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! ?
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.
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 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…
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 ?
Please note that this site contains affiliate links. If you click on any link and make a purchase, I might make a commission on the sale. This comes at no extra cost to you :-) And by the way, this is what I teach! So if you want to do this too, you're in the right place!
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’m NOT saying that affiliate marketing is a scam, because it’s NOT, not at all!
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!