Three Phases of Affiliate Marketing Success

In my last post I said if you are reading this, you are probably trying to figure out how to make affiliate marketing work.

Well, I’m on the same path. And I’ve learned from the people helping me – people who have mastered affiliate marketing – that you must have the right mindset. 

You can’t just want to make money online. You can’t just want to give affiliate marketing a try. You have to be determined to do the work that is proven to make this succeed. 

There’s a clear and well-defined path, with clear action steps that need to be taken. And if we don’t get ahead of ourselves, and we don’t give up because a step is taking longer than we’d hope – if we follow the process we will succeed. 

That doesn’t mean we’re all going to be millionaires, but we can all make money. We may not all get rich, but we can all make an income.

Here is the process.

These three phases could be expanded on, but this sums it up. 

• 1. Become completely clear on the circumstances that you need to change in your life (work, lifestyle, financial, etc.). What is it that you’ve determined you will change, and you won’t give up till you make it happen?

• 2. Learn how an online business can attract people (traffic) and convert those people into paying customers, repeatedly and predictably.

• 3. Become disciplined in performing the exact steps that you need to, every single day, in order to attract traffic and convert that traffic into paying customers.

Sounds simple, but that is it.

In Affiliate Marketing this is my phase 1

I already have a good, well-paying job that takes care of my family. So why am I trying to learn affiliate marketing? I’m not trying to get rich – sure it would be nice – but that’s not my goal. 

I’m determined to replace my current income with income from affiliate marketing. I’m determined to do that so that I have more freedom of time, and more important for me, freedom   of place. 

That circumstance that I need to change is my job. That will change my lifestyle, in that I can work from anywhere in the world – which will mean my family can travel more.

I am determined that before my kids graduate from high school, we will spend an entire summer traveling around the US in a camper van. And we’re going to get back to England to see more football (soccer) games.

I don’t need to be a millionaire to do that. But I do need to have an income from a job that does not require me to see my customers in person. 

Because of that, I must do what is necessary to make that change happen.

“What is necessary Nathan?” I’ll tell you … phase 2

• 2. Understand exactly how an online business can attract people (traffic) and convert those people into paying customers, repeatedly and predictably.

This is the phase I’m working on now. Learning and implementing this phase is critical to success as an affiliate marketer.

It is the foundation of how an online business operates.

If we don’t know how to attract people (traffic) and convert those people into paying customers, repeatedly and predictably, we won’t make this work.

If we do learn, and you implement it consistently, then we will.

How do you master it?

By trying, failing, and learning from your mistakes. By finding trustworthy guides and mentors who have mastered the process and listening to them – which means sometimes doing what they tell you even if you think it really isn’t that important, or can’t possibly work

And phase 3 – being disciplined to do what you need to do consistently. 

This is where I need to do better. I’ve learned a lot over the years that I’ve been working at this. But I have not been consistent day to day. I’ll work at this for a while, then get busy with other things and put it off for weeks, sometimes months. I hardly did anything with this all last year. 

So why would I be back at it again? Because I have not forgotten the circumstances I’m determined to change. And I know the process does work.

I can’t say the process failed if I was not consistent. And if I’m really determined to do something I must work at it consistently. So in January, I finally blocked off a time in my schedule to consistently work on this every week. And I’ve committed to writing a blog post every week.

And I must admit I don’t really feel like a blog post a week is going to make that much of a difference in generating traffic. But my mentor has told me to do it, so I’m going to listen. And I know it will help me create a disciplined practice of consistently performing those exact steps that make affiliate marketing work.

More on how to consistently put phase 2 – attracting potential customers and converting them into customers next time.