The Affiliate Journey

One thing I know all too well about affiliate marketing is that nothing works forever, and often something you think is going to work will not.

I’ve been reading “making ideas happen” a book I read about in a post over at Zen Habits about reactionary workflow. The book focuses on how to get things done, not in a scientific sort of way but rather a get in the trenches, roll up your sleeves and just get stuff done sort of way.

Something I read this weekend in that book really hit home for me.

The section talked about Acting without conviction and how as creative minds (most affiliate marketers are) we can either become over committed to something or under committed, where by another shinier idea can knock us off track.

The concept as I see it in terms of affiliate marketing is this.

As affiliates we can research, plan, and forecast as much as we want, but nothing is going to tell us 100% if an idea for a campaign, traffic generation method etc. is going to work except for trying it.

So it seems logical that if we just roll up our sleeves and take action we’ll figure out if something is viable or not a hell of a lot quicker then if we simmer and think about it for days or weeks.

The other danger is that as we plan and over think things we can risk becoming so committed to an idea that we are unable to abandon it and we end up sticking with a crappy idea that isn’t working.

We should aim to take action on viable ideas for our business without being over committed to them, but we must also take action to avoid having another idea swoop in a take away our momentum.

Ideas are plentiful but action is scarce. Be the person who takes more action with their affiliate campaigns, PPC campaigns, link building, SEO etc. and you’ll find yourself closer to the top of the pile in commissions.

Good luck and check out “Making Ideas Happen” (not an aff. link). It’s a worth while read for any affiliate or business owner.

Cheers