Well hello again, everyone, it feels so good to be back on track. The detour I made last week was a necessary adjustment to the journey but now, hopefully, all is well.
A short time ago I told you I was going to document my affiliate marketing journey to date.
That got interrupted by a need to change my platform so today I am back where I planned to be a couple of weeks ago. Never mind-it’s actually a good example of how things can unexpectedly change.
So today, let’s continue the journey.
Just a thought:
The following quote really speaks to me. I am one of those people who likes to see the end from the beginning so learning to take one step at a time comes as a really tough challenge.
However I get what Martin Luther King Junior is saying when he tells us to “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” I believe that the first step is often the hardest.
The week that was:
Instances of the need to take that first step seems to have been an unintended focus for me this week. Here are three that have made an impression on me.
The first one was when I was a witness to an unusual wedding. I often drive out to The Bluff which is a feature of Victor Harbor-a big lump of rock jutting out into the sea. Beyond it is a winding dirt walking track that I have mentioned in past posts. I often take the dog walking there as it is fairly isolated so she can run as far as she wants, and for me it is a spectacular walk along some rugged sea cliffs.
On this particular day I was excited to watch a wedding ceremony taking place right out on the edge of the first cliff. Now a wedding ceremony to me is certainly an example of taking that first step into a whole new life.
The only people I could see out on the cliff were the bride, the groom, the celebrant and two photographers. The guests seemed to be watching the proceeding from the comfort of their cars.
It seemed a bit of a lonely way to start wedded life to me, although absolutely spectacular. As the ceremony ended the photographers got busy positioning the newlyweds in all sorts of precarious poses. It seemed to me that this first step into married life was fraught with danger. One false step…there was no guard rail!
And while the new husband and wife seemed to be taking it all into their stride (so to speak) I was fixated on her dress. The poses looked stunning but the hem of her gorgeous white dress was getting absolutely filthy. Right up to her knees it was covered in dust and grit. I kept wondering how she was ever going to get it clean again.
But.. no one seemed to care. So I mentally wished them well… starting with a safe passage back from that cliff face.
The second example of taking the first step happened only yesterday. Driving home from dog club I was forced to detour around an accident site, along with a whole line of other drivers.
We were directed onto a side road where I expected we would have to wait. But no, it was a road I had never travelled before. I had no idea where it would take me. So I just followed the car in front of me who was following the car in front of them and so on. Just hoping the driver in the leading car knew where we were headed.
One blind corner at a time until we eventually got back on the highway.
The animal family:
The third example of just taking the first step concerns my dog Connor. One of the disciplines I enjoy competing in with her is called Rally. For those that don’t know it’s a competition which involves negotiating a series of “stations” and at each station a particular task needs to be successfully achieved. You start with 100 points and lose points for each mistake. The goal is to negotiate the whole course while trying not to lose any points.
Connor has successfully risen through two levels and is now starting to train at the third level. Some of the time she is quite challenged by what we are expected to do.
I’ve noticed that she is extremely focused on her work, often sitting, and staring at the course in front of her. When we are training there is a noticeable improvement in her skill level on the second run through. How come?
Poor Connor has been trying to memorise the whole course! One of the trainers noticed , commenting that Connor is starting to negotiate each station before I give her any direction.
She doesn’t have to do that. She’s unnecessarily stressing herself out to no purpose. All she has to do is stay close to me and when we reach a station, do what I tell her to do. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s my job to know how to negotiate the course-hers is just to complete one task at a time.
That has probably had as much impact on me as the words I quoted at the start of this post. It’s so true. I often stress my self out by wanting to see too far ahead when, like Connor, I just need to take one step at a time and not stress about what lies ahead.
Book update:
Not a lot to report this week. I spent the day at Yankalilla Markets where I have a regular stall. Not as many people attended as we had expected so sales were down. Nevertheless it was a fun day with lots of time to chat with other stall holders while the crowds stayed away. I bought three second hand books from the stall next to mine so my reading is all organised for a time. They are from the Vera series by Ann Cleeves. I love the tv series so I’m looking forward to some good reading time.
My business:
And this is where we look at the title again. How to start in affiliate marketing without an audience.
What do I mean by an audience I hear you ask.
Well during my ongoing learning curve I have been taught that the method of affiliate marketing I am learning involves building a list of people who subscribe to my email list. My email list derives from people who have responded to my advertising by agreeing to add their email address to my list in exchange for a free video which promotes affiliate marketing. They become my audience.
Other marketers refer to them as “traffic” but I prefer the gentler term of “audience.”
I have 300 subscribers on me subscriber list. There are many others who have thousands so I have quite a long way to go.
I started on this process after reading The Iceberg Effect. It’s a free book and you can get it here.
After I read the book I was interested in giving the process a try. I knew it was not an overnight money making machine but it seemed to be a way of building an online business though a planned approach and using methods that were proven to work. And it was not impossibly expensive to set up. So I dived in.
The next thing I did was to enroll in Internet Profits Quick Start Challenge. This is a six day short course in affiliate marketing which I found to be a cost effective way of getting a taste of the business and deciding once and for all if it was really for me. If you’re interested you can find out more about it here.
I really benefitted from this course. I learned how to set up an email marketing system, how to follow a plan and most importantly, how accessible and genuinely helpful was the team of mentors from Internet Profits.
That’s probably a good place to leave the story of my journey for now. I’ll continue it next week.
Review:
This review is about a book by one of the greats of online marketing-Russell Brunson. I did not feel my review list would be complete with out looking at what Russell has to offer. It’s a book called DotCom Secrets.
I just ordered my copy of “DotCom Secrets”.
Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Russell paid for the cost of the book (which was super awesome). So all I had to do was pay a tiny shipping charge, that’s it.
Here’s the link where I got mine for free:
Claim Your free copy of DotCom Secrets
Inside the book, Russell breaks everything down into 28 incredible Secrets…
These are the SAME funnel-building principles and strategies he used to take ClickFunnels from zero to a near $1 Billion valuation in just 5 years.
You can get your free copy just like I did using this link…
Remember, the book is FREE + a small shipping fee.
Talk soon!
Bev
P.S. And, just a tip – – if you’re wanting to LISTEN to DotCom Secrets, you can grab the audiobook as an add-on option, and listen to it immediately without having to wait for your book to ship!
Wrapping up:
Well, I seem to have come to the end of my ramblings for this week. Do check out the links I have included there are three. One is for The Iceberg Effect, the second is for The Quick Start Challenge and the third is for Russell Brunson’s DotCom Secrets. All three are well worth your while to check out. And don’t forget to leave a comment about your thoughts on this post.
Take care everyone.
Bev
Beverley Writes 
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