A few days back, I gave 6 reasons why you should be an affiliate marketer. This is a business I’ve been doing for almost four years and I often encourage people to try it.
However, affiliate marketing isn’t for everyone. There are some who would be wasting their time if they tried it.
If you’re about to get started with this business, I encourage you to read on. That’s because I’m going to give you the five types of people who will fail being an affiliate marketer. You might want to reconsider your choice if any of the following sound like you:
Type #1- The Get Rich Quicker
Some people are simply too lazy to have success being an affiliate.
Yeah, that’s right…I said it.
Don’t listen to what the infomercials or fancy sales letters say, not everyone can do this.
The first type of person who fails with affiliate marketing actually believes you can “make lots of money with no work required.”
Like many other businesses, affiliate marketing requires real, honest work.
Sure, I’m one of those weirdos who doesn’t have to spend a ton of time on my business because I created a system that practically runs itself (see below). But for many years I put in long hours and days creating this system.
You too can have an affiliate business that runs on auto-pilot but you have to work hard to make this happen.
Type #2- The Type-A Workaholic
Being too much of a worker is just as bad as being lazy.
Affiliate marketing is dangerous for the Type-A personalities of the world. You’re in charge of generating your own income. So there’s a lot of temptation to work really hard even after you’ve made enough to money to support yourself.
Remember, having an online business is about enjoying your life. It’s great to work hard, but you don’t want chase every last dollar and miss out on life. (Here’s a workflow tool I use to keep my life in balance and make sure I don’t fall victim to the “make money at all costs” mentality.)
Type #3- The Know-It-All
Some people think they know everything–even when they don’t.
Someone like this gets into affiliate marketing and thinks everyone is else is wrong about how to succeed. This type will read the “how-to” guides then proceed to ignore what she or he has just learned.
Successful people have made it for a reason.
They’ve learned from their mistakes and know how to make money with this business. So listen to their advice even if you think something won’t work.
When getting started with affiliate marketing you have to be a little humble.
Listen to what people tell you. Pay close attention to the system they use to make money. It’s okay to admit that you’re a newbie and ask for help. Many will be more than happy to tell their secrets to success.
Type #4- The Space Cadet
Some types of people bounce around from one “make money” opportunity to the next. Never having a system and giving up long before they have a chance to do well.
To succeed in affiliate marketing you have to create a system. This means you have to sit down and plan out your income strategies.
In this system you have to figure out the answers to a lot of questions. Where am I going to get web traffic? Should I create a list? How will I convert prospects into buyers? What products should I offer?
Good affiliate marketers always have a system–even if isn’t perfect. They create a plan and continue to tweak it. They know that you don’t have to be the smartest person to make money. Just the most stubborn.
Type #5- The One Pump Chump
You can’t build an affiliate business with “one and done” marketing.
A common mistake newbies make is to put their affiliate link offer all over the Internet—sending traffic directly to the merchant’s page. Sure, a technique like this will make some quick money. But it’s a terrible long-term strategy.
A real affiliate business is just that—a business. When creating a business your focus is to build an asset. Something that has real, genuine value.
Successful affiliate markers know how to build their own list of prospects. They’re more concerned with building a relationship over making a quick sale. These people understand that sales come after the prospect has grown to trust the opinion of the affiliate.
Furthermore successful affiliate marketers know having a list of prospects means they recommend a number of different products. Not just one.
The Good News…
There’s hope if any of these types sound like you…
At different points in my affiliate career I’ve made each of these mistakes. I’ve fallen for the “get rich quick” schemes. I’ve used one-and-done marketing. I’ve worked too hard. I didn’t plan things out. And I thought I knew more than the experts.
The good news is I’ve overcome all these obstacles and now have a great online business.
So can you.
Hopefully this article gave you a kick in the butt to try affiliate marketing. Everything I’ve learned is stuff that anyone can learn. As long as you’re willing to create a system and stick to it, you’ll have lots of success.
Take Action. Get Results.
Interesting. Hopefully I don’t fall into any of those categories!
RT time though, seems like more people should read this.
(Also, Scott, get yourself a Gravatar 😉 )
I think it’s one of those things where you kind of “know” you’re making one of these mistakes. It’s all about being honest to yourself. The point when I started to have success with affiliate marketing is when I admitted that the “half-assed” stuff I was doing was definitely not working. I guess the same logic could be applied to everything else in life.
Anyway, will have to get a Gravatar thingy, just have to figure it out.
I guess I’ve not really taken it seriously yet 🙂
As for the Gravatar, if you go Here all you need to do is sign up and it should follow you around the web. Usually images of your logo or photos work best, but it’s up to you really.
Thanks…think I figured it out. Now all I have to do is figure out why it’s not showing up in my posts.
Maybe it’ll take a while to update?
Hmmm….who knows.
Scott, yes, a couple of those sound familiar 😉 I try to keep it in check and plug away. Good stuff here.