How to avoid the #1 trap in affiliate marketing - and surpass 95% of your competitors

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Justin Underwood
7 years ago
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1 How to avoid the #1 trap in affiliate marketing - and surpass 95% of your competitors Affiliate marketing is great. Our parents would kill to have had such an opportunity when they were younger. Ironically enough, the fact that it's that "great" is one of the main reasons most people don't earn a full-time living from it. If you don't understand what the #1 trap in affiliate marketing is, you will always stay stuck at a certain level as an affiliate. It will be like an invisible ceiling is right above your head. You will be trying harder, but you won't be getting the results you want. You can't really avoid a trap, if you can't see it. On the other hand, if you do understand what the biggest affiliate trap is, you will start making more and more money as time passes by. Your affiliate business will be like an old, fine wine. The more it matures, the better it becomes.

If you don't understand what the #1 trap in affiliate marketing is, you will always stay stuck at a certain level as an affiliate. It will be like an invisible ceiling is right above your head.

2 First of all, let's see what's so GOOD about affiliate marketing: - You can start in it without much capital at all - You can be up and running very fast. You can literally start an affiliate campaign in 30 mins - It can potentially make you more money than having a job. Easier money too. And that's how most people view affiliate marketing: Quick and easy money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Quick money sounds better than slow money. And easy money sounds better than money you have to work hard for. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. What IS wrong with affiliate marketing is that people get STUCK in that mindset of "how do I make easy moniez quick." That's why most people got in affiliate marketing, and that's where most will stay stuck. QUICK. EASY. MONEY.

And that's how most people view affiliate marketing: Quick and easy money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Quick money sounds better than slow money.

3 If it was possible to meditate and have money fall on our lap, many affiliates would do it. But most understand that there's more to it than meditating. So, most affiliates realized that they need to do some "work" (a little of it) and figure out the MECHANICS of making money as an affiliate. It's as almost they try to create a Frankenstein monster. "What are the parts we need? A little of Niche selection here, some keywords there, a drop of article marketing and some link-building. Holly cow - look at these numbers - they look great. So many monthly searches on Google and not enough competition. We're rich! Come on Money. Become real. Live. LIVE. LIIIIVE!" If they MFM (Money Frankenstein Monster) doesn't come to life, they try to find even STRONGER ingredients. - Some fake review sites to "boost response" - A scammy offer "optimised for conversions" - A boatload of side-wide links to fool Google - Black-hat techniques that "we can get away with" This is the mindset that most people get stuck in. If you look at offers for these types of products and services (fake review pages, link packages, black hat software),

"What are the parts we need? A little of Niche selection here, some keywords there, a drop of article marketing and some link-building. Holly cow - look at these numbers - they look great.

4 you'll see that they are very much in DEMAND. Not only that, but people tend to IDOLIZE those who create these "solutions." I admit that such techniques can and DO work. But you should always look ahead. Business is like a chess game. You need to be able to see two, three, four or five moves ahead. Anyway - people who sell or people who buy these solutions are NOT "bad." For the most part, they are everyday people who want to earn a living and achieve freedom. Here's why I think this: Let's say that you take 100 people and you ask them: "I have developed two money-making systems. Both of them will make you $10,000 a month net. Both of them will require that you work 4 hours a day. With the first system, you will screw people over, you will create many unhappy customers - and it's illegal. With the second system, you will help people solve their problems, you will create many happy customers - and it's totally legal and ethical." Call me a romantic, but I think that close to 100% of those people would choose the second system.

Anyway - people who sell or people who buy these solutions are NOT "bad." For the most part, they are everyday people who want to earn a living and achieve freedom.

5 You see, people aren't bad by nature. It's just that they don't know of a different and better way to achieve their goals. What we need is a paradigm shift. Rather than saying: QUICK. EASY. MONEY. How about: HELP. MORE. PEOPLE. You have heard that personal development gurus like Zig Ziglar say "Help enough others get what they want, and eventually you will get what you want." Some people think that quotes like these sound "gay" and are not grounded in reality. After all, the affiliate battlefield is very competitive - it's WAR out there. It's true: The affiliate marketing arena IS a competitive one. BECAUSE ALMOST EVERYONE DOES THE SAME

You have heard that personal development gurus like Zig Ziglar say "Help enough others get what they want, and eventually you will get what you want.

6 THINGS. Let's think CLEARLY for a second: Who signs your affiliate checks? Answer: An affiliate network or a merchant. Fair enough. But who pays the affiliate network or the merchant first? Answer: People with PROBLEMS, looking for a SOLUTION. THAT'S what you need to focus on. PEOPLE have problems. PEOPLE save money. PEOPLE carry credit cards. PEOPLE spend money. PEOPLE buy products. Yeah, real people like you and me. Am I saying that the other "mechanics" like keywords, software etc are not important? No. All I'm saying is that affiliate marketing can be a bit complex - and it's CRUCIAL that you are able to FOCUS on those FEW things that REALLY make the difference in the whole process. If you try to create another affiliate campaign and just focus on more and better keywords or bigger and better

Yeah, real people like you and me. Am I saying that the other "mechanics" like keywords, software etc are not important? No.

7 tricks, you won't get very far. Why? Because almost all your competitors focus on that as well. And some of them are willing to work longer, harder and invest more money in their affiliate campaigns in order to apply those "mechanics." Your OPPORTUNITY is to focus on helping people. Once you do that, your ENTIRE AFFILIATE MARKETING PLAN WILL TRANSFORM. You will start doing research differently. You will be trying to understand your prospects more. You will be giving more value to your prospects. And, the thing that you stopped focusing so much on (money) will start coming in in greater amounts. First a trickle, then a river. Once you do that, you will surpass 95% of your competitors who still have the blinders on. When you focus on money, you will always chase it and it will always evade you. When you focus on what CREATES money (giving real value to others), the money will come. The Internet is changing. "Tricks" work less and less. Real value works more and more. Rather than thinking: "How can I get 100 visitors to my website cost-effectively so I can pitch them an affiliate offer?", ask yourself "How can I create something so valuable that people would WANT to come to my website to see AND tell their friends about?"

Once you do that, your ENTIRE AFFILIATE MARKETING PLAN WILL TRANSFORM. You will start doing research differently. You will be trying to understand your prospects more.

8 Use "pull" marketing. Not "drag me kicking and screaming" marketing. Quick Exercise: Take a blank sheet of paper and write on top of it: "How I WAS chasing money." Then, list all the things you have been doing as an affiliate to make money without adding real value to other people's lives. Here are some examples: - I gave a positive review to a product, just to convince the prospects to buy it. In reality, the product was crap, and I knew it. - I used black hat software to trick Google into thinking my site was better than it really was - I promoted a scammy-as-heck offer just because it was converting well and because others were doing it as well - I posted a crappy article on my Adwords landing page - not because it would add value to my prospects' lives, but because I wanted to avoid the "Google Slap." After you have finished noting down the things you did, just write at the bottom: "The past is gone. I learn from my mistakes. I forgive myself. I'm ready to start doing affiliate marketing as a whole new person." You can take 5 minutes for this exercise (or as long as you need). - George Katsoudas

Here are some examples: - I gave a positive review to a product, just to convince the prospects to buy it. In reality, the product was crap, and I knew it.

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