Even a journey of 1000 sales begins with a single blog post! You’ve probably heard that saying, or something similar? With an online business selling products, the often long term goal is to build a life of freedom; one where you can work from anywhere, quit the job and live on your own terms.
Once you switch the trading time for money trap and learn instead how to use products to make money, you can automate and scale. The “deal” of selling your time for money no longer applies and you can generate an income from online selling with the business model of affiliate marketing.
But before you can turn this into a reality, there’s a lot of work to be done. First you need to find a product to sell online. There’s millions of affiliate products you can use and finding the right one for you can take some time and effort. Next there’s the task of actually selling your product. How are you going to do it? After trying many different strategies myself I finally made some progress with blogging. But it didn’t happen overnight! I failed many times before finding a strategy (and product) which worked.
Even A Journey Of 1000 Sales Begins With A Single Blog Post – Blogging Your Way To Financial Freedom!
Blogging your way to financial freedom! It sounds like a cheesy sales pitch or even an affiliate program! But with a blog you can build a digital “asset” which carries on working for you even after you stop working. To go from a standing start to generating automated sales online doesn’t happen easily. Instead, aim for a single organic “hit” on your website. Or aim for your first lead on your email list. These are the steps you need to focus on – the teeny tiny ones which are much more achievable.
If you jump ahead to dreaming of a lifetime of freedom, but don’t take any practical action, they will always be dreams! You’ll get caught up in procrastination and self doubt. A website hit, a lead, a sale are all those small “baby steps” you should be focused on achieving with an online business.
If you’re not a blogger, don’t worry. Blogging isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. You can generate online sales in many ways and blogging is just one of them.
Focus On The One Thing You Can Do Today, Now
Whenever I’ve chosen a difficult goal, such as building an online business, I’ve often come up with a lot of doubt, confusion and scepticism. My mind fills with questions rather than answers. I get sceptical and think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew! This is a sure fire way to fail and if you find yourself in this particular state of mind, you need to get out of it!
Rather than focusing on the many things you will need to accomplish to achieve your goals, (and allowing this to affect your mindset negatively) focus on just one thing you can accomplish today, now.
When it comes to blogging, I like to write. So for me when I find myself in a negative state, I know that blogging will help. In fact blogging has become something I actually enjoy, rather than thinking of it as a chore. “The person who likes walking will go further than the person who wants the destination“. This was a saying I picked up from one of my mentors. It’s very true. If I only blogged to get the end goal, I would have been disappointed a thousand times and then some. But Instead I focus on doing the one thing I can do today, now. Then I celebrate the small wins, such as an organic website hit, or a lead.
The Bamboo Analogy
Another favourite analogy of mine is the Chinese bamboo tree. The bamboo tree will gestate for around 5 years before it even pokes above the soil. So if you are unaware of the nature of the plant you may assume that it has died! But if you water and feed the soil, you will start to see growth. What’s more, the Chinese bamboo plant can grow up to 90 feet within 5 weeks time!
This is very similar to an affiliate business. In the beginning, there’s very little “fruit” to show for your efforts. You might assume that affiliate marketing does not even work! But if you keep going, nurturing your knowledge and growing yourself and your business, you will find some shoots (sales)! They might not come immediately so instead look at your activity. Look for small successes which can give you hope and enthusiasm. Keep taking those steps and you will see your affiliate business grow.
The main reason people quit affiliate marketing (at an alarming rate) is the lack of evidence that it’s going to work. But this often comes before they’ve put in the work in the first place.
Make no mistake, affiliate marketing can be a money “tree” which continues to pay you long after you stop working on it! But only if you put the time in beforehand. If you’re ready to take that first step, you can start a free account here and get started.
