The following three mistakes are ones I made when starting out, and ones every newbie seemingly makes.
Reading Too Much
The Internet is littered with information. I like blogs, but I see them more as a journal, and not as a valid source to learn from. For awhile I stopped reading physical books on technical issues just because I thought I could learn things online, and I could of - but not from reading blogs and random sites. I read a technical book and was *blown away* by how informative and detailed they were. I had the notion that books contain very outdated information compared to the net. Wrong.
This mistake saps your time and concentration. First, 1/2 your time ends up being wasted reading random twitter messages or replying to forum/blog posts, and the other 1/2 picks up very little tidbits of information that don’t mean anything to you because you have no experience.
Causes for this problem are fear, which most justify as “being careful” by getting as much information as possible before they start. Why? Because they’re afraid of losing money perhaps, or feel they can read a shitload and then start a successful campaign.
Not Spending Enough Money
Before doing anything in Affiliate Marketing, it’s important to understand what you’re getting yourself into. Many people getting started have never started a business, and they don’t have much money, either. Without the mindset that Affiliate Marketing is a business, you’ll never feel comfortable risking money.
Risking is how most people see it, but it must be seen as an investment. This mistake is justified by saying that “that super affiliate had lots of money before he started out” or reading that Joe spent $25/day testing a campaign in 2004. It was way cheaper back than, and Super Affiliate Bob may have been rich when he began, but there’s nothing you can do about it.
Prepare to lose money. A lot of it. You need to start your campaign broad, pay a few hundred dollars for clicks, with the belief that zero will convert. I was surprised that most people start their first campaign with the idea that they will “at least break even.” Expect to lose at least $500-1000 testing your campaign before you make any money. If this sounds like too much, keep in mind that Affiliate Marketing is a business, and in this light way cheaper than starting a restaurant or a limo service.
Becoming Too Emotional With Your Campaign
You’ve blocked all the blogs, and began your first campaign and you’re eagerly F5ing the stats every few seconds. You see 100 clicks and NO conversions - you just ‘wasted’ $30. The problem now is that you panic and lower your bids to avoid losing too much money, or you lower your daily budget, or even pause your campaign to see what’s wrong.
You might assume the campaign is shit and move on, or that the network is ripping you off. Truth is, you’re a newbie, and you suck at marketing. You think you know what keywords convert, but you don’t. You’ll be shocked when you do. This is important to keep in mind because without A LOT of clicks/impressions, you can’t get an accurate idea of how your campaign is doing.
What you need to do is make sure your campaign IS working by trying it once; No broken links, etc.. and then closing the window and doing something else (make more campaigns!) until your daily budget ($250/day at least, IMO) is exhausted. After you lose $250, figure out whether you have enough information to go with or not, and if not, put down a few hundred bucks more until you do.
I got over this fear by accident. I started dozens of campaigns for a few days with zero success. No clicks, not enough impressions, etc. Then I had to go somewhere, so I put up 1 ad with a budget of $300, because I figured it wouldn’t get a single click. I came back 20 minutes later and $220 had been spent. At the time I think that was my entire monthly AM budget. I expected zero conversions but made about $80. But it was only when I saw the stats that I realized how it all worked.
Important thing is, you can’t lower bids or change campaigns just because you lost $100. To people around you not doing AM, this will seem like a waste/scam/etc. You probably shouldn’t yell out ‘Fuck I just lost $400′ - keep to yourself.
I suggest thinking of a niche, putting aside $500 as your Affiliate Marketing tuition, and then just going for it, only doing research online along the way - when you absolutely have to (i.e., for technical help). Don’t touch the campaign after you’ve started it until you lost at least a few hundred dollars.
Oh and after that, split testing will also cost a lot of money, so again: Expect to lose A LOT, otherwise stick to SEO or something else until you have the funds.
Good luck!
