One of the keys to “breaking through” and becoming a successful affiliate is to start talking to the people, who are already successful.
Unfortunately, I have an almost irrational fear of contacting people I don’t really know and ask if they want to talk about “business and stuff”. In this post I have written a bit about how I try to deal with it.
The first step – Getting people to realize that you exist
An easy way to get to know people without having to “talk to strangers” is to create an online identity that they will notice.
The first thing we need for our online identity is a name.
Choosing a name
It is important that you put some though into the nickname you use online, since it will have a lot of impact on how people perceive you.
I think it is best to use your own name or a nickname from the real world. It will be much easier for you to get people to feel that they “know you” if they think of you as Dealer Dan instead of something like “AK47Suited”.
If you are uncomfortable with using your real name, or it is difficult to pronounce in English, it may be better to go with a nickname.
Getting people to know you
Now that you have a name, you should go show people that you are an nice guy or gal.
There are 2 very easy ways to do this.
- Write well thought out comments on other affiliate’s blogs.
- Start posting intelligent questions/answers on a forum like PAL or GPWA.
Please keep in mind that you shouldn’t go crazy and comment on every single post on a blog or forum. Just swing by once in a while, and say something useful.
Your goal is essentially to create “brand recognition”, so people will remember your name and connect it with something positive.
At this point you should probably pick up a copy of How to Make Friends and Influence People (I bought it as an audiobook). It is basically an entire book with good solid advice on how to easily get other people to like you, and it will get you some really good insight on what to write on blogs and forums.
Start a blog
Now that there are a couple of people who “know you”, it is time to start a blog.
The goal with your blog isn’t to make money (gasp!), but to give other people useful advice. If you don’t feel like you can give good advice, just tell people what not to do and useful stuff that you have read on other sites.
By writing something that other webmasters want to read, you stand a much better chance of getting people to notice you. And when people start reading your blog once in a while, they no longer see you as a random stranger, but as someone they can relate to.
And when you get to that point, people will actually start contacting you, and if they don’t you can easily find an excuse for sending them an email or hitting them up on Skype.
The idea behind all this is that instead of you having to take the initiative, which you may not be comfortable with, you get people who are comfortable with taking the initiative to contact you instead.