I’ve been reading lots of books lately about success, and I always look at them from the perspective of Affiliate Marketing. I’m still convinced that this business is the best one in the world, and I won’t be doing anything different any time soon. Even so, when you read inspiring stories of how people created success, you can always find nuggets to pull out and apply to your own business and life.
The only one of these posters that I would actually put on my wall.
The best tip that I have found lately that I think can be directly applied to Affiliate Marketing is this: successful (read “wealthy people”) create their own luck. For many people, when they look at someone like Bill Gates, they look at him and say, “He got lucky.” Same thing with Affiliates. They look at [insert name of most popular super affiliate at the moment] and think to themselves, “Man they got lucky. If I could have jumped into this business when they did and had that big campaign fall into my lap, then I could be making bank too.”
Not so.
The successful campaign, the “big one”, the huge moneymaker that sets the men apart from the boys in this industry, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. That’s just the visible part. These guys didn’t wake up one morning and stumble across that campaign by sheer dumb luck. What you don’t see is the hours spent setting up campaigns, the days testing campaigns, the weeks tweaking them, and the months trying out different offers and traffic sources that lead to that massive success.
Affiliate Marketing isn’t easy. You can’t logon to your laptop, press some buttons for 30 minutes, and expect money to come falling out. Are there people who make a good income spending only 30 minutes a day on it? Yes there are. But they didn’t get that way by spending 30 minutes a day. They most likely worked 12 hours a day on those campaigns until they got them to the point where they could be maintained at a high level. Also, if you are resting on your laurels while you’ve got a big campaign running, you are just asking for a world of hurt when it dies (and it will someday).
My point is, don’t waste your time wishing that you were as lucky as somebody you know that is banking it with Affiliate Marketing. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. If you just got into this business when a massive campaign fell into your lap, you wouldn’t even know what to do with it. It’s the time spent learning that will let you maximize opportunities when you see them and take the money to the bank while you can.
Keep setting up campaigns, keep trying, keep failing, learn from your mistakes, rinse and repeat. That’s how the pros do it.
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." — I love that! So many times I complain about my lack of luck and then I have these supposedly "random" lucky days when they really are days that I've worked hard to set up the good things that happen, but I've forgotten by the time it comes around.
Amen brother!
“Man they got lucky. If I could have jumped into this business when they did and had that big campaign fall into my lap, then I could be making bank too.” > me in the past
Amen!
Right on! Perhaps, you've read the book 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell…"No one who can rise before dawn 365 days a year fails to make his family rich"~Chinese proverb
God i haven't heard that Jefferson quote since high school lol. So true.
Save the "lucky" for the lottery. To make a living means you have to live to make it.
yes sir! great posts! love this industry.
Great Post,
Thanks for telling it like it is, instead of how it isn't, like most people do.
I've always liked this quote. "The harder I work, the luckier I get". Samuel Goldwyn
Awesome post! Creating your own luck with your hard work and dedication is right on. "The harder I work, the luckier I get". Samuel Goldwyn Love that quote John!
I was wondering the other day to what extent this is true. I personally believe (and believed all my life) that waiting for luck (or giving up on achieving your goals because you think people who achieved them are lucky) is stupid.
That said, I wonder if what separates the 8-figure affiliates from the "doing-very-well" affiliates is luck or something else. The difference cannot be how much time people spend, because there are lots of hard working affiliates that never crossed the 8-figure mark (yet?). Is it knowledge? Attitude? Brains? Can we all get 'there'? or is that mark reserved to those who were at the right place at the right time with the right campaign?
I often wonder – would I be able to get to where I am if I had to start from scratch? I usually think I would, but then again, I've never got to the 8 figure mark (yet?), and on the other hand, I was born to parents who could afford buying me a computer – that's not something to take for granted at all. So then I wonder – would I be able to get where I am if I had to start from scratch FOR REAL? If I was born to a poor family? If I was born in Africa? In a poor oppressed Chinese village or whatnot?
I hate admitting it, and it shouldn't discourage anyone, but sometimes I really think we're all just a bunch of lucky bastards. If you don't feel lucky, you need to see this: http://www.globalrichlist.com/
P.S.
That said, being lucky is not a bad thing. Realizing how lucky you really are means you have absolutely not excuse to not go out and achieve every single one of your goals. Find the perfect woman, get out of debt, make a million dollars and then another 20 (in whatever order you'd like). I'd like to hear one good reason why not to.
This is a great read, I just posted a link to this on my Facebook page.
Spot on! Luck is also a perception. Good post.
Great insight! AM is a lot of hardwork indeed!
Yeah I agree with that. Constantly taking action towards your desired goals and you will definitely get the “luck” eventually!