Elephant in the Room
Today this room is getting very crowded as I believe there is not just one elephant in this room when starting out as a newbie to making a full-time income on the Internet as an affiliate marketer.
So it seems I need to take this step by step.
I’ll lay out all of the apparent wild life crowding this room and then narrow it down to the one standing out in front of the others…
Is it the threat that Yahoo or even Google will stop sending your newsletters if you don’t get seemingly total engagement from all your subscribers?
Is it the nitty gritty love-hate relationship you might have with enforcing a double optin on your subscribers?
Maybe it’s the shiny objects that keep popping up in your email that entice you to step away from following your proven plan so you can once again jump on that hampster wheel?
Or maybe – just maybe it’s your friends and family that not just think – but they know you are being scammed by persuing what you proclaim to be a proven plan? The naysayers in your life.
Yahoo, Google and Others to Follow
Elephant in the Room Number 1…
I’m thinking to myself, “Can Yahoo or Google even do this?”.
It scares me to think that the newsletters that I send out to my subscribers wouldn’t even have the chance of hitting their inbox!
At the very least, I have coaches and a mentor that can help me through the technical pieces of DNS settings that will assist with me getting my newsletters delivered.
But is this the true behemoth standing in front of all the others in the room? I think not.
Double Optin Shmoptin
Oh it is surely a love-hate relationship I have with this elephant in the room.
If you don’t already know, I use an AWeber autoresponder to send out a set of about a half a dozen automated emails to subscribers that have taken interest in the plan that I have to help my readers avoid the guru overhelm of affiliate marketing.
Then I set out to send what is called broadcast emails in a format that I call a newsletter.
And these newsletters tend to outline my journey of learning the ropes as an affiliate marketer – whereas here in my blog, I provide more details of my journey in hopes that it can give you some advice – to follow the good stuff I come upon – and to avoid the mistakes I make along the way.
But this double optin thing has me concerned.
On the one-hand, when I enforce the double optin, I know I can rest easy knowing that my readers will be a little bit more engaged because they first indicate their interest sending their contact info to me from a Facebook Lead Ad. Then they reconfirm their interest by responding to a confirmation email.
But on the other-hand – what actually happens in many cases – is my potential subscriber does not respond to the email and their status on my autoresponder is stamped, “PENDING”. Some will pull their way out of that status by responding and others do not.
And the real reason that they should – is that on Facebook I had promised to let them see a short ten minute video training that would help them avoid the guru overwhelm and to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
If you are not already receiving my newsletter from SoapboxBob – Robert Klein – then I invite you to find out what truly IS cooler than a penguin in shades and apply to (double) optin to my Priority Advantage Newsletter here:
https://RobertKleinOnline.com/optin
I might add – I give you two short valuable training videos if you optin (no cost except your time).
Both newsletters are very similar if not the same – so there is currently no reason to subscribe to both.
But if you cared to compare blog posts you can do that here:
Elephant in the Room on SoapboxBob.com
But back to the topic at hand. Does this elephant in the room stand out in front of the others. Again I say NO.
The Shiny Object Hampster Wheel
I gotta say – this IS another big elephant in the room. I’ve got a couple of main stay GURUs hitting me at all angles – enticing me to take interest in their latest shiny objects – and not all for affiliate marketing.
Can you believe the headlines, “$300K/month with THIS marketplace“?, “16 *Golden* Product Opportunities…“…the list goes on.
Like – do you really want to be jumping on 16 Hampster wheels at once?!
Personally I now know better – than to spread myself so thin.
But there used to be a time that I would jump on board their live sessions only to be persuaded to jump ship of my current venture that wasn’t quite working out and jump on a new proverbial hampster wheel at significant cost to me.
The current proven plan that I now follow with consistent effort actually warns me to not get stuck in that hampster wheel way of life.
But here again, I say NO – this is not the one standing out in front of the others.
The Naysayers in Your Life
Maybe you’ve encountered this elephant in the room before?
I mean like – there’s nothing worse than having someone you love or look up to – telling you – you are off your rocker when you tell them your aspirations to be running a profitable business online.
They be asking, “What are you doing wasting your time when you could be concentrating on your day job?”. You know – if you’re looking for extra money you could even pick up some part-time work to make ends meet – not some pie in the sky venture that will end up wasting your life away!?
You come to them with complete excitement when you are starting out and they laugh at you and try to shut you down.
I mean like – when you can feel the excitement of what could be – you want to bring others along with you and help them also see what you see.
And instead your naysayers ask you to stop spreading your scammy lies.
This is the exact reason that potentially new Internet marketers like you sometimes keep quiet about their ventures with their loved ones – if they can.
And in doing so – it makes you feel even more isolated and THAT also reinforces your loved one’s ideas on the matter.
Me – I have my accountant acting as my biggest naysayer. I cannot hide my activities from him as he is the one that does my tax returns.
Biggest elephant in the room?
In Conculsion
And with that, I think we have found the elephant in the room that stands out more amongst the others. Your Naysayers.
And because of that I believe you need to tackle that behemoth ahead of all the other things you do in getting started.
In a trickle down effect – My Mentor states specifically that he believes in ME. And I want you to know, I believe in YOU.
Know there is nothing wrong with you. Anyone starting out won’t know what they are doing.
You will fail along the way but you will learn from your mistakes and you will improve and adapt.
And you do that best – by following a proven plan; putting in consistent effort; following someone that knows what they are doing; asking questions; getting answers; and most of all – not listening to your naysayers.
Don’t give up – just continue to work at it to make sure you succeed. You can do this. It is possible.
Then eventually your actions and results will change the opinions of your naysayers.
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If you have not read any of my posts up until now, might I suggest the one where one of my readers refers to as, “…fuel for mind, body and spirit.”
Let me know in the comments about your experience with naysayers in your life. Do you have any experience with the other Elephants in the Room?
Hey Robert, I really enjoyed your post . The elephant in the room analogy is great, I now of a rehab facility that used to be a hunting lodge and their was an elephant shoulder mount in the main hall were everyone would meet in the morning lol. I believe we have the right people leading the charge on the email issues. Look forward to your next post .
Happy Trails
Hi Robert
Great post that addressed good elephant-in-the-room points for readers to consider.
I was particularly interested in the biggest elephant in the room…the naysayers! oh, the naysayers!
I made a conscious choice right from the beginning that I would not share what I was doing with anyone. I don’t have a partner to consider so that did make things easier.
The reason I chose not to was not because I was afraid of what people in my life, my loved ones in particular might say…I know full well what they will say.
I was not prepared to put myself in a position where I was offered up all manner of ‘uneducated’ opinions and narrow points of view about the only way they feel one can have an income in this world. This would not be a one-off offering either but a regular offering. It would all be coming from a good place of love and protection of course but nonetheless, it won’t serve me well.
Not sharing hasn’t left me feeling isolated, on the contrary, it provides me with peace as I get on with it and I am happy for it.
The belief, mentoring and support from Dean and his whole team as well as being in a wonderful community of like-minded people where we all understand what and why we are doing what we are doing, with the best support is all I need.
On the flip side when the time is right for me and I do tell them, they will be my biggest supporters and think it is just the greatest thing….ever!, that I am amazing and want to celebrate. I look forward to receiving those feelings and responses and am more than happy to wait for them.
Have a great week, I look forward to reading your future posts!
Hi, Robert! I don’t have any naysayers because I am doing my business undercover! I know this is going to change soon. I’m looking forward to becoming more visible, and I’m sure I will hear plenty of flak from my family.
What I look forward to least is the disappointment in people’s eyes as they tell me I’ve fallen for a scam.
I just don’t want to deal with it. And so I haven’t.
But I’ve reached the point I know I will have to.
Perhaps if I don’t let them hold me back, I can prove them wrong quickly.
Here’s hoping!
Nakina Lawson recently posted…This Is Just To Say
Yes, the Naysayers…… on the other hand, there are the cheerleaders, I am fortunate that my wife and children are great cheerleaders and encouraging.
I think it helps that we are all a bit competitive, and though we each have different side hustles we love to share the results, and the good-natured point scoring!
I love it when one calls to say they made two sales that day, or that I can ask them to look at a piece of content and tell me what they think.
Find yourself some cheerleaders”
Thanks for that little nudge Tony. Whenever possible I usually try to put the positive spin on things and the Naysayers do kind of the opposite. I’d much rather talk about the cheerleaders – for sure.
You took the words right out of my mouth… can Google and Yahoo really do that? Like you, when I first heard the news that the big email “hosters” are now going to be cracking down on the little guys trying to launch businesses, I felt a little like it was David vs. Goliath. I thought to myself, “with all the junk I receive what seems like on a daily basis, and they’re going to crack down on me, and require a 100% positive reputation from lil ol’ ME?! Alas.. thank you for the post to remind me to keep pushing forward, even through all the naysayers.
Well there was on caveat I learned and that was these email rules would be applied to emailers that send to 5000+ recipients. I’ll have to do more reading as I didn’t see the exact time frame on that. Per day? per month? Time will tell.
I believe people with less than 5000 subscribers will also be affected.
First, if your email doesn’t meet the requirements, your autoresponder company may give you a warning, even if you have less than 5000 subscribers.
Second, if you are going to be in business for long enough, eventually, you are going to hit 5000 subscribers anyway.
Great post. I am holding back a lot as I currently work for a family business. People don’t understand that I don’t want to take it over, I want to do something for me. My time will come to get the eye rolls…..
thank you for sharing. I found it really clear and helpful. Thank you
Robert,
I’m afraid that I don’t agree that naysayers are the biggest elephants in the room when it comes to newbie marketers being held back, or maybe that’s just because I don’t have any. For me it’s the lack of time and tmy shorter concentration span as I grow older.
However, I do like the layout of your blog and lack of advertising. It’s just a pity that, given the title of your post, you didn’t take the trouble to replace the penguins with jumbos. LOL
Cheers
Phil
Phil Ramage recently posted…How Hard Are You Prepared To Persevere To Succeed As An Internet Marketer?
Thanks for the comment Phil. I do realize other folks have other elephants in the room which is why I asked for your added input on it. For me, it was my biggest naysayer that stopped me dead in my tracks the last time I tried to get a business going online.
Point taken for the elephant, but if you were to jump on getting my newsletter you would see that the penguin in shades is named Magic and she is my logo/side-kick. She pops up where ever I have online content lately.
Robert Klein recently posted…The Process
I can relate to the naysayers…. I frankly avoid any conversation about what things I am trying to do with my own affiliate marketing business because family and friends just don’t understand it and therefore don’t trust it and look at me like Ive got a third eye when I try and defend or explain. So I like to remind myself that if I wouldn’t take advice from them on my business – meaning they have no qualifications to advise me on what I am trying to do, than I can just kindly disregard their well-meaning warnings and concerns.
AK
Naysayers and Shiny Objects are mine! I have been lucky to avoid shiny Objects, but they are tempting with their devious words and promises, huh? It is so hard to ignore both but it takes discipline and self confidence that I am “my own me.” Thanks for breaking this down!
Robert,
Those are all elephants, yes but which one is the largest? I think the naysayers/ Ah, the naysayers—they always seem to pop up, don’t they? Luckily, I’ve got an amazing support system in my corner. My spouse and family are my biggest cheerleaders and having that backing truly makes a world of difference. It’s like having my own personal cheering squad, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their encouragement! Keep moving onward and upward!
Sherri
Hi Robert,
ahh, those naysayers and elephants in the room! They sure can take a lot of room!
As long as you keep the focus and keep chomping at it, you’ll get there.
My grandfather used to use this analogy when talking about a BIG problem: “how do you eat an elephant? — one bite at a time!” always love that!
Hi Robert,
The elephant or shined object has let me blind so I try not to pay attention to it, no matter how good it looks. But for the Naysayers, I from the outset engaged in a conversation with my wife and children, discussing my intention to embark on a new online business venture. I laid out my plan and the underlying motivation, which stemmed from the realization that I faced the prospect of working the 8-to-5 grind for the entirety of my career until retirement—whether by choice or circumstance. The alternative was to explore something different, granting me the opportunity to break free from this routine. All the best.
Robert, thank you for providing so much valuable information. I too had similar fears around all the new email rules. Not only will my email get to them, will they open them and even worse will they continue to open them as I send them, even if they’ve double opted in.?I guess we’re being taught by a master and we have to follow the process. I guess even if we get very few people opting in and checking in regularly that’s still not a bad thing because they are true fans that get you and want to follow you. In time you will get more and more of those it might take longer , but you will get them. Regarding naysayers, absolutely there’s times when my wife has said ‘when’s this thing gonna start making money’?, is it another scam? and that type of thing. Even my son said to me ‘I know what it is it’s a pyramid scheme’. So you do get negativity from people and that’s okay because they aren’t doing what we’re doing and they don’t understand it. But ironically once it’s established and you’re getting regular commissions and their lifestyle starts to change they won’t be naysayers anymore. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing your ‘Shmoptin’ page! Thanks, Atif
Hey Robert!
The naysayers… this is actually a problem I experience in my affiliate marketing journey. I can say it’s difficult to not having support from loved ones. They try to protect me from being scammed. Like you said, I keep low profile the things I’m working on. Nobody knows really what I’m doing. I look forward for the day when they will change their mind after my business will produce income. But it takes time I know and all the things I’m doing make sense and follow a logical path.
So am I fearful of being scammed? No, not all. I make progress. I know what I’m doing and my plan is proven.
And overall, I’m inside a fantastic community of like minded people at Internet Profits who believe this as well. Their support is really important for me so it helps me move forward.
Kind regards,
Martin
Hey Robert,
There are all kinds of animals in the jungle that we need to be aware of. Snakes will sneak up on us. Where the hippo will try to crush us and the elephant will charge. The thing to remember is we can defeat them all with the proper mindset.
One can only be defeated if one allow themselves to be defeated. No one has the power to defeat some one. Defeat is self inflicted.
We MUST feed our minds with positive things. For what goes in is what comes out.
I am fully confidant you have the power to defeat those elephants and the rest of the jungle. Just take them on one bite at a time.
CJ
I love your comment CJ! Maybe in a future post I’ll relay a story about my first time in Mexico and a REAL Jungle tour me and my companion were enticed to get on.
Hi Robert,
Sounds like more of a herd in the room 🙂
Those are all important elephants and your selection for the biggest is true!
Naysayers can complicate things, especially those closest to us.
Mine also is our accountant, but I don’t listen. I need to do this biz because I can’t really go back to the work I’ve done in the past. I don’t share with a lot of people what I’m doing, I just do. I figure if they find out through my social media posts then they can say what they need to themselves. I won’t listen. 🙂
Great post!
Denny