My First $386 in Affiliate Marketing: A 24-Hour Breakthrough (and More)

When the pandemic hit, I had to start affiliate marketing out of necessity. When businesses closed, I lost my job in digital marketing, just like many others. I was desperate because my wife was pregnant and the costs of hospitalization were coming up. I knew a little bit about affiliate marketing, but I had never really tried it out. I borrowed money from friends and family because I didn't have a job or any money. The pain of my situation and my determination to make something work pushed me to do it.

I didn't plan my first foray at all. I found Wesley Virgin's The Genie Script on Digistore24 by accident. I was in a hurry and didn't think about copyright problems, so I just downloaded a review video from YouTube and re-uploaded it to my own channel, putting my affiliate link right in the description.

This simple, "old-fashioned" method worked, which surprised me. Within 24 hours, my video was the most popular on YouTube. People watched, saw the call to action, clicked the link, and bought the item. In just one day, I made my first $386.

Even though it worked, I quickly realized that this wasn't a good or sustainable way to start a business. The world of affiliate marketing is always changing, and it's moving toward approaches that are based on community and value. This first win, though lucky, made me want to learn more.

I quickly reinvested the $386, additional borrowed funds, and even the money originally set aside for hospitalization into a mentorship program. I bought the domain critaudit.com and started doing a lot of research. My search for a mentorship program proved to be a transformative experience.

Spent money on tools and ads that weren't needed: I spent a lot of money on ads and monthly software subscriptions for landing pages and email marketing at first. This didn't work out; those investments didn't pay off.

The Trust Factor: The most important thing I learned from these failures is that people need to trust you before they buy. It was a mistake to spend money on ads without first building that trust.

This made me change direction. I started a YouTube channel to help people for real, and I invited them to webinars and then to my community hub. I knew that today's affiliate marketing is all about building trust and giving value to a group of people, not just pushing links. (Said by my mentor)

The most important thing I've learned is to act right away and without fear. I wasted two years just listening to my mentor and not taking actions.

I think I could have gotten even better results if I had done something sooner. I'm in a good place now, but that delay taught me how important it is to follow through.

• Do something right away. Don't put things off or think too much.

• Get a mentor. You can save years of trying things out by following their advice.

• You can initiate your journey by participating in a free mentorship program.

Believe in yourself and make a commitment. An online business may not be suitable for you if you are not prepared to take action and develop it.

What's next? Making a Community of People Who Earn

The next step in this journey is to make a free course for my followers. I want to help them make at least $100 a day by joining my community and following my easy three-step internet plan.

I'm dedicated to giving my hub a lot of value and helping others start their online businesses the right way.