This is a guest post by Raymond Selda who teaches internet marketing at his blog RaymondSelda.com.
You’ve been working hard on affiliate marketing for more than half a year now but still you have nothing to show for. What are you doing wrong in web marketing? This situation is really frustrating but you should never think about quitting. However, there are some mistakes that you should avoid like a plague and failure to correct these mistakes will only result in a cycle of frustration.
Let’s discuss each one of them…
Lack of Research
First mistake is not spending enough time to research. Many beginners will just pick a hot product thinking that they could ride the wave. They setup their campaigns and wait for months with little or no sales. They’re getting some traffic but the conversion rate is very low.
Why? It’s because they failed to do their research. They didn’t really connect with their niche. Just because the product is hot doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to make money that easily. Every product you promote is profitable but the key is how you connect the dots. It’s how you align the product to the customers.
There are two places that I check out when doing my initial research. Free keyword tools (Google and SEO Book) and the forums where my niche hangs around. You can really learn a lot just by spending a few hours inside forums. You can see what lingo your niche is using and you can use that to really connect with them.
Wrong Mindset
Next mistake that newbies make is not having the right mindset. If you think that you’re not going to be successful with Internet marketing then you’re not going to make it. But if you think otherwise and take some serious action with additional persistence then there’s no question that you’re going to be a profitable Internet marketer. It’s really that simple.
It amazes me that there are still a lot of people who think that there are shortcuts to becoming successful in making money online or in life in general. Internet marketing is not any different from a regular brick and mortar business. You have to put in some serious amount of effort and dedication in order to really see the results that you want.
It’s also important that you distance yourself from negative thinking people. It’s guaranteed that you’re going to encounter them once you’re doing this make money online stuff. This business becomes increasingly hard when your family are the ones who are pulling you down. I’m not telling you to shut your family or spouse out but I would suggest that you explain to them how everything works. If they still don’t get it then it’s fine, just keep working on your business. Many people don’t know how affiliate marketing works that’s why they’re so skeptical about it.
Not Taking Action and Not Sticking to a Game plan
Last is not taking any action and not sticking to a game plan. I’ve read that analytical and intelligent individuals are the ones who are having a hard time with Internet marketing. Why? It’s because they think a lot and they over analyze everything. They never get to a point where they really do something because they’re frozen with all of their questions and excuses.
There are also those who do take action but quickly jump to another product because they didn’t get any sales from using their previous method. The thing is if you’re using a free promotional method like article marketing then it will definitely take a few weeks up to a few months before you even get some results. Now if you have some budget you can come up with quick results by paying for traffic. But you have to be really careful because you can waste a lot of money if you don’t know what you’re doing.
At The End…
These are some of the dreaded mistakes that beginners should avoid. I’m convinced that if beginners would just take the time to research their niche, bring positive vibes to their campaigns and just stick to one promotional method they will have more positive results with their marketing efforts.
It would be great if you can also share your mistakes so we can also learn from them. I’m sure these 3 are not the only ones. Looking forward to your comments.
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These are seriously very good points. I think if you plan to be a serious Internet Marketer then there has to be some sort of dedication put into it. You can’t just do nothing and expect to get paid.
I takes ages to build up a profit-making blog but once you’re there, it’s almost passive income and it’s a lot easier to replicate the success!
.-= Jorgen Sundberg´s last blog ..How to Change Googlemail to Gmail for UK Users =-.
I’d have to say that those points are really right on. One of the worst things you can do if aff-marketing is jump around too much. It’s one thing to build a site, make it profitable, then move on to another one. However, you do not want to leave a project that has yet to become profitable to start another one. That will never work out. Be consistent.
Great comments everyone! Thank you so much for the positive feedback. I started affiliate marketing back in June 2009. I poured a lot of effort into building my site but I didn’t get any sales after a few weeks so I quit. I quit and settled into my same old routine. That was a really stupid move and I’m glad that I talked sense into myself and decided to give it another try.
Right now I’m having a blast… things are slowly moving and sometimes I feel down but all I have to do is take a break. Affiliate marketing is something that I can see myself doing for the next 20-50 years!
My problem as a newbie was always trying to take on to much at one time and getting overwhelmed. Stick to one thing at a time until you got it down, then move on to the next thing. Great post, really helpful for newbie affiliate marketers.
Cool blog and theme btw, it looks kinda familiar… 🙂
.-= Mathew Day´s last blog ..Socrates Theme – Easily Create 1000’s of Unique Designs in Minutes! =-.
Yes thats true, we should never start affiliate products without knowing the proper strategy for promotion. We have to first research which product is hot and which affiliate network giving good commission for sell.
.-= chandan@work at home blog´s last blog ..Search freelancing work at home jobs =-.
Researching is a very important step! Ans also we should have a correct mindset. I think we should put in products which add value to buyers and not ones who pay higher commissions.
.-= Mark @ Web Design Services´s last blog ..e-commerce =-.
Great points made here in this post.
Its an interesting field of interest to make an income because of the low start up cost, however you pay for it in other areas. Your time in the building stages (1-2) years can be the mostly difficult from trying and failing etc. Dealing with the competition and trying to be more creative than others. Stay on your a-game, don’t give up because you might be knocking on the door of success very soon. “If you knew what was on the other side of the mountain, you probably would be speaking to it more often!” In other words…the affiliate marketing business yields great potential for someone with limited education, experience, however if you don’t give up you could be making a better income than some professionals who went to school for those great diplomas. The truth is..you should be teaching yourselves everyday a little bit about your interests and awaken the entrepreneur in you daily!
Researching something before doing it is very important & so is having a correct mindset for it.This post is very important and must read for newbies.Success in affiliate marketing needs time and some serious involvement.Nice post.
.-= Abhisek@CGmagic´s last blog ..The Vue Magic =-.
I think mindset is definitely key here. It sounds like bs, but with my first website I made $400 the first month on sales. I knew exactly what to do and how I was going to do it…and it worked. For others it may take some time, it is really going to depend on your niche and former SEO skills. Before I started my own site I had already worked with a company doing SEO and blogging for 2 years. So when I started mine I was ready. 🙂