Affiliate and blogger Justin Goff has written us a great article that includes 3 tips for new affiliates and publishers.

There will be way more low points than high points early on, and you’ll never have enough time or money to do what you want. You’ll waste money on crappy advertising, PPC scams and bad web design. You’ll work all night long for months, wondering when your checks are going to start rolling in. You’ll probably get ripped off a few times, lose focus and want to give up. Don’t let it get to you!

You’ll probably jump for joy when you earn your first commission check. Whether it’s $20 or $15,000, you’ll know deep down that this was earned because of your own work. Congratulate yourself, and make some new goals. Don’t get complacent now. You have more work and rougher waters ahead.
Every mistake, error, misfortune and screwup becomes part of your knowledge bank, and will come in handy later on. Think of yourself as a ship sailing a straight line toward a point in the distance. Every time something goes wrong, you get off track, but eventually you get right back on the line, and continue onward with your journey. This is why this business is so exciting. One day you’re on top of the world, and the next day Google wipes out half of your site and brings you back to reality. It’s all part of the journey.

With my little intro in mind, here are my top 3 tips for new publishers.

3. Set goals

Remember in 5th grade when you learned about setting goals? Yeh, it sounded corny right. You never did it. Remember in high school when you learned about setting goals? Yeh, you were too cool for it then and you never did it. Remember your business professor preaching goal setting? Of course you don’t. You were waking up in some stranger’s bed wondering where your pants are.

You’ve put goal setting off for too long. It’s time to crack down and get to work. Where do you want to be in a month, 3 months, a year, 5 years? Write all of it down, and then organize it! Make your goals fun and measurable. Most of them should be achievable, but sprinkle some BIG DREAMER goals in there as well. I always suggest that you should make your site bigger than you initially think. Most new affiliates don’t think they can compete with the big guys, so they end up going to small and they can’t expand.

Some affiliates jump into a certain affiliate sector and don’t know much about the industry, how the big sites are operating, and what potential they have. Take some time, at least a month, and learn everything you can about why your competitor’s sites are successful. Write everything down that they are doing! Things like search engine optimization (SEO), unique content, community based sites and unique insights give the best sites out there an edge over the competition. After you know what you’re competitor’s are doing…..read read read all you can about it. Save articles and forum posts that helped you. Print them out and put ‘em in a folder to re-read later.
Learn about the different companies that have affiliate programs in your industry. Get to know your affiliate manager very well! Affiliate managers know what works, since they get to see the best sites out there. A lot of affiliate managers also used to be affiliates themselves. They can probably give you some good insight into where to take your site. Establishing a quality relationship with them from the outset will help you more than you think.

1. Get a mentor and talk to everyone in your industry

I can’t stress this enough. I could have shaved off 3 years worth of dicking around online if I had a mentor at the start. The best way to do this, is to find a forum or community in your industry and read everything. Post a lot of questions whenever you need information and post answers when you can help.

PM the moderators or high profile guys on the forum and ask for their messenger screenname. Almost everyone who is a publisher loves to talk business. How couldn’t they? A lot of guys/gals work from home by themselves, so any interactions they can get throughout the day, is a nice break for them.

Find something that motivates you. I get motivated by proving people wrong. I get motivated by inspirational thinkers who want to change the world. I get motivated by movies, great quotes and 2 minute clips on Youtube. Whatever it is that motivates you, use it to your advantage.

Don’t listen to what everyone around you thinks. They’ll wonder why you’re working like a nut to make $500 a month right now, but they don’t see the big picture. Family and real life friends may end up being some of your worst enemies in the short run. Friends especially. They’ll never see you for more than what you are right now. They don’t understand your drive inside. They don’t understand why you’re not working a 9-5 job like them. Don’t let em’ discourage your great idea! The reality is…. you’re probably gonna be dead in the next 60 years…. do you wanna look back and realize you gave up your great idea, your dream for someone else? Of course not!