Wednesday, March 2, 2011

6 Qualities of Top Affiliate Marketers

Marketing affiliate products on the internet is becoming one of the top new career options of our time. Many factors have led to this transition, but the three most obvious factors that have converged are the bad economy, the ease of access to high speed internet connections including satellite feeds and the development of high quality online and offline software, products and tools designed for the internet marketing industry. Internet entrepreneurs are people who enjoy working for and by themselves, enjoy being in front of their computer for hours at a time, and who are creative in how to make money online.

There are six qualities that successful affiliate marketers have.

1. A Hunger To Learn

Building a successful business on the internet is not much different than building a brick and mortar business. It requires knowledge and skill set that fits the career.

You’ll need to become proficient in things like: landing page design, Search Engine Optimization, Video production and marketing, article writing, blog set up, design and content creation, copy writing, research and in some cases product creation. There is a lot to learn, but it’s one of those careers that you can earn while you learn if you do it correctly. But you must have an avid hunger to learn constantly.

2. Time and effort

Don’t believe the ads that tell you that you can just buy this product, click a few buttons and your bank account will be overflowing with cash. If you believe that, then you’re one of those gullible newbies that some marketers love, because you’ll buy all the hype.

It takes two to four hours per day for a period of six months or more before you’ll start seeing a profit as you begin your new career. And that is dependent on your disciplined efforts of focused work and time. Once you get your business up and running, it’s true that much of it can be run on auto pilot and work for you around the clock, but it’s unrealistic to expect those kind of results too quickly.

3. Stick-with-it-tiveness

As with any new venture in your life, you will run into road blocks and discouragement. Unless you are persistent and stick with it, you’ll never make it through the disappointments and struggles you are bound to encounter especially in the beginning. You must be persistent and have a “Won’t Quit” attitude.

4. Discipline

You have to make yourself do the required assignments and to-do list on a daily basis; especially when you don’t feel like it. This article, for example, I planned to put off until tomorrow. But I had an hour between eating ice cream with a friend for my birthday and a Bible study group I’m attending tonight, so I knew I had to crank out my second article for the day. I came home and made myself do it!

5. Positive Mental Attitude

One company’s slogan was “PMA All The Way!” You must focus your mind on the dream that you have in front of you. Picture yourself self employed and financially free and secure in a global market. No more lay offs. No more boss. No more over time. You’re building your new lifestyle and you’ve chosen to be an Internet Entrepreneur and successful affiliate marketers keep that vision in front of them all the time.

6. A Smart Business Plan

You have to identify what you need to learn, tools you’ll need, and a step by step plan for how you’re going to accomplish your dream. If you have difficulty developing a workable plan, it would be a wise investment to hire a mentor or a coach from a successful marketer who can take you by the hand and give you assignments and hold you accountable. You need to play your work, and work your plan.

These are the six qualities that successful affiliate marketers have and it’s my bet you won’t find a single six or seven figure earner who doesn’t have all six of these attributes. If you develop these qualities, you’ll do just fine in this industry.

To your greatest success!