I wrote this 4 years ago but I think it's very relevant for anyone that's just starting out because I still strongly believe that mindset is the most important part of success (whatever that may mean for you) in this endeavour. So here it goes:
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In the past year I've come to understand the success formula.
Right now it's crystal clear in my mind how success looks like and what it takes to make your dreams a reality. Your goals might be earning $100 per day with article marketing, publishing a new product that will attract a lot of affiliates and I'm sure some of you are definitely aiming a lot, a lot higher.
I sit here in my room and my future is finally clear. Not long ago I thought I'm at the mercy of random events that are happening around me. Obviously, I knew I can make sure I won't be just some homeless guy on the street but at the same time I had NO idea I can choose my future.
But now I know I can. And this is why I want to share a special piece of knowledge with you...
... you might not like it... but it's how reality works. In its essence it's a bit like a step by step guide to success.
Once you'll really understand, and I mean UNDERSTAND TO THE VERY CORE OF YOUR BEING that you can literally sculpt your future, it will become inevitable you'll achieve everything you've ever wanted. I'm not even exaggerating... See, once you understand that you can have a dream, a goal and that you can really make it come true, you won't be able restrict yourself from crystallizing it in your life. I think it's pretty obvious by now that the first step of goal crystallization is to make a decision. Don't get me wrong... I'm not talking about "wishing" something to happen. That's not a real decision.
What I'm talking about here is making a decision that's so strong NOTHING could make you abandon it - not even YOU. See, the main problem with most people who get into affiliate marketing is they think they decided to make a full income with it while in fact they're only wishing it to happen. It is the main reason why so many people quit from affiliate marketing. They mistake "wishing" for decision making.
Can you see a difference?
If you want to make $5000 per month
or
if you decide to make $5000 per month.
With the first type of "decision" you are wishing something to happen and once you put a bit of energy in it and it doesn't come true you say to yourself "I guess all those people are either gifted or they're lying" and you abandon your dream about financial freedom.
but... BUT with the second type of mental attitude you've told yourself what will happen NO MATTER WHAT.
This is why it's vital to understand the importance of decision. You need to make a decision about what you want. Make it and let it be so strong you're absolutely sure the only factor in when your goal is going to crystallize is THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY YOU PUT INTO YOUR GOAL. Read that again.
It's simple. After you've made a decision you need to understand the more energy you'll put into your goal the faster it will crystallize. And the less energy you'll put in it, the longer it will take to achieve it.
1. Knowledge
After you've made a decision and understood that the only factor is ENERGY you put in your goals you need to start putting energy into gathering knowledge. Knowledge is the ingredient from which ideas are born. It's the fuel for your motivation. It's the MAP that guides your actions.
Consume as much of it as it's possible. Learn about copywriting, learn about PPC marketing, learn about article marketing, learn about persuasion, learn about SEO, learn about design but above all...... learn from people who already achieved what you want to achieve. Model them and know that it's not long until you'll achieve as much as they did if not even more.
2. Action
Knowledge is important but it's worthless if you don't inject a good amount of action in the success recipe. In general one should dedicate at least 5 hours of work to internet marketing per day. These are called action hours.
What this means is that you don't learn during these 5 hours. Instead all you do is take action based on what you learned up to now. Do your daily dose of SEO, write that couple of articles, post a few blog posts, outsource whatever you can and take even more action after you've finished with all of those.
It could be said this step is the most important of them all. It is the step that is the most problematic for people. You may think you are a procrastinator. You think you are lazy.
But let me tell you, you're only lazy when you haven't made a strong enough decision that's aligned with your real desires.
3. Persistence
Trust me, you will have weeks and sometimes even months of no apparent success. It will feel as if the success formula isn't working. You will start losing motivation and thinking about trying out other ventures. This is good, let yourself discover other possibilities but at the same time understand you've made a decision and you accepted the fact your path won't be easy.
It is true that sometimes things take time. It is often like that in internet marketing. The only thing that really separates people who fail from people who succeed is persistence. Think about it... internet marketing is a whole new endeavour for you. It's not a simple thing and it takes some time to really internalize hundreds of concepts that are thrown at you.
Just trust me on this one and NEVER ever stop trying. Failure is simply not an option for you.
4. Creativity
Now it's time to get creative. You've learned a lot. You've taken a lot of action. You've been persistent.
You aren't new to this internet marketing anymore. This is the time to innovate and use all the knowledge and experience you've gained up to now. Sure, it's not that you shouldn't be creative up to now, but after you've been into internet marketing long enough and if you still haven't seen the results you want you should probably start being more fearless and trying out things which aren't so conventional.
As cliché as it sounds, you really need to spread your wings at some point, stop listening to gurus and do your OWN thing. See, at the start you couldn't really innovate too much because you didn't even understand the basic principles of marketing and persuasion. Now you do.
This is the four step success formula that got formed in my mind in the past few years.
All you need now is a belief it is possible to achieve your goals and a strong decision. People around you will tell you you can't do it. It's VERY common to have people around you not believe in your capabilities. When I started doing internet marketing I was told it's a scam and it's not possible to sell anything through affiliate marketing.
So then I made my first sale.
As I announced I made my first sale I got told I'll never get that money.
So then I made more sales and I saw I had my first check sent to my address.
As I announced I have my first check flying to me I got told it'll never come.
So then I got the check and I got told I'll never get the money from it.
As I got the money from my first check directly into my bank account I got told it was the only check I'll ever get and that it was a fluke.
But then, lo and behold I started getting checks every 2 weeks. I got told that yes, I get the money but that I'll never be able to make more than a few hundred bucks per month.
And finally as I started earning a full-time income from internet I was finally told that this might work.
Yes, internet marketing might work after all.
