Do You Make These 7 Fatal Mistakes As an Affiliate Marketer?

Affiliate marketing is perhaps the easiest way to make some money for someone who just started out online, perhaps working part time. It can be a real opportunity for you to finally "fire your boss" and work as and when you like. But you need to avoid certain pitfalls or mistakes that could potentially kill your dreams.

Here are 7 mistakes that many affiliate marketers, new or seasoned ones, make on a daily basis:

1) Still having the employee mindset

Affiliate marketing is a BUSINESS. When you become an affiliate, you are no longer an employee. You longer have the luxury of paid sick leave, medical benefits, travel allowances, fixed pay packet, etc. You are on your own, so to speak. So it is time to have a change of mindset. What do I mean by that? I mean you should start thinking like a entrepreneur or businessman and take some (calculated) risks. No risk, no rewards.

You've got to invest money and time on your own website, domain, etc. Take some risks and you can be sure to make serious profits.

2) Selling too hard

Remember that you are an affiliate, not a merchant. Therefore, your website should pre-sell not hard sell visitors. Write a product review, not a sales page. Gently recommend the product you are reviewing. Don't push hard for the sale because when your visitor lands on the merchant's page, he/she will face a sales pitch. No one likes to be sold twice. Pre-sell by highlighting benefits rather than features.

3) Not sourcing enough of your tasks

You only have 2 hands and 24 hours each day. If you try to do everything yourself, you will never be able to accomplish much at all because it will take too long. Outsourcing tasks is your answer. Do the things you are most competent in and outsource the rest. There will always be someone on Elance or other such outsource websites that can do a better or faster job than you - and for a reasonable price too. Remember that time is you biggest asset and you have make full use of it. Think outsource all the time.

4) Giving up too early

This one is true for most business types, not just affiliate marketing. You must remember that affiliate marketing takes time. Even if you are paying for quick traffic with Pay Per Click(PPC) advertising, you still need to time to tweak your landing page, tweak your ads, find your keywords, etc. Rome wasn't built in a day so don't expect your affiliate marketing business to be profitable immediately. Give yourself reasonable time for your efforts to show.

5) Not having a "Daily To Do List"

As an affiliate, you will be overwhelmed with work or get information overload if you don't plan your day well. Every affiliate manager wants you to start promoting their products. You have a ton of affiliate marketing ebooks to read too. So what to do? Make a point to have a daily to do list. List down 6 items you must do for the next day. That way, you won't feel overwhelmed and can go about your tasks with less pressure.

6) Not knowing enough about the products you are promoting

You need to be very knowledgeable about the products you are promoting because your visitors can tell if you are bluffing. Position yourself as an authority figure they can look up to with your knowledge and competence and you can be sure to get many affiliate sales.

7) Not capturing visitors' email addresses on your website

It is a known fact that people take anywhere between 5-7 visits before they decide to buy anything online. By not capturing your visitor's email addresses and following up on them, you have no way of contacting them after they click away. If you are paying for clicks, you must devise a way to get your visitors' emails otherwise you are simply throwing money down the drain. Offer them a free ebook, useful software, whatever, in return for their email address.

The above list is by means exhaustive. But they represent some common mistakes that affiliate marketer are making. If you are serious about making big bucks in affiliate marketing, then be sure to keep this list handy.

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