There’s a few reasons why you could be stuck in your affiliate marketing business. Perhaps you’ve just started and have been watching videos, absorbing information and learning? You could be stuck in “information overload” – processing what you have learned.
Or perhaps you’re full of doubt, fear or scepticism? If you don’t believe you can build a profitable affiliate business, it’s going to be difficult moving forwards given this negative outlook.
Or, maybe you are at a crossroads? You’ve done some study and found something you want to promote. Perhaps you have even setup a website/platform to sell something from after purchasing a course or selling a system of some kind?
The once exciting phase of buying a course and setting up your selling system soon turns to dismay when you realise you now need to promote that website or get leads for your sales funnel! The marketing aspect of building an online business is where the “rubber meets the road”.
Without a marketing strategy you don’t have a business.
You may have even tried already using paid advertising and/or organic marketing methods but to no avail? So you sit on the sidelines, sitting in a no-man’s land of procrastination, doubt and fear! (See my post on how to overcome procrastination if that’s you).
You’re stuck; and despite trying to think your way out of it, nothing seems to happen!
Why You’re Stuck In Your Affiliate Business – And How To Dig Your Way Out
Depending on where you are personally, there’s going to be a different solution accordingly:
- Not begun – get some training
- Haven’t chosen a product to sell – Choose your niche & get a product
- Not sure of your marketing strategy – Test a new strategy
- Out of marketing budget – choose an organic marketing method
- Fed up of blogging/organic marketing – start testing a paid marketing strategy
If you’re stuck in a cycle of procrastination you need to break the cycle and get into some kind of action taking. Imperfect action is far better than no action. But there’s likely a probable cause as to why you’re sitting on the sidelines and it’s likely to be the discussion you’re having with yourself – whether verbally (out loud) or inside your head.
Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Why You’re Stuck In Your Affiliate Business – Sharpening Your Axe
Here’s a picture (crudely drawn on my noticeboard!). It shows the thoughts and ideas which either contribute to your taking action, or dissuade you from taking action.
On the left of the action step you see thoughts such as these:
- I’m not sure
- I’m not good enough
- It won’t work
- Its a scam
- I’ll never be able…etc.
These kinds of thoughts and ideas are going to stop you from taking any action at all! Simply put, no action will be taken if your mind is filled predominantly with these kinds of messages. Each time you give energy to one of these thoughts, or one like it, the needle moves downwards – away from the action step you need to take.
On the right hand side of the action “needle” I’ve written some more positive ideas which are likely to inspire you into action. They move the needle towards the action step:
- I am good enough
- Other’s have done it – so can I
- I can build a passive income
- I can escape my job
- A passion business I love
- Escape the commute
- Ditch the boss
- Be the boss
Why You’re Stuck In Your Affiliate Business – Unconscious Self Sabotage
Which side are you spending most of your mental energy on? Is it the side which leads you to taking action ? With each thought you’re either giving energy to taking action or not taking action. Whether or not you have identified the action step you need to take, your thinking patterns are going to affect it. These are affected by several things you may or may not be consciously aware of such as:
- Limiting beliefs, habit patterns, childhood trauma
- Circle of influence – who you spend the most time with
- Consumption habits – news, social media, books, videos etc.
Limiting beliefs such as “I’m not good enough” can come from childhood trauma, for example. Your circle of influence is a reflection of your belief system too. You surround yourself with people who think like you.
What kinds of information are you digesting on a regular basis from the news, social media, books and magazines? Are they positively affecting you or negatively?
Positive Mantras For Transformation – Yes You Can!
If you are carrying a limiting belief such as “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t have (such and such) skills”, then you’re likely operating from a self image/identity which isn’t helping you. The self image is a strong factor when it comes to new challenges and if we identify as someone who isn’t good enough, for example, it’s the perfect excuse for giving up or not even trying.
If we carry this belief “I’m never good enough”, no amount of trying will alter it unless you get “under the hood” of your unconscious mind and change the belief.
C.G. Jung — ‘Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.’
To help you shift the limiting beliefs which are holding you back you can use mantras:
“I’m good enough”, “I’m a powerful man/woman, on a mission”, “I now make 10 sales a month” etc.
Although initially your conscious mind is likely to reject positive mantras like this (because you’ve been repeating the negative ones so often), they are worth making habits out of. Over time they will change your negative self perception and this in turn helps you take more positive actions going forwards.
A paradigm is a belief system which you hold about yourself or the world. Changing it is a powerful way to alter your self perception and make powerful changes in your life.
Producing Not Consuming
We are trained to be super consumers! But if your intention is to build a profitable affiliate business, you need to change this pattern and become a producer.
Think about how much we consume. From the food in our kitchen, to the social media channels and Netflix channels we absorb. How much time do you spend consuming as opposed to producing online content?
To shift this balance towards building your affiliate business you need to become a regular producer of content, rather than being solely a consumer of it. By regularly producing content you are building a habit pattern which compounds over time.
With each blog post, for example, I’m building a strategy for online growth of my affiliate business, a tiny step at a time. If I gave up, or didn’t start at all, I’m guaranteed to not make further progress.
So even if a single blog post has only a tiny affect on my affiliate business, it’s still a step in the right direction. What tiny step can you make towards building your profitable online business today? A small step might not make your affiliate business overnight, but it has the power to shift your mindset into positive focused action, which can launch you into regular productive action.
Why You’re Stuck In Your Affiliate Business – The Pain Body
There’s another reason why you aren’t taking any action in your affiliate business too. I’ve experienced this many times and it’s linked to what Eckhart Tolle calls the pain body.
According to Eckhart Tolle, the pain-body is a mass of negative energy that occupies your body and mind. It is like a parasite, living in you and feeding on you. The pain-body only has as much power as you give it, though. It feeds on the negative energy that is created when you focus on things which produce negative emotions.
When I get stuck with my affiliate business, I’m frustrated. I look at others far ahead of me and start to dwell on my frustrations. Why are they so far ahead? Why can’t I do it? I focus on reasons why I can’t have their success.
The pain body grows through this focus on frustration, anxiety, jealousy and suffering. The more you give energy to it, the more it has you in it’s grip! So if you’re looking at other influencers perhaps, who appear to be very successful, and feel inadequate as a result, you’re feeding your pain body. To escape you first need to notice when you’re feeding it. Stop it! Stop focusing on those things which are making you feel bad, jealous, inadequate, less than and inferior.
Start becoming more conscious about where you mind is on a moment by moment basis. Meditating for just 10 minutes daily can help you bring awareness to what is going on inside your mind. Once you have some mental clarity, the path will become clearer for your affiliate business.
Summary
Your mindset has a great deal to do with how you tackle your affiliate business. So it’s a good idea to prioritise your health and mental fitness too. Make sure you are living in a tidy environment. If you’re working in clutter, it’s going to affect your mindset.
What’s going on inside your mind is going to affect your ability to work on your affiliate business too. What things are distracting you? Having the space to work on your affiliate business is vital. If you haven’t made the space, or you simply don’t have the space and time for working on your affiliate business, perhaps it’s simply not a priority for you. That’s ok, but just be reasonable with yourself and honest about it!
Have you set a goal for your affiliate business and made a plan of how to get there? Without a goal it’s difficult to hit it! It can be helpful to set a large goal and then set out smaller, shorter term goals too to break it down into small easily achievable steps.
Take your smaller goal and break it down into daily habit patterns which will get you there but are easily achievable “chunks” you can rinse and repeat on a daily basis. Is your goal is too big? If you you don’t have small steps to take which are carefully laid out, it becomes an emotional battlefield each time you try and take some action.
Haven’t started building an online business yet? Get started here.
If you’ve enjoyed this post please share it! Thanks!
2 thoughts on “Why You’re Stuck In Your Affiliate Business”
Comments are closed.