Last night, I was reading the Art of War as I was inspired by watching Wall Street to do so. In one particular scene, Gordon Gekko says:

"I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought.."

Now I don't know about you, but that inspires me to be even better at my game. So much so that I went out and got a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu and read through it just to see what it had to say. After all, wisdom doesn't come out of no where, it's perfected out of trial and error.

There are several key parts to The Art of War that I felt were inspirational:

Laying Plans, 26: Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to
victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

What's great about this quote is that it outlines how important research is. In this example, the general would be you and the battle fight would be the fight for high conversions and profits; the enemy? Your competition of course. Even in traditional battle, these things are key to repeated success.

The Nine Situations, 52: We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted with their designs. We're not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country—its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.

Again, not only does this apply to looking at the competition but to your affiliate networks and managers. Research what you do thoroughly in order to take the most advantage out of what you're selling.

The Use of Spies, 14: Hence it is that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies. None should be more liberally rewarded. In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved.

The Use of Spies, 18: Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.

Now this part struck me in particular. Spies? Wow, I wonder how that applies to the business. According to Sun Tzu, I should use spies for any business. But does it apply to affiliate marketing?

I then thought about those who are the most successful in the business and how they get to where they are. The people I know who are the most successful keep close tabs on their competition. They use their circle of friends to keep tabs and to keep their ears open for the latest news and plans of their competition. Sounds a lot like spying to me.

Overall, my point is that you should definitely read The Art of War and think about how you can apply its philosophies to this game. And most certainly rent Wall Street just for the sake of being inspired.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Affiliate Marketing. 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.