When I was a young pup fresh from university, I started a job (one of many) in the investment industry, working for a small company in Manchester.
This was back in the days before real regulation, and you could join a company and be out on the streets selling policies the same day.
I have to admit I was dire at the job, and hated myself for being a failure.
Basically I would get a lead off the secretary, make an appointment, make a complete hash of it and be out of the house in about twenty minutes, feeling bad at all the petrol I had spent to get there.
I was selling lump sum investment advice, and would frequently find myself in front of recently retired couples, telling them what I had to offer, asking if they wanted it, then leaving with no sale or dignity.
After about a month into the job, another salesman who was called Joe (American) and was the most successful in the company, asked if I wanted to go out with him on an appointment to see how it was done properly; I accepted and he took me to meet yet another recently retired couple.
The first thing I noticed about the meeting was that Joe hardly said anything, but asked questions and let them speak.
As he told me later, he was gathering information.
We found out a lot about the couple, and on the basis of this information discovered that the couple wanted to save up for a round the world cruise.
Armed with this information Joe explained the best way to do it.
Do you see the difference in approach? I was selling what I wanted to sell and Joe was selling what the client wanted to buy.
At the end of the sale, the clients were eager to give him the money, but Joe did a strange thing.
He refused to do anything there and then.
They wanted to invest five thousand, but Joe asked "do you think a with decision so important as this, that it would be wise to think it over?" They reluctantly agreed and he gave them his card and left.
I didn't understand what he was doing, but it became clear a week later when they rang him up, made another appointment and invested thirty thousand.
Joe was building trust and selling to need, and in half an hour he had given me more information about selling than I could ever have worked out on my own.
He also sold me a savings plan that night in the car going home.
How did he do that? Simple; he said that if you are selling something, you need to believe in the product.
The best way to do this is to have the product yourself.
He asked me if I agreed, and I had to admit that I did.
He asked my if I had any of the company products myself.
I said no.
He signed me up when we got back to the office.
The man was brilliant at his job.
That was thirty years ago and Joe is now a retired millionaire and lives on the golf course in Spain and is a good friend of Shaun Connery, but that was Joe's particular dream, and another story.
Investment selling thirty years ago was very similar to Affiliate Marketing today.
You had many people trying it because of the huge amounts of money you could make, but a 98% failure rate due to lack of training.
Affiliate Marketing can make you rich, but it can also make you depressed and unhappy due to your failure to make even a dollar.
What you need is a mentor to teach you the right way.
Finding a successful affiliate marketer like Joe, and learning what he or she does can put you on track, and give you the help that you need to be a success.
So where are these people? They are out there, and my advice is start looking.