Fall Into the Danger Zone

So.. the store works well, and the navigation gremlins have been put out to pasture, and the visitors seem to like it. And yet, something is still missing (besides the obvious thing - sales).

In a way I am reminded a bit of the grand opening of the tavern that my late husband and I bought back in 1985. We worked like mad to get everything ready for the opening, slaving on the place by the midnight oil lamps, stumbling home at 3am to arise at 8 and start again before the desert heat and sand squat on us and made work impossible. Finally we flung open the doors and stood back proudly, awaiting the mad dash. It never came.

Traffic trickled in, a bit wary and a bit put off that the place had changed ownership without their permission. Little was said about our hard work, the new bar stools, the carefully repaired bathrooms, the new fixtures and signage. The old guard would eventually accept us as one of their own, but that first day was not the day.

So now I see a similar trend with Fern's General Store. I hope someday I'll find myself accepted within the neighborhood.

To Suceed You Must First Fail

A wise man once said, 'To succeed once, you must fail ten times.' Which brings me to the topic of the day, daring to fail in order to succeed. Success, such a solid yet evasive word. So relative to the state of expectations, nebulous, difficult to quantify, yet so sought.

I have found hesitancy to be my own worst enemy in much of this venture. I tend to analyze the heck out of something before taking the leap. This tends to ensure that I get very little done, and certainly don't fail as often as I otherwise would. Well, even that proclivity has its downfall. As those of you who have been reading along may know, I discovered fatal flaws and logistical nightmares with Fern's General Store - errors which I should have picked up on immediately but didn't as I was standing far too close to the tree to see the forest. Or the other way around.

To make matters worse, or better as the case may be, this is not the first failed design the store has labored under.

Failure 1 - The first attempt was ugly, top-heavy, poorly set for navigation, and was missing several critical components including search. That got tossed in favor of a store directory approach which was, in the eyes of some critics, worse by far. So I scrambled to make things less focused on the store directory and more on the store itself.

Failure 2 - A benevolent visitor clued me in, said it did not motivate her to shop, and pointed me to a site that did, the clue sunk in. I scrambled to restructure the place, ditching everything in the process and moving to a .php setup which could be more easily updated. The result was declared 'better' by quite a few folks. I rested on that laurel happily.. right up until I decided to do some shopping myself.

Failure 3 - I tried to use the site. The laurels toppled away into the abyss. It was unusable. Irredeemably difficult to navigate since there is nothing to navigate to. I scrambled to restructure the place, then stopped dead in my tracks when I looked at the data made available from the affiliate partners. Almost without exception, their product item scripts contain no prices. NO PRICES. Who shops at places and pushes Buy Now buttons without knowing what they're going to have to spend!?

Nobody sane, or very few, that's who.

So, at this time, wishing I could climb into a WayBack Machine and rewind three months worth of fruitless labor, I am once again in analysis paralysis mode, trying to figure out a way to do this right, or at least do it well, or at least not face Failure #4 of the ten I have to achieve before making it work.

Day 11 - Infiltration

The fun continues... at Technorati Profile.

Apparently my leetle corner on the offramp has been discovered, which is a good thing, although the gravel pouring down on my head as the big rigs pass is really getting annoying. Focus for tomorrow: paving the roof (and investigating Adwords for the first tentative venture forth).

No reason to repost the day's situation.. no significant change there, unless you count the $1370 I just dodged for a Major New Approach to Affiliate Marketing course.

Day 11 - Just a Flesh Wound

Four more posts into the business network. I stare at the subdomain, email and autoresponder pages for about ten minutes, vowing to do something to them immediately if not sooner. Unfortunately, the main progress is going to have to wait for one more day. Today must be game design work, some bug chasing, some error correction, and a lot of sneezing as seasonal allergies (or flu symptoms?) slam me back in my seat and remove the more prolific areas of my brain. I slog through my email, print off some more solicitation spam for evaluation, grab my box of tissues and sniffle my way through a few more pages of the what should be the affiliate marketer's bible.

Several of my Commission Junction affiliate advertisers are sending me regular reports and offers of new promotions - those must be attended to with haste. It won't look good for anyone at all to let the wrong banner linger or gather too many impressions when the offer it supports has been replaced by a better banner and a better offer. I take care of those, then trudge off to work on the game a few hours.

Pardon the cross pollenization while I get things figured out... but I just got told to add this affiliate marketing tag to all my posts. I don't honestly know why, but I am good at following instructions.

Day 10 - Let the Games Begin

The lead coder at the game, JD Smith, should easily gain and hold the title of Savior of the Confused, Guru of the Clueless, and White Knight of the Utterly Lost. I made a comment to him this morning that I'd like to set up a few subdomains on our server to support the affiliate marketing efforts, learn how to do up some email list generators and autoresponders. He dropped everything and, within a matter of a couple of hours, had set up everything I could possibly hope for.. and explained to me how to use them.

I'm glowing with happy thoughts. Now all I have to do is reach into the server and make all this happen for real. I have my work cut out for me, that's for sure. I spend a few minutes revisiting some of the key topics in my prized affiliate marketing guide from Project X, then wrap up a few more game concerns before it's time for NCIS.

Day 9 - I Resolve To...

Today I find a great motivator, encourager to forward momentum. I have a set of links that I open every single morning, rain or shine. I add the Commission Junction and Project X sites to this stack of morning openers along with my stock market reports, CNN, mailcenters, etc. Each day I am rereading the Projcet X PDF and learning more. From what I'm seeing, this report and ebook are definitely worth their weight in gold, although I refuse to crow until I actually make something happen by following all the instructions.

Instead of tossing 'junk' emails into the gaping maw of oblivion, I begin to print them out, marker in hand, and separate them into components, evaluating them to see just what it is about them that I did or did not like. I'm finding patterns and trends, and an emptier virtual waste basket. My real one, however, is starting to fill up with scraps and shreds - I guess spam in real life is just as bad as spam on my desktop...

Day 8 - Glimmers of Hope

I spend the day reading more about the actual inner workings of Affiliate Marketing, finding out what I was doing wrong, what I was doing right, where I pulled up short or hesitated, and what to do to break that hesitation.

Along the way I discover Commission Junction, a fabulous affiliate marketing site that deals with tangible items. I start gathering affiliate banners as fast as my little fingers will fly, modify a couple of my sites, and wait for the deluge to begin. I don't have to wait long - within a few hours I am already getting increases in my impressions for the banner ads I've placed.

Day 7 - The Tide Goes Out

I must be going about this all wrong, I have decided. Granted, there are probably a few billion other people trying to get started with affiliate marketing, and I suppose I can't be too surprised that I can't find them either. There must be a hidden subterranean cave in which they all dwell, and I must not have found the entrance yet. I continue reading, practicing my snappy copy writing skills, and doing my level best to avoid getting lost in the crowd.. that is, assuming I can even find the crowd. Which way did they go!?

I try another feeble attempt at posting to the business network I have joined up with, and take my place in line with the faceless horde.

Along the way, I stumble onto a jewel that makes me stop in my tracks and take measure of what I'm really trying to do. Incredibly, it makes sense...

So I invest.

I am instantly hooked. A lot of the jigsaw puzzle pieces shift and spin, and fall into place. I can do this.. I can.

I do a quick calculation on my situation to date...

So far I've spent $97.
My revenue is at $0.
I have 2 hits on a Clickbank page (I still think one must be my mom...)
I have 81 views of my Too-Simple Chili Relleno Casserole recipe.
I have 12 views of my Too-Simple Time Creation recipe.
I have 7 views of my Too-Simple Teensy Toffee Treasures recipe.
I have 5 view of my Too-Simple Clutter Confrontation page.

I have successfully not spent about $2900 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $7800 in seminars and gurus.

Day 6 - Resting on Laurels

It's Friday - I've spent most of the week caught up in the confusion buzz of affiliate marketing, trying to find ideas, leads, paths, directions, light at the end of the tunnel. I have found much and achieved very very little. My regular job (the game design one) is falling behind a bit, so I decide to spend the day in the game doing catch-up work and bug resolution. Ironically, I get more done in a single day there than I have during the entire week of affiliate marketing racetrack.

I do a quick calculation on my situation to date...

So far I've spent $0.
My revenue is at $0.
I have 2 hits on a Clickbank page (I still think one must be my mom...)
I have 57 views of my Too-Simple Chili Relleno Casserole recipe.
I have 5 views of my Too-Simple Time Creation recipe.
I have 3 views of my Too-Simple Teensy Toffee Treasures recipe.
I have 1 view of my Too-Simple Clutter Confrontation page.

I have successfully not spent about $2900 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $7800 in seminars and gurus.

Day 5 - Out on a Limb

I have taken the dreaded leap and actually Told Someone what I am doing with Affiliate Marketing. To this kind person's credit, they do not laugh at the top of their lungs at my efforts. Instead they express gentle support and encouraging thoughts. I pretend I do not see them surreptitiously palming the cell phone and dialing for emergency backup. Laugh all you want! See if you're laughing as I deposit my first gabazillion dollar paycheck just like the ones I keep seeing on all the affiliate marketing guru sites and come-hithers!!

How do I know this will work? I don't.. but I did get a hit on one of my clickbank hoplinks! Just the one, but one is vastly bigger than zero... right?

I steal my posture against the naysayers and shoulder onward through the fog. Besides, several of my articles have been approved and are starting to show minor signs of growth... so there is hope!

I do a quick calculation on my situation to date...

Day 4 - Resisting Temptation

Someone has my number, and the answer is not 42. Well-meaning individuals are creeping out of the closet and messing with the jigsaw puzzle, removing pieces I already placed and replacing them with even more confusing configurations. I find myself on several mailing lists - some of which I have no clue how I landed on - all of them full of well-meant advice and chances to spend my money for Guaranteed Success.

All of them offer Something Free. All of them look a lot like spam. Is this the arena I truly want to enter? Is this what I will be subjecting my newly minted clientele to? I'm beginning to wonder if it would be better to go get a job pumping gas - then I remember the gas crisis and decide not to do more to contribute to global warming. I also remember that most gas stations have self-service pumps and my job search target is as timely as Quality Control Engineer at a buttonhook factory.

I look at my list of hoplinks from ClickBank, trying to decide what to do next. The day slides into Analysis Paralysis mode, careens past in a non-revenue-generating rush, and I console myself with a small bit of cold pepperoni pizza whilst I contemplate my lack of progress.



I do a quick calculation on my expenditures to date...

So far I've spent $0.
My revenue is at $0.

I have successfully not spent about $2700 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $7700 in seminars and gurus.

Day 3 - Put off Procrastinating as Long as Possible

They say that the first step on any path is always the hardest, whether that is the Stop Smoking path, the Lose Weight path, the Pay Bills path, or the Become an Affiliate Marketing path. They are right, whoever they are.

This affiliate marketing gizmo looks like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Half the pieces are white and half are black, and there is no picture on the top of the box. There is no box.

Forums abound with friendly advice - I've run into a few of them on my quest, read a few hundred posts, noted a few commonalities, and yet.. I smell an enticing odor lurking in the back of the room near a door I can't enter. The keys are not on the table nor in any of the forum site panels overflowing with advice and come-hithers to make a gazillion bucks guaranteed. Mind you, several people are -saying- they'll give me the keys, if only I will send them more money. I do a quick calculation on my expenditures to date...

So far I've spent $0.
My revenue is at $0.

I have successfully not spent about $2500 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $4000 in seminars and gurus.

Day 2 - Analysis Paralysis

I spend my day reading and signing up for forums, reading and signing up for affiliate programs, reading and signing up for newsletters, reading and reading and... There is so much to read, so much to learn, and far too many directions from which to choose. There is so much HYPE. But I suppose the hype is what it's all about, isn't it...

I settle on a return to ClickBank, and choose a couple of possibilities from the vast library. It's difficult to decide ... then I recall that one of the basic instructions was to select something that I know a lot about. *ponder*

It is at this point that I realize that the list of things I know a little about is rather vast and shallow, and the list of things I know a lot about feels rather narrow.

I know a lot about game design... but how many people want to know about integrating crafting into a text game?
I know a lot about computers, and even more about Macs... but how many people use Macs? (more soon I hope!)
I am a pretty durn good cook.... but will Top Chef be knocking on my door any day soon?
I ran a business for almost 20 years... but how many people want to know about running a beer bar in the desert?

the more I think back on the 50-odd years of experience, the more paralyzed I become. The vast library of titles swims before my eyes, taunting me brutally. Just how much do I really know about Siezed Real Estate, anyway?

However, I am being urged onward by the throng of shouting enthusiasts who are guaranteeing that I will be able to Quit My Day Job and rely on the riches of Affiliate Marketing in A Very Few Days!

Triumphant, I speed off into the sunset bearing a set of hoplinks upon which to rest my vast fortune.

The cheering of the crowd fades as I reach my desk and breathe deeply. Now what?

I do a quick calculation on my expenditures to date...

So far I've spent $0.
My revenue is at $0.

I have successfully not spent about $1200 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $3600 in seminars and gurus.

Affiliate Marketing with Pongee Sticks

Day 1

After several weeks of intensive research and analysis (read 'waffling'), I decide to pursue affiliate marketing and content as a full-time effort. I haven't 'quit my day job' as the hype would have us all long to do. There's no day job to quit. I have, however, decided to focus my hitherto scattered efforts along a more tightly defined path.

This is not my first time to the dance - I tried my hand at affiliate marketing before. Long ago, I signed up for a ClickBank account, grabbed a couple of promising looking prospects, established the links on a page or two that I owned, sat back and waited for the riches to roll in. I couldn't have taken a more wrong approach.

Extensive traffic analysis showed that a whopping total of two people clicked on my link, of the hundred or so people who saw it at all. I think one was my mom, which means the other one was probably my sister. My family rep and exposure has skyrocketed as a result.

I run several websites and an online roleplay game. Of all the sites I run, Legends of Karinth, the roleplay game's website brings in the most traffic, followed by the actual Celtic Elegance store. I also run Fern's Great Northern, a gateway to the three major stores and our Amazon US associate site - a gallery site which supports Lewis & Clarke's Nature To Go - and the Nature To Go store itself.

The game has its own store at Dragon Hoards, which is the outlet for roleplay game goodies, Karinthian player fan goodies, and a ton of black t-shirts with messages on them (none of which you have to hide from your mom).

The post dates on this blog will appear strange for awhile. Think of it as a time machine...

I do a quick calculation on my expenditures to date...

So far I've spent $0.
My revenue is at $0.

I have successfully not spent about $500 on hidden secrets and ultimate authorities.
I have successfully not signed up for approximately $1500 in seminars and gurus.