Author: Napoleon Russ

Whether we want to admit it or not, the Coronavirus will be a mirror of who we are.

Every crisis exposes who you really are, and this is no exception.

• If you have no character, it will show.
• You’re either going to panic or minimize how serious it is.
• You’re going to bulk buy toilet paper.
• You’re going to spread pseudoscientific news.
• You’re not going to contribute.
• You’re going to be so negative.
• Criticize your government.

But if you DO have character, you’re going to step up as a leader.

• You’re going to do what’s best for you and society.
• You’re going to make tough decisions.
• You’re going to take responsibility.
• You’re going to stay calm and control what you can control.
• You’re going to adapt, be creative and find solutions.
• You’re going to contribute and make an impact.

With all of the craziness happening all over the world, it can be easy to get sucked into all of this fear that is going around.

One thing that I’ve learned during this pandemic is not to panic and to not worry about what’s happening outside of me. I can only control my thoughts and emotions. This is a time of patience, deep thinking and figuring things out.

I knew after the 2008 recession that I had to pivot. I lost all of my money and I knew I had to find something that is sustainable and doesn’t require me to hold any kind of inventory.

This is when I started an affiliate marketing business

Affiliate marketing gives you the opportunity to earn a commission by selling products or services offered by other companies. It’s a great way to supplement your income from the convenience of your own home. Fortunately, it’s also easy to become an affiliate for companies that are household names.

This is what I love about affiliate marketing:

• I could find a product that I wanted to promote
• It allowed me to do a search for “product name” affiliate program.
• Most affiliate marketing programs are free
• Once I applied and was approved I would then get a special link that allows the merchant to track the people who clicked on my link
• If the visitors buy the product, I would get a commission.

In the beginning, I was testing to see what works and what didn’t. Once I found what was working, I would double down and do more of what’s working. This is a sure way to succeed in an online affiliate marketing business.

This is what I did to get started with a shoestring budget:

• Created a blog
• Picked an industry that I wanted to target and then niche down
• Researched products in my niche that I could review
• Signed up for the Amazon affiliate program
• Find other affiliate programs in the same space that I could review
• Created content in the form of “How to” tutorials review blogs and resources
• Building my list daily so that I can build a rapport with my audience
• Optimized my blog and tracked my rankings in Google
• Rinse and repeat

Don’t be fooled though. The gurus will tell you that creating an affiliate marketing business is easy and requires little to no capital to start. Anyone that says that affiliate marketing is easy is trying to sell you something.

It’s easy to set up your site with your affiliate links. But how do you even get people to see your content? Your first option should be free traffic and then paid traffic.

Free Traffic

Free traffic can be achieved through things like social media or SEO. Free traffic is just another term for free visitors to your site. If you post your website on Instagram for your friends to see, when your friends visit your site, your site receives traffic.  This traffic costs you nothing and is free.

Paid Traffic

This by far is the best method, but of course, it requires money. The beauty of paid traffic is that you can reach a lot of people fast. The bigger the budget, the more people you can get to view your content. Mastering the skill of paid traffic can result in huge returns. Some individuals make up to $ 10k/day by using paid traffic. 

With a little bit of creativity, this business model can be molded into any business. It can be used as a personal moneymaker, as a legitimate company, or even as a supplement for a company already adopting a different business model. As we enter a new era of virtual reality, crypto-currencies, and whatever crazy new tech that comes out think about how you can implement the affiliate marketing model into future businesses. Wake up; we are in a gold rush.

Nate Leung