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Falling and Getting Back Up (literally) (30)

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Quick motivational post…

I used to skateboard a lot, still skate every so often. Skateboarding is pretty much a series of trying a trick, falling, then getting back up and doing it again. I've broken countless bones, bled many times, have plenty of scars, and it was all for the sake of landing a trick -- because when i landed a trick, then i accomplished what i was trying to do and i progressed.

Now moving this concept to a pro skater, they do the same thing, and they do it to get sponsored, make money and a live from skateboarding.

They wouldn't have got ANYWHERE if they quit when they first started skateboarding. Now the ones who didn't quit (and have a bit of natural talent) go on to be sponsored by 10+ companies, have their own shoe, usually start their own brand, and end up making a couple million. NONE of that would have happened if they quit.

Relating to aff marketing... You can't quit, or get frustrated. Every campaign you make that fails is just like falling off a skateboard, it's honestly the exact same thing. No one hops on a skateboard and 'tony hawks down a mega ramp' their first day, or even first year. Some may get lucky, but it's the persistent ones that go home with the sponsorship. The ones that take the time to learn each trick properly, and enjoy what they do.

Watch the first 2 min of this video, watch this guy fall constantly and you'll see why he's a top notch street skater. He got sponsored because of his hard work and talent, not because he got lucky… then you'll understand why you have to do the exact same thing when you work online! 45 failed campaigns? Good, who gives a shit, 46 probably won't be the winner either, but 58 might. That's how many times it takes to learn a new skate trick. Same concept.. Watch this guy below fall 100 times, you'll feel good

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Whoaaa! Some of those spills were brutal!

Thanks for the kick in the butt Stacks!

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Awesome, put it in prospective post...

I think what makes Im marketing harder to get back up and keep doing it over and over again when first starting out
is that you have to be able to let some of your hard earned money go, and that is very hard for people to do if they don't have
much of it to start with .

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@moneybags

Yep, that's prob a main issue. I honestly feel though people would quit just as fast even if 'testing' was free. After 50 tests in 2 months your tired, and worn down. So i feel motivation is a bigger issue than the loss of $ through testing, even if it doesn't feel that way.

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great analogy... it really is the exact same thing. Fall, try again. Fall, try again. Fall, try again. Fall, try again. Fall, try again. SCORE!

I skate too

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absolutely.... I launched over 100 campaigns before doing well. Slow learner I guess.

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I had a folder called 'affiliate marketing' that i managed to lose a while ago, but i swear it had 500 diff campaigns in it that I've tested. My new folder has around 200!

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This never rings more true than to me now, thanks for the motivation

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Great post and very true. Good to see some other skaters here!

I don't skate as much as I used too but since I own a skate shop I keep at it. I prefer surfing and snowboarding now. Easier on the bones

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I rather snowboard anyday! I think the only true thing i want to accomplish (at the moment) on my bucket is traveling to some foreign countries to go snowbaording. Shouldn't be too hard to cross off, just need to find the time and wait for my friends to save up some cash

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+1, as I get older, although falling in the snow still hurts, it's nothing like concrete I never was much of a skater except for years and years ago, but I've been snowboarding for about 17 years now. Kids and such make my trips much less frequent, but they are still highlights for me each year.

But again this post is so right on. Any time I've learned something new in snowboarding, be it getting my toe edge, learning to land something, or hell, getting to the point where I stopped falling when getting off the lift, it's taken fall after fall after fall.

I'm working on my first profitable campaign in over 2 months, having gone through about 60 campaigns between the last one and this one. That may not be a lot by comparison, but combine my limited budget with my tendancy to overspend on testing, and I'm at about my limit before I really hit the bottom.

Anyway, great post, like so many others here, I've learned so much more about the details here than any other forum that I've been a part of really. Other forums have been great for helping me get past that n00b stage, getting basics down, etc, but the dirt and experiences shared here have helped me already so much and I've only been here a couple of weeks.

Anyway, great post, great forum. /endasslick

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Someone recommended this book to me, not typically my cup of tea, but I picked it up for Kindle anyways: Mindset

I'm not done with it yet (rarely finish books), but it's basically about the "fixed" versus "growth" mindsets. The "fixed" mindset leads you to base your ego on the outcome of events, the "growth" mindset is focused on ... growth ... and basically just treating failures as learning experiences.

It's the same idea you've heard a thousand times, but often an idea just needs to be said a certain way for it to click in one's mind. Worth considering a look.

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Just out of curiosity, could you share the structure of those folders and what you kept tracking throughout the life of the campaign? I'm working on the simple yet effective system to track and organise everything neatly.

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Here's something I just thought of. Have a main folder called "affiliate marketing" then the sub folder names should be the title of the traffic source, and then the campaign title or niche with all the pics and content inside of it.

I'm going to have to organize my stuff because being organized just makes life so much easier and better.

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Great post. Very motivational.

I'm at a point where I am getting tired of getting back up from failed campaigns but I know I gotta keep moving forward.

At least my falls are not as painful as the concrete face plants.

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It's reassuring to see how many failed campaigns people churn through. I guess I'm not alone! Affiliate marketing has taught me to get used to things not working out, losing money and moving on without taking it too personally. I think failure is a skill that not enough people practice...It certainly has helped me mature. I look at all my affiliate "failures" as the price of education - learning experiences.

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@sith005
Thanks man, glad your liking the forums!
There's a lot more negative campaigns then positive ones, that's something i think guys new to the game don't believe. They think others get 1/3 campaigns profitable, but this is completely false. Anywhere from 1/25 - 1/100. Especially for campaigns that last more than 2 weeks (also depends on traffic sources).

@Sabon
I do it exactly like dantheman said! with small difference, Affiliate Marketing > Traffic Source > Profitable Campaigns or Campaign Duds > Campaign Names

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Would you consider an angle that didn't work a failed campaign?

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skateboarding hurts too much.....learn kiteboarding - more fun and more forgiving on the body.

This guy is the kiteboarding version of that skateboarder you posted.....balls of steel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3FF6HBfTfI

(i used to kite where the video above is filmed and the video doesnt do justice for how insane the winds are that he is riding in with that big kite)
this is also awesome video of him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfrmx...eature=related

speaking of not giving up,,,,,
http://youtu.be/yoQzG1TbzdY

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Needed this.

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I am in. One of my new goals.

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watch it if you haven't... i didn't watch it when i first read the post cause i thought i had "seen it all before". really strikes it home

great idea!

good to get some perspective... i really think that after trying 3-5 campaigns, with all the knowledge that i am learning/ learned from the past, i should get profitable. now that 1/25 - 1/100 is going to stick in my head for a more accurate measure

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awesome awesome video! like in every skill set! you need to fail a lot and fast- learn from it and keep growing...
there is no lossing, only winning and learning...
now time for my first campaign

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+1 for kiteboarding... I'm currently at one of the best places for kite waving (ibiraquera - brazil), and tried snow kiting on the cold european winter. Good to see fellow kiters over here.

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I stumbled upon this thread and it was just what I needed today. I was fortunate to have quite a few profitable days when first started out. I didn't know what I was doing, I just got lucky. The downside to that was that I hadn't yet experienced the failures that go along with finding a profitable campaign. So I've been kind of beating myself up mentally for the last two months wondering why I can't get profitable again.

Thanks for reminding me that you have to take your lumps along the way and there will be many failures before you find that winning combination.

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Man some of those spills were BRUTAL.. tf AM is not that tough!

Cheers for the post, and if you ever wanna ride Whistler hit me up man

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My favorite quote. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do...

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Fail your way to the top!

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I have to echo the others by extending some gratitude for this post; it appeared just when I needed it. Made me remember the non-striving mentality, the in-it-for-the-process mentality, unattached to outcome. We've got straight Bhuddas on this motherfucker! ...Part of me cringed each time I "wasted" a dollar on a non performer until I saw this. Gotta let go of that too, now. Thanks again guys

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It's painful to watch the video lol

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