This was probably the easiest chapter to write. Research was not required. I (author Ted) faced all of these pitfalls at one point or another when starting my affiliate marketing business. Many of my old enemies on this list keep coming back to haunt me from time to time. So if you, too, suffer from some of these flaws, take heart – with perseverance and hard work, you will overcome them and become successful. (See Chapter 3 for an introduction to the dangers and pitfalls of affiliate marketing for beginners.)
Looking at the next bright shiny object.
This error is so common with new affiliate marketers that it has its own name and reputation. Many marketers warn against this. Countless words have been written on it.
What exactly is the “next bright shiny thing”? It’s the next software package, the next training session, the next secret hack, the next secret method that promises you instant affiliate wealth with little or no work. We know in our rational minds that this can’t possibly be true or that the marketer who is sending us their latest wealth secret may not be emailing us but following this secret method.
One of my (author Ted’s) mentors was legendary marketer Gary Halbert. He’ll make marketing messages so attractive that you’ll think, it can’t possibly work. But then the voice in your head will be, but what if it worked? Millions of people responded and handed over their money.
It’s the same with internet marketing gurus who are making promises of riches and fame faster than we can read them. Their siren call is so alluring that it’s hard to resist—especially when you’re doing what you have to do to present the method you’ve chosen to work with. It may take one to three months before you start seeing affiliate income from your efforts.
During your hard work, you will find plenty of messages from affiliate marketing sirens singing their catchy songs that have the potential to lure you to your affiliate marketing death. If you don’t stay on track and start bouncing from siren call to siren call, you’ll never put in enough effort for anyone to see success.
Fighting attention deficit disorder
None of the pitfalls in this chapter have anything to do with not buying the right software tool, not buying the right course, not paying for that promised secret to affiliate marketing wealth. It’s all about you and how you prepare, implement and operate your new affiliate marketing business. This is why no affiliate marketer can promise you any income. We don’t know what exactly you’re going to do to make your new affiliate marketing business a success.
Lack of focus is one of the biggest pitfalls. This is probably the other side of “the next bright shiny thing” (see previous section). Because if you’re focused on your chosen path, what you need to do to achieve affiliate marketing success, the siren calls of affiliate marketers trying to turn your head will lose their appeal. . (Of course, to focus you need to know the right things to focus on, and those are linked to two other pitfalls we’ll cover later in this chapter: your education. (Not investing in, and engaging in.)
The illusion of multitasking efficiency is just that – an illusion. Study after study shows that when you shift your focus, it takes you ten times longer to get back to where you were. So if you’re constantly jumping from task to task, you’ll never get back to where you were and you can’t go back to the original workflow.
Tip Break your work into 30- to 45-minute chunks. During this time, focus on one task. Nothing else — no emails, no notifications, no phone calls, no distractions. Do what you need to do to create the conditions that work best for you. An affiliate marketer I know (author Ted) goes to the library. Another built a small writing shed at the back of his property. Do whatever you have to do. If you can maintain your focus for more than 30-45 minutes, by all means. Do whatever it takes to get and maintain the best conditions for your work. (Turn to Chapter 4 for additional guidance.)
Not investing in yourself and your education
Reading this book was your first investment in your education to guide you to affiliate marketing success. Investment doesn’t just mean money, though; It also means time. To be successful in affiliate marketing, you must acquire new skills.
This book is the first step in that process, and there will be more. Almost every software vendor in our recommended programs has its own free library of training videos, articles, and FAQs to help you learn to use their product or service effectively.
The Internet is constantly changing; New opportunities appear, and old opportunities may no longer be attractive. But never fear – affiliate marketing will be alive and well into the future. These are just the details that may change over time and require adjustments to your procedures — for example, the updated Terms of Service (TOS) and updated FTC regulations that you may be up to. Dates are required (see Chapter 16). Keep your learning fresh, and never stop learning and testing. Invest in what works, and minimize or eliminate what doesn’t.
Making the transition from content consumer to content producer
In the previous loss, we talked about continuous learning, so this point may seem counterintuitive at first, but it’s not. At some point you have to say to yourself, “I’ve learned enough. It’s time to start practicing and practicing what I’ve learned. Perfect is often the enemy of progress.”
Have you learned enough to get started? Then stop learning and start doing! Start your own affiliate marketing business. Now is the time to shift gears from being a content consumer of courses, articles, etc. to becoming a content creator — building your website, creating content, and developing your marketing and social media strategies and Implementing them. Part 2 gives you the help you need.
Having unrealistic expectations
You may have unrealistic expectations of your affiliate marketing business. How could you not? Internet gurus who are shouting out their new pitches keep telling you that it’s easy and the money starts rolling in right away. It doesn’t work that way, even for them. We recently read that Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, regularly works 60-hour weeks and weekends. We don’t know about you, but if we were Tim, we’d read our book and start working out four hours a week.
Have realistic expectations for your affiliate marketing business. It will take time, it will take work (a lot of work), and the money will start rolling in once you’ve done enough work in your affiliate business.
You may be as accused as I (author Ted) was when I got my first affiliate commission. I kept yelling to myself, “This thing really works!” That first commission was only five cents, but it proved to me that I could make money at a job I didn’t like, and that I could live where I wanted to live. I’m not going to tell you that it didn’t take hard work—because it did! I’m not going to tell you that the money came instantly – because it didn’t. But I will tell you that the results were worth it.
Did that nickel come right away? Not by a long shot. I think it took a month for the first nickel to come out. I remember trying to hide the first month when people asked, “How much are you making?” But today I’m here in my backyard office looking out over the inlet and glaciers on the other side of the bay. And the questioner? Still commuting back and forth to their jobs, battling hour-long delays on the tunnel (on good days).
Spreading yourself too thin
Several times in this book, we recommend that you choose one and only one way to develop your affiliate marketing business—with or without a website (see Chapters 7 and 9 for details). If you’re going to advertise on social media, just pick a forum: Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, or what have you. Put all other methods out of your mind for now. Put all your focus and effort into implementing this one platform. You will have more than enough resources to implement your chosen method.
We know you can come back to us and say, “But this or that internet marketer does it all. If he can do it, I can.” You probably don’t realize that. It has staff. Its team members can also focus on smaller individual areas. This guru may be outsourcing a large part of the work of implementing their recommended strategies and setting up websites.
If you spread yourself too thin, you’ll never put in enough effort to achieve the success you want.
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