My Top 3 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes - What's Yours?

15 replies
I started out in internet marketing as an affiliate. I'm still doing it today and make money out of it but there are 3 mistakes that I wished I didn't make.

Here they are:

1. Not having my own site. I used to write for free article directories and put my affiliate link there. Not only I am building other people's asset, my traffic was not converting well.

2. Not building a list. I used to do well in SEO - I was able to drive at least 1000 traffic per day to my site. However, I was not building a list. So, when the Panda and Penguin update hit, I lost close to 80% of my traffic overnight. Lesson learned here. I wish I had started building list earlier so that I don't rely 100% on Google traffic.

3. Trying to sell hard on my review page. By trying to sell, I got lower conversion. People are becoming more and more aware of affiliate marketers trying to make profit off them that they can become skeptical fairly quickly if all you do is just sell, sell, sell on your post. Give them as much information as possible and let them make their own decision. You'll get respect, trust and conversion.

Hope my 3 mistakes will help anyone that's just starting out as an affiliate marketers. Feel free to share your mistakes with others here so we can learn from each other.
#affiliate #marketing #mistakes #top
  • Profile picture of the author Stevie C
    1. Not taking action from the start
    2. buying loads of stuff that I never used
    3. Believing that there was a 'secret' to success
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    • Profile picture of the author nasuryono
      Nice! I did #2 as well.

      For #3, I used to believe it for a while, but didn't last long as I came from an environment where people just roll up their sleeves and work.

      Thanks for the share.
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    • Profile picture of the author TimK06
      1. Being stuck in the learning stage and not doing
      2. Not writing down a lot of the things I struggled with(turns out a lot of people struggle with similar issues)
      3. Procrastinations. I tell you if I had a dollar for everytime I procrastinated I wouln't need to be an internet marketer

      Well those were my biggest woes I hope they help someone else not to make the same mistakes.

      This was a super post by the way
      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author nasuryono
        LOL, I love your point about procrastination.

        Yes, I struggled with procrastination but you won't procrastinate when reality hits you really hard

        Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for sharing.

        Originally Posted by TimK06 View Post

        1. Being stuck in the learning stage and not doing
        2. Not writing down a lot of the things I struggled with(turns out a lot of people struggle with similar issues)
        3. Procrastinations. I tell you if I had a dollar for everytime I procrastinated I wouln't need to be an internet marketer

        Well those were my biggest woes I hope they help someone else not to make the same mistakes.

        This was a super post by the way
        Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author surffab
    I would also say I did not start building a list from the beginning....
    And definitely buying all crap around and hope that I find the magib button software.... instead of focussing on one technique until I earn money, scale it up and then go to the next one....
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    • Profile picture of the author nasuryono
      Originally Posted by surffab View Post

      I would also say I did not start building a list from the beginning....
      And definitely buying all crap around and hope that I find the magib button software.... instead of focussing on one technique until I earn money, scale it up and then go to the next one....
      Very typical of all people starting online. They look for the "magic button" that does not exist.

      And good point about having one focus and then scaling up!
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  • Profile picture of the author konakid
    Spreading my effort among too many different projects and websites instead of sticking to one and working hard on it. Not doing sufficient research or planning before diving into a new project. Not pacing myself well; working too hard on something at first then burning out on it and letting it flounder.

    Hopefully I'm getting better at not doing these!
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    • Profile picture of the author Cliff696
      This is probably my biggest downfall. I generally get tired of banging on one project and get distracted and work on something else for a while and move on, never really sticking to one site until it pops.

      Trying real hard to break that habit. No new domains until the ones I already have are 100%

      Originally Posted by konakid View Post

      Spreading my effort among too many different projects and websites instead of sticking to one and working hard on it. Not doing sufficient research or planning before diving into a new project. Not pacing myself well; working too hard on something at first then burning out on it and letting it flounder.

      Hopefully I'm getting better at not doing these!
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    1) Not masking affiliate link

    2) Not having my own website

    3) Not having my own email list

    Those are my top 3.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    Jumping around
    Not building a list
    Building crap links and having 2 sites get hammered by Penguin
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    How I hit $10,000+ per month very fast w/ 1 niche blog - Click Here to learn more (no opt-in).
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  • Profile picture of the author Allan_Gardyne
    I created I useful site, built an email list, used SEO and free marketing methods, and by 1998 I was earning a good full-time living from affiliate commissions. I bought some advertising, but mainly relied on free methods to build my business.

    I was pleased with my results. It was years later that I understood that - all those years - I could have been using paid traffic to grow my business much faster.
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    I've sold AssociatePrograms.com - to an old friend
    http://www.associateprograms.com/art...ld-friend.html

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    • Profile picture of the author nasuryono
      Yes, many people don't realize that you're trading time with money. If you have money, you can go fast and not wait long to drive traffic and build your business. I always invest majority of the profits that I got back to the business.

      Originally Posted by Allan_Gardyne View Post

      I created I useful site, built an email list, used SEO and free marketing methods, and by 1998 I was earning a good full-time living from affiliate commissions. I bought some advertising, but mainly relied on free methods to build my business.

      I was pleased with my results. It was years later that I understood that - all those years - I could have been using paid traffic to grow my business much faster.
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  • Profile picture of the author m00d
    My top mistakes with affiliates was to continue to promote them after thier program was dead, I'm too loyal(or lazy)... Anyway what sold yesterday won't sell tomorrow. Best to develop your own program or promote something unusual like Affiliate Program | Covert Hypnotherapy
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    Cheap WordPress Hosting @ 3Host
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