4 terrible procrastination excuses made by affiliates

A couple of weeks ago we launched AffiloBlueprint -- and the results have been unexpected. We thought that people would be fascinated by watching me make a successful affiliate site. We thought they'd be encouraged by following in the footsteps of other internet marketing newbies. We thought the step-by-step instructions would be welcomed, and the bonuses would just top everything off.

We were wrong.

Sure, these things are great. But the real message we're getting from the Blueprint members is that AffiloBlueprint is benefiting them in a completely different way:

It's simply prompting them to take action, and stop procrastinating.

So this is what this blog post is about: 4 terrible procrastination excuses made by aspiring affiliates, and how to deal with them:

1) I'm subscribed to so many lists, and I have so many memberships... they all cost me so much each month. I just don't know where to begin!

The problem with trying to learn anything in this market is that there are SO many people telling you that their "system" is the best. The other problem is that there ARE actually lots of ways to make money online. So most of these people DO actually have really great ideas that are worth trying.

But you can only master one method at a time.

Many years ago I was one of the first ever subscribers to John Reese's Traffic Secrets course. It cost a pretty penny, but I used it to the very best of my ability -- squeezing everything I could out of it. I'm not sure where I would be these days if I hadn't bought that product... but I'm sure there are others out there who bought it and never got to where I am today because they never used the material.

Pick a course, pick a program, and commit to it. Follow it through to its completion.

If you've got subscriptions coming out your ears, and these subscriptions aren't helping you to earn enough extra money to pay for them... it's time to say goodbye to a few of them! Only keep memberships that you actually use, and then SQUEEZE them for every tiny scrap of knowledge they have to offer! Get all the value out of it that you can possibly muster. Try everything they recommend. Follow all their advice. Try all their techniques.

If you're not squeezing everything you can out of your memberships and the products you buy... you're just flushing money away. And confusing yourself in the process!

2) Should I be worried about link cloaking? I can't decide which hosting provider to go with! It's taking me ages to come up with a domain name!

Here's another one I see all the time... people getting so caught up in these tiny details that they never get any further. Hear this, people: You have much bigger fish to fry! A lot of these things you're worried about really don't matter all that much. If you get stuck somewhere along the line and you're spending a lot of time trying to figure it out, ask yourself if you couldn't just find a "this will do for now" solution, and then come back to the problem later.

Also ask yourself, is this problem is really going to spell the complete and utter demise of my affiliate business? If not, move on.

Of course, when you're new it can be hard to know what's important and what's not. This is a good time to ask people in any forums you might be a member of. "Is this thing important?" Chances are, somebody will be able to give you a good perspective and you can decide if it's worth spending your time on.

3) I really can't afford to pay for Great Recommended Product Pro ... what are your thoughts on Super Affiliate Product? Does anybody know if Uber Affiliate Wizard Extreme is any good?

Imagine someone has recommended a product or a service provider to achieve a certain task, but it costs a little bit of money, so you're looking for other options. Let me ask you this: How much time are you spending trawling around the internet researching? What could you have achieved in the amount of time it took you to investigate these alternatives?

If your objection to a software is purely financial, try to think about your time in dollar terms. If you spend three hours researching web design software, and then a day waiting for a reply to your question on a forum about the web design software... how much is that time worth? How far behind does that put you?

I'm not advocating that you go out and spend money at the drop of a hat, but try to keep things in perspective. If your alternatives involve lots of time spent researching, then lots of time spent doing things manually, or figuring out a completely different way to do something... then it might not be worth the bother.

4) Does this actually work? Am I just chasing a stupid, unachievable goal?
You won't know until you stop asking questions and knuckle down to get some work done! A lot of people get caught up in the big questions and fail to actually get any work done. It's great to have a "big picture" idea of what you're doing, but once you're happy with your "big picture" you must get to work! This is usually a really big problem for people who already have some experience in web design or marketing: They think too much! The people who succeed are the ones who get down to work, putting one foot in front of the other.

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The most important thing you can do as an aspiring affiliate... the thing that will GUARANTEE you success sooner or later... is that you just take action. Get moving. And once you're moving... keep moving! Don't let anything trip you up!

Don't get so focused on the small details that you lose sight of the bigger picture, but don't be so focused on the bigger picture that you never get anything done.

Decide what you're going to do, and commit to it. Don't be distracted by all the other noise around you: Stay focused.

Keep going, slow and steady, and you'll get there in the end.