The struggles of becoming a full time affiliate.
Posted by Riley | Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Personal | Posted on August 3rd, 2010
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As most everybody knows I became a full time affiliate just a little over 5 weeks ago. The changes from having a day job and affiliate marketer by night to being a full time affiliate are pretty drastic. Since I have done affiliate marketing for right at a year and a half with tremendous success, I’m finding it awful tough to sit down at my desk to get work done. I know that I can work for 3-4 hours per day and duplicate my previous success. So why would I want to force myself to sit at a computer and work for 10-12 hours per day when its not necessary. This is what’s killing me right now, especially when I get on the computer first thing in the morning and I spend a couple hours dicking off on Facebook, Twitter, AIM or checking out what’s going down in the hip hop industry.
I find it extremely tough to give myself that kick in the ass to start getting work done. Once I’m able to get in that mode though, I’m pretty efficient and can get quite a bit done. It’s extremely hard for me to just start doing that work. I do find that I’m slowly getting more disciplined day by day. Another thing I’m working on getting back to normal is my sleeping schedule. By nature, I’m a night owl and I’m most productive from 10pm – 3am. Even as a baby, my mom said I would sleep all day and be awake all night.
My biggest pet peeve are the people thinking, since I run my own business and I work from home, that I don’t have a job. This is legitimate work and I try to put in at least 8 hours every day of the week, including weekends. It seems like a couple days a week my friends will always call me at 9-10pm on a weekday and they’ll want to go have a couple beers. Well guess what… I’m hitting my prime productivity time, I gotta do work. Their argument is always, you own your business, you’re your own boss, you work your own schedule and this always baffles them that I’ll choose work over a couple hours at the bar. Or even worse, on the weekends they think that since it’s the weekend, I don’t have to work.
I like to think that I’m working on my self-discipline and slowly, but surely I’m getting to where I want to be. I’ve found that if I have a bad couple days I will work a lot harder to make sure my net income gets to where I want it to be. Another personal issue I need to work on is being too complacent once I have a few campaigns running smoothly that are raking in the income. I need to expand into more niches, find new traffic sources and throw up more campaigns.
What are some of the things you guys use or do, to limit the distractions and make yourself more productive?
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I used to work long days for a long time but recently I found the less time I work the more I get done.
I will usually crank out for 3 or 4 hours then go do something for the rest of the day and maybe do some more work later that night…if I have in my mind that I will be working all day I will still get the same amount of work done but I will just do it slower.
The similarities I notice in that post to myself are scary. I love working late nights and friends are always trying to do stuff during the day or at night when I am trying to get work done.
I usually make a list of 2-3 most important tasks for the day (thanks 4HWW) and that helps me do what I feel needs to be done for the day. If I get that work done, I usually have backup tasks, plus you know there is ALWAYS something else you could be doing.
Task list definitely helps. Don’t cherry pick, either. Work down the line, regardless of how un/eager you are to finish that item.
One thing that has helped me tremendously is to separate work and personal stuff on the computer. I have a desktop setup for work, and I do all my facebook/twitter/RSS/reading/whatever-the-fuck on my iPad or laptop. Reserve your desktop for work only and specifically go to use your laptop or iPad whenever you have the urge to check facebook or blogs… you’ll gradually fall into doing it as a habit, and won’t waste your time when you’re doing real work.
I’m still tied to a cubicle but I find time to get distracted to read the network of affiliate bloggers.
dude I kow how you feel on that… some people dont know even friends… we got to make money to make sure we can eat.
I think one of the hardest things for a lot of full time affiliates (and other work from home entrepreneurs) is actually saying No to their friends, especially when they make such a convincing case that the bar or the club is THE place to be and then lay on the guilt when they realize your not buying it.
It sounds like you have your head on straight and you understand exactly what you need to do and you also have the will power to stick to your guns about staying productive, especially during the time of day when you get the most done.
I definitely think you’re on the right track and with a few tweaks, you’ll be the well oiled machine you’re looking to be in no time.
I started doing AM full time after being laid off 3 years ago and not being able to find a full time job. Unemployment ran out and well I had to do something. My struggle has been trying to find time to work while watching my 2 year old as well as taking my 8 year old to/from school. I find myself working between the hours of 10 pm to 3-4 am. It is hard to get started, but once I get in the zone I can get stuff done. I have stopped Facebook and the other stuff that took up my time and use the kids nap time to read blogs and other “fun” stuff.
Time is arbitrary.
The number of hours you work bears no relation to whether or not this is a “real job”. Your only job is to take care of your obligations and be true to yourself.
THIS was the most amazing comment on this post. I’ve been saying this for 2 years now and no one will hear it…
“Nine to five” is arbitrary! We don’t work in a factory where our punctuality determines whether or not the “line” starts on time. The idea of a “real job” needs to die. Technology now allows us to redefine our “professions.”
This is the information-worker age. As long as we’re getting work done, who CARES when we do it…and WHY on earth does it matter?
I am in the same boat as you are. Started doing this full time and fighting productivity problem at the same time. If I don’t check emails/facebook/news etc. first thing in the morning, I will get more things done for that day. I am checking them during my “breaks” But it is tough to get rid of old habits initially and you tend to repeat the mistakes.
Make sure you also schedule in time for Starcraft 2
I just tell my friends that I have the world’s toughest boss. They laugh at that, but they all know I work harder than them.
It’s still good to go out with friends; I’ve gotten a ton of campaign ideas this way. You also see more of the ‘regular folks’ perspective on things then just being in front of the computer.
Time management is something we all struggle with in this biz. It’s hard but after 3½+ years of full time aff stuff, I’m starting to get it down.
I don’t tell my friends I’m self employed. I just say I **Work** in advertising. Cause technically if you’re incorporated, you’re just an employee of that corporation. (that you own, but no one needs to know that). So when friends call I just say I have to get stuff done for work cause of a *deadline* for some *clients*. But I guess your friends already know so that might not work now haha.
Anyways as for getting stuff done, try changing your environment entirely (home office) doesn’t count. There’s so many places with wifi now. Personally college libraries have worked the best.
great post… def know the feeling im just a little behind you in taking the plunge to full time affiliate.. i quit my part time job (which was more full time and not allowing me to make any progress the main reason i quit)
but id have to agree that your friends and other people are the biggest distraction out there.. very few people understand what I/we do.. .most of them if they listen to my explanation will ask me to “teach them”(which for some i wouldn’t mind giving them a head start) or just look at me like “so when are you gonna look for a job?”
That’s just a fact of life in this biz i guess that most people think i have all the time in the world cause i dick around on the computer for a living… I’m starting to find that by filling my day with activities like working out, washing my car, just whatever etc.. i have less time to work and that makes me sit down and get it done with more focus and it seems to help a little as opposed to when i “put in 12 hours” which tends to be me refreshing my stats, reading blogs, and maybe 4-6 hours of actual work..)
I don’t even do this full time but I get nasty talks from the wife for being up so late.
For me it’s the wife and child and other stuff during the day and that’s why late evening like you said is when I get stuff done.
I’ve been working on a full time job for 6 years
and start internet marketing 4 years ago,
I used to make four times as much as my full time job from affiliate network,
spending 2-3 hours a day.
So I took it for granted that I will make much more
if I became a full time affiliate.
Then I resigned, and the economy went down, and my income became less and less…
After 7 months, I went back to work at a new company,
After 9 months, I restarted my online business again,
since I barely did anything when I was a full time affiliate,
I was acturally a full time gamer…
so, make sure what you are capable first, and make plans and then do it.
do not try full time affilate if you are not good at self control
Hey bro ill wake up every morning and give you the kick you need
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I’m surprised everyone here is talking about peer pressure and not a single person has mentioned a GIRLFRIEND. Now there’s a convincing mofo that’s hard to say no to
did it twice this week so, so far so good haha
[...] The Struggles of Becoming a Full Time Affiliate [...]
Good post.
Its good to see you going thorough all this that i went through 5 years ago.
Don`t worry dude.
Give it a few months and you wont know what time, day or month it is so it wont be a problem.
Keeping an eye out for your gibbering wreck post in a few months.
Its all natural progression and you will eventually figure it out.
[...] The Struggles of Being a Full Time Affiliate – This was a interesting post that I could relate to. When I was first starting as a full time affiliate… the hardest thing for me was time management. [...]
[...] The Struggles of Being a Full Time Affiliate – This was a interesting post that I could relate to. When I was first starting as a full time affiliate… the hardest thing for me was time management. [...]
[...] The Struggles of Being a Full Time Affiliate – This was a interesting post that I could relate to. When I was first starting as a full time affiliate… the hardest thing for me was time management. [...]
I find this a struggle as well. Espescially since I have been doing lots of travelling, its even harder to get into a routine when you have lots of new and exciting thing you can be doing and new people you are meeting. I am in the process of developing a routine. I want to trial a morning ritual routine and hopefully get some structure into what I do. I to am most efficient in the afternoon/evening, but I feel that is just due to my routine at the moment. Need to up the structure. Glad to hear I am not the only one with these types of issues
– keen to find out how you go about managing these difficulties.
[...] The Struggles of Being a Full Time Affiliate – This was a interesting post that I could relate to. When I was first starting as a full time affiliate… the hardest thing for me was time management. [...]
[...] The Struggles of Being a Full Time Affiliate – This was a interesting post that I could relate to. When I was first starting as a full time affiliate… the hardest thing for me was time management. [...]
What’s up from OKC
Here are some ideas that I love. I don’t always follow them 
, but they give me direction.
I read a good blog post the other day that talked about focusing hardcore 3-4 hours when you first hit your peak. Turn off ALL distractions. Twitter, facebook, and any chat client are the worst. Stop any chat clients from autostarting when your machine starts. If you need to chat with somebody start the client, ask question, and close it again.
To keep an eye on yourself you might consider installing something like RescueTime. It not only helps you track your time, but it has a some built in components to help you focus and eliminate crap on the computer that is wasting your time. Toggl looks cool too – never used it.
I know it may seem extreme, but consider scheduling something EVERY minute that you are awake. When you wakeup, shower, Start X tasks, take your breaks, eat. etc. Don’t let your day just happen – make it happen with a purpose and planning the day before. Heck most of your time is probably doing stuff you do all of the time. Schedule it with with recurring appts in google calendar, and/or recurring tasks in Toodledo. It feels to work on something knowing you planned it ahead of time. Example: Schedule an hour to read blogs. Start and stop when you are supposed to. Then that is not wasted time.
When your friends call and want to chillax say you can’t tonight BUT schedule a time later for them. You’ve got to have friends/social life but you need to plan that time “Not tonight but let’s do it Thursday at 6pm” and then put that on your calendar. Stick to it. They will respect you for scheduling time for them. Nothing will get you more respect that showing me your iphone calendar and 6:30 is marked off as “Patrick Time”.
Don’t forget physical activity/exercise. You are a young in shape guy but as you get older that takes works – trust me. Schedule your physical activity like everything else. Even something simple like walking. Do it every week, multiple times a week. I’d hate to see be a killer affiliate who gained 200lbs on the way to making bank.
I remember when I got my first break online and made some decent cash within one month I stopped working for like 8 months LMAO. I would fly to places and check out chicks. Then it hit me – WTF am I doing? The fact is that you need to keep going and don’t stop until you can completely outsource everything.