Affiliate Marketing – Does it Work?

What is Affiliate Marketing? According to Investopedia, “Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company.” I wanted to find a way to make some extra cash on the side so I created a website called Discount Prices U.S. I’ve read so much about affiliate marketing and how great it is and how you can make a lot of money helping people, so I decided to try it out.

I can honestly say, it’s hard work! One of the things I love about affiliate marketing is I get to see new products and deals before anyone else. For instance, Amazon just introduced Astro—Amazon’s new home robot. I knew this was coming out before they sent the email out to people. So, it was cool to see the email they sent out to everyone and I already had the product on my store’s page. I have a lot of cool products on my affiliate page. Everything you could possibly want is in my store! Let’s get back to the subject of this blog, “Affiliate Marketing – Does it Work?

Does it Work?

The jury for me is still out on this one. I put in countless hours a day trying to get “leads”, trying to get traffic to my store and some days, I have 20 people visit, some days I have 100, and some days I have 0 visitors. It can be so frustrating to say the least. I research a lot on line “how to drive traffic to your website” There a countless ways to drive traffic to your site and you’ll go nuts trying to figure out which one’s work. I liked this article I found online 30 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website it had some really great information on it.

The article gave me some reassurance when I read “According to 2020 research done by Content Marketing Institute, 63% of content professionals are challenged with finding enough staff skilled in content strategy which is one of the top drivers of website traffic.” So, at least I don’t feel so alone. Others struggle as I am. I’m always looking for ways to improve my store’s page. If you head on over to my store, take a look around and see if I’m missing something as far as how it looks. Does it look ok, is it appealing? Any feedback you want to give I would appreciate it.

Until Next Time
Much Love,

Nikki

Life After Radio

Some advice for my radio peeps.

What a way to live. Every day you come in and you do your show wondering if that’ll be your last show. Thinking and being told, “you’re only as good as your last break”, being told, “you’re replaceable and there are tons of other jocks out there who will gladly do your job for less money” Being undervalued. Being taken advantage of. Being the person they blame for things that don’t go well. Not getting the credit you deserve for when things DO go well. The list goes on and on.

Always seeking approval from people you don’t know (the listeners). Did I mention waking up every day wondering if you still have a job? Radio puts you in a constant state of fear and yet expects you to entertain the masses. Some people thrive on that “fear” others wake up and realize that life’s too short to live in constant fear.I had a great run in radio. I’ve been mornings, middays, afternoon drive, nights, weekends you name it. I’ve been in some super great markets too. I’ve been anywhere from Toledo OH, to San Francisco, CA, down to Louisiana, over to Virginia Beach, even programmed in Memphis. Radio was “good” to me, but it wasn’t “Great” FOR me.

You know what’s great? Being able to wake up every day and not having to worry about someone in the corner office threatening me and judging my performance based on what strangers (listeners) say how well I’m doing (i.e. ratings). Look, if you’re on the beach and you’re wondering why you’re not back on the radio. Do yourself a favor and thank your lucky stars. Take this time to reevaluate your worth. Take this time to be grateful that you are not one of those people who gave their heart and soul to a company and after 22 years (right before retirement eligibility) they fire you. How shitty is that? Think about it. Do you really want to be with a company that makes you live in fear EVERY DAY?

I know this post is long, but maybe for the time you spent reading this, you weren’t wondering if you’re going to get fired. Breathe! My best advice is to find a mentor who’s “been there and is doing something different”. I have mentors who used to be in radio and who have reinvented themselves and who are extremely successful now and who actually ENJOY life. I’m enjoying life. I have my own online radio station (because I still love radio) and no one can fire me from it, I own an online store (because I love marketing) and no one can fire me from it, I own a blog (because I love to write), I’m also a real estate agent (because one of my mentors is doing it and he’s making a killing at it) and because no one can fire me.

You get the idea! ENJOY LIFE! Reinvent yourself. Get help writing your resume’. Find something in radio you loved doing and focus your resume on that if you want to. I want to share this video with you, it helped me when I transitioned out of radio. Maybe it’ll help you. Remember, everything you WANT, IS ON THE OTHERSIDE OF FEAR.