hacko
BANNED
- Feb 3, 2010
- 912
- 977
This will be the first of a series of guides I'll doing on all kinds of topics, mostly focused on how to treat Internet Marketing more like a real business, with an accent on affiliate marketing in general.
The goal of this first thread will be to help you start finding personal and professional fulfillment in Internet Marketing and have you start feeling like you actually have a future in the field. If IM is what you've chosen to do and you want to do it long term, or you've made a lot of money but were nowhere near as happy as you thought you would be, you may want to read this. This first thread won't be about SEO at all as I'm saving a lot of that for the next ones.
The Ultimate Test
Before we start off - I'd like to ask you the following: Are you comfortable talking about what you ACTUALLY do, on the dinner table? Would you go into details about it with your mom or other people who mean a lot to you, and are not ashamed to do so?
If the answer is yes, good job - you probably don't need to hear this. If the answer is no, however, keep reading.
The Ethics Taboo
We all know how much money IM can bring. You could have a lifestyle your peers could only dream of and sure as hell would be outspending them. If some of you have hit $1000/day with any blackhat method out there, you know the rush can be unreal. Money aside - were you REALLY happy with what you're doing, though?
This isn't something we talk much about in the BHW community. We all know what those CPA PIN submits are, we just don't like to discuss the morality of it. And hey, I'm not here to judge. I've been there myself, and for a large part, still am. People will look for fake hacks and there's a need to be filled. Same with the spam comments on YouTube taking people to cam sites and overpriced "2-hour diet" type guides that we like to push with Instagram accounts grown with dozens of proxies. Things can even get more creative, that's for sure.
All I can ask you is - do you see yourself doing fake hacks or spamming [insert-social-network-here] 10 years from now? Would you feel like you've given the world everything you have to offer and think that you've liven up to your potential on your death bed?
If not, for your own sake, try to look for a way out. If you're making hundreds of dollars per day or have no other sources of income, for the love of God, don't stop doing what you're doing. But try to spare some time and money for things that will actually improve the quality and value of your life. When the new update hits, or whatever method stops working, it doesn't have to be game over and off to the next scam. Here are some things that help me find personal fulfillment when it comes to IM:
You may even find that working on Fiverr can be more fulfilling than doing something that no one will appreciate. If this is the case, find a way to appreciate what you do, even when you do affiliate marketing. Tons of successful sites and YouTube channels out there that actually bring value to the table - these will be a lot more profitable in the long run anyway, but it won't happen overnight like the average spammy low quality crap. Quality will always beat quantity in the long run.
Setting long-term goals and achieving them
Have goals that are not just related to money. Money is just that - it only has perceived value and what you actually do with it is what matters. Having $100k in your bank account may sound awesome and can be a great measurement of how far you've come, but don't ever expect it to make you happy or satisfied with just that. Aim towards something bigger than yourself, and IM will become a much more pleasant, enjoyable journey.
Have health, relationship, business and personal goals that are unrelated to money and use it as a resource to help you get what YOU really want, instead of just a number on a screen. The paradox here is that you will end up making more money anyway.
Set goals that you personally think are worth achieving. Don't do it for other people's validation - those won't be your own goals but what society tells you your goals should be. That new car may or may not be what you actually want. Also, never underestimate how long and how much effort it will take to achieve something. A cool book that talks about this is the 10X Rule which I wrote a thread about https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/the-10x-rule-the-main-reason-you-fail-at-im-and-possibly-life.954097/
When you're starting a new website or creating a new account somewhere, do it with a purpose. Know why you're doing it and where it can take you. Even if you're doing it for short term cash when you're aiming for something bigger. IM can be a hell of a journey and if you're not careful and don't know where you want to go, it's easy to form self-destructive habits such as over-spending and partying too often, which will take you nowhere. Try to achieve self-awareness and realize what gets your blood bumping and go do more of that. We have access to tools that can dramatically improve our lifestyles and help others around us - lets use them.
Special thanks to my client and now friend @BlackBDO for contributing to this article.
The goal of this first thread will be to help you start finding personal and professional fulfillment in Internet Marketing and have you start feeling like you actually have a future in the field. If IM is what you've chosen to do and you want to do it long term, or you've made a lot of money but were nowhere near as happy as you thought you would be, you may want to read this. This first thread won't be about SEO at all as I'm saving a lot of that for the next ones.
The Ultimate Test
Before we start off - I'd like to ask you the following: Are you comfortable talking about what you ACTUALLY do, on the dinner table? Would you go into details about it with your mom or other people who mean a lot to you, and are not ashamed to do so?
If the answer is yes, good job - you probably don't need to hear this. If the answer is no, however, keep reading.
The Ethics Taboo
We all know how much money IM can bring. You could have a lifestyle your peers could only dream of and sure as hell would be outspending them. If some of you have hit $1000/day with any blackhat method out there, you know the rush can be unreal. Money aside - were you REALLY happy with what you're doing, though?
This isn't something we talk much about in the BHW community. We all know what those CPA PIN submits are, we just don't like to discuss the morality of it. And hey, I'm not here to judge. I've been there myself, and for a large part, still am. People will look for fake hacks and there's a need to be filled. Same with the spam comments on YouTube taking people to cam sites and overpriced "2-hour diet" type guides that we like to push with Instagram accounts grown with dozens of proxies. Things can even get more creative, that's for sure.
All I can ask you is - do you see yourself doing fake hacks or spamming [insert-social-network-here] 10 years from now? Would you feel like you've given the world everything you have to offer and think that you've liven up to your potential on your death bed?
If not, for your own sake, try to look for a way out. If you're making hundreds of dollars per day or have no other sources of income, for the love of God, don't stop doing what you're doing. But try to spare some time and money for things that will actually improve the quality and value of your life. When the new update hits, or whatever method stops working, it doesn't have to be game over and off to the next scam. Here are some things that help me find personal fulfillment when it comes to IM:
- Getting positive feedback from clients/peers or others in the field
You may even find that working on Fiverr can be more fulfilling than doing something that no one will appreciate. If this is the case, find a way to appreciate what you do, even when you do affiliate marketing. Tons of successful sites and YouTube channels out there that actually bring value to the table - these will be a lot more profitable in the long run anyway, but it won't happen overnight like the average spammy low quality crap. Quality will always beat quantity in the long run.
- Loving what you do
- Giving more than you take
- Learning new skills
- Making connections
- Putting people to work
- Living up to your potential
Setting long-term goals and achieving them
Have goals that are not just related to money. Money is just that - it only has perceived value and what you actually do with it is what matters. Having $100k in your bank account may sound awesome and can be a great measurement of how far you've come, but don't ever expect it to make you happy or satisfied with just that. Aim towards something bigger than yourself, and IM will become a much more pleasant, enjoyable journey.
Have health, relationship, business and personal goals that are unrelated to money and use it as a resource to help you get what YOU really want, instead of just a number on a screen. The paradox here is that you will end up making more money anyway.
Set goals that you personally think are worth achieving. Don't do it for other people's validation - those won't be your own goals but what society tells you your goals should be. That new car may or may not be what you actually want. Also, never underestimate how long and how much effort it will take to achieve something. A cool book that talks about this is the 10X Rule which I wrote a thread about https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/the-10x-rule-the-main-reason-you-fail-at-im-and-possibly-life.954097/
When you're starting a new website or creating a new account somewhere, do it with a purpose. Know why you're doing it and where it can take you. Even if you're doing it for short term cash when you're aiming for something bigger. IM can be a hell of a journey and if you're not careful and don't know where you want to go, it's easy to form self-destructive habits such as over-spending and partying too often, which will take you nowhere. Try to achieve self-awareness and realize what gets your blood bumping and go do more of that. We have access to tools that can dramatically improve our lifestyles and help others around us - lets use them.
Special thanks to my client and now friend @BlackBDO for contributing to this article.
