, is endless.

I mean, why, oh why, do we have to eat three times a day?  Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could just do it once a week? 

You know, a little like changing the bedding… we’d schedule it and do it every Saturday.  Then it would be done!

But no, it doesn’t work like that; and kids are always hungry.

No sooner have we cleared the breakfast table that they ask: “Mum, what were you thinking of cooking for lunch?”

My kids are good at helping me out, but there still seems to be so much that I have to do.

Anyway, this week has been frustrating, and I’m annoyed at myself that I haven’t kept up.

I had planned an email a day – I’ve sent two only…

I had promised myself to shoot a video – it hasn’t happened yet…

I had committed to blog here at least once a week – this is my first post of the year…

And I am in the middle of preparing a new course – launch is planned for February 2nd… I wanted it finished by now, but it’s not ready yet.

Can you relate?

Are you trying to do too much?

If so, I feel for you!  And you’re not alone.

Ok, rant over – I feel better now!

The positive news is that I’ve not done nothing :-).

My ad is running and doing soooo well. I mean look at these numbers for the first 12 days of the year:

Leads are coming in for as little as $0.33, it’s incredible!

My email sequences are working for me.  My open rates are consistently above 35%.  Sales have come in.

That’s what I need to focus on – not the stuff I haven’t done.

Anyway, I’ll end this post here and go write some emails for next week.

If you’re like me, having to do a ton of “things” and finding it frustrating at times, please don’t give up.  You’ll get there, I promise.  The frustration is just part of the course, but it’s still all worth it in the end.

And if you want to know how to run ads that bring in quality leads at such a low cost – just like in the screenshot above – click this link; I teach this stuff, and you can get my training for free by following three simple steps.

Exciting things are happening within Internet Profits by the way… I’ll update you about it all very soon 🙂

affiliate marketing, entrepreneur journey, Internet Profits, Make money online

Know your numbers

Sophie Sion

If there’s ONE thing Dean has taught me, it’s this: KNOW YOUR NUMBERS.

If you, dear reader, don’t track your numbers, don’t worry – I was the same.  When I first started building this business, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t really treat it like a business…

But then I met Dean, and he taught me otherwise.

As painful as it was, I began tracking figures.

  • Clicks
  • Leads
  • Sales
  • Ad spend

At first there were way too many zeros on my tracker sheet… I cringed every time I looked at it… but I’m a good girl who generally does as she’s told (especially when it’s her multi-millionaire mentor who tells her to do it), so I continued to track nonetheless.  

And in time, there were not so many zeros and that felt really good – but this is not the point I think will help you in this post.

The important thing I learned from tracking my numbers is that it allows me to make business decisions based on facts rather than emotions.

Oftentimes, we think something is working – when in reality it’s not.  And vice-versa, we might feel super discouraged and feel like failures, but then the numbers show us we’re in fact succeeding.

Numbers don’t lie.

I had an epiphany moment a few weeks ago that illustrated exactly this point: I was thinking of my strategy for 2024, and as usual, dozens of ideas were whizzing through my brain…

And then I stopped myself in my tracks and looked at my 2023 numbers.

Before making any decisions for 2024, I needed to know what 2023 looked like.

And looking at my tracker sheet, it was plain and simple: my Facebook ad is giving me an astounding ROI; throughout the year it has been running continuously, bringing in leads and making me between 350 and 400% ROI!

This is a perfect example of me thinking I’m not doing that well, but looking at the numbers and opening my eyes on the reality that I’m doing great.

If you haven’t been tracking your numbers, I highly suggest you commit to doing so in 2024.

It’s not hard at all.  All you need is a spreadsheet.  You can use Google sheets, an Excel spreadsheet on Word or Open Office; nothing fancy!

I’ve made a habit of entering my stats every morning.  I log in, look at the number of clicks, leads and sales I have.  I enter these, along with my ad spend for the previous day.  Takes me 5 minutes max.  

At the end of the month, I check that it’s all totalled up accurately.  There’s a sheet where the year’s totals are all added too.  

It’s easy and it makes a huge difference.

So… after looking at my numbers, I decided on my 2024 plan!  And guess what? 

I’m simply going to do more of what works.  And I’m going to take it to another level!

Here’s what I’ll do:

  • double down on my ads: I’ll try running a new one alongside the one that’s already working; I’ll try duplicating my winner and run it to other audiences; I’ll try increasing my ad spend
  • double down on my follow-up: the ads bring in the leads, but the follow-up builds the relationship and brings in the sales; I’m committing to writing many more emails this year, and to build 5 star relationships with my customers

And that’s it.

I’m going to do less to do more.

I’ll record how all this is going here, and I’ll share it to YouTube, of course.  But my focus will be on this, and this only.

What’s your plan for 2024?  Do you track your numbers already?  Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to show you a spreadsheet example – I’d be happy to do so if it helps!

affiliate marketing, entrepreneur journey, Internet Profits, Make money online

My biggest enemy…

Sophie Sion

Do you drive yourself crazy at times?

I DO!!!  I could really, really kick myself some days.  In fact I could probably do worse than kick myself, it’s that bad!

This might be something you do too, so let me share my latest silly Sophie stuff…

Here’s what happened:

Just over two months ago, we had an incredible live event at Internet Profits.  Dean shared what he would do if he had to start all over again from scratch, knowing what he knows now.

Amazing event it was!  And I came out of it all on fire, inspired, full of energy and ideas.

This was an Internet Profits partner only event, so I won’t reveal too much; but let’s just say Dean shared a framework with us that included sharing the journey, from day one.  He talked about how this could be done too if, like myself, you were not starting from scratch but already having success.

So all fired up and enthusiastic, I went full steam ahead and created a new blog the very next day, wanting to mark a new beginning.

I wrote all about it over here, in this post: New direction! It’s exciting!

My train of thought for starting a new blog was that this site is on wordpress.com, and that that’s not the best way to do it… I now know that it’s a lot better to have your own hosting on a platform such as Interserver.  

So I went ahead, bought a new domain, bought my own hosting, and starting over again.

Now this is all well and good, but a couple of months down the line, I’m realising that this is just the kind of thing I do, without thinking much… and it’s NOT the best decision…

Let me explain: I’ve had THIS blog here, sophiesion.com, for a few years now.  It’s not perfect.  It’s not hosted on the “right” platform.  BUT it’s a record of my journey.  AND it’s getting views, followers, and quite a few of my readers even opt in to my email list (thank you for your trust by the way).

So yes, of course, I can start all over on another site, but I reckon it’s a shame!  Why lose some of you faithful followers?  Why lose a big chunk of my records?  It’s silly!

Dean probably doesn’t realise this, but he helped me come to this conclusion.

You see, he’s launched some very exciting new “stuff” in Internet Profits (more about this later, I promise); I’m privileged to be following it all closely, both as a member of the team and a customer.

He’s launched a new tool that’s not open to the public yet; part of this includes the option to build a blog… so I wanted to migrate this site, sophiesion.com over there.  

It’s a bit of a long story, but trying to do all this basically made me realise “hold on a second Sophie, you’ve actually got some good stuff on this site!  Why on earth are you starting again on sophiesionbyde.com???”

So there you go – I’m back here, recording the journey and sharing everything I learn with you all, my faithful readers.

I’ll probably copy and paste the few posts I made on sophiesionbyde.com, just because a few important things happened over the past couple of months.  But I’ll stick to this blog from now on.

As the end of this year approaches I am struck by how I am my own worst enemy, over and over again!!!  It drives me seriously insane!

I am ALWAYS trying to do too much, always.  I think I need more, or something else, or something new.  It’s not that I buy much stuff, it’s more that I add more and more and more work onto my plate… and it’s completely unnecessary!  

Do you do this too?  How long does it take you to spot it and stop yourself in your tracks?

I’ve gotten better at spotting it, but I’m still wayyyy not good enough!

Anyway… onwards and upwards!  I’ve rectified this now, phew! 

If you have a tendency to do more and too much all the time, just like I do, I’d love to hear all about it in the comments.  Maybe we can hold eachother accountable in 2024?  Form a kind of “business minimalist” movement?  (Now you see, I’m doing it again!  I’m already thinking of how I could create a new Facebook called “minimalist affiliates” lol)

affiliate marketing, Internet Profits, Make money online

New direction! It’s exciting!

Sophie Sion

Quick update: I have a new blog… an here’s why this might be interesting for you:

So, almost a month ago, we had a live online event at Internet Profits and Dean shared some pure gold with us.

“What would I do to go from 0 to full time income online, if I had to start from scratch all over again?”, was the theme of the day, and it was fascinating.  Full of great insights and ideas.

One of the central pieces Dean shared with us was the importance of recording the journey, wherever we are at on the journey…

And this rekindled my desire to do just that!

Now why not use this blog, you might be thinking?  And believe me I would have happily done so!

But, you see, when I set up this site, I kind of messed up.  I hadn’t realised the importance of having my own hosting and I went with WordPress dot com.  Nothing against it (please forgive me WP!) but I know it’s important to build an asset that I own.

So… I bought my full name domain, www.sophiesionbyde.com from Namecheap, and then I headed to Interserver to buy my hosting (only $32 a year!  Couldn’t believe how much cheaper it was than what I pay for this blog here…) and there you go, I’ve started publishing over there!

This site will remain online – I want to keep what I’ve published so far; I’ll just have to find a way to transfer it so that it’s self-hosted too, but I’ll do this later.

Anyway, if you want to continue following my journey, and getting all my best tips and tricks along the way, then I’d love it if you followed me on www.sophiesionbyde.com!

Just before I go, I can’t resist sharing that October was my biggest month ever in terms of profit!  More than 5k!  Yes, in PROFIT!  And to think I was all down in the dumps and discouraged in my last post… glad Dean told me to carry on, he was right as usual!

How’s your business going?  Let me know in the comments!

 

PS: ? here’s my latest video on Internet Profits – watch it if you want to know how you can do this too! ?