subject: Don't Be Just a "Resolution Affiliate" [print this page] Don't Be Just a "Resolution Affiliate" Don't Be Just a "Resolution Affiliate"
If you've been reading the affiliate.com blog for a while, you know that I occasionally draw parallels between affiliate marketing and other activities like working out or snowboarding. With the year wrapping up, I thought of another interesting parallel this morning.
Anyone who has been going to the gym on a regular basis for at least a couple of years will tell you that, just like clockwork, every January kicks off with a sudden influx of people hitting the weights, treadmills, and cardio classes. Through the first month of every year, it seems like there are more people in the gym every day. The gym regulars call these new people the resolution crowd. Basically, they are exactly what the name suggests people who have made a resolution to lose weight or get in better shape for the upcoming year. Some of them have been members of the gym for a while, but rarely worked out and others are brand new members.
The resolution crowd hits the gym with lots of excitement and can't wait to start seeing results. Many are sure that just walking into the gym will start their transformation toward having the body of their dreams. Most have little or no idea exactly what to do once they get to the gym, other than that they want to exercise. Others will have picked up a new diet and fitness book and be going through whatever workout program it recommends.
The gyms love the beginning of the year, because they get tons of new member signups. Personal trainers are busy taking on new clients. Kickboxing and spin classes are packed and generally anyone in the fitness industry is crazy busy.
The regulars look at these shiny new members and immediately wonder how long it will be before most of them stop coming to the gym. Because, that is exactly what will happen over the next few months. After the initial influx of people in January, the gyms become steadily less crowded as the first part of the year goes on, eventually getting back to a generally stable number of regulars and occasional drop ins. Actually, the regulars look forward to most of these new members quitting, because trying to work out in an overly crowded gym and you have to wait to get on each piece of equipment is annoying to say the least.
So, what happens to most of these enthusiastic new workout devotees after January? Like any new habit or attempt at self improvement, the majority of people who are dedicated to making a change on January 1 have decided it just isn't worth all the hard work by March. Many haven't seen any results, find it hard to fit into their schedules, or decide that they aren't up for committing the time and effort necessary to achieve success. Whatever the reason, only a small percentage of the resolution crowd will actually become gym regulars by the next New Year.
So, what does this have to do with affiliate marketing? Every year, people make the decision to become affiliate marketers. Whether it is a New Year's resolution or just a decision made sometime during the year, they jump in to the business with all kinds of enthusiasm and dreams of quitting their day jobs and making money online. If you could put all those newbies in a setting like a gym, you would see the same kind of drop off over the course of the year as you do with new gym members. The initial enthusiasm wears off as new affiliates realize that being successful may be harder than they thought, takes more time and dedication, and generally isn't as easy as it looked when they got started.
So, my advice to everyone who is planning on taking that first step into affiliate marketing in the New Year is not to become a resolution affiliate. Don't jump into affiliate marketing and then follow the path of so many newbies that leads to little or no accomplishment and eventually giving up. Just like changing your diet or working out, becoming a successful affiliate will not happen overnight. It will take time and hard work if you want to achieve your goals. But, if you stick with it, have a plan, and put in the effort, you have a much better chance of making your goal of becoming a successful affiliate marketer a reality.
