Don’t be easily discouraged

I’ll be the first to admit that affiliate marketing is not for the impatient.

You will experience trials, challenges, and you will put forth a lot of fruitless labor.

You will have to make sacrifices with your time.

You will wonder when people are going to start visiting your site and reading your engaging content . . . the content you’ve worked tirelessly on.

You will start to wonder if you’ll ever make any money at it.

You will start to second guess whether or not it has been worth your effort.

Eventually you become discouraged. This is where most people give up. This is where most people fail. This is why everyone and their mother is not busy pursuing a career in affiliate marketing.

It is not a business of get rich quick, but rather . . . get rich slowly.

To make a go of it in affiliate marketing you must realize that when getting started, it’s not unlike planting a crop. You can’t assume that you will reap the rewards right away. The harvest may not be for several months, and depending on what you’re planting, perhaps longer.

But eventually you will reap the reward. You just have to see it in your mind’s eye, and know that it will need time to grow. But when that time comes, and you finally start seeing some commissions, you will thank yourself for all of the hard work you put in.

So, when you’re feeling discouraged over the lack of return on your time investment, lean into it and keep working, because it’s coming. The sooner the better hopefully, but just hang in there.

As my mom always used to say . . . “Pray for a good crop, but keep on hoeing”.

Speaking from experience, I can tell you that when I’ve committed to a project that I’ve been passionate about, I eventually got results. It’s pretty much guaranteed as long as you do the work and go about it the right way, but to be successful you need to be dedicated and patient.

I’m glad affiliate marketing is hard work, because if it wasn’t, everyone would be doing it.

Just today I felt discouraged

No doubt this happens to all of us. It doesn’t matter how optimistic or enthusiastic you are, at some point you’re going to resist doing the work. You may think:

“it’s not worth it”…

“there are so many other things I could be doing…”

“all this work and for what..?”

With me, and with most everyone else, it’s all about time and money. There never seems to be enough of either. :-

In order for me to enjoy any sort of success in affiliate marketing, I have to make major sacrifices. I not only have to give up the bulk of my discretionary time, but I also have to put my freelance clients aside at times. In other words, I have to treat this as a very important business venture, despite the fact that I’m not making a cent at it…

Yet.

My struggle is the same struggle that many others go through. Whether it be duties to family, school, a career, part-time job, etc… Most everyone who gets into affiliate marketing is usually already working at another job, or busy doing a variety of other things when they first get into it. Because there is usually never an immediate return on the hard work put forth, it’s very easy to want to give up.

But don’t do it.

Remember…you’re simply planting seeds. If you let yourself get discouraged and you don’t continue the work, you won’t be able to enjoy the harvest. 🙂