Interview With William

“You are not an affiliate marketer, you are a business owner.”

What’s your name and how long have you been a part of HN?

My name is William and I joined HN in 2016.

Can you explain your typical day in the office?

I love to take some time out in the morning over coffee and prepare for the day ahead. I like to set three objectives for the day.

 

Then I will check in with my writers and my VA to see if they have any questions or need anything from me. Sometimes I will send my VA work that needs to be done or create more training for her.

 

After I have touched base with my team I will try to knock out an objective, usually the most challenging of the three objectives I have set.

 

For the rest of the day I try to knock out the rest of my objectives and do my routine work. A lot of this work involves link building and finding places to get links. As well as editing and posting content, split testing conversion factors and every so often planning out a new site.

 

Every Friday I try to do all my planning for the following week, mostly I plan the content I want written so I can send the topics to my writers. Plus, which sites I will be doing link building for.

 

Right now I am really focused on trying to systemize and outsource a lot of my business so I am spending a lot more time on this than I used to.

What was your goal when you first started out in affiliate marketing and how does that compare to your goals now?

When I first started I had an SEO agency and I decided to start an affiliate site on the side, I loved the idea of the semi-passive income affiliate marketing provides and wanted to see if I could make it work. Plus, I was getting sick of dealing with clients. So, I guess my only goal at that stage was to get a website up and making money. I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of results.

 

Now I have much more tangible goals as I have a much better idea of how long things take, how much money can be made and how much resources I will need to do it. My goal right now is to secure financial freedom for myself and my family.

What traffic sources do you use to promote and which do you find the most effective?

I have always done SEO, so I can’t really compare traffic sources. But SEO makes so much sense to me, the traffic is highly targeted to your offer and is free. Also, I’ve found it to be easier now than ever before because a lot of people got out of the SEO game after the big updates.

If you could start your affiliate marketing career all over again, what would you do differently and why?

I would begin with the end in mind. So, building my first site with the view of one day selling it.

 

The main thing I did wrong was not branding my site. It’s still my highest earner but its basically an EMD and I think making it branded would help with sale value.

 

Also, I would have hired a VA a lot sooner.

Do you have a role model or someone who inspires you?

I have a lot of different ones. I was surrounded by entrepreneurs growing up, including my Father so I guess I was always inclined that way. My Dad was certainly a big inspiration.

 

I spend a lot of money on coaching and mentoring and these are all people who I look up to and try to learn as much as I can from. They are better than me at certain skills like SEO, conversion or are just making a lot more money than I am.

 

My role models aren’t really celebrity entrepreneurs. But more people who are happy in their lives and have their financial freedom.

What piece of advice would you give someone looking to start out as an affiliate marketer?

As I said earlier, build a brand and focus on that one brand. I think mindset is key here. You are not an “affiliate marketer”, you are a business owner. Affiliate links might just be the primary way you are monetizing right now but you can open up many streams of revenue in the future. Build your business like it’s a real business and take it seriously.

 

Remember the Wirecutter was started by a guy who was sleeping on his friend’s couch with no investment or debt, and that site sold for $20m. Business Insider was started by a guy who got fired from his job – he sold it for $442m. There’s no reason any of us can’t match those achievements. We are in the business of getting traffic, the same as them.

 

I love something Perry Belcher says, “you are not building a blog, you are building a magazine”. It’s a reminder that your own perception of what you are doing matters. Blogs are hobbies. Magazines are businesses.

 

Finally, I would say that it takes a lot of upfront time and probably more money than someone starting out might think. It can take thousands of dollars and a whole year to get an affiliate site profitable these days (at least with SEO). So be prepared to invest and if you need to, keep your day job while you are doing it.

 

If you are unemployed and strapped for cash, this probably isn’t the best place to start. I would sell SEO or another skill as a freelancer Then you can use other people’s businesses to learn and practise your SEO, while raising enough money to invest into your site. At least that’s what I did.

What motivates you to keep working month after month?

Taking care of the people I love and also because the alternative, getting a real job, sounds horrible to me.

 

The ultimate goal of my business is time based not money based. I want to be free of commitments, so I can spend my time doing what I want. That includes travel and working on passion projects.

What are your goals for the next 12 months and what will you do to reach them?

I have a certain number I want to hit, but its hard to estimate how long it will take to reach it and I will just keep working until I do.

 

Beyond that, I really want to get more profitable websites in different niches to diversify and reduce my risk. I will also be spending a lot of time this year systematizing and outsourcing the routine tasks in my business so I can work less and spend more time with my wife and travelling.  Also, I plan to go to Disney World this year

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