One of the most crucial things you can do to start off on the road to success is also one of the simplest things to do, yet so many fail to do it. Curious? Here it is in one word: PLAN
Isn't it true that generally 80% of your efforts yield 20% of the results? If you find yourself choosing networks and grabbing campaigns and putting up to "see what sticks", I'm sure you've experienced that. How do you change that around? How do you get to the point where 20% of your efforts gives you 80% of your results? Well, I don't have time to write a book here, so here are some tips:
1) Before you start running any campaign, get yourself a "daily journal" type notebook. You need to write in this. Daily. Writing has a wonderful way of engaging dormant parts of the brain. What do you write?
2) Write down how much money you want to make for the day. Be realistic. If you don't believe in your heart that you are capable of achieving that dollar amount, then you've already got yourself working against you.
3) Write down that amount in the present tense as if you were already achieving it...for example, "I am making $100 a day with my affiliate marketing efforts, and I see it growing", or "I am making $500 a day with my chosen campaigns and it is increasing"...something like that.
4) Focus on what you wrote for at least 5 minutes. Imagine how it feels as you login to your stats and see $100 a day, or $500 a day, or whatever amount you imagined. Fully immerse yourself until that feeling is real...imagine how good it feels to be making your written amount per day.
5) Keeping that feeling in mind, start looking through your campaigns. Does anything stand out? Have you heard any industry buzz about one in particular? How well would any of these campaigns be received by your traffic base? Have you been driving enough traffic to request payout increases? Are you noticing any "intuitive" thoughts about a particular company, negative or positive? Do you "just have a feeling" that you can't explain? Most likely, it will be your subconscious getting in touch with you. Listen to it.
6) Now that you've gone through the "esoteric" part, it's time to get concrete. Start planning for real. Keeping that feeling of your daily dollar amount in mind, write out your plan for the day. "I will load 5 new campaigns by lunch", "Those campaigns are...", "I will evaluate 10 campaigns today", "I will examine my metrics and eCPCs and will replace my two lowest performing campaigns with two new campaigns", etc.
If I could stress anything at all, it would be to do 10% more today than you did yesterday. And tomorrow, do 10% more than you will do today. Increase your efforts and money making activity by just 10% per day, or whatever feels realistic. I've experienced some amazing personal fulfillment by imagining my goals to the point where they feel real, and I fully believe that with a little practice, anyone can reach a point where they can tap into their subconscious and intuition and use that to guide their business and money making decisions.
I've got a lot of opinions and personal experiences related to goal setting and the power of belief. I'd be happy to discuss.
Well Mwong, I view disappointment like I view pain. It's usually a sign that you need to readjust some of your tactics. For example, when you're first learning how to ride a bike, and you fall, you experience pain. That pain tells you that you did something wrong. So you get back on your bike, try again, and alter your balance. You might still fall, but this time you put your foot out and catch yourself before hitting the ground. This time, it's not full pain, but just discomfort. So you change your tactics again, and again, until you're riding the bike without falling and without pain.
Disappointment is the same. It's an indication that things are not proceeding according to your expectations. Why? Are your expectations too high? Are you experiencing technical issues with your promotions? The first step in getting rid of the disappointment is to isolate the cause of the disappointment. Be specific. Affiliate Marketing isn't for everyone, just like bike riding isn't for everyone. But if you are determined to be in Affiliate Marketing (just like a person determined to learn to ride a bike), you MUST get to the root of your disappointment before getting rid of it.
Ask yourself, "what can I change right now that would decrease my disappointment?". Maybe you need more knowledge. Maybe you need to read more material, or seek out a teacher. Only you know that. Before you look outward for solutions, you must look inward and isolate the cause of the feelings you experience. Disappointment is "mental pain"...and like physical pain, it's an indication that you must make changes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your words of wisdom will be added to the 5 Star Hall of Fame.
"Ask yourself, "what can I change right now that would decrease my disappointment?". Maybe you need more knowledge. Maybe you need to read more material, or seek out a teacher. Only you know that."
WHOA JACOB! Your original post was excellent and that's why I wanted you to report it here.
But this last post is AMAZING! I added this quote to our Hall of Fame.
Here it is again to be sure people read it - so true!
Well Mwong, I view disappointment like I view pain. It's usually a sign that you need to readjust some of your tactics. For example, when you're first learning how to ride a bike, and you fall, you experience pain. That pain tells you that you did something wrong. So you get back on your bike, try again, and alter your balance. You might still fall, but this time you put your foot out and catch yourself before hitting the ground. This time, it's not full pain, but just discomfort. So you change your tactics again, and again, until you're riding the bike without falling and without pain.
Disappointment is the same. It's an indication that things are not proceeding according to your expectations. Why? Are your expectations too high? Are you experiencing technical issues with your promotions? The first step in getting rid of the disappointment is to isolate the cause of the disappointment. Be specific. Affiliate Marketing isn't for everyone, just like bike riding isn't for everyone. But if you are determined to be in Affiliate Marketing (just like a person determined to learn to ride a bike), you MUST get to the root of your disappointment before getting rid of it.
Ask yourself, "what can I change right now that would decrease my disappointment?". Maybe you need more knowledge. Maybe you need to read more material, or seek out a teacher. Only you know that. Before you look outward for solutions, you must look inward and isolate the cause of the feelings you experience. Disappointment is "mental pain"...and like physical pain, it's an indication that you must make changes.
__________________
Your Partner in Success,
Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Program Advertising, Promotion & PR (Publisher Relations)
The free forum support we provide is made possible by all the 5 Star programs at the top of the right sidebar & in the directory below. Please visit & support our merchants.
Planning can be a simple thing like sitting down with a pen and paper and banging a rough article out or writing down what you need to get done that day and cross them off as you go it works very well.
Wanted you to know I just blogged and shared your powerful message above,
with a link to your site of course. My blog gets different readers than the forum
and a lot more readers, I might add.
Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Program Advertising, Promotion & PR (Publisher Relations)
The free forum support we provide is made possible by all the 5 Star programs at the top of the right sidebar & in the directory below. Please visit & support our merchants.
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