Mindset and affiliate marketing go hand in hand. There’s no doubt, if you want success as an affiliate marketer, you must conquer your mindset. But why is mindset so important? Why can’t someone succeed by just following a step by step “formula”? As a beginner in affiliate marketing I was sceptical of all the “mindset” training, as it was called. Why bother, I thought? Why not just crack on, do the necessary and make a great income from affiliate marketing?
So I attempted to do just that – follow a step by step “formula” to make money in affiliate marketing. But there were obstacles. Your first advert might not work, for example, as many of mine didn’t at first. That first article you write, with keen anticipation, doesn’t get as many visitors as you had hoped. Attempts to build your email list are met with problems. I had so many problems as an affiliate in so many areas. If I wasn’t so stubborn, I would have quit years ago. But here’s why mindset is so important. 95% of affiliates will quit just like most businesses fail within their first 3 years.
It’s not the fault of the business, because people succeed in many businesses. It’s always the fault of the person doing the business.
Mindset And Affiliate Marketing
That might seem a little harsh, and there’s plenty of reasons why someone might fail with an online business. Most of all the reason is that they quit. Quitting guarantees failure. Those who succeed online are a small percentage of those who try and they meet with plenty of (short term) “failures” on their journey. Those with a good mindset, see these “failures” as stepping stones rather than absolutes. It is their mindset which determines whether they quit or whether they continue, and learn from their short term “failures” if they see them that way.
Mindset is so important because it determines how you see setbacks and how you approach your business in the first place. Without optimism, you wouldn’t even try to build an income online. A pessimistic outlook would stop you even taking action in the beginning. When met with difficulties or problems, most see this as a reason to give up, rather than alter course or change tact in some way.
As Henry Ford is quoted as saying “Whether a man believes he can or he can’t, he’s right”
Your mindset determines your outlook, and it is your outlook which determines your approach and reaction to the unfolding events as you move forwards. No one who even accomplished anything significant did it without experiencing setbacks.
Mindset & Affiliate Marketing – Working On Your Mindset – Beliefs
If you don’t believe you can achieve something you wouldn’t even try. Therefore action comes from belief. Belief can change too when met by numerous setbacks. But it is the die hard fanatics who overcome the difficulties and make things happen, not the sceptics and doubters. Take a look at the image below showing the belief cycle. Actions come from your beliefs which determine your experience and re-affirm your beliefs.
If you’re experiencing difficulty, in any endeavour, it is your beliefs which need work, not necessarily your actions. That’s because your actions are a result of your beliefs. If you keep the same beliefs, your actions will be the same and therefore the outcomes will be the same. This is why behaviour doesn’t change very often.
The famous Einstein quote is “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result”.
To change beliefs we need to get “under the hood” of our core and most of our unconscious beliefs were “installed” before we were 10 years old. We accepted the “reality” presented by our parents through their behaviours and suggestions. They became our own and those suggestions are buried deep in our subconscious minds, often acting against our best interests because they’re so deeply engrained in our psyche.
Mindset & Affiliate Marketing – Observing Our “Core” Beliefs
A good first step is to observe our core beliefs when approaching change. When we can “see” our limiting beliefs, we become conscious of them. They become easier to change when we bring awareness to them. For example, we might have some deep seated beliefs around the subject of money:
- Money is the root of all evil
- It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:25)
- The rich are greedy/corrupt
- I’m no good at /not good enough…..
- I don’t deserve…..
- It’s nobler to be poor than rich
There’s many beliefs you may hold in your subconscious which hold you from the life you desire. Only by changing them will you be successful. That’s because they are core beliefs from which your thoughts stem. So how could you achieve success, for example, if you think that it would make you corrupt, or if you think it would make you less noble?
When you have an inner conflict like this, you naturally sabotage yourself in order to resolve the conflict and find a resolution which exonerates you from (your own) judgement. Core beliefs often come from our parents, who we love deeply. So resolving to become rich if a parent disapproves can create a conflict between wanting to earn a good income, and receiving love from your parent. This controlling mechanism can last internally even after a parent is no longer around.
Creating Change & Resolving Conflict
The issue of money is a powerful one and you may have received very strong emotive suggestions around the topic as a child. As such, these emotions control how you see yourself and money even years later. To change them you can do a number of things:
- Use affirmations to re-install more positive suggestions (e.g. mantras)
- Use hypnosis to uncover the most controlling beliefs on the topic you struggle with
- Avoid giving more energy to the old, limiting beliefs (become more mindful of your thoughts and words)
One of the most powerful ways to shift old, limiting beliefs is to create a new belief through repeating a mantra. So for example, if a parent used the mantra (unconsciously) “money doesn’t grow on trees”, you might have that particular belief “installed” in your subconscious mind. While it may be true, it’s also a limiting idea around the subject of money, which can cut you off from the ability to generate money abundantly. A mantra which might be more helpful could be “money comes easily and frequently”, or “I enjoy making money doing what I love”.
Summary
Your mindset is an intricate part of your affiliate marketing journey and an important piece of the jigsaw. If you haven’t had much success with affiliate marketing, it might be something worth working on, in addition to building your business through your marketing efforts and the daily steps you would normally take.
As a mentor of mine once said “the thinking you bring to your business is the limit of it“. So unless you’re actively working on improving your thinking, your business will always have a glass ceiling which it can’t grow beyond.
