The first thing you need to realize if you want to know how to be a successful affiliate marketer is that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ I am sure you have heard the saying.
There are no shortcuts, just some good honest hard work, commitment, and perseverance.
If you need training on how to be a successful affiliate marketer, you can read my review on the company that I use here.
Otherwise, you can open a free account here and get started with learning how to build a website and the best ways to do affiliate marketing in order to be successful.
Being a successful affiliate marketer all starts with having your own website, and over time you are going to grow this website and make money, just as a store in the city would. The only difference is that the website will cost you a lot less to set up.
How To Be A Successful Affiliate Marketer
Here are some of the things that I have learned over the years on how to be a successful affiliate marketer. Most affiliate marketers that do well have some or most of the things below in tow.
Set Out A Plan
You need to start out by constructing a plan that includes your goals, milestones, what you want to accomplish, and by when. Stick this plan somewhere where you can see it, no matter how flimsy it is. You can keep adding to it.
This will provide you with a visual so that you can see what you are working towards and where you need to do better.
Get past your fears of failure, by making sure that you set yourself realistic goals in your plan. If need be, reexamine and adjust your plan accordingly. Now you need to believe in yourself and have a burning desire to succeed with affiliate marketing. This is how you are going to ensure your success.
Make the most of each day by making sure that you accomplish something. Even if only a small step, because every baby step adds up to huge success in the end.
The basics you need in order to start with your affiliate marketing are:
- Hosting for your websites
- Niche Website
- Domain Name
- Good knowledge of your website topic
- Relevant keywords you can use on your website that doesn’t have too much competition
- Writing skills
- Time
- Great Training
It is important to know what you are getting into. Firstly, you will need to conduct research as far as the business or interest associated with your particular niche. This research will help you to stay up to date on trends, which may or may not require you to make adjustments to your own goals.
For example, if you were interested in opening a particular business focusing on a specific technology and that technology took a turn for the worst, or had new advancements, you would need to change your marketing strategies in your own business to coincide. Unless you keep up your research, you will not know if you need change or you could end up building a business headed for failure.
Make Opportunities For Yourself
Remember, opportunities are not going to jump out at you, you need to find them and make them happen.
Whether it be finding the next best thing to sell, buying up stock, or investing in real estate, only you can make it happen. When you find good opportunities, seize them with both hands.
Find Some Help
Whether it be in the form of a coach, mentor, or community of like-minded people, it is great to be able to check in with somebody as you go through your milestones toward your goal. Ask for honest feedback and bounce concerns off of each other to help keep you on the right track.
This will also help you to stay motivated, as nothing is more demotivating than plodding along alone.
Keep up with your training, go to seminars, read books and devour everything you can about affiliate marketing, and you will learn as you go, keep motivated, and best of all become an expert in your field. If you need extra training resources on how to be a successful affiliate marketer, there are some links at the bottom of this page.
There are times when you will get to a point where you need more expertise in order to make more money. This is the time that networking and collaboration with others can become invaluable. Not only will you get the help you need, but also ongoing support and encouragement.
Don’t Settle
If your goal is to be making a full-time living doing affiliate marketing, don’t settle for anything less. Work on that goal until you have achieved what you set out to do. Never allow yourself to lose sight of that original goal.
Don’t Make Excuses
No matter what your challenges are, you will be able to find a way to do them. Even if you have to adjust things a bit, because if you want something badly enough, you will do it.
Be Patient
You will need to be patient with yourself if you are building up your business as an affiliate marketer or even learning how to be a successful affiliate marketer. Building out your website is going to take time and commitment. It may be a while before you start to see any returns on your work, but it will come. Just keep pushing and working your way up the ladder to success.
When you do get success, no matter how small, be thankful for your accomplishments. Also be thankful for your failures, as without failure, how can you succeed?
Focus Your Affiliate Marketing On a Topic You Are Passionate About
To increase your chances of succeeding with affiliate marketing, you need to choose the subject matter for your website that you are passionate about and something you know a lot about.
For instance, if you love dogs, a website about dogs may be too wide a niche to compete in, but if you maybe did a website on German Shepherds, you will have more success in the long run.
Start a Journal
As you work towards your goal, it is a good idea to keep a journal, just so you can write down all your journeys – failures and successes. When you feel discouraged and feel like you want to give up, look at your journal and it will remind you of all your accomplishments and how far you have come.
Reward Yourself
Don’t forget to reward yourself when you do a job well. Learning how to be a successful affiliate marketer and completing lesson plans and training is also counted as a job well done.
Watch Out For Those Scams
If you are just starting out, there will be thousands of people just waiting to defraud you out of your hard-earned money.
If you see something advertised that looks too good to be true, then it most probably is. Always conduct thorough research and never jump into opportunities that look too perfect.
If somebody becomes pushy and wants you to make a quick decision, simply walk away.
Don’t get caught up in promoting too many different things at one time, or it will take your focus off of your main affiliate marketing business.
Write Notes
How many times have you had a great new idea on how to make more money either through a dream, while doing the housework, or sitting at your desk, and have thought that as soon as you have time, you will make a note of it?
When that free time rolls around, you have forgotten some or all of those great money-making ideas.
Moral of the story – keep a journal or notepad handy at all times, so that when you have an idea, you can write it down immediately.
Look After You
You need to look after yourself, especially when working for yourself. This means both emotionally and physically. You need your energy to focus and concentrate for long hours.
Avoid stress, as stress will take you away from accomplishing your goals. Take time out to get a massage, go to the gym or simply meditate. If you do feel overwhelmed, stop and focus on something else for a while. The only thing stress accomplishes is to drain away your thinking power and creativity.
If you don’t take care of yourself and your personal needs, you will end up getting sick and your business will suffer.
Be Serious With Your Affiliate Marketing
You need to take your efforts with affiliate marketing seriously because if you want to make money, it takes serious dedication. You may have to be prepared to put in some extra long hours in the beginning.
Apply What You Learn
When you do your training, after each phase or segment, stop and apply what you learn to your real business. Doing is a much more powerful tool than simply watching or reading.
Learn How To Delegate
As your affiliate marketing business starts to take off, you will suddenly find that there are more things to do than there are hours in the day. You may need to consider hiring somebody or a virtual assistant. You will be amazed at how much this will help to ease the situation and allow you the proper amount of time to focus on the things that need your full attention.
Train Yourself To Be A Problem Solver
Rather than stress or stew over things, find ways to solve the problems. Look at different ways to do this, whether it be getting new customers, increasing your productivity, or resolving issues. You will need to think outside the box here.
Don’t Procrastinate
If you are a procrastinator, make a list of the things that you are constantly putting on hold. By looking at the list you will be able to identify your poor patterns and be able to make adjustments. If this doesn’t help try taking a course, as there are many available to help you be more productive.
Be A Great Leader
Being a great leader means helping and guiding others so that they too can achieve their potential. Helping others should be your primary focus in your affiliate marketing endeavors. You can help others by putting content that is helpful on your website, and not just plastering sales pitches everywhere.
You Need To Raise Your Standards
No matter how hard you think that you are working, try and raise the bar just a bit more. Always expect the best from yourself, and although you won’t hit 100 % all the time, keep working and striving for more.
Use That Unconscious Power
Take advantage of the fact that the unconscious mind is very powerful. Pose a question to yourself before bedtime and let your mind hash it out while you sleep.
Want Versus Need
Make sure that you are working towards something that you truly want, not just something you need. When you want something enough you work harder on it, as you have the desire to do the work. If you merely need it, your work can lead to stress, pain, and frustration.
Appreciate Your Life
Learn to appreciate your life. This includes the people in it and everything around you. Learn as much as you can from people that your meet or colleagues. The more grateful you are for the things that you have, the more you will gain.
Don’t Lay All Your Eggs In One Basket When It Comes To Marketing
When you start out, your main method of marketing is going to be keyword research and SEO, for organic traffic, but as you get more content on your site, it is a good idea to add some social media and perhaps some paid advertising to the mix. Never rely only on one form of marketing for your online business. Look at several options, as nothing online last forever. Trends are changing all the time, so your marketing and training need to be up to date.
Believe In What You Are Selling
Believe in yourself, and believe in what you are selling. Your confidence is what will get you through your difficult challenges and also build credibility with your customers.
Break Those Bad Habits
Bad habits once formed are extremely difficult to break. It will take effort but with persistence, you can do it. Poor habits can be the obstacle that is stopping you from making money, like being a procrastinator. You need to put an end to all the bad habits that are liable to damage your business, especially when you are still training how to be a successful affiliate marketer.
Find a Happy Balance In Your Life
You need to find a happy balance for yourself and your loved ones. You need to plan your working hours and plan when you have time off. Don’t get so focused on your work that you neglect to take time off to spend with your loved ones.
Lastly, Continue To Read And Grow
You need to stay current in your industry, as well as on new ways in which to market your business. This is how to be a successful affiliate marketer. Keeping up with current trends and getting new ideas all the time is crucial to your long-term success.
Click Here For Information About The Best Affiliate Marketing Training On The Planet
Great advice! I really enjoyed reading this, it is very important to be able to make realistic goals as an affiliate marketer, otherwise your work is kind of aimless, and will eventually cause one to lose motivation!
I also really enjoyed your advice about learning to love your life and appreciate the ones around you that you love. While it is important to be passionate about affiliate marketing, we must not become so wrapped up in it that it is the only thing that matters.
Yes Jacob, it is easy to get caught up on your computer and neglect those around you. We have to try at all costs to avoid that.
Thanks for stopping by.
Patience really is a key part of it. Well, a combination of that and hard work and the ability to know when you need to reassess your plan. Some people give up too early, which means they didn’t have enough patience. On the other hand, some people keep going doing the same things even though they are not succeeding, and this is the other extreme. In the middle is where the magic happens. Stick with something long enough to know whether it is likely to work in the long term. I have several websites, but one of them is more successful than the others, so it now makes sense to focus on that rather than the others.
You are right Marcus. I am finding the the websites I have been neglecting lately are doing quite well, and the one I am focused more on is getting no sales. Maybe it is time to change course.
I think you are dead right here.
I know a lot of people who have tried to go down the road of affiliate marketing by simply obtaining an affiliate link and browsing across the web looking for places to leave it.
This simply does not work and is only seen as spamming.
While you may acquire results in a small way, having your own website and online business is the way forward.
As you say it is your own business, as you would have in the high street but with a lot less outlay.
For anyone considering affiliate marketing, they should read the information here first!
Thanks
Chris