I can write about this mistake because I used to be one of the biggest offenders years ago. Perhaps if you're reading this now, you are an offender too. What's this big mistake I'm referring to? ... ----------------------------- Affiliates are driven and motivated by commissions and have no knowledge or passion for the programs they have chosen. ----------------------------- Don't get me wrong. We all know the main goal of an affiliate is to make money. It would be crazy not to evaluate how much you will be paid when you join a program. However, the mistake is made when the money becomes more important than your interest and enjoyment. Successful affiliates build websites on their passions and THEN look for programs that compliment their site. Unfortunately many people do it backwards. They look for programs that will make them a lot of money first, and then build a site afterwards. BIG MISTAKE! That's why there are so many affiliate websites on "How to Make Money Online" or "How to Become a Successful Online Marketer". The sad part is most of these people haven't made any money themselves. These topics attract people because they are easy to find, and they just seem like a logical topic to choose if you want to make money on the net. Unfortunately the competition is fierce, and the only people that are REALLY making the money are the ones on top (usually the owners of the programs). Sure there are a few success stories that come out every now and then, but they are few and far between. If your goal is to become a successful affiliate, build a website on your interests and hobbies and then look for affiliate programs that naturally fit the theme of your website. Your chances of success will be 10 times greater because you've chosen a topic you know a lot about and you'll enjoy yourself. Your creativity will amaze you, and you'll constantly find new ways of improving your site. As you continue to build content, you'll soon become the "expert" in your niche. Other webmasters will begin voluntarily linking to your site, and the search engines will start rewarding you with free traffic. (The engines love large sites with a lot of inbound links). So unless you have the advertising budget of Microsoft, stay away from the highly competitive niches of home based biz and Internet marketing. Choose a topic you are passionate about and go to sites like associateprograms.com and affiliateguide.com to find programs that fit into your theme. I guarantee your chances of success will be far greater. |
