In this post, I’ll discuss the affiliate marketing secrets that’ll make sure you succeed in turning a brand new website into a passive income source.
Not everybody succeeds when it comes to affiliate marketing but I have noticed some patterns when it comes to those that do succeed. This is the cool thing about joining affiliate marketing communities you’ll not only learn from others but also see their struggles and victories which makes it easier to notice patterns in their behavior.
Something I noticed, for example, is that most people in the community that fail have pretty decent websites but quit somewhere between the 3 and 10 months and take down their website which is a huge mistake (even if you give up and stop with posting). Let me explain why by giving you some insight into how the Google ranking process works for new websites.
Brand new websites and getting ranked by Google
Google’s main goal is to provide their users with the highest possible quality content available on the internet. This is why they can’t just let any website get ranked and placed on the first page. To prevent low quality spammy websites from getting to their users they rank content from new websites really low. Which means they’ll likely end up at the 60th page of a search result where nobody looks at it.
Google first wants to see if it can trust your website so for a period they’ll monitor what kind of content you place on your website. Depending on in what niche you are this can range from 6 months to sometimes 14 months. After this period Google will give your pages rankings fitting to the quality of the content you put out.
So the biggest secret to succeeding with a brand new affiliate website is to stick to your guns!
To do this there are a few things you have to understand…
If you have a brand new website your only concern should be creating quality content on a consistent basis.
Honestly… I don’t know anyone with a website that’s at least 2 years old that failed at affiliate marketing. If you’re serious about making a living as an affiliate marketer your motto should be something along the lines of:
“…The only valid reason for quitting is the end of the world!.”
The steps to becoming an affiliate marketer are pretty simple.
step 1. Create a website
step 2. Drive traffic to the website
step 3. Promote affiliate products on your website
step 4. Receive money for your recommendations
The process is really simple but it isn’t easy!
A huge part of succeeding at affiliate marketing is about changing your mindset into one that’ll make that possible.
To that there are a few things you should understand and apply which I talk about in this post.
Understand that you live in a different world than those who have a normal 9-5 job
Accept that even with all the progress we’re making digitally as a society most people won’t understand what you’re doing. In a lot of cases, this can cause for friction between you and the people that don’t understand how internet marketing works. The time before you see an ROI with affiliate marketing is different from most jobs but people around you will give you advice based on jobs that aren’t affiliate marketing.
In the past I’ve heard people around me say things like:
Shouldn’t you already be making at least a bit of money?
Why not try something else because this isn’t working.
Are you sure this isn’t a scam? I’ve never seen anyone else make money with this.
Hearing this on a daily basis can have a big influence on you and can create doubt. This is why you should realize that the moment you start your website you live in a different world than them and put all their advice through a filter.
Realizing the path to mastery is never an easy path
As an affiliate marketer, you should read books. The right books will not only help you with writing compelling posts but they’ll also shape your mind. I remember in my third month being really anxious when it came to my website. People around me weren’t taking me seriously, I saw zero results and it kept getting harder to come up with new ideas for posts. I was really frustrated and thoughts about quitting occurred.
This is when I re-read the book “Mastery” by Robert Greene in which he said something which was vital to my process. I’m kind of paraphrasing here but frustration, doubt, anger are always a part in the process of mastering a skill set. This also applies to affiliate marketing. Realizing this will make the journey so much easier and will give you a sense of pride the moment you succeed.
You aren’t special when it comes to affiliate marketing
There are millions of people all in the same or different niches that are going through the same struggles you are. Knowing this and staying in contact with these people will calm you down in times of doubt. You’ll see that all the problems you are dealing with a lot of people are dealing with to. This will reinforce the thought that the struggles you’re going through are normal and you’ll eventually succeed.
High-level success stories will motivate you
While the stories from your peers will calm you down, the stories of those ‘above’ you will motivate you. I read a lot of success stories from people that have been marketing affiliate products longer than I have. It gives me a lot of motivation because it shows me the possible ROI I might have if I stay in it as long as they have.
Make affiliate marketing an essential part of your daily routine
I owe a lot of the success I’ve had till now to instilling the right habits. There were times I actually thought of quitting but creating content was so heavily ingrained in my routine that I just kept on going while thinking about it. A lot of thoughts are fueled by the emotions you’re feeling at that moment and those always subside after a while. This way even when you’re feeling low enough to take down your website the chance that you’ll actually do it becomes a lot lower. So start scheduling on a daily basis with affiliate marketing in mind.
You’re setting yourself up for failure if you create result-oriented goals as a brand new website owner
A lot of people quit affiliate marketing because it takes longer than they expected it to take. As I’ve said before dependent on the niche you’re in it can take up from 8 to 14 months until you start to see some activity on your website. That’s a very long time to work without having any type of feedback from website visitors.
This is why to keep yourself engaged and prevent you from torturing yourself you should focus on process-oriented goals instead of result oriented goals.
Stay away from goals such as:
- How many people you want daily on your website
- How much money you want to earn monthly after a certain amount of time
It’s not that these goals are wrong but when you have a brand new website things like this aren’t in your control so you’re setting yourself up to fail and that might demotivate you.
A few examples of process-oriented goals are:
- How many words should every post have
- How many posts do you want to create weekly
These are goals that are within your capabilities to achieve. Once you’re ranked and get traffic on a consistent basis then it’s time to create result oriented goals.
Set yourself up to win.
Create your own reward system
As I’ve said before when starting out with a brand new website you won’t see an immediate ROI. This is why you’re going to have to reward yourself based on sticking to your process. This way you condition yourself to keep on going.
I, for example, treat myself to a steak dinner and a Thai massage every time I’m consistent for 2 months in a row. The trick is to come up with as many reasons as you need to keep on going.
I really felt the need to make this post because people underestimate the mental aspect that comes with trying to rank a website and become an affiliate marketer. Hopefully, if you’re new and reading this it might help you on your journey.
That’s all for now.
See you at the next post!
