Based on Wikipedia, as of 23 April 2024 there are 473 IKEA stores operating in 63 countries and 5 territories around the world.
My guess is that you should surely have already experienced the step by step assembly typical of IKEA’s furniture.
You should know that there are typically 2 different personalities that open an IKEA box: one that read the instructions, and the other one that tries to figure out how to assemble everything without instructions.
When both of these types of personalities open the box together and decide, in a boost of enthusiasm to start on the same project, well, speaking by experience, everything may happen! Here I let you with your imagination. 😒
I’m the type of person that like to read the instructions. Maybe it’s the engineer in me.
When I build something I want it to be done as per the instructions, step-by-step. I want it to be perfect. No place for creativity.
Provided the instructions are well done…
There are companies that release their instructions in different languages in order to please and accommodate everyone. I don’t know how they do it but even in 2024, French translation is often so bad, that I prefer to switch to English instead.
IKEA solved this translation problem by using pictograms. LEGO did the same.
This week, we offered a LEGO McLaren F1 racing car to my daughter’s boyfriend. He loves that kind of things.
Like a pro, he assembled everything in only a few hours of work and it was perfect!
Within a LEGO project, instructions are clear and concise. He simply had to trust the process. Step after step, he achieved the results expected in a challenging time lapse.
But what if he didn’t have clear instructions? Or worse, what if he didn’t have instructions at all?
Think about it. Did you ever try to assemble a LEGO project without the instructions?
I would bet on the following scenario:
You thought you did well until you reach a point where the quantity of spare parts remaining makes you believe there was something wrong along the line. 🤔 You take a final look at the box cover to finally realize that your project has nothing to do with it. 😮
What you achieved is what you get, not what you paid for. 🤦♂️
Considering the size of the project and the impressive number of small parts in it, my daughter’s boyfriend wouldn’t have achieved his McLaren in such a short time without the instructions!
He did it because he had a clear plan that he trusted so he could commit with sustainable efforts in it.
Lesson 1:
Have a proven plan that you can trust.
A clear set of instructions to follow with a mindset positively focused on what you do without distractions. This is what I want for you and what I’m expecting from you when you’ll be ready to start your online business.
Now, there is something fun and exciting about following instructions.
Initially, we all feel this excitement and this enthusiasm at starting a new project. As a result of this, we tend to go fast.
Forgot the instructions! Don’t need, I know how!
In my case, during the assembly process of a balsa model airplane kit for example, I’m so excited that I do everything in a hurry. I look forward for the final result, racing through the steps to make progress as fast as possible, even forgetting to eat sometimes.
When the project is completed after months of work at spare time, well it’s completed. The fun and excitement drops, and what remains is the contemplation phase of a job that is done. But it is?
I usually would fly the airplane at that phase…
When I do, it stalls and crashes. Not because the instructions weren’t accurate enough, but my “maturity” at handling such a project from the start, combined to my talent at being a modelist isn’t yet good enough. But this is another story…😂
Nevertheless, there would have been such a huge life lesson and business related elements to impart here, but it’s not my goal to follow this path on this post.
Rather what I want to illustrate with my modelist example is this lesson:
Lesson 2:
Don’t race through the steps, focus on the process not the end results
Results will come in time and in the least expected ways, I tell you.
Two many errors could be done by overlooking important steps in your project because your attention is focused on the end results. You can save time in your business and get faster results if the job is done the right way the first time.
A teacher of mine at University had a sentence to express this fact: “We are in a hurry, so let’s go slowly”.
He was so right!
Don’t precipitate things, affiliate marketing do not pay for the short term.
Be patient and focus on the process for the extended period of time for you to get good at doing it. Even if this means to sustain your efforts for the minimum amount of time where most people would have already quit.
Remember that this business model is not about getting rich quick but to get rich forever!
I can easily imagine how confused and overwhelmed you must be, looking online at all that is being written about affiliate marketing.
You search in this maze of information without actually finding THE WAY to do. You might have tried some FREE things here and there but still, not satisfied by what you find, you become frustrated and disillusioned.
This is something I know well. Searching information about affiliate marketing is indeed a big fishing adventure. Such a trip where most of us get back home with no fish. What a shame!
This is because what you find on internet, despite the huge amount of information, is seemingly just the ingredients of the total recipe. That is, a recipe without the preparation instructions.
On days that I don’t know what to eat for dinner, I take a cook book and manage to find a recipe of a tempting meal that I could do easily.
Like I said above, I like to have clear and concise directions that instructs me step-by-step how to do something. If what I said up to now isn’t yet clear, a recipe is the perfect example to clarify everything.
A recipe has two important parts: the Ingredients and the Preparation Instructions (the method). Without the instructions, you don’t have a recipe.
You can decide to go ahead and mix all your ingredients together using approximate seasoning, but without the preparation instructions, it’s very likely you’ll have to call a Uber Eat to deliver the lunch you ordered from the nearest fast food restaurant.
The affiliate marketing ingredients is what you find online. That’s why nothing make sense for beginners.
It’s frustrating because, like many people have different taste, there are also slight differences in the ingredients and, adding to the pain, there are different ways of mixing them.
Words like “niche”, “affiliate link”, “email list”, “bridge page”, are just ingredients without preparation instructions.
Same thing when someone integrates the ingredients into sentences that give you step-by-step but yet unclear instructions : “Find a niche (…)”, “Find a program (…)”, “Make Content (…)”, “Drive traffic (…)”, “promote your affiliate links(…)”, well, you catch the point.
And you know what?
In regards to affiliate marketing, the devil is in the details.
So you need the correct preparation instructions to realize your meal correctly and likewise with your affiliate marketing business.
To start with affiliate marketing, I recommend to pay a little something to have detailed and yet clear instructions. But don’t give your money to anybody!
Make your research before.
Find the best recipe for you and make it your preferred one!
What’s the best way to make a recipe? Well, it’s to have the CHEF 👩🍳 to assist you, guide you, and also give you that little touch of his experience that will make the difference between correct and delicious! 😁
Lesson 3 (the final lesson):
Get a Mentor.
And here we are guys! The ultimate recipe to do affiliate marketing is to have a mentor! The mentor will help you make your next affiliate marketing meal clearly successful!
The most beautiful thing here about getting a mentor is that the mentor will ensure you are properly covered with Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 above.
Like in all businesses there is a small investment to do when starting. With affiliate marketing, the beauty is that the investment you have to make is very low in comparison.
That means obviously you have to pay for a proven plan, that is, to have a clear set of instructions you can follow step-by-step and trust.
With Internet Profits, you have access to programs that provide you with a clear plan to follow along with mentorship, coaching, and all the resources you need to become successful online!
See by yourself. Get all the details by securing a place on this webinar, it’s totally free!
Hope you have fun reading this post and see you next week-end for another look at my affiliate marketing journey!
Martin
P.S. This weekend I’m starting a challenge for people that subscribed to my newsletter “A Healthy Ride To Wealth”. This challenge is all about learning how to start and grow an audience organically on TikTok. Learning to build an audience and generate traffic is a very important skill to have as an affiliate marketer so I’m proposing this challenge for you to get hands on at it, to rapidly start your audience, and to eventually monetize it. Don’t miss it and subscribe to my newsletter!
If you don’t have it yet, I recommend you read “The Iceberg Effect” book by Dean Holland. This is where it all started for me. This is where it could start for you!
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