My buddies and I debate this subject all the time, and I figured I’d bring it out to see what everyone else had to say about it. Would you rather be in the NFL, or be a serious, high revenue affiliate marketer? Don’t laugh, this is a serious debate, and if you think about it, it makes sense.

I will start off by saying that I know 7 people who are currently in the NFL. A few starters, a few guys on the practice squads of their respective team. Many mixed reviews, but for the most part most say the same thing…. being in the NFL isn’t all it’s made out to be. Many face the day to day pressure of being cut, or deactivated from their respective teams, meaning their life goes from riches to rags within a day. It’s not all glamour and glory. Most people in the NFL are not super stars. Infact, the average NFL career is UNDER 2 years! The minimum salary of a person who makes a roster in the NFL is $330,000 a year. Being on the practice squad is a $4200 a week paycheck for 17 weeks. Do the math, everyone in the NFL isn’t nearly as wealthy as Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but for some reason, the general public see’s players in the NFL as “rich”.

A big time affiliate marketer has the potential to make millions a year. Every single dollar earned by the affiliate, is because of their knowledge of marketing, that CANNOT be taken away at ANY time. I know several people, including myself, who are making a lucrative living, much higher than an average NFL player, doing far less work. I wake up at noon every single day, sit on the beach, drink a Corona, brainstorm, make some phone calls, and THEN go on my computer. There is no one in this entire world, short of God, who can take away my knowledge of affiliate marketing. Their is NO chance of injury, and NO chance of being ridiculed on national TV. Messing up in affiliate marketing is part of the game. If you mess up in the NFL, you may very well find yourself out of a job and humiliated on national TV.

Forbes.com has recently rated an “internet entrepeneur” as the #1 job in the WORLD. This rates above a rockstar and a professional athlete, and there is a reason for this! Being an affiliate marketer is a dream job that allows the best of the best to sit at home, work as they please, and offer the opportunity to make well over the average American salary. It’s the best job in the world, and the reason why I am so thankful for all the blessings that have come my way.

Think what you want, but the next time you start stressing at your favorite sports team…. realize that it’s just a game… and life goes on.

-RB

Most people are skating on thin ice: on the one hand, they’re banking high 3-4 figs per day but on the other hand, everything can go downhill in a matter of days or even hours. Here are just a few examples:

-the offer itself is shady and you just never know when the advertiser decides to let greed takes over and starts “overlooking” leads or sales like there’s no tomorrow

-the network you’re dealing with is the only one (out of the networks which aren’t private, so out of the networks you have access to) running a certain offer and those folks may also decide to let greed take over at one point or another

-laws which make pushing a certain offer too much of a risk make their appearance: nobody wants to get sued, so it’s only a matter of time until networks and/or advertisers pull the plug

-the only traffic source you’ve managed to make work starts screwing around

Have you ever asked yourself a few “what if” questions? It sounds strange but the vast majority of affiliate marketers would have no idea what to do if they experience problems such as the previously mentioned ones.

What would you do next?

Would you leave everything else aside and spend a few days brainstorming?

How would you put food on the table? Would you rely on savings? How much money have you managed to set aside?

Would you start liquidating some of your assets? Domains? Precious metals?

If so, would you be taking a loss?

What percentage of the money you’ve set aside or the money you’ve secured after liquidating a few assets would you use in order to fund your new project(s)?

Would you just focus on one project or try all sorts of approaches and see what sticks?

Do you have enough time and/or money to fight on more than one front? Or would you be better of limiting yourself to just one project?

Asking yourself some of these questions would definitely not hurt. Being prepared is always something smart. You know what they say, expect the best but prepare for the worst. Maybe you’ll be able to milk your current project/campaign for years to come but what if that will not be the case? Always take as many possible scenarios into consideration as possible because being unprepared is never smart. Never ever. EVER!

What’s your attitude towards scaling? So you have a landing page which converts, you have a great relationship with the network/merchant and a traffic source. Great! There’s just one problem: most people limit themselves to milking that one traffic source for all it’s worth and then that’s it, end of story.

Why would you do something like that? Don’t you like money? Would you have liked money more if the bills were blue instead of green? Why just that one traffic source? There’s a lot of money on the table, why are you limiting yourself to just that one piece of the pie?

What Scaling REALLY Means

Ok, so you’ve milked traffic source A for all it’s worth? Alright, then move on to traffic source B and then to traffic source C. That’s scaling. Keep the engines running and don’t take your foot off the pedal when it comes to the traffic sources you’re already on top of but on the other hand, always be on the lookout for more traffic.

It’s a never-ending process, expression such as “ok, I’ve scaled, now what?” don’t exist unless you trick yourself into thinking that they do. New traffic sources emerge on a daily basis, why not be there with your wallet open?

Polish Your Negotiation Skills

One word: Facebook! If that’s not a love-hate relationship, nothing is. This is what happens when people depend on just one traffic source: you’re in no position to negotiate. Lots of people were/are earning a living exclusively on Facebook and given their track record, those folks are definitely skating on thin ice.

Once you realize that there’s not just one website which controls everything in terms of traffic, you’ll start being in a far better position to negotiate. This is extremely important when it comes to media buys. Get ready to negotiate everything, absolutely everything. Think everything through carefully before spending your first buck: if they want your money, they need to make the deal worthwhile for you as well. If not, you’ll simply move on and never look back. End of story.

This much is certain: we’re marketers and as a result, hunting down traffic sources is what we do. Depending on just one traffic source is a sign of weakness, plain and simple. If you don’t up your game and start demanding the most bang for your buck as an advertiser, traffic networks can and will take advantage of you.

This “being your own boss” thing is pretty complicated for one simple reason: you have complete freedom, you’re the only one in charge. If you feel like taking the day off because the sky is blue, you can do just that. If working like a maniac is your thing, nobody can stop you from working and working… and working.

Unfortunately, actions have short as well as long-term consequences. While it’s true that you have complete freedom when it comes to your schedule, it’s just as true that you’re the only one who has to assume responsibility when/if things go wrong.

Say What?

Think about it: if you decide to take it easy, you’ll probably have a great time initially. But if you spiral downwards into a trend which takes its toll on your productivity, it’s only a matter of time until you start making more money. Even if you think that you’ve done your job right when it comes to diversification, there are a lot of unpredictable things which can ruin everything. What if most or all of your major advertisers have to close shop as a result of a new bill or something similar? What impact would something like that have on your earnings?

On the other hand, burning yourself out isn’t a great solution easy. Sure, you might be able to pull it off for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months. But you’re only human, what happens if your body finally starts taking action with an “enough is enough” message? What happens if you can no longer physically sustain your schedule? Don’t let short-term gains dictate important decisions, always take the cons into consideration as well?

Ok, What’s the Solution?

No matter how hard some people try to hype time management products, they’re not always the solutions. You can read a motivational time management book today, feel great and energized for a couple of days and then bam… everything wears off and it’s back to the drawing board.

Nobody on this planet is in a better position to figure out the solution to your problems than you. Nobody. Period. Again: if you don’t let short-term gains (and yes, the short term gains associated with both taking it easy and working like a maniac are tempting) cloud your judgment, you’ll be just fine. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure these things out, seriously.

If you’re a person with an above average IQ, you probably have several amazing ideas each day. On the one hand, it’s a huge advantage but on the other hand, it’s also something that can work against you if you’re not careful.

No matter how successful or well organized you are, a day still won’t have more than 24 hours and your budget will probably never be limitless either. Yes, it’s true that you need to diversify but that doesn’t mean that you should go overboard. Spreading yourself too thin is just as bad as keeping all of your eggs in one basket.

In Case You Forgot: Focus, Focus, Focus

Most people get really excited about a project at the beginning but end up being distracted at one point or another. The brainstorming process is almost always a lot of fun but when you start implementing everything, things tend to get a bit boring. It’s like that for everyone and it’s perfectly understandable.

While it is understandable, that doesn’t mean that you have to start finding excuses. So you have great ideas? Well, what good will it do if they don’t materialize? Writing stuff on a board or on a piece of paper is great and everything but making money would be kinda-sorta nice too, wouldn’t it? If you always jump from one idea to another, you’ll end up with a lot of “concepts” but no money in the bank. So, what’s the solution?

You’ve Guessed It: Focus, Focus, Focus

Keep your eyes on the prize and be sure to set goals. Reaching a goal always gives you a nice little boost, probably more than enough in order to make it to the next one and so on. Don’t forget to reward yourself, keep it fun!

Ok, so focusing is important. But does this mean that you should let ideas with a lot of potential go to waste? Of course not, be ready to always write a great idea down. Be organized, you’ll thank yourself later on. Notepad is your friend, seriously! Why complicate things? Create a folder, call it “ideas” or something and whenever you think that you’ve discovered the best thing since sliced bread, open notepad or an editor of choice for a moment and let your imagination run wild. Then get back to work, rinse and repeat. That’s really all there is to it.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to be a rocket scientist in order to make $200 – $300 per day online. Anyone with half a brain can pull it off and even if you’re a complete beginner, you’ll probably be able to start making $6k – $9k monthly without working all that hard fairly soon.

Starting out is always hard but once things are on the right track, you’ll have your first “hey, I’m making some decent cash by only working a couple of hours/day” moment. You’ll be able to start taking advantage of all the free time you have at your disposal and that can be extremely dangerous.

Oh Really? Why?

Three words: the comfort zone, the place which keeps most people from tapping their true potential. Human nature at its best! After all, why hustle and hustle and hustle when you can make enough money to live a comfortable life without working all that hard? Time to take your foot off the pedal, right? Wrong!

While it may be true that you’ll feel “content” at the beginning, it’s only a matter of time until regret starts kicking in. Sure, your life is fairly comfortable but what will happen when you find out that the guy you’ve been talking to on AIM back when both of you were beginners is now banking $3,000 per day while you’re still stuck at the $250 level?

Why Sacrifice the Future for a Comfortable Present?

The opportunities you have now will not stay around forever. Maybe you’ll come across better ones but you probably won’t. That’s why the ability to make the most of what you have is ultimately what separates winners from losers. If you can make $500 per day, make $500 per day. Even if it means not hanging out with friends as often watching less TV! Guess what: your friends will never pay your bills and neither will your favorite TV host.

Never make the mistake of letting the comfort zone hold you back. It’s easy to let the thought of making money without working all that much seduce you, especially after you’ve invested a lot of time in a certain project and think that you’ve had enough. Once you make one compromise, others will follow and it’s only a matter of time until things get out of hand. Is being content really enough for you? It definitely shouldn’t be!

Did you think that if your ads have an impressive CTR, the campaign(s) will automatically end up being profitable? Wrong! Think about it: the most important thing is convincing the people who click to perform a certain action. Maybe you’re selling something, maybe you want them to sign up for something.

Even if you have a brilliant landing page, convincing the “wrong” audience to perform the action(s) in question is so hard that it’s just not worth it. Most people think that it’s your job as an affiliate marketer to convince as many people as possible to click on an ad. Well, it’s not.

Do You Want Lots of “Curious Clickers”?

Here’s the thing: even a complete beginner can come up with an ad which is so “different” (weird, interesting, maybe even shocking) that lots and lots of people end up clicking. But there’s just one problem: most of them would be “curious clickers” who have no interest whatsoever in what you’re offering. They would click that shiny ad of yours, drop by and then leave.

In other words, you’d practically be throwing money away. While it is true that you will get cheaper clicks if your CTR is high (after all, networks display ads based on how much money they make from each of them – they make more money from people with low bids but a huge CTR than from people who are willing to pay a lot more per click but have an ad which nobody wants to check out), it still just won’t be worth it in most cases.

Exact Science + Art = $$$

Affiliate marketing is an exact science as well as an art and in this case, you have to find the right balance between creating an attractive ad and not making it appealing to the wrong crowd. It sounds complicated but it really isn’t. If you have at least some basic understanding of marketing, you’ll be fine.

All you have to do is make the ad “different” but still make it perfectly clear what you’re offering. The potential visitors need to know exactly what they’d end up finding if they choose to drop by. Show them what your site is all about in a unique way. Tweak, tweak and tweak some more. Find something that works, scale. Rinse and repeat. Have fun!

It’s no secret that as an affiliate marketer, you need to risk money to make money. There’s just no other way. Test and see what sticks, that’s pretty much all there is to it concept-wise.

In theory, you could even sell used toothpicks if you spend lots of time and money in order to find people who would actually be willing to buy something like that. And since we’re looking at 10 figures when it comes to the number of Internet users, you’re bound to find at least one demographic that converts.

But Is Every Campaign Worth It?

Of course not! Yes, you could even sell used toothpicks if you were to test and test until you find people who are willing to buy them but we’re talking about so few potential customers and so much hassle that it just wouldn’t be worth it.

The time required to turn such a campaign into something profitable is always better spent working on campaigns with potential which can actually be scaled. But if you’re interested in becoming a professional time waster sure, go for it.

What If I’m Not Bill Gates?

Leaving campaigns which don’t have any potential whatsoever aside, there are lots which do have potential but are extremely “tricky”. In other words, campaigns which are definitely scalable but which practically devour a small budget just like that.

Just how much can you afford to pay for data? If you get carried away, there’s always the risk of being stuck with an “almost there” campaign and a depleted budget. You need to be realistic, painfully realistic. Your financial situation is what it is, end of story. Once you have more money to work with, you can afford to play the game on a different level but for now, focus on making the most out of your current situation.

Where Do You Draw the Line?

As an affiliate marketer, you need to know when to say no and move on. Analyze the data you have at your disposal and rationally determine if tweaking the campaign is worth it or not.

Let the numbers do all of the talking and based on your financial situation, decide what the best approach is. Don’t let your ego get the best of you and don’t take the “test, test and test some more ‘till something sticks” concept too far. Seriously, don’t!

A lot of people complain about the fact that the most popular networks out there are no longer offering the support that made them famous and, naturally, start shopping around for alternatives. Given the fact that you’ll be facing a lot of competition as an affiliate marketer, everything counts and your relationship with the network(s) you’re working with makes no exception.

Are new networks the best solution out there? Will they end up representing the breath of fresh air you so desperately need? Let’s find out.

The Good

Let’s start by analyzing the role networks have in the ecosystem. Here’s how things work: most affiliate marketers don’t have a huge budget at their disposal and most advertisers are not willing to do things like pay on a weekly basis. The need for a middle man arises. Networks are, in theory, here to help you keep your campaign active by paying you more often, even before they receive the money from an advertiser.

They receive a cut, you get to keep your campaign(s) active and the advertiser takes advantage of your traffic. Everyone’s happy, right? Not always. As with everything else in this world, there’s a certain degree of risk involved. Unfortunately, not all advertisers are reasonable and as a result, it’s not at all uncommon for networks not to be paid.

New networks have to offer weekly wires to stand out. Otherwise, people will simply look the other way. Let’s leave the fact that some owners start out with shady intentions aside and assume that most of them want to start a legitimate business. Let’s also assume that they have a 5 figure budget at their disposal, are really excited and offer weekly wires as well as outstanding support via phone, email and AIM. While everything may seem great on paper, problems are bound to occur at one point or another.

The Bad

Most people who start a network assume that advertisers will always pay them. Huge mistake! If that were the case then yes, everything would run extremely smoothly. But unfortunately for them and for the affiliate marketers they’re doing business with, that’s just not how things work.

All it takes is one shady advertiser and bam… it’s all downhill from there. That 5 figure budget of theirs starts seeming less and less impressive while the people who expected fast payments start becoming less and less thrilled about the business relationship!

The Ugly

So, what then? Well, they start becoming desperate. People are no longer willing to push volume through their network and they’ll probably be stuck with a handful of affiliate marketers who send shady traffic and are only willing to work with the network in question because everyone else already banned them.

Naturally, the traffic doesn’t convert and advertisers start reacting. Some will issue a first and final warning, others will cut them out and a few will even refuse to pay them. End of story.

Don’t risk it, just don’t. Wait until a network has a bit of history before jumping in because otherwise, you’re going to probably end up losing a lot of time and money. The only exceptions are represented by networks such as C2M and A4D, which are ran by people who had a lot of “street cred” before becoming network owners. As far as those two are concerned, trust was never an issue but those are just exceptions. In most cases, the pros just don’t outweigh the cons, so do the reasonable thing and stay away.