Most affiliate marketers become affiliates not because they want to sell products on the internet but because they want to be their own bosses, schedule their own lives and answer to no-one but themselves. Not having to have an alarm clock or have your hours dictated to by someone else is a huge motivating factor for many affiliate marketers. But why do so many fail and what is the driving factor which sets apart those who are successful from those who give up?
Why belief is so important for affiliate marketers
Henry Ford once said ‘whether a man believes he can or he can’t he’s right’. Belief is the driving factor behind any significant accomplishment. When we lose our belief in something we stop acting in a productive manner and fall back into our old habits of thought, action and behavior. Our predominant thoughts and drives control us unless we take charge of them in pursuit of a worthy goal. If we lose our way we look to those around us for support and advice, and it is often advice based on our friends and relatives own personal beliefs, life goals and circumstances.
When we are aiming to achieve something which many feel is beyond their own personal expectations, our goals, drives and desires are often met with cynicism and skepticism. Unless we can see this we will often give up on our dreams when we seek advice from someone who has not already achieved what we desire to. As affiliates, or for any self employed person striving for a self reliant income source, we need to surround ourselves with positive people who are striving for the same goals. Otherwise we can become doubtful of our best intentions and lower our expectations in life.
Maintaining consistencyÂ
If affiliate marketing is our secondary income and we are working our affiliate business around another job, which most affiliates do, we need to make sure we are being consistent in our efforts. “Long-term consistency trumps short term intensity” – Bruce Lee. We need to keep the fuel of our desire burning so that we are motivated to do this.
Belief is the driving factor which leads to success. When we become demoralized and demotivated, we stop. We doubt whether we can keep up our momentum. Any uncertainty can lead to doubt and fear and then hesitation creeps in followed by stagnation. Our once productive and positive aspirations turns into uncertainty and this kills our motivation. If a state of uncertainty creeps into your affiliate business the problem is often lack of confidence in what you are doing, We can look for results too often before putting in enough work to create those results. Our lack of positive feedback creates further doubt and uncertainty and before long we are confused and looking for another ‘magic bullet’ of internet riches!
Feed your belief and desire regularly
When your motivation wanes you should remember your ‘why’. Your why is important to know to keep you motivated and moving forwards even in adversity in pursuit of your long term goals. Here are my top reasons for owning my own internet business. Keep feeding your ‘why’ and maintaining a high belief in what you are doing by associating with like minded people, reading positive books in your business area and keeping up to date with changes and updates. Reward yourself when you have completed new and important tasks and remember to focus on the things you are grateful for – see using gratitude purposefully to get what you want.
 Take full responsibility
Taking responsibility for all your results, especially the lack of results puts you in control and removes the ‘poor me’ blame identity which can lead to inactivity, frustration and despair. When you accept that you are in charge of the circumstances of your life, you can take the appropriate action to change the things which need to be changed and do the things which need to be done. Only by taking appropriate action can we improve our lives. If we are uncertain, get knowledge. if we lack enthusiasm, build desire. If we are lacking in sales, learn how to get more sales.
For a long time I focused my affiliate marketing activities on Google organic search alone and getting free traffic to my websites. I learned a lot about ranking sites and long chain keywords on Google to get traffic to my website. Now I realize that this tactic is a useful one but it takes time to do this and I need to learn a new skill which is successful marketing. Watching Stuart Ross’s video below the other day I realized that my knowledge of affiliate marketing was still limited and although I have learned a lot over the years, there is always more to learn. There are many facets of affiliate marketing and you don’t need to learn them all to be successful. Just the other day on a marketing course it was pointed out to me that you can achieve huge online success and you don’t even need a website to do so. Learn how here.