Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, affiliate marketing gurus are telling you what you should do to make it big in the business. They tell you what types of products to sell, how to sell them and where. Well, today I'm in an anti-mood so I'm going to go over what you should definitely never do if you want to be successful. Oh, also I feel cheesy.

1. Never Burn Bridges

   First and foremost, you should always be connecting with new people. In this business, if you're not building connections, you're failing. And if you're making enemies, it could come back to bite you in the end if you run any type of business built on relationships. So from the little guy to the BSD's of internet marketing, be nice to everyone; you just might need them some day.

2. Never Give Up

   Like anything great, if you're not in it to win it, you're going to fail. So suck it up and stop whining or I'll send Arnold to beat you with your own arms. If you aren't ready to go into the red $5,000 to make it big, you should just make the screeeech of the record and go spend your money on something with less risk-- like mutual funds.

3. Never Settle

   If you start making $25 profit per day on average, don't think you can just walk away or do maintenance. Nothing is set-it-and-forget-it and you can ask Ron Popeil. The market is constantly changing and that means nothing is forever, let alone a decade. Sooner or later, someone is going to challenge your business and you need to stay on top of your game, or you'll lose it. And besides, if you don't have a thirst to always better your own records, you're failing. If you're making $25, you should be striving to reach $50. Once you make $50, you should strive to make $100. Keep going.

   Another part of never settling is never settling for the first payout amount your affiliate manager gives you. No matter how nice it is, it can always be a bit nicer.

4. Never Stop Testing

   This ties in nicely with the previous 'Never.' Part of never settling is always split testing different parts of your campaigns: landing pages, ad text, broad keywords, exact keywords, phrase keywords, landing page text, etc. The list goes on, but all of it should be continuously tested as much as possible. You might wonder why. Well, it's because if your profit margin is stuck at 10%, well it could probably be 20% but you wouldn't know unless you tested the method that would increase your conversion rate.

5. Never Use Spam/Spim

   As enticing as this method might be, it's going to come back and bite you in the ass at some point. For instance, if Azoogle traces spam or spim (internet messaging spam) back to you, they just won't pay you. The same goes for any reputable network, and so the message is simple: don't do it.

   Besides, you can always use an opt-in service for mailing lists and that way your solicitations can not be classified as "unsolicited advertisements." It's just better when people ask for it.

6. Never Market Bad Products

   Anyone marketing "Free Satellite On PC" products knows they're marketing a crappy product. If for no other reason than the fact that they're marketing something that people could get for free, or perhaps that the service doesn't match what is being advertised, people should just not market it. Of course, not everyone's moral compass has the same north but in general, it's just bad practice to mislead people. To be successful, you should do your best to market products you know work. Besides, if a product works, it will continue to sell itself. Plus, if it works and you like it, you'll have the added bonus of enjoying what you sell.

7. Never Steal

   This ties in with the first 'Never,' but it's not common sense apparently. For every landing page I've created through blood, sweat and tears, I've seen at least one duplicate floating around the internet. Now as everyone knows, Google hates duplicate content and landing pages are no exception to this rule. On a side note, Google knows which page came first and so the landing page with the duplicated content is usually the one that suffers. Of course, I recommend copying other people's landing pages to get started but never without changing the text in the page and ALWAYS temporarily. The reason I say copy other people's pages is because, if you're just getting started, it's better to model yourself after success.

8. Never Leak Secrets

   ..without being compensated. If you find some secret niche that converts really well, do yourself a favor and tell NO ONE. Likewise, if you find a super efficient way of converting people and you start making tons of money, TELL NO ONE! I can't stress this enough, but if you have a valuable secret, keep it secret. There is no sense in involving other people in your business unless it's completely necessary to building your empire that much bigger. The only time I'd advocate secret-leakage is in some eBook or guide that people pay you to get. Again, it had better bring you more money than the secret itself would, or you're just selling yourself short.

9. Never Sell Yourself Short

   Repeat after me: I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me! If you think you aren't worth much because you aren't some BSD in the business, you're wrong. Yeah the rich guys, the richer they are, are going to treat you like dirt but that's because you have no value to them (that they know of) but don't worry about them. You can make just as much, if not more, once you put your heart and soul into it. Don't let people walk all over you. If you want something, go get it. If you need higher payout, demand it. Make your business work, baby.

And that's God's honest truth, right there. These are your Ten Nine Commandments for bringing in the green, so go and be fruitful.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 11:57 am and is filed under Ad Networks, Affiliate Marketing, AzoogleAds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.