Mailbox to Mailbox to Mailbox to Mailbox…

In case you are wondering based on the title of this post, this is not going to be about generating an email list, writing emails or even sending emails. That will come later in a future blog post regarding the importance of emails and how to build a good and proper email workflow.  I am still in the early stages of email logistics and relying on valuable help from my mentor before I really dig into that task. This post, however, will be about figurative mailboxes.  I’ll explain in a minute but let me set this up.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I used to be an avid runner.  I ran for fun, exercise and for the enjoyment of being outside doing something that was healthy and productive.  Please indulge me and allow me to tell you how I started running.  My initial goal was to learn how to become a runner.  As they say, you need to learn how to walk before you run. So, I took the advice of my doctor and others around me and started walking.  I walked a lot!  I got to the point where I was walking miles each time I was out on a trail or on a sidewalk path.  Then I came up with this idea.  I don’t think it’s an idea unique to me, but it’s something that I came up with that helped me learn to become a “runner.”  In my neighborhood, each house has its own mailbox in front of each residence.  I had this idea to walk to the first mailbox and when I got there, I ran to the next mailbox then I would walk to the next mailbox and then I would run to the next mailbox.  Like the old shampoo commercial says “rinse, wash and repeat.” I got to the point where I was walking to a mailbox and then running to the next two mailboxes then walking to the next one and then running to the next two. Then I walked to a mailbox ran to the next three and walked to the next mailbox then ran to the next three. You get the idea.  I repeated this cycle over and over until one day I got to the point where I was running the entire route and not walking once. I then extended my route.  I was so excited and I got to a place where I was running miles and miles without needing to walk.  My competitive nature allowed me to push myself so that I could progress at a good pace rather than a pace that could cause harm or injury.  Ohhhh, I wanted to start running from day one – I wanted to run fast, I wanted to run marathons, I wanted to be fit, and I wanted to feel really good about running.  But that was an unrealistic expectation.  It was a pure sense of satisfaction and joy when I was finally running and not walking.

I’ve seen my running experience like my journey and path in my online affiliate marketing business. I want to be successful right now, I want to have a lot of followers, I want to add a lot of value, I want to be able to provide for my family without depending on a regular job, I want the freedom to experience and provide for my “WHY” as I discussed in a previous post.  Without knowing it, I approached an affiliate marketing business like I approached running except I didn’t use mailboxes. I used different markers to pace myself and hopefully get to a point where I am “running” a successful online business without having to “walk.”  Like running, one must keep active and continue to learn and progress to have a successful online business.

So, my first mailbox, if you will, was investigating the different types of online businesses.  I kept coming back to affiliate marketing.  I did a lot of research on affiliate marketing.  What I found was a lot of get rich quick schemes, a lot of promises, and a lot of shiny objects as I previously described in a past post. I researched the steps needed to start an affiliate marketing business.  Below is what I discovered:

Choose Your Niche:

• Research different niches to find one that aligns with your interests, expertise, and market demand.
• Consider factors such as competition, profitability, and audience size.

Research Affiliate Programs:

• Identify affiliate programs within your chosen niche that offer products or services you believe in and that have a good reputation.
• Look for programs with competitive commissions, high-quality products, and reliable tracking systems.

Build Your Platform:

• Decide on the platform you’ll use to promote affiliate products, such as a blog, YouTube channel, TikTok, social media profiles, or email lists.
• Create a professional-looking website or channel that provides valuable content related to your niche and builds trust with your audience.

Create Content:

• Develop high-quality content that educates, entertains, or solves problems for your target audience.
• Use a mix of formats such as blog posts, videos, podcasts and social media posts to engage with your audience effectively.

Drive Traffic to Your Platform:

• Implement strategies to drive traffic to your platform, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising.
• Focus on attracting targeted traffic that is likely to be interested in the products or services you’re promoting.

Capture Leads:

• Offer lead magnets, such as ebooks, checklists, or webinars, to capture email addresses and build your email list.
• Use opt-in forms, landing pages, and lead generation tools to collect and manage leads effectively.

Promote Affiliate Products:

• Integrate affiliate links naturally into your content, ensuring they are relevant and provide value to your audience.
• Disclose your affiliate relationships transparently to maintain trust with your audience.

Track and Analyze Performance:

• Use analytics tools to track the performance of your affiliate marketing efforts, including clicks, conversions, and revenue.
• Analyze data to identify trends, optimize your strategies, and maximize your earnings.

And then it happened! I found a company and a mentor to guide me to the next mailbox.  This organization encompassed all the points I had researched. I found this company through a FREE book I ordered via a Facebook Ad.  This book, The Iceberg Effect, Holland (2019), was key in my decision to enter the Affiliate Marketing space.  It was a free reference book filled with a realistic overview of what affiliate marketing really is and more importantly to me, what it is not.  It was a quick read.  Actually, I read it on an airplane ride. It was interesting, as it did not promise I would get rich quick like other programs but, instead, promised the idea of get rich forever rather than just get rich quick.  The book stressed that success doesn’t have to happen overnight, but it also doesn’t need to take years and years.  If you want this FREE book (all you pay is postage), click here to order.  Being successful in an online business, such as affiliate marketing, takes persistence, practice, patience and a very healthy and realistic mindset.  On the back end, I also sought out some of the people who the author, Dean Holland, was mentoring to get honest feedback. What I found was this is legit!  Finally, a program that did not offer a pie in the sky promise but a realistic expectation of what was possible!

My next mailbox was asking him to be my mentor and becoming part of the Internet Profits Organization.

My next mailbox was taking the training offered. Honestly, I thought I was going to start to learn how to be an affiliate marketer from day one.  I was incorrect in my thinking. Many of the first lessons were getting in the right mindset and understanding not only the business but understanding “why” one would want to get into the business. This was so valuable as it prepared me to learn the back-end systems when I was ready.

There were a lot more mailboxes to come before I could start to run. I had to get a domain name, I had to set up my website, I had to set up an email system, I had to set up security plugins in the system, I had to do so much and so many more things in order to even begin to think about reaching out and describing affiliate marketing to others.  Each step of the process was a mailbox and I found that in between each step I was running a little bit and not just walking.

Then my mentor, Dean Holland, developed and introduced a new system that has all the tools needed for an affiliate marketing business in one spot.  It is called Affiliate System and it will be available for all to review soon.   It is genius and I am so lucky to have been able and available to enter that system early. Everything was there and no need to go to many different resources!  Now I just needed to learn it and apply it so that I can focus on promoting the products that I wanted to offer and that would give value to people just like me.  It felt like I was running a little more!

Then I had to walk some. Under his advice, I decided to document this journey and the method I chose is this blog. You’re actually seeing me walk, run, walk, run through these weeks and weeks of posts.

I’m approaching my next mailbox. I got a TikTok account and started to post videos of my journey for the world to see. I’ve never walked slower in my entire life as these are very uncomfortable for me to produce. But I’m doing it!

I’m at the point now where I can see my next mailbox and that is to offer Facebook Ads and hopefully reach a bigger audience to show what I have to offer.  Instead of doing this on my own my mentor, Dean Holland, suggested I reach out to another mentor who is an expert in this field.  Her name is Sophie and I have started, along with a few others, a program to learn how to do Facebook Ads correctly.  I’m walking again.  I thought we would be doing Facebook Ads immediately so that I could start to generate traffic and showcase my business. But I was wrong and I’m glad I was wrong.  Just like my mentor, Dean Holland, suggested when I first joined the Internet Profits group, I had to be in the right mindset and I had to understand what I was getting into before I created ads in Facebook for the world to see. And that’s where I am right now. I am currently in week two of a six-week program that will show me how to create successful Facebook Ads.  I am so excited and I am tempted to run but I will choose to walk to this next mailbox.  Sophie encouraged me to develop a lead magnet for my upcoming Facebook Ad that will hopefully draw people to see what I have to offer.  As a beginner, I asked myself, “Lead Magnet, what is that???” In the simplest terms, a lead magnet is an incentive or offer to present to potential customers with the intent to obtain their contact information, typically in the form of an email address. The goal of a lead magnet is to build an email list of prospective customers to whom I can eventually promote affiliate products or services.  The key to a successful lead magnet is to offer something of genuine value to a target audience while aligning with the products or services one is promoting as an affiliate.  So, I am developing one right now.

My next mailbox will be establishing a good email follow-up system.  I want my customers to Know me, to Like and to Trust me.  I believe that this will be the best way to only offer value and to show that I am truly interested in their needs.

So please continue to join me as I learn to run at full speed, and no longer needing to stop at mailboxes but to pass them as I get more comfortable with this business!

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” – B.B. King

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

And, of course, a few Bad DAD jokes:

I tried to make a joke about mailboxes, but it wasn’t that special—it just didn’t deliver.

Mailboxes are great at keeping secrets; they always seal everything up tight.

Until Next time, STAY FRESH, Friends!

**If you are curious about this process and wish to know more about an affiliate marketing business, please subscribe to my newsletter here to learn more.  And please continue following my blog.  My hope is not only to create the freedom I so long for but pass on what I have learned to others who have similar aspirations.