When a new affiliate asks me what they should focus on while starting on their path as an affiliate marketer, I always recommend looking inside themselves, and spotting the topic they are really passionate about. That’s the place you always want to start! If, for example, you hate cooking, but see that there is a demand for a blog/forum on it, and you decide to start one (the main purpose being its monetization through widgets and affiliate links), the lack of passion (and knowledge, for that matter!) will undoubtedly show, and you will never achieve the same heights as you would have had you truly loved the topic, and cared about it.
While analyzing our October 2009 affiliate recruitment campaigns across the accounts we manage, the numbers have once again reminded me of the passion brings success principle. I have noticed that both affiliate-referred sales growth and success in recruiting really promising affiliates has been substantially better with the affiliate programs that operate in what I would christen as passion-driven sectors. Be it faith, a particular cause or a hobby that people feel strongly about, it really shows on all three fronts: (i) the merchant and the way they treat their market, (ii) the affiliates, and (iii) the consumers.
In one of a newly started affiliate programs we have seen the following growth over just the past two months:
$14,061 to $26,741 in just one month! At one point — when a new product was announced by the merchant — their website simply couldn’t handle the amount of traffic (which at one point exceeded that of Coca-Cola.com by 7.5 times!!) and crushed the host’s servers! Passion crushes things!! No, I haven’t read Gary’s new book, but I do preach the same principle.
It seems that the key to being happy is really doing something you are truly passionate about. That’s where the love of your job really comes from, and that’s what makes work fun.
Are you doing what you’re really passionate about?!