WHY Did You Start Affiliate Marketing? (33)
I'm curious not about how you all got started, but why you got started.
It seems like a lot of the time the WHY changes throughout everyone's affiliate career.
I'm also trying to see if there is a big correlation between starting motives and success.
What was your first WHY?
I started because of a couple of reasons:
1. I struggled to find a job.
2. I simply loved the idea of "making money online"...it seemed like a pretty awesome game.
Have always had an entrepreneurial itch but never gave it the attention it needed. Hustled through school and university selling iphone lookalikes and PS3s, basically anything I could turn for a profit.
Started working as a full-time Civil Engineer, 2 years in as a grad I couldn't take it anymore. Having a gazillion business ideas in your head and no time to act on it sucked so I quit. Six months later I gave affiliate marketing a shot.
A year and a half later, I'm here!
Basically had enough of working, (even though it was 2 short years of full-time work).
~ Mateen
Always had the entrepreneur spirit. Love marketing.
Set up my first blog with a tutorial and put an affiliate link on it. Sales came trough (this was is 2005 and the motherfucker is still generating 20K a year in sales). I knew this is what I wanted.
Started reading like a mofo and fell in love with all things online + marketing. Then came the startup bug, did that for a few years with very little success but it turned me into a kick-ass Product Manager (worked with products for ATT, Verizon, Telefonica, etc) but every day I was in an office I was dying inside (I would literally get shortness of breath thinking about what the fuck I was doing there).
Then about two years ago, I joined STM (after much reading of WF, Warrior, Shoemoney... and realizing, fuck all this BS). This opened my eyes big time and lead me to discovering a few camps that made me more money that all the jobs I have had up to that point. Also I joined a Skype Mastermind Group that introduced me to a few people that well... have had a huge impact in my life, to the point where I now have quitted my job and I'm doing AM 100% (which is kind of a big deal when you have a 7month old and a second one on the way).
So yeah. Why? Because Fuck You 9-5 that's why.
You got nothing on my working from 9 to 5am, fucker!
I'd enjoyed working my 9-5 in tech support for 18 months but disliked the idea that "this was it" so went to uni at 21. Decided in the second year that i didn't want to get a generic job when leaving univeristy so bought a website off of ebay ( lol scam) and it started from there really, in my spare time i read forums and tried various stuff and by the end of uni had enough $ to not have to get a job and stick to IM.
Saddens me when people complain of not having enough money, so they get a job then they complain of not having enough time.
Because I simply love the idea of making money online regardless of where i'm based.
And this business enables me to travel as much as possible.
I'm looking forward to grow this business and earn big bucks like every super AM here. So i'm able to provide my family a comfortable life. We have been struggling enough . I"m ready to put a STOP to struggles. I want to create my ideal life now!
My life story is pretty much the same as Kokofai. Thats' why i'm taking the challenge to be one successful AM like him. 
When you leave uni and work for a "cool" company you realise it's not as good as the brand they created around it!
I've dabbled in AM previously and regret not sticking with it especially since I enjoy the creative side of things. But in "normal" jobs you tend to get more distanced from the ground work of writing copy and designing as you progress up that "brown smelling" ladder. I actually like the ground work but not the ground work pay!
I think (as I'm not successful yet) AM is about freedom and being accountable for your own future. I'd love to live the Tetra life but I'd be more than happy to live a more boring life with some financial security.
I have a really entrepreneur past with lot of ups and downs. First summer job got at the age of 15 for oil drilling company carrying some seismic sensors and cables in muddy forests for nearly no money at all. I was 15. Shitty job, decided never to go that way. First business started in my 16 (year 2000) selling CDs with some useful data over internet nearly on autopilot. Just to burn a CD and mail it for couple $xx. Running till today, delegated, download with credit card payment. Then tried to create online app, totally crashed it, costed around $5000 + 1500 hours of my time. The worst loss however was my girlfriend at that time (after 8 years together), who was totally against the project. After the split finally closed the project down. Started another project and burned like $25,000 and finally made it slightly profitable ($xxx/month). Had to delegate and withdraw. Never going to make that money back. Great lessons though!
Fast forward 15 years on got little stuck running brand/design/web agency as CEO with small team of creatives. I got so tired of all the clients and their constant requests. Making some decent profits, but I HATE the feel of working for success of others.
So I love the freedom of choosing the place and time what to work on. And that I don't see the paying CLIENT at all :-) .
Since I was 12 I was interested in "how websites work" so I figured this out myself, learned HTML / CSS / PHP at a pretty young age. Created websites as a hobby and killing time, then 1 website got mentioned in a newspaper and got to 10k visitors / day. Got tipped to put Adsense on it so I could actually earn money. That's how I saw the potential of internet and knew I'd never work for a boss anymore but do my own thaaaaang!
Originally Posted by scitox
1. I was impressed by the income claims and wanted a piece of the pie because the salary of my dayjob at the time was just way to low in my opinion.
2. I always have had my own way of thinking. People who not liked my ideas didn't really invest time to actually think about it. My ideas got stolen, critized, but I just knew they were good.
I'm now self employed for 5 years and havn't looked back.
Just wanted to get the maximum out of life, and this was the only option I was seeing.
1. I couldn't stand the cubicle life and fortunately only went as far as internships before graduating college.
2. I want to help my parents retire and take care of my grandma in the Philippines financially.
I met a girl and moved to live in a shitty country (Serbia) where the average income is 200 euros per month ($300 dollars).
I got into affiliate marketing so I could avoid having to move back to Canada to be able to live a comfortable life.
I had no clue one day I'd reach x,xxx,xxx in revenues nerding it up on the computer But it happened...
Originally Posted by iAmAttila
Inspirational as always :-)
I always was obsessed with making money and would take on any chore if it involved compensation. Last 2 years of high school and the 2 years after I sold crappy weed and other stuff here and there to mostly friends, for a very small profit, and worked a few crappy jobs until I ended up getting laid off in 2011. I'd tried making money online but it was things like trying to trick people out of buying WoW accounts lol. I was living with a family friend and on unemployment ($600/month), when my good friend mjdub introduced me to character quizzes/coreg and FB ads. I went to borders, grabbed 2 entrepreneur magazines, took pics of the FB coupon codes, and got to work... First 50$ coupon/account was a loss, 2nd 50/account was 100%... After that I invested everything I had over the next 9-10 days (2k saved) and turned it into 6-7k I believe.. After that it was pretty much a given this is what I wanted to get involved in 
Found out my girlfriend was pregnant and panicked. My business was a bar ( bamboo shack on the beach ) and I was living a great life but making almost nothing. A friend suggested AM and I just took to it straight away. I made my first sales from my laptop stealing WiFi from the resort next door. 3 years later and AM has just paid for a nice new house cash.
It has literally changed my life in such a great way.
1.) Couldn't pay for grad school, and couldn't find a job
2.) Ended up earning more than I would have with a PhD's salary for a few months anyway, so I stuck with it.
Not making nearly as much now; hell I'm almost back to zero. No better place to start a comeback though.
I am an engineer and have done various roles over the years wanting to learn how different aspects of how a business works. Most of the time I've actually really liked it. I don't work in a cubicle(WFH), I've worked with a bunch of really interesting people, I do have a quite free schedule, I've been to over 20 countries and many states on their dime, make decent money etc etc.
But...I'm bored. I see many opportunities to monetize these skills, so this is a no lose bet. (Though my wife did ask me if this was a scam last night 
) And frankly, right now I'm looking for ways where if I want to grind I can scale income higher than I've ever had, so it is in part about the money for me today.
Mr. Green is absolutely right though, over time the reasons we do things either change or we quit doing them.
I want to grow a beard and it's currently against my works dress code 
In all seriousness, building a business has always been a dream of mine and affiliate marketing fits into my life.
The 2 biggest reasons I started AM are:
1) Freedom of not having a boss or working really hard for someone else's goals
2) Way back when, about 2008, a buddy of mine told me he was making 10k/day and I asked what he did, he said look up Affiliate Marketing...
So basically started out, Freedom & Cash
The 2 biggest reasons I continue:
1) Still the Freedom
2) The personal and business growth this business leads you to. it's challenging, rewarding, forces you outside your comfort zone, makes you build new skill sets that are applicable to soooo many areas outside of business.
So now the reasons have changed slightly... but an EXTREMELY close 3rd is still the money :-)
Originally Posted by uk_tim
In all seriousness, building a business has always been a dream of mine and affiliate marketing fits into my life.
I feel like i was born into it. The why was more like 'why not'.
Timeline:
Age 12 - Got a computer
Age 13 - Was running channels on mIRC
Age 14 - Made websites for gaming clans
Age 15 - Made websites as a business for $200ish per website
Age 16 - Made viral websites and focused on getting visitors. Hit $6000/month or so on some of the larger months.
Age 17 - The big year: Sold a website for $xx,xxx. A few months later.. Made high $xx,xxx in 1 month with myspace affiliate marketing.
18+ = GAME ON!
Originally Posted by stackman
I have a rather interesting story about how I got into direct marketing ("DM", affiliate marketing "AM" is a subset of DM, as is internet marketing "IM," a vastly different culture from AM) and I'll write it up in detail because it is both entertaining and valuable.
But, I wanted to make a quick point about this entire thread because it is an excellent marketing lesson about life event precipitating customer buying cycle-- if you read through all the posts, you will see "something" happened that got each individual into AM (and eventually investing $100 a month to be an STM member). Furthermore, if you read everyone's history in these posts you will see massive life changes over the years, leading to different buying moods (read lukegreg's post, above, specifically). That's why I'm so big on building an email list and fostering a relationship with customers so I can continue to sell to them over the years as life events put them in different buying moods...if I'm in front of them with a relevant offer, I can continue to profit long after I paid for the initial click/opt in/physical address. What you read here is what's happening on any email list you build, and even with all the people who are clicking on your ads...behind the click is a person who will experience similar life events over the years, and if you capture contact information, those clicks will continue to give you money as the years pass instead of clicking and disappearing into the ether.
Originally Posted by zeno
Originally Posted by stackman 
I feel like i was born into it. The why was more like 'why not'.
Timeline:
Age 12 - Got a computer
Age 13 - Was running channels on mIRC
Age 14 - Made websites for gaming clans
Age 15 - Made websites as a business for $200ish per website
Age 16 - Made viral websites and focused on getting visitors. Hit $6000/month or so on some of the larger months.
Age 17 - The big year: Sold a website for $xx,xxx. A few months later.. Made high $xx,xxx in 1 month with myspace affiliate marketing.
18+ = GAME ON!
19 - Erased my online presence and digital footprint.
20 - Met cool kiwi called Lorenzo, changed my perspective on what the best country in the world is.
21 - Abandoned all technical skills in favour of outsourcing.
22 - All campaigns on hold, need to Tinder.
22.5 - Campaigns back, have outsourced Tindering.
23 - Creator of 37 lookalike Tinder apps, sold portfolio for $86 million to AFF. Retired.
Originally Posted by zeno
LOL. The accuracy on that is too real.
I started because it's a great way to make a living. I can have a location independent income, have time to do what I want, and have more control over how much I earn.
Right now I work nine 9-12 hrs a day at my day job and it sucks. Some people have been at this place for 20+ years and their income only increased a few dollars an hour them.
I'm a curious cat so I try everything that is out there, trading of forex, sales of forex courses, online poker, affiliate for poker networks, mainstream tuition, poker coaching, food and beverage business. Whatever I can think of.
1. I can't work for another person, always get fired
2. Nothing offers the kind of freedom online does. Literally you can do anything.
3. Effectiveness of problem solving. Even if a affiliate network closes, or an entire offer gets pulled, it's can be usually resolved in a month. However a mistake in the location of the fnb business costed usd100k. How do you recover from that?
4. I wrote a few bots here and there for games and started exploiting many of their systems. I once played world of war craft and the biggest joy I had was trading in the auction market, rolling all my money into this funny crystal that was in demand buying everything and then testing different prices people were willing to pay. Made enough gold to pay off the account fees but decided to keep it as a trophy and never actually sold it. Spoke to a poker bot developer and he told me if I could develop a bot I might as well do something more value adding. And he's a developer at WordPress. Sounds like Internet marketing
5. Was the top 10,000 poker players in the world but only bringing home 3,000. Something seems wrong. My affiliate was bringing home 1000 and he has thousands of me and he probably can't play poker.
6. My friend was making xxxx and reading stm
Since as long as I can remember my dads drilled into me to work for myself so I didn't have to become dependant of someone else, and coming from a single dad background I've seen what not having finance as a strong point does to you. When I was 15 years old my dad read in the paper that there was an industry built on selling domain names so he said why don't you give it a shot, so armed with $100 of birthday money I bought 10 domains. A few months later I got an offer of for one of them (it had 100k+ organic searches a month) and thus the first taste of blood in the internet business world sent me into a crazy drive to make more.
So why affiliate marketing? Well its all I've ever really known
One of the things I like seeing on STM is people who are introspective about the industry - thanks for talking about the downs as well as the ups!
Feeling the lows wihtout any of the highs! Bring on London STM.
I used to play poker professionally, got completely burnt out and wanted to do something else that can make money online at home.
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