After years of struggle. I understood that Affiliate marketing is not for me.

To be honest...

3 months ago:
- I did not even have a Clickbank account (or other affiliate accounts)
- Did not know what PR, Serpy, Link building was all about
- Did not know what PPC marketing was about (did not even ran a AdWords campaign)
- Did not even know how outsourcing/freelancing work

But I bought Commission Blueprint 2 and spent all the time I could learning it left and right (sometimes all day on the weekends).
- Now, I got a few Clickbank products on the market
- Understand how to rebrand PLR articles/ebooks (where 2 months ago, I didn't know what PLR stood for)
- Able to write my own ebook, learn salespage/copywriting strategies
- Using good Article submission tools, Keywords research tools, Link Building tools
- Am learning about the process of scaling my investment (using the profits I make to increase my PPC campaigns, investing an account for PPV marketing, hiring/outsourcing my SEO optimized content)
- Website development (On-page SEO) -- of course, I was already a Web Programmer to begin with.
- And currently working on list building (in fact, I'm following Ewen Chia's Optin profit system at the moment).

Of course, I was already a Web Developer/Graphics designer (building AJAX Web 2.0 sites), but a clueless marketer. So that could've been my advantage. Who knows.

In the IM world, you need to follow a system that works..either you discover better on your own or others. No need to reinvent the wheel. I know there tons of scams out there -- systems that promises you to make $10K within 6 months, but there's on such thing. It's not just hard work -- tons of people bust their butt off and got nothing to show for it. It's about having the right knowledge, right mindset, and taking actions to apply it. Read stuff from Ewen Chia, Stephen Pierce, Rich Schefren, and so on...

What did I learn?
1) You must have a clear goal/direction and manage your time wisely. It's not just what you do as an affiliate, it's how you think! I believe super affiliate learn from trial and error, but more so, it's their mindset to think persuasively (in fact, I spend my free time learning books like "Predictability Irrational, The Psychology of Persuasion, and Blink). All those help you think as a marketer.

2) Nothing is free. If you spent $1,000 on your effort and get 3x the money back within 3 months, it's an investment, not an expense. I know as a student, you're poor and have classes to study/work for, but you'll learn everything is a trade-off. If you gain the right knowledge first, it will save you years of struggle. Try to learn from good affiliate marketers -- and model after them.

I see that you have $100 adwords discount code -- but have read anything by Perry Marshall or Chris Carpenter's Google Cash ebook? He's giving it away free (google it)! Spend some time gaining knowledge and apply it.

- Subscribe to one good newsletter about Internet Marketing -- I suggest signing up for Earlytorise.com

As a quick tip for you anna, go to ez.com and cloak your link in your signature....

 

Affiliate marketing is NOT for everyone. You have to have the right mindset for it. And it is not for quitters as competition get fiercer by the day. If you feel like giving up, give up. It's not for you.

I've been IM for 6 years failed for the first 4. Honestly I never doubted myself. I never thought that those kid Internet millionaires that I'd read about where any better than I was. I always knew it was just a matter of time for me to weed through all the BS and find what works. I'm not a millionaire YET. But my profits grow exponentially quarterly.

The biggest set back is finding what works and sticking to it. Then and only then expand, scale, and learn another method. No matter how good the sales letter, no one is going just give you the golden egg. Bits and pieces of helpful info, you have to fill in the blanks.

Other ways to make money - you must have learned something in the 2 years you've tried AM. Wether it be link building or article writing. Offer that as a service. Create an ebook on the 10 things no to do as an Affiliate Marketer no competition niche right there.

 

+rep. Awesome post and pretty much sums up our world in a nutshell. Good for you for being one of the few that swim through and past the current of shit, that most get caught in... It's a crazy world however the rewards are beautiful once you find your way.

 

try and try till u reach the goal.
Everything starts with one step... never feel that u r lost .... use it as experience.
Everything can be achieved.

 

Thanks for all those Tips. I will try those out. I just need some assistance .thats it. And thanks for all those comments.

 

just Keep trying ...and find the way you believe you are better in it

 

The tread title really made me laugh...

You took so much time to realize...

 

"You're going to have to spend weeks doing nothing with your free time but focusing on affiliate marketing, and avoiding garbage - just find free stuff and try everything. I'm here to tell you that article marketing works, you just have to keep doing it.

Also through the years, many people think the internet changes quickly...but not really, it just evolves, but there are some base things (article marketing, ppc, seo), that will always be profitable, there's just minor things you'd have to adjust, I guarantee once you get the knowledge, you can avoid marketing for 2 years, comeback and start making money again."

 

Umm, I agree with the other(s) that pointed out not to focus on too many things at the same time, it hurts more than helps. Having said that, IF you are not focusing on something currently, I urge you to check out 6 Day Weekend by Sean Morrissy. It is free, has 90+ videos that go through affiliate marketing from beginning to end. I found it really useful for myself.

 

It might be very difficult to learn online marketing while going to school (assuming you mean college when you said "student") full-time. It never hurts to take a break from it, and then come back later. You can major in marketing in college while you are at it

 

thanks for that advice.

 

As for me anna, I started to join clickbank like 3 weeks ago maybe. But it seems that it is not intended for me. I can feel it, I sense it. This is the reason why I just stop concentrating on it and focus more on things that I am sure I do earn more and no wasting of time promoting in the hope of earning money. This is the reason why I am a freelance writer and would continue to be one.

I know affiliate marketing is profitable and can make a person rich if given the right ways to do so. But I am just not that person who will invest time and effort on doing all the necessary things in the hopes of earning a sale. What if there is no sale? What will happen? No money, so time is being wasted which could have been used to do part time job or something. Especially at this point. I do understand you, anna. I have been there myself.

These are the reason why I say, affiliate marketing is not for me because:

1. I am impatient.
2. I want to earn money using free methods. (which does not apply to affiliate marketing since you need to have your very own website and domain name if you want to earn stable or steady income)
3. There are too many processes and stuff out there and it tends to be mind bubbling.
4. Choosing one over the other can be oh so tedious making me lose so much time which could have been used to write an article perhaps.

This is my point of view. I know affiliate marketers here in DP might not agree with me, but maybe I am just one of those people that is not incline with affiliate marketing.

--
I am proud to be a writer and will always remain writerforever.

 

Being a writer yourself, howcome you don't try to do affiliate marketing with articles? It's free aside from the domain name which costs less than $10 and hosting is only about $10 a month or less. A lot of people are having success with article marketing and since you're already a writer you're halfway there.

You shouldn't let being impatient or thinking that you won't get results get in your way. As the saying goes, "If you think you can't do something, you're right". You just need to keep trying until you get to where you want to be.

To the OP, if you've really been trying affiliate marketing for years, you should have learned something by now that you enjoy and can try to expand upon. There's tons of ways to make money with affiliate marketing, you just need to find what works for you.

 

That is funny. It took me quite a while to earn money with AM.

Seems like I made it harder than it was.

The odd thing is all of the answers to succeeding are in this very category of the affiliate program forum at digital point...the Clickbank forum.

Nothing to invest but time and effort. You do not need to buy some expensive program.

Just read what is here for free and spend some time doing it.

If you look at my join date you might wounder why I have so few posts. It is becase I read what is here. Everything you need is on this site.

 

someone must be go on and contenu to have what he want if you fail 100 times insest on your aime and you will reach and succeed

 

Maybe what youre doing is wrong... Try to use the Yahoo! Answers method Ive just learned a while ago It seems to be working

 

@j1218: I do appreciate your motivational words. I am going to try my best this time around. My second shot!

 

More details please. You're just saying you failed without specifics (what specifically doesn't work and how are you doing it?). Make just two simple changes in your life and work on this for another 3 months. What do you have to lose?

1. Write down your plan and post it to a forum and get feedback
- list specifics (week 1 goals, week 2 goals etc.)
- spend no more than 1 week writing and fleshing out your plan
- stick to your plan
2. Keep a journal for yourself (negative thoughts etc.) No matter how good or bad the day is write down what happened in your journal.
- If you want to do well in marketing you need to become a better writer. This takes practice.


Be careful about PPC. It sounds like you might have a problem with execution, self control and discipline. Moving over to PPC for pushing products is going to be very expensive unless you have those habits down.

I found myself in rut after rut through all of my 20s and into my 30s and moved from one scheme to the next. I realized that I was just simply getting my fulfillment from learning new things but not actually executing on them.

Put your thoughts to paper and look inside before spending any money on products or PPC.

-Mike

 

Hey Anna. I think it is very important that you keep organized, and stay focused. I also agree with what a lot of the other members are saying, do not focus on too many different techniques at once. If you put half an effort into a hundred things you wont get as much as if you put full effort into one good technique.

Also, I don't know what you are promoting, but you may find it more difficult to see success if you are promoting highly competitive niches. If you are just starting affiliate marketing I suggest not promoting make money online or weight loss. Try some more specific niches.

Hope this helps.