As well as assuming that you are a truthful, and ethical human being, I have covered the first four qualities that you must possess as a person before you start on the long and winding road to becoming a successful Affiliate Marketer using the Internet in the first four posts in this series. Briefly, those are 1) Do have, the necessary perseverance?, 2) Do you have a passionate mentor?, 3) Are you ready to change your mindset from that of an employee to that of an entrepreneur?, and 4) Are you aware of, and can you operate the basic functions of your computer? The subjects mentioned at the end of the fourth post are going to be expanded in much more detail in my next series of posts under the overall heading of “Required Basic Computer Knowledge Demystified”.
Once you have satisfied yourself that you have all the required qualities, (and only you can decide, there’s no external examiner available) then you can progress to the next step, which is probably going to be the most important step that you are going to take along the road to Affiliate Marketing success. It’s not so much a step but a giant leap. That is, “What is going to be my primary strategy?”
I attended Airdrie Academy for a total of five years. For the first two years, I traveled every day by bus from and back to the little village where we lived. For the final three years, after we had moved to a house in Airdrie, only about a mile from the school, I was able to cycle there. Yes, besides teaching myself the rudiments of golf in the village school grounds, I managed to learn how to ride a bicycle. Most kids, including my young sister, could ride a two-wheeler when they were six, but it took me, after many falls in the school playground, until I was twelve before I was proficient enough to ride on the open road.
The first two years at secondary school when you dabbled in many subjects could be compared with, say, the first month of somebody dabbling with Affiliate Marketing. The fledgling marketer may try their hands at a myriad of things, like making YouTube videos, blogging, starting a Facebook group, joining up with Instagram etc etc etc. In the process, they will, perhaps subconsciously, be finding out what they enjoy doing and, more importantly, what they are especially good at.
Similarly, during my first two years at secondary school, I discovered that I was useless at Latin, getting 65% and 32 % in my two exams in first-year, while the average score was around 90% and 75% In my second year Latin was replaced with Woodwork and Metalwork, but, although I enjoyed them, my wonky hands which could only produce wonky “T” joints, ruled them out as subjects I should concentrate on in the long term.
By the end of my second year, it was clear that the subject I was best at was Maths, and, as luck would have it, Maths was my favorite serious subject as well. (The American word “Math” is the only Americanism I refuse to use. I am happy to omit “u”s from words like “color”, “humor”, etc, or use “Z”s instead of “S”s, and I’ll talk about “sidewalks” and car “hoods” with no problem, but Mathematics is a plural word, so its shortened form must be plural as well. You would never say “Mathematic”, so why do you Yanks, shorten that word to “Math”? I will continue to use the word “Maths” to describe the collection of subjects like Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, Calculus, and many more.
Anyway, it was clear, even at that relatively early stage in my secondary education that Maths would play a large part in my chosen career. Accountancy, Banking, or Actuary, perhaps. I then knew what my final aim would be, and my strategy began to form at the beginning of my third year at secondary school. I dropped Woodwork, Metalwork, and History. This left me with Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, and French. Now that I had identified my strategy, it was time to begin to implement it.
Three years later, I managed to achieve four Scottish “Highers”, the equivalent of “A” Levels in the rest of the United Kingdom. I had dropped French, after I struggled to just pass the “O” Level in that subject at the end of my fourth year. This left my four “Highers” to be “Maths, English, Geography, and Science (a combination of the easier of the two papers of Physics and Chemistry). These four exam passes allowed me to become an apprentice Chartered Accountant, (the equivalent of a C.P.A. in The States), which achieved my ultimate “aim” after attending secondary school.
Once newbie Affiliate Marketers have satisfied themselves that they have all the required qualities explained in previous blogs in this series, and summarized in the first paragraph of this blog post, they should decide on their ultimate aim, which, in most cases, will be to attract customers and make as much money as possible. The next step is to decide on the strategy you feel will be best to follow so that you will meet your aim. This means that you must choose the primary way that you will employ to attract traffic and turn them into buyers. This could be a “free” or “paid” use of advertising on Facebook, YouTube, or any of the many apps out there. Blogging, too, is a possibility.
Like during my first two years at secondary school, the first month or two of a newbie’s Internet journey should be spent learning the basics of various strategies. They should then choose one to learn in-depth and implement in reality. After a primary strategy is chosen, it is not unusual for a secondary strategy to run in parallel to the primary one.
At school, where, unless your family moves far away, or you get chucked out for some reason, you will stay where you are, and will not be able to change the chosen subjects. However, with Affiliate Marketing it is all too easy to change strategies or mentors. Choosing the right mentor for you is one of the 4 essential things that you must have succeeded at before reaching this stage. So we can take that as read. But it is just as important that you stick to your strategy or strategies for at least six months, working at it or them diligently and regularly until you succeed.
Cheers
Phil
I don’t have to be a math genius to do affiliate marketing though, right? Jut pick a strategy and work with it for at least six months.
Tony,
If you want to concentrate on a throw-away line of mine that was supposed to make you smile, rather than the main point of the blog post that’s up to you. If you think that I am going to stop peppering my posts with a little bit of humor, then you are mistaken.
Cheers
Phil
I love your analogy of school and affiliate marketing. Great analogy!
The only difference is in school, there are people to watch over and discipline you. While for affiliate marketing, you are suppose to discipline yourself and that is not easy for many people.
I am not proud to admit it but I am definitely not the most discipline person.
You have also given me a great grammar lesson. Now I shall remember that “Mathematics” is plural and the short form should be “Maths”.
Alan Lim recently posted…Are You Losing Affiliate Sales Without Realizing It?
Alan, as usual, I agree with you. Regarding your point that, in school, there are teachers to look over you, I kind of covered this point in my third blog post, https://philsaffiliateclub.com/mindset. In that post, I concentrated on three mindset changes that you have to make before can depend on Affiliate Marketing as your major source of income. The third mindset change that I discussed was under the heading, “Not Having A Boss”. Okay I was talking about office work on that occasion, but the same points apply to school work, too.
Cheers
Phil
Thank you for sharing. It did make me smile when reading the Latin results. I too didn’t achieve fantastic marks, I really didn’t click with the lessons and translating all the paragraphs. I’m still very grateful for the opportunity I was given at school though.
I’ll certainly be looking back at your other blog posts, thank you very much for sharing.
Hi Sarah,
I can remember the last Latin class I ever attended. The Latin teacher, who dressed in old educational clothes, including a mortar board, said something like “Phil, I’m so disappointed with you, Everybody else in the staff room tell me you are so good and diligent. Why are you so poor and seem uninterested in my class?” I replied “Because Latin is a dead language. D.E.A.D.” It was, I think, the first argument I ever had with an Adult outside my family. Seriously though, I hope you enjoy my previous blog posts.
Cheers
Phil
I love that you have outlined what is truly required to be a successful affiliate marketer. Perseverance, a good mentor that you trust, the right mindset, and being able to navigate your way around a computer are a must. I didn’t realize when I started this journey how much I would be challenged along the way in terms of perseverance and mindset and how much it would force me to grow as a person. I think when I was back in school, I might have done the same, focusing on what I was good at and dropping the classes that didn’t serve my end goal, but with affiliate marketing, you have to get good at it all, there is no ability to skip anything, you must be patient, embrace it, sit in that uncomfortableness and overcome it and learn it all as it comes. Of course, you can leverage and outsource some things, like designing your WordPress, but ultimately, it is about you getting uncomfortable and putting in the work, definitely a different type of school than I am used to. It’s not about memorizing and regurgitating to pass a test but truly learning the skills along the way. I 100% agree that you shouldn’t go from one strategy to another, or one mentor to another (unless it is truly the wrong fit). Being patient and putting in the work consistently is hard, but it is what leads to success!!!
Hi Alison.
Thank you for your long comment on my blog post. However, there’s one phrase that you use, that worries me slightly. You wrote in the middle of your comment, “You have to get good at it all”. Yes, there are things that you must know, but there are other things that you only need enough knowledge of to know that they exist, but they are “not for you”. The whole point of “selecting a strategy and sticking to it” means that while you delve deeply into the method you have chosen to attract traffic, you can virtually ignore all of the other methods out there.
Cheers
Phil
Hey Phil,
The importance of commitment and dedication cannot be understated… Dedication and commitment to Self is #1 #2 and #3… Without the proper commitment to your Mentality, your Skillset and your Craft there will be no newfound success, And this conversation falls on deaf ears.
Commitment and Dedication to a mentor and coaching program that you are comfortable in, along with Commitment and Dedication to Self is the Ultimate key to the success we’re seeking
Well said, Ray,
I think that we are all lucky to have Dean and his team guiding us.
Cheers
Phil
I hinestly think that your finsihing statement is the most important factor for being successful (or not) online. I believe most strategies do work, if you do the work, with some exceptions of course.
Thanks, Katrin
Katrin,
ALL strategies that are set out in Dean’s (and Glenn’s) training must work for somebody, or they wouldn’t be in Dean’s training. The challenging thing is to find the one, or ones BEST SUITED TO YOU, and stick to them.
Cheers
Phil
Hi Phil!
As a retired mathematics teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know about your education and the subjects you chose to study. Your well-written advice on selecting a strategy for affiliate marketing and sticking with it for a while is spot on! Many people tend to change direction too soon. I am looking forward to future posts!
All the best!
Milissa Neirotti
Thank you, Malissa.
As you are a retired mathematics teacher, can you explain why Americans shorten the word “Mathematics” to “Math” instead of “Maths”? Missing out “U”s, using “Z”s instead of “S”s, and using some different words for everyday things doesn’t phase me, but the American’s use of the word “Math” sends me up the wall for some reason. It’s just so illogical, it drives me crazy, and I will not follow suit. LOL
Cheers
Phil
Phil, thanks for a great blog. It’s been very interesting learning your journey through school. The four areas you mentioned at the beginning make complete sense, but there’s one that really caught my attention. That’s the last one when you said about being able to use your computer. I guess because I’m quite comfortable using computers I often make the mistake of assuming that everyone can. Of course that is not the case as many people, they don’t know how to use certain features or software or a computer, and some even struggle with the physical barriers of a mouse or a keyboard or even a screen. I remember my dad saying to me years ago that he wanted to learn how to use email and surf the Internet. Using an old 486PC, he really struggled using the mouse so even though he had the passion and the wish to learn and create his physical use of the computer held him back. Once the iPad came out, I bought him one and almost instantly he was able to do everything because all he had to do was point . So that’s a really good reminder for everyone. Thank you so much Atif
Thanks, Atif,
I’ve never had any problem using a mouse, but I can’t use the touch-pad on my laptop. I’ve never held an iPad, but I would have thought that it had something similar to my touch- pad, so, your Dad’s problem is completely different to mine.
My keyboard problem is, except for keys on the very bottom row, where I can wrap the fingers of my right hand under the top of my desk, and use my right thumb to hold down a key, I can only use a few fingers of my left hand to type. This makes typing very slow, and the worst thing is, except for letters on the far left or right of the keyboard, if I want to capitalize them, I have to hit {Caps Lock} before and after typing them. What frequently happens is that I get carried away when typing a sentence and when I look up at the end, I see that I forgot to hit {Caps Lock} the second time when I capitalized the initial letter of the sentence and so the whole sentence is in capitals, so I have to delete it all and start again.
I don’t see, how I can include people’s potential physical difficulties using computers into the series of blogs I have in mind to write next, but I will when I can. Possibly I could in the post I intend to write about keyboard shortcuts.
Cheers
Phil
Hello Phil,
It sounds like you did very well for yourself great blog post and great accomplishments.
I will be an Affiliate Marketer, it might take me a bit longer, but I am determined.
Your last sentence sums it all up. :)
Sandy
Sandy recently posted…My 8th Post – Building Unbreakable Confidence
Thank you, Sandy.
It’s appropriate that you commented on my post which was based on my secondary school days, as my best friend at that school was also called Sandy, short for “Alexander”. I am sure that you will be successful, as long as you choose the correct strategy and stick to it. Stay away from those “shiny objects” and be patient and consistent. That’ all it takes.
Cheers
Phil