Lows and highs… a spontaneous post :-)

Having a mentor is worth gold. Truly. Worth a LOT of gold.

This is a completely spontaneous post following a conversation I had this morning. If you’re discouraged on your make money online journey, this should help. It helped ME so much, I just can’t not share it. In fact, when I’ve finished writing this up, I’ll go and shoot a YouTube video about it… and heck I might even turn it into an email and a Facebook post.

Building your online business can be so lonely. Seriously lonely…

And if you’re doing affiliate marketing, you’re exposed to so many lies that you’re probably second guessing and doubting yourself every five minutes. It’s seriously crazy out there in the high ticket niche: incessant Facebook posts claiming the author made 30k in ten minutes doing nothing… by the time you’ve read 3 or 4 of these, you start panicking and thinking “what on earth am I doing wrong?”.

Anyway, back to the conversation I had that you need to hear about.

Here’s what led me to it in the first place: I handed over my August stats to my mentor and they were “bad”.

Well – not ALL bad. The clicks stats were good. The leads stats too. The cost per lead stats were even better. The overall growth of my business excellent…. But the profit stats… not so great. In fact, for the first time in ages, the number in the “profit/loss” column was red. And we all know what that means.

Yep, it happens to me too… I made sales in August, but not enough to cover my expenses and make profit.

So when I hit send to hand over my results to my mentor, I had an attack of panic, imposter syndrome, doubt, discouragement and second guessing.

Next thing I knew I was messaging him saying “I feel bad, my results aren’t good this month.”

I did feel bad – really low in fact. It’s not like I’ve slacked, taken a month off and haven’t been working in August. Nothing in my actions justified these “bad” results. So not for the first time, I began to think things like “I’m not cut out for this” and “I’m stupid” and “I’ll never make it in a BIG way”, etc.

Not very nice things to go on in my head on a lovely September morning really…

And do you know what? I felt so low I nearly didn’t reach out to my mentor. Crazy, isn’t it? Because the low moments are precisely those when I need a mentor – when everything is plain sailing, he doesn’t hear much from me!

But somehow I felt embarrassed and ashamed at all this… and then I kicked myself in the butt and had the courage to message him.

Well you know, I’m so glad I did. Because he told me things I didn’t know, that made me feel SO much better.

Apparently there’s a thing online my mentor calls “the summer slump”. Now I hadn’t had a chance to experience this yet, because the last few years have been atypical: no one travelled much in the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022. But this year, 2023, life is almost back to “normal” (whatever that means lol!) and with the return of open borders and travelling made possible again… well, it seems the summer slump is back for us in business.

It was such a relief to hear this, and to know I’m not the only one who saw a decline in sales in August.

I felt instantly better… less alone, less “stupid”, less discouraged.

This is just one of the ways that having a mentor is worth gold: a mentor has walked the path you’re walking and they know what it’s like. In fact, the mentor is still on the same path, just further down the road. So he/she KNOWS how it feels.

It’s easy to get help with technical stuff – plenty of free information out there will show us how to do things.

It’s not so easy to get help when we face roadblocks, fears and doubts.

I’m a pretty tough girl under my innocent smile… tough and extremely tenacious. I’ve been through hell in my life and that’s taught me that everything passes, so I NEVER give up.

But I know many people don’t have my crazy stubbornness, and stop when things get rough. The discouragement can be overwhelming and the doubts paralysing. I totally get it!

That’s where the mentor comes in… he’ll keep you going… he’ll restore faith in yourself… he’ll tell you what’s normal and what’s not… he’ll let you in on things no one talks about… and instead of stopping, you’ll get up again and go, with renewed faith and fire inside you!

So that’s it dear reader. I hope this helps!

If you want access to the same mentor I have, your first step is to click here to get my free training and emails. You’ll find out, in my emails, how you can partner with me and my mentor… and before you know it, you’ll be on your road to success and freedom.

affiliate marketing, Internet Profits, Make money online

I’ve done it again :-(

August 6, 2023August 6, 2023 Sophie Sion

I know, I know… I disappeared again for a few weeks! So sorry! But I’ve been working hard, that’s why!

And I went away for a few days too…

Want to see a picture? Took my mum, youngest son and nephew to the Swiss mountains for a few days; my sister joined us on day 3. The views were spectacular.

I mean, look at this…

The weather was mostly grey and overcast, but it was still incredibly beautiful!

My mum has Alzheimer’s, so it wasn’t exactly a holiday, but I won’t go into the sad details, it’s just too depressing.

Back to business and the news is good 🙂

Did I ever tell you that in Internet Profits, we can send our results in once a month and have them reviewed by Dean himself?

Well, if I didn’t, I have now. These monthly results reviews are worth gold. To have a multiple 7 figure earner look at my strategy and results once a month – and give me feedback on all this – has made a HUGE difference to my progress.

Do you track your numbers? If you don’t, I highly recommend it! It’s an eye opener at times.

Anyway, as I was preparing to submit my numbers for July, I went into a bit of statistical deep dive. If I spread out my numbers over the last 18 months, I’ve been making an average of just over 1k a month. If I look at the last 12 months, I’m averaging nearly 1.5k a month. That’s in profit, of course.

As I write this, I’m attacked by self-doubt and imposter syndrome. I see all the MASSIVE income promises I get in my inbox weekly, and I think “I’m only making 4 figures a month…”

And then you know what? I stop myself! I refuse to go down that rabbit hole.

I make what I make, and I’m so incredibly proud of myself.

I have such little time… I don’t have my own office. There are constant interruptions. My kids don’t go to school – I’m responsible for their education. Until April this year, I looked after my dear Dad. It was full on. And then there was the horror of seeing him go downhill, suffer terribly and finally pass away. And now there’s the grief. I don’t talk about it much, but it’s there, all the time.

So yes, I’m proud of these 4 figures I make each month. Immensely proud.

In other news, I spoke with a great marketer and copywriter called Bill Mueller. He reviewed my emails and had only great things to say about them, that made me blush big time.

I told him I really wanted to improve on my emails and how they convert… he asked me about my numbers and when I showed him my stats from my ads and my ROI, he said “how much better than that can it get?”. This made me laugh and I thought he had a point! It made me realise how much I underestimate how well I’m doing. After all, three to four hundred percent ROI is not bad, right?

So my August aim now is to scale my ads and get that email list of mine bigger – much bigger!

I won’t do anything crazy – I do believe slow and steady wins the race. But I’m gradually increasing my ad budget and testing new audiences.

Unless Dean tells me not to, of course. I always follow his advice above all else – and it serves me well.

Anyway, that’s the news for this week.

Well, almost! YouTube still being my first love, I continue to publish on there, of course. You might want to check out my latest video: 5 tips to unlock your affiliate marketing success ?

That’s it from me for today… if you want to get started, here’s my free training: just click here to grab it :-).

Have a wonderful Sunday!

affiliate marketing, Internet Profits, Make money online

The lies that give affiliate marketing such a bad name…

July 18, 2023 Sophie Sion

“17k in 48 hours, even as a complete beginner…”

That’s the Facebook post that triggered me to grab my camera and shoot my latest video for this week.

I’ve had enough of all the BS in the industry and I think it’s time to speak out…

I mean, SERIOUSLY, come on! 17 grand in a weekend??? Who believes this kind of stuff????

Well, sadly, many people! I’d love to think that everyone sees through the lies, but unfortunately so many don’t! And I can’t blame them!

The promise of making a HUGE lot of money FAST is sooooo appealing. Who wouldn’t want to jump on a webinar that promises to make nearly a year’s salary in a couple of days?

I know I would! If I didn’t know better, that is.

Now if you’re starting out, “from scratch with ZERO experience”, you don’t need this kind of cr*p – seriously you don’t! It will mess up your brain and give you completely false expectations – and that’s the LAST thing you need, especially if you’re in desperate need for money.

Now just to be clear: affiliate marketing can be extremely profitable. As I write this, on July 18th, I’ve already made over 2k this month, and I’m spending a lot of my time at the pool with my kids, making the most of the boiling hot summer we have in my part of the world.

I’m NOT saying that affiliate marketing is a scam, because it’s NOT, not at all!

But telling people that they can make 17k in 48 hours, even if they’re complete beginners is just like telling people “you can be a millionaire tomorrow if you buy a lottery ticket”. It can happen, but it’s EXTREMELY unlikely – I mean, really, really, REALLY unlikely.

This kind of post makes me so mad, because I truly feel for all the people who’ll waste precious time and money as a result.

Wild income claims mess up with your brain, you see. If you go into affiliate marketing with this kind of expectation, you’re then going to think you’re doing something wrong if you don’t make a ton of cash fast; you’ll then beat yourself up; you’ll be highly likely to then go and buy another program or course, that promises you yet other massively unrealistic things… and when that doesn’t bring you the money you hoped for, you’ll move onto something else… Before you know it, you’ll have wasted months, if not years, chasing an illusion. Not to mention the money you’ll have spent.

And I don’t want this for you!

I SO want you to learn the essential skills needed to create, grow, and scale a real, profitable affiliate marketing business.

This is why these posts make me so angry! And I’ve just had enough – I’m not going to stay polite and quiet anymore about it!

Here’s my video about this ?

If you’re starting out in this, please, please be careful: don’t be taken in by wild claims of big money fast. Learn from ethical marketers (like me lol) and you’ll spend a lot less money than if you chase shiny objects. Always remember the saying: “all that glitters is not gold”. It’s true…

My free training is here for you if you want it – just click here to grab it :-).

See you next week for more news!

affiliate marketing, Internet Profits, Make money online

It’s been a crazy year… but I’m back!

July 8, 2023 Sophie Sion

I know, I know… it looks like I disappeared, right? My last post was over a year ago, it’s crazy!!

I’m writing this on a Saturday morning, and as I sit here at my desk, I look back at the last 14 or so months and can’t believe how I survived it all.

Just in case you’re wondering: NO, I did NOT stop doing affiliate marketing! In fact, I’ve been doing better than ever – more about this a little later.

The reason for my silence was personal. Can I tell you a little more about it?

I’m guessing you’re saying yes ?

So, here it goes: in April-May 2022, something happened to me in my personal life that triggered some ugly past trauma… in a massive way.

And I had a breakdown.

I feel shy about talking about it, yet I also believe it’s important to share. Mental health issues can be such taboos, can’t they? And when you start having a bit of a following on social media, it can be even harder to share that you’re going through a hard time.

But there you go, it happened to me. Luckily, in a strange sort of way, it wasn’t my first breakdown. I had another major one in 1991, and a couple minor ones between 2000 and 2010.

So I’m good at recognising the signs. And that allows me to go and get help fast. Which is what I did in June last year. I got help and by the end of the summer, I was back to my usual happy smiley self.

Sadly, shortly after that, my Dad landed in hospital… and a truly tragic time started.

It’s a long story, but after he got back home from the hospital, it became clear that he couldn’t cope on his own anymore, even with all the help he was getting from myself, my family and the care team.

We had to make the heartbreaking decision to put him into a home against his will. That was December 12th, 2022, and I truly hope with all my heart and soul I never, ever have to do this ever again, to anyone I love.

The care home, which was supposed to be a great, safe place for my Dad, turned out to be a nightmare. Medication was changed without his knowledge or consent – and without mine either. My Dad became depressed, angry and frail.

He caught cov*d and was confined to his room, not even allowed to go to the toilet. After that, he was so weak he couldn’t walk anymore. Then he was given an extremely strong painkiller he’d never had before, again without his or my consent. This drug made him delirious, drowsy and very unwell.

We asked the medical team to take him off it, but they insisted he was in terrible pain and needed it. He got so drowsy he could hardly move at all… Things then went from bad to worse as he started to have necrosis on one of his feet, probably as a result of not moving at all and not getting anticoagulant injections.

I wish I could tell you we rushed him to hospital and looked after that necrosis right away… but sadly, we were told there wasn’t much we could do… so he stayed in the care home, and his foot got worse, and worse, as did his pain, in spite of the drugs.

In extremis, my sister and I asked for him to be seen at the hospital and they amputated his leg, giving him blissful relief from the horrendous pain he’d been in.

We thought he was saved, but sadly he had a few more blood clots that travelled to his brain and lungs, and he continued to go steadily downhill.

Eventually, he was transferred to palliative care, where he was looked after in the absolutely best possible way.

At 1.51 on the morning of April 6th, 2023, he took his last breath. I was with him, holding his hand the whole time. He died in peace, without pain, and with dignity. I’m so grateful for that.

So now you know why I’ve been silent. I’m lost for words to describe how painful this all was – and still is when I think about it.

There’s one thing I know about my Dad, and that’s that he always went for his dreams… and he wanted me to go for mine. So I’m pretty sure he’s proud of what I’m about to share:

Throughout this time, however, my business never stopped. In fact, 2022 was my best year ever and I made 5 figures in affiliate commissions!

In March 2023, I had the honour of joining Dean Holland’s coaching team! I now work alongside Dean and the awesome Glenn Shepherd, answering questions from members of the community 5 days a week. I couldn’t be happier with this, it’s truly amazing!

It’s taken me a while, but I’m getting back to “normal” and I started publishing on YouTube again.

With that in mind, I want to turn up on this blog again, to record my journey – hope that’s good news lol!

I’ve decided that I would go live every Friday on YouTube, to record a bit of my journey – and then I’ll write a blog post on here, related to that video, on Saturday mornings.

How does that sound? I hope you’ll find value, encouragement and inspiration from this, dear reader. Because at the end of the day, that’s what I always want to do: encourage you and show you that this is possible! You CAN do it too, I promise!

See you next week for news ?

PS: if you want to know more about how I made 5 figures in 2022, in spite of all this horrid stuff I went through, watch the live video I made at the very end of the year ?

affiliate marketing, Internet Profits, Make money online

Internet Profits – week 21: new coaching :-)

January 9, 2022 Sophie Sion

It’s 2022 and Internet Profits started its new coaching program 🙂

I’m only a few days in, but can already tell this is going to help tremendously! To say I’m excited is an understatement.

It’s going to be tough for me too, at times. I’m going to be held accountable and I’m going to have to face uncomfortable stuff some days.

The way it works is like this: in the back office, we can submit any questions we have. As long as the question is submitted before midnight, it will be answered on the next coaching call. We then have the call and the coaches answer the questions in great detail.

I’ve attended two coaching calls so far, and they both went well over an hour! I didn’t need to listen to the whole lot, by the way, but I learned a ton, so I did!

There are replays available, for those who are at work or otherwise occupied and can’t make the calls live.

The first question I asked was about my traffic strategy… as this blog is an honest record of my journey, I’ll just share this here in all transparency. My biggest challenge is NOT TO DO TOO MUCH. I see potential in absolutely every traffic source, and I end up having my fingers in too many pies.

So I asked the team for honest feedback about my traffic strategy, and one of the things that came up was my lack of a paid source of traffic.

My main traffic source is YouTube, and YouTube is relatively slow. There’s nothing wrong with that – it brings me commissions and it’s something I’m building for the long term. However, the fact that it’s slow also means I tend to go to other places to get eyeballs on my content – and the risk with this is that I spread myself too thin.

Anyway, one of the coaches mentioned Facebook lead generation ads, and that sounds like an epic idea. So I’ll look into that as a paid traffic strategy.

That means I’ll have YouTube as my organic strategy and Facebook lead ads as my paid one – sounds good.

Now I have to be honest here: I am also present on other platforms, always with the aim of pushing traffic towards my YouTube channel. Clubhouse is a big one for me: I do a daily morning room on the topic of affiliate marketing. I also answer questions on Quora, and I repurpose my YouTube shorts on TikTok. In addition, I still have my free Facebook group… but that’s my next question for Monday’s coaching call: do I keep it or do I ditch it?

This blog post is a little all over the place, isn’t it? I just wanted to share the kind of stuff we can ask and talk about in these coaching sessions. I’m going to make the very most of them; it’s going to help me move forward and be accountable. It’s going to help me stay focused. I can only wish that everyone starting an online business has this level of support – if I’d had this from the start, I’d be in a different place already, I’m sure.

Want to catch the video version of this? I don’t have much of a voice, you’ll see ? but the video is short! Here it is ?