Well it's hard for me to believe that I have been at this game for over ten years now. Along the way I hope I've learned a thing or two and that is really the purpose behind this post. We see statistics that suggest that a very high percentage of online marketers/affiliate marketers/home based business owners fail. The failure rate in traditional/conventional 'brick and mortar' businesses is very high as well and that has never been as true as it has been in the last three years. Even prior to the start of the fear-mongering that started three years ago, the statistics suggested that most brick 'n mortar start ups did not survive beyond three years.
In any business, success depends upon proven systems. McDonald's is a good example of a retailer whose success, for the most part, depends upon very young employees who can be taught to integrate themselves into systems that are easily learned. This is a 'cookie-cutter' approach that has proven itself. Once the system is refined, it can be inserted into a new location where success can be duplicated through the use of methods that have been proven to work in other locations. No need to reinvent the wheel as they say.
The same principle applies if you are an online/affiliate marketer. Systems work. And, as you develop your online business, your systems can be passed along to others who can 'plug in' to the systems used by your business and, again, new enrollees into your affiliate platform do not need to risk a trial and error approach and don't need to reinvent the wheel. Plugging new affiliates into a proven system allows the new marketer a much better chance of online success. The only task is to learn the system.
There is a platform that I have used where someone new to online marketing can learn the skills needed to drive free, organic traffic to a webpage or blogpost. That platform is Wealthy Affiliate. You can access WA from any of the banners on this page. In my opinion, WA has one of the best, if not the best, training series to be found anywhere on the internet. The ability to drive free, organic traffic to an offer (and lots of it) is a skill that will make the difference between success and failure. Especially when one is starting out, the new affiliate may not have the financial resources necessary to purchase paid traffic. And, more importantly, getting proper training right from the outset helps to avoid many costly newbie errors.
Once one has the ability to drive traffic to an offer, it is important (and I would say critical) to have the ability to follow up with prospects. We know that a prospect needs, on average, seven exposures to an offer before they feel comfortable making the decision to buy from you or to join you in your business. People buy from those who they know, like and trust. Accordingly, online (or any kind of business) success depends upon building relationships with people. If you are not following up with people, your chances of succeeding online are...well...not very good. An autoresponder is therefore an essential tool in the kit. With an email series you can follow up with prospects, offer value and, in so doing, build your brand and establish yourself as someone with at least some degree of expertise. Continued communication with prospects builds relationships and people begin to know, like and trust you. Personally, I use Traffic Wave as my autoresponder. You can test drive Traffic Wave for 30 days for free. Just click on the banner below for instant access. I promote my Traffic Wave platform by offering the share code to a thirty day email coaching series I have created. All of my prospects who join me at TW can, in turn, pass the share code on to their prospects. In a nutshell, it is an entirely done-for-you series that a new affiliate can just plug into (and btw TW has a blockbuster of an affiliate program as well). To access the email series, simply fill in your name and your best email in the form on the following page. You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time if you wish. Here's the link to the page--> TrafficWave Email Series
To conclude, systems lead to success. Of course, there are other components to success as well but for today's purposes I simply wanted to give those who are starting out an idea of the value of systems. I hope you have enjoyed.
TO YOUR UNLIMITED SUCCESS,
GRANT RAYNER
Comments
It's also so much easier for 'newbies' Grant when they have clear and simple directions to follow, free of jargon and 'professional goobledy-gook'. Your presentation succeeds admirably in presenting a clear picture of what's required. Enjoy a prosperous year ahead sir.
You said it all in this blog post and I totally agree. I went through 3 years of mental cleansing and getting the education and training I needed to succeed online. It's what needed if you expect to have success. Thank you Grant Rayner for sharing this information.
I wish that WA was around when I was new. It is one of the best places for someone to get started. Trial and error is a slow and challenging approach, thanks, Grant.