There can be a lot of downtime in Affiliate Marketing. All of the social platforms, PPV networks, and many other traffic sources require manual approval of ads. This means that after you submit an ad you can be waiting anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days before you can see if all your hard work paid off. This can be frustrating, so what is a bored marketer to do when his ads are pending? Let’s look at some options…

Create More Ads

Ah yes, the old standard. We could certainly spend our time creating more ads. The problem with this is it leads to a downward spiral of waiting for ads to be approved. For me, it’s like for every campaign that has a group of ads pending takes up about 10% of my available brain power. So I’ve got five campaigns pending, then I’m seriously impaired. I can’t think of anything except whether or not the ads are approved, has my budget already been blown through, was the CTR any good, etc. So yes, I do create more ads in my downtime, but only up to a certain point.

Go to the Gym

This is a good idea that I had recently. Maybe I could take my downtime and start working off those internet marketer pounds that creep on so easily! I have yet to successfully pull it off, but in theory it works good. Working out relieves stress and takes your mind off of the ads that are pending. Come home, take a shower, have a bite to eat and then log back in and hit F5. I’ll have to try that…

Play Video Games

There is a self-destructive part of my brain that likes to think that after I’ve completed two hours of work for the day, I have earned the right to screw around for the remaining daylight hours. This is not true. This is one of those situations where you have to ask yourself, what would Ryan Eagle do? Love him or hate him, the guy is motivated. He knows what he wants, and he goes out there and gets it.

Write a Blog Post

Now we’re talking. What better thing to do with your downtime then write about your downtime in a blog post? It’s a great way to feel like you are doing something productive, while keeping your mind on the goal at hand. This is going to be my new go-to method for passing time. I made a mid-new-year’s resolution to try and blog every day. It’s harder than it looks.

Ok I think that’s all for now. Time to go check and see if my ads are approved yet.