Tag: succeed with affiliate marketing

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

I’ve done it again :-(

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…

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!

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 ?

Make money online, Uncategorized

Millionaires Challenge System… what happened next?

Sophie Sion

In my last post, I told you to watch this space for an update on what happened after I decided not to promote Zach Crawford’s Millionaires Challenge System anymore… 

Quick reminder: I was mentored by Zach for a year, from January 2020.  This was my first time being mentored and it was great!  I made a lot of progress thanks to Zach and became a 4-figure earner. 

It was only natural for me to promote Zach’s course and mentorship, as it was helping me so much on my affiliate marketing journey.  So until recently, I did!  I was an affiliate for his course, just like I’m an affiliate for other courses and tools that have helped me and I feel will be useful to my audience.

But then, as I explained in my last post, I began to feel uncomfortable about promoting MCS and finally, a few weeks ago, I came to the decision that I would stop.  I went public about it on my YouTube channel with this video here, feeling that I needed to tell my audience clearly about it. 

I’d been so positive about Zach Crawford’s program, that it was only fair to tell my audience that I’d somewhat changed my mind.

Anyway… fast forward 2 days after I published that first video… and…

I found out that I was unable to log in to my members’ area of the course!!!

I checked my password, requested a new one, waited 10 minutes, checked the promotions tab and spam folder… 

But NOTHING.  Just to be sure, 2 weeks later, I tried again, did all the same things, but nothing.  Try as I might, I couldn’t log into the course that I bought!

I paid $3k for the course and mentorship – and whilst I totally got my money’s worth, I’m pretty shocked that I’m denied access to the course now, simply because I announced that I wasn’t going to promote it as an affiliate anymore!

At least I’m assuming that’s what it is.  I haven’t been contacted by Zach Crawford or any member of his team.  Zach has blocked me on Facebook, so I have no way of reaching out to him.

***

To me, this brings to light something really important about affiliate marketing:

Being an affiliate for a product and having access as a user are two entirely separate things.

There are some excellent courses out there that have no affiliate program. 

A product owner has the right to decide whether he/she wants affiliates, how people qualify to be affiliates, what the conditions are to keep affiliate status, etc.

BUT once you’ve bought a product, you should have access to it, always, regardless of your affiliate status.  I mean, unless you’re doing something illegal like copying the course and selling it as your own, or something like that. 

To me, my “ban” makes ZERO sense at all. 

I’d completely understand if Zach had reached out to me and said something like “ok Sophie, I see you’re not promoting my course anymore, just so you know, if you ever change your mind I won’t let you be an affiliate anymore.” 

That would be absolutely fine.  I would totally get that. 

But not letting me have access to the learning area?  The course I bought and learned from?

That’s just wrong!  That’s unethical! In fact, that’s stealing!

That’s like Amazon telling me “you gave this book a bad review, you need to send it back to us and we won’t give you your money back”!

So… I had to make another video, telling my audience what happened. 

People need to know about this.

***

Anyway, that’s it from me for today… next I’ll write about some interesting reactions I had to that video… very interesting indeed, to say the least!  Watch this space ?

And here’s the full video story ?