In Spite of Ourselves
What exactly is the relationship we have with our affiliate marketing business when we are just starting out to work it online, in spite of ourselves?
In my last blog post Elephant in the Room, I talked about the Shiny Object Hampster wheel that some newbies to online marketing find themselves jumping onto – infinitum.
Why This is Happening
In spite of ourselves…
👉 On the one hand you likely want to accumulate some wealth in your life.
And with total enthusiasm you dive into the trainings and feel good about yourself. And you have it in mind that your business is gonna take off.
Then on the other hand 👈 – a couple weeks down the road – even though your business still has potential, you hit a roadblock thinking this isn’t as easy as you first thought.
Life gets in the way. And bad thoughts creep up like – this isn’t the business life you had imagined.
And those feelings of being lost, confused, frustrated and even overwhelmed come back to haunt you.
Jumping Ship
Then in spite of ourselves (you and your business), you jump onto that hampster wheel when that shiny object mysteriously appears in your inbox – at what you think is just in the nick of time.
Now maybe this IS the first time you’ve jumped ship from your first sailing.
And it typically becomes a costly venture each time.
But for many folks they’ve spent months – if not years trying different options and different opportunities.
The Fix
Now in spite of ourselves, we should be teaming up with our business…teaming up with someone that cares and someone that can help.
For all I know, you are likely so confused about what is even the best path forward and you want to know what will work best for you and your business online.
There’s a free training video that I give out in my first email to you when you sign up for my email list. The video has Dean Holland telling you he will pluck you out of that situation when nothing’s working out – and helping you turn it all around in a relatively short period.
It really is the common story for the experiences of people that Dean helps out.
His goal is to irradicate the confusion, remove the overwhelm and give you clarity and guidance as to how to build a business online as a beginner.
That\’s why I love Dean and his company – Internet Profits out of the UK – top notch training!
In Conclusion
I thought I would end on a lighter note. My inspiration for this In Spite of Ourselves blog post, came from a California friend.
I believe he worked for a trail maintenance crew in Sequoia National Park back in the day.
My friend started out in a recent message to us on social media with, “I guess you could say meeting John Prine at the Evergreen Lodge in Hetch Hetchy 34 years ago could have an impact on a young Trail Buck. As we interrupted him over his bbq chicken lunch, John put down his newspaper – he was reading the Comics and Dear Abby…”
And after finishing off with, “Life is fleeting, but smile readily and dance like no body is watching you“, he hits us with this oldie but goldie.
Remember to turn on the sound when you have a listen.
Let me know in the comments if this is your first sailing and if it is not – how many times have YOU jumped ship?
Robert, I have to say: reading this message could not have come at a more appropriate time! I know better than to get sucked into the “shiny object” attraction but I found myself being tempted this week. I’m on this affiliate marketing journey as well, and I am nose-deep in the Internet Profits training like yourself. I have been forewarned to stay clear of the shiny objects, keep your head down, and remain focused on your goal. Keep working. Just this week I a few emails come through in my inbox for some social media training. I was so tempted to move forward when something reminded me to “stay focused,” which I did. I say all this to say… thanks for the reminder. We are our own biggest challenge… our own biggest barrier.
Onward and upward, while staying focused!
I hear ya on the tempting emails. I just received one for a social media manager position with Meta. At first it appeared to be SPAM, but the more I looked it seemed legit. And I too had to do the second thought thing and stay clear in my committment to stay focused.
The top notch coaching was what was missing from all the other internet making money programs I previously engaged in. Even so, the bright shiny object syndrome follows me in most of the emails I receive. I’ve been enjoying hitting the unsubscribe button every day! Thanks for your feedback on my blog about creating more value with back links.
You’re welcome about the back links to your prior posts.
The bright, shiny object syndrome is real, and it is tempting sometimes. Human psychology is so fascinating. Wanting to give up, feeling the resistance to face challenges head-on, and instead buying this and that, thinking it will fix the solution. I know better, but sometimes still fall into the trap. Great post!
Great song, Iris Dement (the woman he’s singing with) is one of my favorite artists; she’s got some amazing songs. John Prine’s pretty great too.
When I found myself grabbing for something new, it was because I didn’t have a good mentor who was guiding me. I didn’t know what to do, and didn’t trust the advice I was getting, so I had to look for something to solve the problems I was having. Finding a good mentor I can trust, who helps me when I’m having problems keeps me on the right path, even when I’m discouraged, I keep going because I know I’m going in the right direction.
I have lost count of how many times I have jump ship, probably at least 50 times. I was a hopeless shiny object junkie for more than a decade.
So my big question is, given you have jumped ship so many times, how do you know that this is the right ship? What is it that you saw that led you to that conclusion? And what would the program need to deliver to stop you jumping again?
Hey Tony, I wouldn’t take this post as a given – that I’ve jumped ship so many times. Certainly I have tried many business models – but my budget gets in the way of actually jumping ship. I give it my all for a considerable amount of time in every venture I attempt. In many cases it was the leaders delivering the training of one business model that would lead me on to trying a different business model.
But it is certainly a fair question about this being the right ship. And the answer is dependant on the person answering. In my case it starts with community. If they have a good group – one chark mark for Internet Profits.
Then there’s the training. I’ve done my fair share of creating training videos and documents and I use that experience to help benchmark the training that exists for a particular business model coming from said company. Another check mark for Internet Profits.
There’s also the coaching which can include customer support. If it exists and I feel the leadership is bang on and that I get timely responses then maybe working on that particular business model will work for me. Another check mark with the top notch training and support at Internet Profits.
Those are just some of the factors that let me verify my decision to try a particular business model. But from the outside looking in – It can only be the ad copy that speaks to me that pulls me in. And it’s only in having a bit of hindsight that helps me to determine if I’ve made a good decision or not. I don’t put alot of reliance on testimonials as I know those can be out-dated and fabricated. And really – for me – it’s a touchy feely thing where I feel in my heart that following the advice of a particular company will lead me in the right direction to achieve my goals.
And I HAVE indeed found the true reason why I should stick with Internet Profits. The company is based out of the UK and not the USA. So I only need to contend with taxes in Canada. No need to pay taxes to the US on the fly – like so many US-based operations.
Robert, it’s very apt that you wrote this this week. For me I felt very much like jumping ship this week. I think it’s several things; first of all it’s the amount of time that it is taking for anything of substance to happen. I know we have to be patient but it’s nearly a year now since I started. I know it will happen but it just throws you a little bit. The second thing is the trouble I had with my links in the email that weren’t coming through you just feel really lost when things don’t work. And thirdly, I made a bit of a mistake in my Quora account where I went into some old posts that had done last year and replaced older links with new ones to my blog. I then started receiving emails that my post have been moderated and deleted. All of these things are fixable but the way it makes you feel it’s like I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m just gonna jump ship. Of course that’s the easy way out giving up. It’s the ones who stay, fight, keep going and solve problems as they go the other ones that get there in the end and that’s what we have to be like. I wish you all the best. Thanks for the reminder take care, thanks, Atif
Hey Robert, enjoyed that tune, I have never heard it before.
To answer your question, I have jumped ship about 8 times. 6 of them I needed to jump from, the classic story of over-promised and under-delivered. 2 could have worked if I had stuck with it…maybe.
The shiny objects don’t go away I see them on the daily. I have unsubscribed from a ton of stuff of late which was a great move and I am getting good at not paying attention to shiny objects…just staying focused.
Great read! Look forward to reading more posts
Have a great week!
Ahh the old shiny object hamster wheel! I wish there was a big old red STOP sign for everyone who jumps on that wheel. I am much better, but even recently, thought about how a product will enhance what am doing, not taking into account how much I will pay (if I go through the whole funnel), the learning I will need to understand this new thing, etc. So taking time and money away from my long-term goal.
Eleanor Hope recently posted…Affiliate Marketing2. Build Community
That hamster wheel is a tricky cycle until you find someone who can reveal how to get out of it like Dean did. Before Internet Profits I tried 4 other online businesses, life coaching, MLM, direct sales, drop ship, all of which I jumped ship. I also didn’t have any real mentoring like i do now. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Denny