Affiliate Marketing Mistakes I Still make

When I made my post announcing the MarketLeverage contest, I said that I would be writing a post of my own mistakes as if it were an entry.

Even though I’m becoming more and more experienced in affiliate marketing, I still make PLENTY of mistakes. Some mistakes I’ve been making since the very beginning.

Mistake #1 : Distractions

An oldie but ah, such a goodie. I’m constantly distracted by AIM, my phone, xbox, forums, blogs, and other nonsense that does nothing but hurt my productivity. In a recent attempt to cut the biggest problem out (AIM), I’ve stopped going on. Ever since I stopped wasting my time with 20 IMs at once all day long, I’ve spent a lot more time working and I have been making more money. At the least you should be going invisible so people aren’t IM’ing you. Distractions absolutely KILL you, trust me.

Mistake #2 : Campaign Overload

Another huge mistake I make is overloading my campaigns. I hear so many things from people and affiliate managers on offers that people are killing on, so I want to start everything. I end up starting 4 niches at once and it just becomes a huge mess. Niches seem hot and I always feel like I have to get on every one of them at the same time, because soon they’ll be gone. I would have made a lot more money in the past month if I had just focused on 1 of the new offers I’ve started, instead of working like a madman on 4.

Mistake #3 : Straight Up Laziness

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m one of the most lazy individuals on the planet. I think it’s why I landed in the position I’m in right now; I was looking for a job that involved doing nothing but laying in my bed butt naked. Recently I’ve become a little better at cutting out the laziness and actually doing some work, and lo and behold it’s producing results.

Mistake #4 : Neglecting Yahoo/MSN

There can be some mad money and volume in YSM, and usually all I focus on is Google. Stupid me.

Mistake #5 : Not Split Testing

This goes along with the laziness one. A lot of times when I get a campaign profiting I’m too lazy to continue to split test landing pages and ad copy. An extra 5% CTR here and there can go a long way over the long term and put a lot more money in my pocket. Never stop testing.

Just a few mistakes that I’ve thought about recently and still made. There’s seemingly nothing “special” about them because you probably do one or more of them right now. Fix the simple things and you’ll start making a lot more money.


33 Comments

  1. July 6, 2008

    I fully agree with your first mistake. To me it’s the same. You may also include social networks, as the worst time-killers ;)

  2. July 6, 2008

    Great post, and I’d agree I make pretty much all of the mistakes you’ve outlined above, especially the laziness one.

  3. July 6, 2008

    I am with you on #4 – Google seems so much easier to setup.

  4. July 6, 2008

    These are all really great mistakes to share. A ton of people make the same ones and its always good to know a super aff can mess up to ;)

  5. Amazing post. Keep it real.

  6. Ricardo
    July 6, 2008

    What about the worst ebooks/affiliate guides you have bought? If you have…

  7. July 6, 2008

    I get into the trap of Counter Strike.. ugh…

  8. July 7, 2008

    This post should be labeled: Affiliate Marketing Classics :)

    If you’re too distracted, try getting professional Office Space. You don’t need anything fancy. Just make sure you don’t put Xbox’s, PS3’s and Huge Plasma’s in there.

    This puts your hard wired working switch on, and get rid of all the distractions. Also, try getting out of your sweatpants.

    I remember reading an article in Fortune Magazine a while ago, from warren buffett. He always wanted his workers to arrive on work shaved and dressed in a suit. This rule applied to everybody, even the ones not involved with customers. His motto was: If you dress sloppy you work sloppy. It’s truly truly true.. :)

  9. I will spend more time on my affiliate marketing…*pizza…ooh. ok maybe after I eat pizza*

    I must say I get distracted a lot!

  10. July 7, 2008

    #1 and #3 get to me the most… but that’s because we usually work from home… dammit!

    Jay

  11. So, basically there is no difference between you (a $4000/day guy) and me (a $400/day guy)? If you’re those mistakes, then I guess I just to work a little bit more harder to reach $4000 a day.

    I’m surprised you admit you make mistakes. Oh well, makes me feel better :)

  12. Peter
    July 8, 2008

    Whats the name of thar girl in your avatar? She is so damn hot, I always click in it, when I saw your comment.

  13. July 8, 2008

    yeah. no wonder myspace is most trafficked during the hours 9-5. something’s wrong there. *heh*

  14. July 8, 2008

    aren’t we all a little lazy? I think it’s just built into the system in the USA :( that’s why we won’t be #1 for that much longer….

  15. July 8, 2008

    straiiight up.

  16. July 8, 2008

    yeah, but the distractions would probably be the same if we were in an office too.

  17. July 8, 2008

    How dare you Paul put the Xbox on the list! lol. I usually fire up a few campaigns, go make some coffee, and play a few rounds on the xbox. That is when I get time aside from tending to my daughter. cup, diaper, toys, books, movie, it never ends… You should have included getting laid. I find that a big distraction. (when it does happen, I am married after all).

    Shudogg Dot Com – Make Money Online Blogging

  18. July 10, 2008

    I identify with everything you said;i think it’s just human and our brain DOES need a break from doing the same boring thing days in,days out. It all depends on time managements.If i set to spend 20 minutes on yahoo answers and no facebook or anything else,that should still be fine.
    cool thoughts,thanks for sharing

  19. July 10, 2008

    But I think it’d be different in an office… you’ll get phone calls or whatever but you probably won’t have the Xbox 360, television, bed to lay on, smell of food in the kitchen, etc…

    I guess that’s just my opinion and experience. I just tend to get a LOT more accomplished in a work/office environment rather than at home where I tend to get lazy.

    Jay

  20. July 10, 2008

    LOL! I normally have a hot chick in my avatar too but I guess this defaults to the old one…

    Jay

  21. July 11, 2008

    Every mind it is a world. Variety and flexibility as routine broad our options in live. My self I found interesting to leave the cozy home office to go to the jungle, monkeys, scarlet macaws, parrots, real jungle give me live and the more important part it gives me perspective and reaffirm me still capable to enjoy my here and now as it comes, with mosquitoes, spiders, sweet, dirt and even my office. The emotions I put in my head do not belong to outer treats, no media game, and no government strategy behind. No one is responsible by what I feel; my emotions belong to me, even if sometimes I refuse to accept them in my own head.

    To Work belongs to a more interconnected combustion than what we think. What I mean is, you get your self in as many situations you can, develop a height level of flexibility to enjoy live as it comes and take the best of every single situation and you will find happiness soon. It is not by empowering external ideals of happiness that you gain wisdom; money can’t buy it all and remember is you who make the money, not the money who takes control of your needs. Assume your self the main player of your own life and the owner of your own emotions as your best power.

    My point here, get out of the office, home, whatever corner you get stuck frequently and get perspective changing the neighborhood and traditions to embrace other ways to understand live, you will be amazed by possibilities. Live is too short to believe the entire story we are told, so get all your tools and play with fun, create, blast yourself with options and share to other as a way to recharge your own batteries.

    Work with grace, enjoy the game. It is not the amount of work but the way you do it and its uniqueness.

    If you have some extra time, visit my site I have around 1000 pictures of the jungle, more than 30 stories, an open blog and forum community where you can participate.
    http://www.onejungle.com

  22. October 4, 2008

    This is great stuff. The comments can teach us (me) as much as the main posting.
    I am one of those who have spent more than I care to admit on programs that were big
    on promises, but small on delivery. Mostly, my attitude was get-rich-quick.

    My personal main distraction has been e-books. Second on my list is long sales letters.
    One thing I learned is that there is more than one thing to learn, and no one thing will have
    you rolling in money – even L-O-A.

  23. October 8, 2008

    I liked the Split Testing,i think it’s the real meat
    thank you for refreshing and inspiring

  24. March 4, 2009

    You are a very smart person! :)

  25. May 19, 2009

    Interesting article, i will come back to your blog soon, best regards

  26. May 22, 2009

    Your blog is very interresting for me, i will come back here..

  27. October 25, 2010

    Another a informative good writeup by you looking forward to read more really soon.

  28. October 29, 2010

    Best you could edit the webpage name title Affiliate Marketing Mistakes I Still make to more suited for your subject you create. I enjoyed the blog post however.

  29. January 31, 2011

    Is there some kind of docs/sources/references that you could share? (I am working on a similar article) Regards L.Hessellund

  30. February 20, 2012

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  32. April 27, 2012

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