“Baby steps” is a great term when it comes to building an income online with affiliate marketing. There’s a lot to learn and do and it can be quite overwhelming. Even now, after years of being an affiliate, I’m overwhelmed at times. Should I start a new website, or a YouTube channel? What niche should I choose? What products can I sell? The vast array of choices leaves many would-be affiliates completely dumb founded. Instead of doing something, they get overwhelmed and do nothing as a result.
This is when it comes down to making your choices simple. Take a “baby step” forwards. A “baby step” is something small and easily manageable. Thinking of the whole picture at once only results in overwhelm. You simply can’t do everything at once which it takes to become successful as an affiliate marketer. Even trying to do so is exhausting just to think about.
Why “Baby Steps” Is Important For Affiliate Marketing
Despite not looking at the bigger picture when you’re taking tiny steps, it can be useful to do so now and then. After all, you’re building an affiliate business for a reason. That reason will be different for everyone. For some it’s the geographical freedom it provides. For others it’s more time with their family or to quit a job which is draining all their time. Get really clear about your reason because it helps give you drive and motivation when things are tough.
Once you see the bigger picture and are full of motivation to make it a reality, it’s time to actually do something. It’s time for baby steps! Depending where you are in your affiliate journey, this might mean different things. For me, I’m starting with a blog post. But if you haven’t found a product to promote or set up an email list, that may be the step for you. (If you’re just getting started you can sign up on this website for the video series.)
Here’s a few examples of what baby steps might be appropriate:
- Join an affiliate program
- Watch a training video
- Join a course
- Sign up for a webinar
- Attend a webinar
- Write a blog post
- Post your first video
- Work on your customer avatar
“Zooming” In and Out Of Your Timeline
One thing that successful affiliates are particularly good at is motivating themselves to do the work that is necessary. This can often mean seeing the bigger picture of the long term benefit of continuing to act when most will quit. For me, this was “seeing” (in my mind’s eye) a passive income continuing to come in even when I wasn’t doing the work.
So this motivation kept me blogging, for example, even when nothing seemed to be happening! Each day, I would continue to create a new blog post on my website, even if I didn’t feel like it.
The effect of NOT doing the work was also a motivation for me. If I quit, I would find myself back in lack and poverty, the circumstances I was trying to escape. This worked as another form of motivation to keep doing the work!
Summary
Filling your mind with everything you “must” do, to make an affiliate business “work” is exhausting and often results in burnout and overwhelm. It’s much better to focus on the long term outcome, (which fills you with huge motivation), and then focus on the one thing you can accomplish now, today, rather than the many things which are out of your control or which you don’t yet know!
Baby steps is what has helped me to keep going even when I was unsure of my direction. Making daily habits is also a good idea. Once you have established a habit, such as blogging, it feels wrong NOT to do it. With this kind of momentum you have a much greater chance of success with an affiliate business. See also my post on the power of micro habits and the book by Stephen Guise – Mini Habits.