It’s not easy overcoming limitations in affiliate marketing. The limitations are in the way we think, rather than in our businesses. You can’t grow a business beyond the level of thinking you bring to it. So it is our thinking which determines the invisible “glass ceiling” of our business. We all have certain fears and restrictions within us which determine the way we do things. With affiliate marketing if we let these things stop us taking action, they will limit our business and our cashflow.
Here’s a few common questions about affiliate marketing which are frequently asked, for example:
“Can I do affiliate marketing without a website?”
“Can I do affiliate marketing without a laptop?”
“Can you do affiliate marketing completely for free?”
While these are valid questions, they also imply limitations. While you can do affiliate marketing without a laptop or without a website, and completely for free, they are all examples of limitations which will potentially stop someone from attaining the level of success they really want. A better question might be “How can I succeed with affiliate marketing?” or “What do the top earners do in affiliate marketing?“, or “what should I do to succeed with affiliate marketing“.
Overcoming Limitations In Affiliate Marketing
I’ve definitely experienced these kinds of limitations myself when it comes to building an affiliate business. One of the most prevalent ones (for me) is definitely spending money. When I started learning about affiliate marketing I was terrified of spending money, (because I didn’t have any), so I did everything for free. I bought a couple of (cheap) courses to learn some things, but largely I went it alone.
Perhaps you can relate? While you can do affiliate marketing on the cheap, it’s definitely worth paying for some help and support at the very least. It’s also worth paying for an email autoresponder and a website of your own. Even if you’re on a tight budget, not doing so will severely hamper your progress.
Then there’s paying for advertising which can allow you to build an affiliate business much faster than with cheap and free marketing methods, which are slower and less reliable. But what if you can’t afford a marketing budget or to invest in getting coaching and mentoring? What then?
Overcoming Limitations In Affiliate Marketing – Failing Forwards
Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Fear is a powerful emotion which masquerades as “safety”. while our brains are keeping us “safe”, they are also keeping us from growing. To grow an affiliate business requires you to step outside the comfort zone which you are familiar with. You must fail in order to learn! Failure isn’t an option, it’s compulsory!
There’s a saying in affiliate marketing known as “failing forwards”. It means trying stuff out so you can learn from it.
When a child starts to learn to walk, they get up and fall over again thousands of times. But they never give up! But that’s just what affiliates do and the 95% drop out rate is testimony to this.
The problem we have as affiliates is that we are largely working alone. This means we never get to see our comfort zone, we only experience the results of whatever action we are focused on. So it’s easy to fall into a groove we are comfortable with, without ever seeing ourselves as the problem.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Overcoming Limitations In Affiliate Marketing – What Limits Are You Placing On Your Actions As An Affiliate?
What limits do you place on your actions as an affiliate? Do you stop working when you’re tired? Have you set a limitation on what you will spend on marketing, or on training/education? Have you invested in yourself and getting help and support, or are you skimping on it to save some money? Do you have a marketing budget? What products do you promote and why? Ask some pertinent questions in the following areas of your affiliate business to uncover some possible reasons why you’re holding yourself back:
- Are you investing time/money in continuous education?
- Do you have a marketing budget, however small?
- How much time do you spend every day on your affiliate business?
- Do your circumstances limit the time you can spend on your business?
- Are finances limiting your ability to grow your business?
- Can you spend more time/money on your business?
- Do you have a good support network who encourages your business growth and helps you personally?
Identify an area of your business/thinking which is somehow limiting. List 10 things you can do about it.
Some Simple Steps To Push Your Comfort Zone
There’s lots of things you can do to “nudge” your comfort zone towards growth even when you’re faced with limiting circumstances:
- Access a free autoresponder service if you don’t already have an email list
- Start an Adwords/Microsoft account and set a marketing budget as little as $1 a day!
- Write a blog post each day/week
- Access training and support
- Upload a video each day/week to YouTube/TikTok
- Read a page of a self development book each day
What you resist persists and it’s likely that the very thing you are avoiding is the thing you need to do to grow yourself and your business. One simple way to identify your weakness is to look at the things you avoid doing!
Words Become Things
Thoughts become words and words become things. Another useful way to identify your limits is to start observing the things you say both to yourself and others. Our limitations often come over in the things we say, the excuses we make and the fears and limitations we discuss.
Stop giving your thoughts and words to limitations and give them to faith and belief instead. When you can unpick your limiting beliefs you can start to unravel the limitations you’re bringing to your affiliate business.
Your business will never outgrow the limits of the thinking you bring to it. If you’re thinking small, and in terms of limitation, there’s no doubt this will effect your affiliate business too.
Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill: “Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you.”
Summary
To overcome limitations you must first identify them. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know you have it. Your business will never outgrow the limitations of your thinking.
Start by looking at the reasons your business isn’t doing as well as you might like. This may come out as a list of excuses. Write them down and identify some of the limits you might be holding in your mind.
Then write out ten possible actions you can take to change the situation. It’s likely that some of these actions will be uncomfortable. That’s a sure sign they are the things you must do!
Take some gentle steps to soften your resistance to these steps by breaking them down into tiny micro commitments in the right direction. For example, you might not have a large marketing budget, but you can afford to run an advert at $1 a day just to soften your resistance and get the momentum needed. You can also learn from the data you collect, even if the test doesn’t result in a sale/commission.
What other micro steps can you take towards overcoming the resistance you have and your invisible barriers to success which show up as fear?