What is at stake for affiliate marketers is the ability to work for themselves, quit their jobs, and potentially earn a great deal of money. But all this is not easy. There are a few problems for affiliates who are serious about making a full-time living on the Internet.
One of the first is knowing who to trust. There are many so-called get-rich-quick schemes, which, surprisingly, do not make you rich quickly. Quite the contrary, they quickly withdraw your cash. Programs that offer quick riches don’t last long. But they are a good source of income for their owners!
The next problem that you will definitely face if you are starting an internet business using affiliate marketing is that of belief. All your friends and family will likely dismiss it as a pipe dream. There are a couple of reasons why they will do this. One is that most people avoid a new idea like the plague. The other is that if it is possible to make money online, they face the possible repercussions of not having taken any action. Facing the fact that they too would have to do something if it were true is not so easy.
Most people prefer to complain about their own situation, rather than take action, even if they are unhappy. The general consensus is that you need to work at a job to be a relevant member of society. Swimming against the current can also be exhausting. If your friends and family aren’t behind you, it’s even more difficult, even if they don’t actually say anything outright, there’s a subtle deterrence tactic and they may secretly hope you’ll fail. So they may be right in the end!
If all of this isn’t enough to dissuade you from building your own internet business, there is the technical aspect of building a legitimate online business. This requires patience and trust. If you don’t have both, you’ll probably give up too soon. You can’t expect to suddenly make money with a little work. It takes time and effort. You don’t ‘deserve’ anything in terms of results until you’ve actually earned it! So an entitlement attitude can work against you. This is especially true if you come from an employee mindset.
If you’ve been an employee, but not a business owner, it’s hard to change your focus from a ‘worker bee’. Workers in a job position are paid no matter what they accomplish. Business owners get nothing unless they can make it work. It is a performance-related payment, rather than a monthly salary.
Shiny object syndrome was also another barrier to my success in the early days. There are so many courses that offer instant results, why would you stick with something that takes time? Because it’s more genuine than the shiny new one that promises but never delivers!
I jumped many times from one course to another, following the instructions to the letter to generate income online. Time and time again I was disappointed. I had accounts closed, my results dropped on Google, my products didn’t sell, and I wanted to throw my laptop out the window countless times.
These are just some of the problems you will face as an affiliate marketer. Depending on the route you take, you may also be limited by funds. I found many cheaper courses when I had a lot of debt and not a penny to my name. I concentrated on free tactics. They were much slower than paid advertising and my results always frustrated me. If I had found a good mentor back then, it would have saved me a ton of time.
Not knowing which direction to row in as an affiliate marketer is probably the biggest challenge. I must have rowed in the wrong direction for years. I tried everything. However, over time, and if you keep it up long enough, you will start to see some results. They won’t be huge, but they are the light at the end of the tunnel.
Beware of the results. Once you see them, you can go back to what you did to achieve them. Then focus on those activities and drop the others that don’t produce anything.
It’s a long road to affiliate marketing success. I’m not there yet, but I’m much further along than I was. Finding the right people and training is probably the best advice I can give. Without the right direction, you have no direction as an affiliate and will probably give up, thinking ‘it’ doesn’t work.
But with the right attitude, direction, and guidance, you can make affiliate marketing work for you and generate a full-time income from it. Keep focusing on your “why?”
My “why” kept me going through all the problems I encountered in my journey as an affiliate marketer. Nowhere else can you earn the kind of money affiliates earn and have a lifestyle you can choose. But it is definitely not easy. If you’re looking for the ‘fast buck’, I wouldn’t bother with affiliate marketing!
But it can work if you do it, and if you’re prepared to trust the process and continue while it lasts. Good luck!