Small Biz Life

Hi my name is Jeff, and I spent years burned out. If I was ever going to start a self-help group. It would start off saying that statement.

About a couple of years ago, I started breaking out of nearly permanent burnout. My work was suffering, my relationships were suffering, and I was just not happy.

I question my ability to be a proper husband. Maybe, I was a total failure. I believed it was only a matter of time before every else knew the level of failure that I had achieved.

I even spent several long afternoons with a therapist trying to figure out why I felt guilty not getting killed in a war.

The therapy helped some. I knew part of why I felt so guilty. However, I did not break out of my funk. I was stuck. I was burned out, and to defend my therapist, I never asked for help with burnout. I just wanted to get past my survivor's guilt.

Then I finally recognized that was burned out.

My wife, Kristin shared with me Jon Acuff's book call "Start". I read it, I loved it. It woke me up. It made me question myself. I realized that I had hopes and dreams. I had buried them so far, I was started to cripple myself.

I knew that I had to change, I needed to start sharing. I jumped on my first love, fantasy fiction. I wrote my first novel and then I got stuck again.

Thank Jon, Things started to change. I made some changes. I would get a great burst of energy and knock out work, however I would end up getting frustrated and burning out.

The burnout was no longer sticking.

It would set in, I would lose a weekend or a week. However, I would pick up the pieces and keep moving. I launched my fist podcast, the Worldbuilder's Anvil. I started sharing. I would pick up momentum, however I would still get frustrated and burn out and lose all of the momenta that I build up.

Finally, I had my aha moment

I was in San Diego, I had escaped the cold days of early march in 2017. I went to the Brendon Burchard's High Performance Academy Live. You heard me, I was in one of the best places in the world for weather and I spent 10 hours a day inside a conference room.

I had given in when he talked about the idea of high performance versus peak performance. My skeptical mind said, give this all a chance. I knew what I had to keep changing. I liked the way I was moving, I wanted more. And thankfully, he backs up many of his ideas with the science and research to keep my cynical side at bay.

If you are not familiar with Brendon, I would suggest reading "The Charge". I had been trapped in the caged life, I broke myself out and moved in the comfortable life.

Comfort might work for lots of people. However, when I was at HPA 2017 I was introduced to a friend I had not seen in years, I understood why even comfort lead to my burnout.

I stood in front of my old friend and waved into the mirror

I am a scout, explorer, podcaster, and author. I have a burning desire to entertain, educate, and empower people. I cannot do that if I am living a comfortable life. So, I invite you to join Kristin and I as we look at our stages of breaking through burnout. Escaping the burn out cycle does not have to take you years like it did for me. Once I understood that the root cause of my burnout was grief. I wasted so much time grieving. DO NOT DO THIS. Understand your burn out and break through it and start living a life that you love.

And yes, they are based on the stages of grief. Because, I realized that I was trapped in grief. I was grieving for my dreams never achieved.

However, we learned that it is crazy to grief for yourself. If you breathe, you can and should increment changes to get you moving towards your dreams, do it now before you regret it.

Here are our 4 stages of the burnout cycle and the 3 steps you need to take to escape it now:

• 4 stages of burnout!
  • Denial
  • Guilt
  • Anger
  • Hopelessness
• 3 Steps to escaping burnout
  • Recognition
  • Reconstruction
  • Hope

Mentions:

7 STAGES OF GRIEF Through the Process and Back to Life http://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-stages-of-grief.html

23 of the Most Amazingly Successful Introverts in History

https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/23-amazingly-successful-introverts-throughout-history.html

16 Super Successful Introverts http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/15/famous-introverts_n_3733400.html

https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig Dream Catcher Assessment (Free until the end of April 2017)

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ

High Performance Live http://brendon.com/hpalive/

Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters http://amzn.to/2nu1iI4

The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive http://amzn.to/2odMdHL

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7 STAGES OF GRIEF Through the Process and Back to Life http://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-stages-of-grief.html

23 of the Most Amazingly Successful Introverts in History

https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/23-amazingly-successful-introverts-throughout-history.html

16 Super Successful Introverts http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/15/famous-introverts_n_3733400.html

https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig Dream Catcher Assessment (Free until the end of April 2017)

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ

High Performance Live http://brendon.com/hpalive/

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Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters http://amzn.to/2nu1iI4

The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive http://amzn.to/2odMdHL

Episode 81 – Sleep: Your greatest productivity tool

What!!! I cannot sleep, I have too much work

Hey we understand. Jeff resisted this notion for years. Because, the idea that if you sleep more you can get more work done in less time is truly counter-intuitive. However, when Jeff was researching content on the basics of improving performance. We found lots of evidence that sleep is really the foundation of performing at a higher level.

Really, sleep is the foundation of better performance?

Yes, since adopting a few new strategies. May of which we learned at Brendon Burchard's live High Performance Academy, not an affiliate. We have both found an increased level of energy, to get rid of time loss to low energy and increased focus for the entire day.

The results have been so astounding we have rescheduled our entire content plan at Small Biz HQ to dedicate April 2017 to help our friends and peers.

While researching, why we had the improvement. The true importance of sleep became apparent.

If you do not know, Jeff is a skeptic. So, he follows up success with research. He looked at all the things we did to improve. He found that without the sleep, nothing else would have worked as well. So Really, sleep is the foundation of better performance? Join us as we look at the science of sleep. The benefits of 7 – 9 hours of sleep a night. We also invite you to some of the links below

We challenge you to find a system, trick, or technique that could help you become more productive than a good night of sleep. If you do share it in the comments below. Jeff would love to research that as well.

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-81-sleep-your-greatest-productivity-tool

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http://brendon.com/hpalive/

Small Biz HQ https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy

https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig D Free for a limited time

What happens during sleep

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/28/brain-sleep-_n_5863736.html

https://sleep.org/articles/brain-during-sleep/

Get better sleep

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/sleep/art-20048379

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/17/better-sleep-tips-best_n_4958036.html

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Why is listening to customers still important online?

A business online is moving the way of the dinosaurs. Even in the smallest businesses, 73% are expected to have websites by the end of 2017. As the move to online happens, it becomes more difficult to perform the most important task of a business owner. We do not know how to listen to people we never meet.

Why is it difficult?

Clutch looked into this in 2016.

Even if we interact with some people in social media. How many of those move to the website? How many of those buy from us or ever purchase one of our products?

We completely understand the problems of feeling lost when you interact with only a small portion of your online traffic. Across out platforms we served people a little more than 990,000 times, and from that we had under 10,000 interactions with people in social media.

So, we looked to better listen to the people we educate online. We knew we needed to up our listening skills. We knew we need to find a new way to listen.

We started looking to Web Analytics to allow us to listen

Really, we knew web analytics were always where there. We even had times we obsessed with the numbers of downloads, views, sessions, and users. And there is no better way to increase your dopamine like seeing these numbers increase.

The dirty secret is total reach means very little. If I walk into a bar with a megaphone and get more people to hear me. It would not benefit me. Heck, it might get me punched in the face.

So, it is high time to stop screaming online and start listening.

Using web analytics for listening

Join Kristin and Jeff as we look at what we have started looking at to stop screaming and start listening to the people we reached online:

• Total Reach (Okay we still love the dopamine)
• Bounce Rate and Drop offs
• User Flow
• Facebook Pixels
• Conversion Rates for opt-ins, contacts, sales pages
• ROI of tools

Mentions

Clutch https://clutch.co/web-designers/resources/small-business-websites-2016-survey

Wicked Reports http://www.wickedreports.com

Google Analytics https://analytics.google.com/

Facebook Pixel https://www.facebook.com/business/help/200000840044554

Facebook conversion pixel plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/facebook-conversion-pixel/

Google Analytics Plugin for WordPress https://wordpress.org/plugins/googleanalytics/

Search Engine Land http://searchengineland.com/7-conversion-rate-truths-will-change-landing-page-optimization-strategy-191083

Links

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-80-how-to-listen-to-your-customers-online

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Clutch https://clutch.co/web-designers/resources/small-business-websites-2016-survey

Wicked Reports http://www.wickedreports.com

Google Analytics https://analytics.google.com/

Facebook Pixel https://www.facebook.com/business/help/200000840044554

Facebook conversion pixel plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/facebook-conversion-pixel/

Google Analytics Plugin for WordPress https://wordpress.org/plugins/googleanalytics/

Search Engine Land http://searchengineland.com/7-conversion-rate-truths-will-change-landing-page-optimization-strategy-191083

https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig D Free for a limited time

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy

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How where your sales today?

Ever wonder why those other businesses seem confident when the make an advertising buy for their business. Heck are you too scared to even try to buy and add because you think it will just waste your money?

It can be scary to create a funnel or a process for converting prospective clients into sales. We are looking will have to measure what we are doing. We will see all of our mistakes. Just follow me for a moment as we start to look at the benefits of a funnel and learn to make your business start working for you.

Stop being scared, invest your time creating a sales funnel

If I asked you how many sales would you get if I could introduce you to 100 people, how many people would buy your product or service? Ten? One? Thirty? Could you even answer?

I have not met many small businesses that can some do not even what a sales funnel is. And many who do think that is something big businesses do to create sales, or a thing that online marketers talk about, and it will not work for them.

Here is why you need a funnel today

You need a way to predict how many people you need to meet, to make the money needed to run your business and feed your family. Check out the benefits and learn 4x4x3 of sales funnels.

And ultimately, if you knew that you would convert 20 of the next 100 people that walked into your store. Would it be easier to grow or maintenance your business?

You could spend less time stressed out about the next sale and more time about getting to meet more people. Because you know if you can just get another 100 people to your store, you should double your sales.

The 6 Benefits of having a sales funnel

• Helps reduce negative stress?
• If results are tracked, you can quickly fix problems in new funnels
• Helps you find more people to serve.
• Helps you maximize sales revenue
• Opens up the possibility of creating evergreen or subscription services.

The 4x4x3 Insight Guide to Sales Funnels

Join Kristin and Jeff in this podcast episode. We will go through the 4x4x3 of a sales funnel and a bonus tip for stabilizing your revenue.

The 4 phases are part of the sales funnel. The 4 needs are the skills or items you will need to create a funnel, And finally we will look at the 3 most common approaches to sales that we see today.

The 4 Phases

1. The Introduction Phase
2. The Relationship Phase
3. The Decision Phase
4. The Service Stage

The 4 Needs

1. Plan
2. Products
3. Platform
4. Psychology

The 3 Approaches

1. Direct Sales
   1. Walk-ins
   2. Value 2 Sale
2. Networking
   1. Live Launch
   2. Events
3. The Value^3 Launch

Links

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-80-the-4x4x3-insight-guide-for-sales

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-78-the-best-social-media-platform-for-your-audience

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Amy Campbell

Pew Social Media Stats http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/

Snap Chat https://www.statista.com/statistics/326452/snapchat-age-group-usa/

YouTube https://fortunelords.com/youtube-statistics/

Use our framework to dream big and start moving towards your dream visions for free https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ Car Crash Flash Sale code MARCHFOR5 expires on March 31, 2017.

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In our journeys in real live and networking with people we keep running into the problem of perfectionism. And yes it is a problem. We know and love improving processes. We also know that the sooner we can identify and correct errors the easier they are to correct. However, we have noticed that most incarnations of perfectionism are holding back many of the people that we have met. They approach the problem of perfectionism with good intentions. However, as they fill up their life with more and more task they end up with hurting themselves. They trap themselves in a loop that makes it impossible to move forward in life.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Do not let your perfectionism be the pavement

In order to better address the issue. We found a wonderful series of articles over at the website Personal Excellence. Celes put together three wonderful articles on the subject on these topics.

• How to Overcome Perfectionism: Your Complete Guide
• 11 Signs You Are a Perfectionist
• 6 Hidden Downsides of Perfectionism

Join Kristin and I as we look at the problem of perfectionism and how it can infect all of us causing pain and trouble in our small biz life. And please go check out these articles for more information.

Listen to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, Google Play Music, iHeart Radio, or with the player below.

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https://personalexcellence.co/blog/overcome-perfectionism/

https://personalexcellence.co/blog/perfectionism/

https://personalexcellence.co/blog/perfectionism-downsides/

Use our framework to dream big and start moving towards your dream visions for free https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ Car Crash Flash Sale code MARCHFOR5 expires on March 31, 2017.

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Whether you are planning your first day working full-time for your business or you had your first day ten years ago, this episode is for you. We discuss Jeff's plans for his first day working for Ingram Digital Media, Inc. and the three pillars of success for our business.

Your first day

If your first day in your business was tomorrow, what would that day look like? If you've been running your business for years, how would your first day and first week be different if you restarted today?

Jeff has spent a lot of time working on his time budget and master schedule (get our Mastering your Time course free and try Small Biz HQ for 30 days for just $5 with coupon code MARCHFOR5) to ensure that he can hit the ground running. We've also spent a lot of time planning what we want the next few months to look like.

You may not know this, but we actually have three active brands in our business: Small Biz Life, Accounting In Focus, and Gardul/Worldbuilder's Anvil. We've got a lot of ideas floating out there for each of these brands. We could sit down, plan for weeks, and still not get all of our ideas on paper. At some point, the long-range planning needs to be set aside and action needs to take over.

All of this planning can cause overload. I'm sure you have felt this before and are maybe are in this place right now. Unless you have a focus on your priorities, the overwhelming feelings you have will stop your momentum. Jeff plans to focus on three pillars for success.

Our 3 pillars of success

We have said multiple times on the show that revenue generation and product development should be priorities in your business. Those are two of your pillars. The third is customer experience.

Jeff is most excited about increasing his role in customer experience for our brands. He loves interacting with people and helping them achieve their goals. This is one thing he has not had much time to do because of his limited schedule. Customer experience creates raving fans and happy paying customers. How much time are you devoting to customer experience?

The second pillar Jeff will focus on is increased revenue generation from our existing offerings. Customer experience is an important part of this but we also know we must improve our sales funnels and marketing practices. Taking potential customers through a defined sales funnel will help increase our revenue. Do you have a defined sales funnel? What does your sales process look like?

Our third pillar is product development. This includes a few new products and adding content to our existing products. It is our goal to add one new major product per brand per year. We could develop lots of new products but that would take time away from the other two pillars. If you are only developing new products, don't be surprised when those products don't sell as well as you hoped. Unless you spend time marketing, all the products in the world are not going to make you the kind of income you want. Are you spending too much time on product development? Are your products and services well defined?

It's not all lollipops and unicorns

Since we announced that Jeff was leaving his job, we have had many trials and tribulations. Every week, something popped up that made us question our decision. Every time, we recommitted to Jeff coming to work with the business full-time. We knew we were making the right decision even though there were many personal challenges.

We could really use some lollipops and unicorns in March, though.

Other mentions

Ronei Harden - Jeff's book editor

Episode 75, where we discuss Recurpost

Episode 74, where we discuss priorities

Episode 69, where we discuss how we were able to have Jeff come work for the business full-time

Listen to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, Google Play Music, iHeart Radio, or with the player below

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-76-your-first-day

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https://www.facebook.com/RoneiHarden

https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-75-social-media-scheduling-update

https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-74-prioritizing-all-the-things

https://www.smallbizlife.com/blog/episode-69-making-the-leap

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ Car Crash Flash Sale code MARCHFOR5 expires on March 31, 2017.

https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/X5iVpMtD time budget and master schedule

http://gardul.com/

http://accountinginfocus.com/

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There are always new players in the social media marketing world. In this episode, Jeff and Kristin look at two new players in the market: Tailwind and Recurpost. We also discuss our requirements for social media scheduling apps.

Our social media scheduling requirements

There are a few key items we always look for in social media scheduling apps:

1. Library building for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn - we want a social media scheduling tool that will allow us to build libraries of content which will automatically repost. We can load content to manually or via RSS feeds and reuse the content.
2. Ease of setup - we want something that is easy to setup and use.
3. Ease of scheduling - scheduling your libraries should be easy.

Bonus items we look for are good analytics and finding the best times to post our content.

This week, we look at two new players in the marketplace, Tailwind and Recurpost.

Tailwind

Tailwind is a social media scheduling app for Pinterest and Instagram. The software does allow you to repost content but not automatically. Frankly, this was not very important because we don't often recycle content on Pinterest and Instagram. Jeff found it easy to set up his account during the free trial although scheduling content was a bit confusing. We were disappointed that it does not automatically post to Instagram for you. It sends you a text message similar to the way Buffer handles Instagram.

The navigation was a bit complicated if you are only using it for one or two accounts, but we could see the value for larger businesses. The small business market seems to be a bit of an afterthought with this app. The pricing confirmed this for us. There are two pricing options listed on the website: Plus and Professional. The Plus option is for one account (Pinterest or Instagram, but you can add more accounts. The pricing is $15 per month or approximately $120 per year if you pay annually. At $9.99 per month on an annual plan, it is a bit expensive for one social media platform; but if you are all in with Instagram or Pinterest, it might be worth looking at.

For Instagram, we will be sticking with Grum. It is very easy to use, automatically posts to Instagram and is $9.95 per month for up to two Instagram accounts. Plus, you don't have to pay annually to get that pricing.

If you are looking to schedule things to Pinterest, Buffer allows it for paid accounts. Plus, you can use Buffer for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Recurpost

Recurpost is a social media scheduling tool for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The creator states that they are also working to add Pinterest. The app allows you to build libraries and reuse the content.

Recurpost is a strong competitor for Edgar. We loved how easy it was to schedule posts and the app will find the best times to post your content. You can bulk upload URLs or use an RSS feed to add posts. There is a hashtag insert tool to suggest replacing terms in your post with hashtags you set.

The biggest advantage is the pricing. Edgar is $79 per month or $588 per year ($49 per month) for up to 25 accounts. Recurpost has a free option for three social media accounts and up to 100 scheduled posts. For $25 per month or $250 per year (two months free), you get up to 10 social media accounts and 1000 scheduled posts. For $49 per month or $490 per year, you get unlimited accounts and posts.

We were very impressed with Recurpost and are looking into it for our own scheduling needs. We think it is a viable alternative to Edgar.

Try Small Biz HQ for $5 and help us with some unexpected car expenses

On February 17th, Jeff and I were driving to an event and were hit by another driver. Luckily, we are both okay but there was extensive damage to my car. There is also some question about whether the other driver has car insurance. We will need to advance the deductible and pay for a rental car while our insurance figures everything out.

Therefore, we thought it would be a great time to offer a deal on your first month of Small Biz HQ. Use code MARCHFOR5 to get your first month of Small Biz HQ for only $5. This code expires on March 31, 2017.

Small Biz HQ is our monthly subscription experience. Each month we deliver content on a new topic. In March, we will be covering content creation options like video, podcasting, and blogging in order to get your message out to the world. You'll also get access to all of our previous content and our Mastering Your Time course.

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/store/5CQukiiy Small Biz HQ Car Crash Flash Sale code MARCHFOR5 expires on March 31, 2017.

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We all have way too much on our to-do-lists. Trying to determine what takes priority can be difficult. In this episode, Jeff and Kristin discuss how to prioritize all the things you need to get done.

Often, we try to get everything done at the same time and end up getting nothing meaningful done. Knowing your priorities is an important step to finding the meaningful tasks in your business. Your top priorities should always be products and people.

Products include everything you sell. If you don't have something that will generate income, you won't be in business for long.

People are those who will assist your business and those who will become customers. Focusing on relationship building is an important part of your business. How much time are you focusing on it?

Don't get caught up in perfection. Don't get caught up in the technology. There are always ways to simplify the process so you can get started easily. If you are getting bogged down in the details, tells us about it in the Facebook group. Jeff and I are always here to help.

Mentioned in this episode

The Thank You Economy by Gary V

Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

Episode 31 - Networking

Episode 50 - YouTube Basics

Dream Catcher Assessment

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NOTE: This post contains affiliate links

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https://www.smallbizlife.com/dreambig

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https://smallbizlife.com/dreambig Dream Catcher Assessment

https://smallbizlife.mykajabi.com/blog/episode-31-networking Episode 31 - Networking

https://smallbizlife.mykajabi.com/blog/episode-50-youtube-basics Episode 50 - YouTube Basics

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http://amzn.to/2kIkorb The Thank You Economy by Gary V

http://amzn.to/2kA1nVo Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

In this episode, Jeff and Kristin discuss the basics of affiliate marketing and how to get started if you wish to add affiliate income to your revenue sources.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is an arrangement between an online business and a website owner, that pays a commission to a website owner for traffic or sales referrals. The website owner can place links or ads on their website, social media, and in emails (depending on the terms and conditions with the online business). In simple terms as an affiliate, you promote other business's products and receive money from those businesses for doing so.

Affiliate marketing is not just for bloggers anymore. Many businesses with an online presence are using it to supplement their income with products and services they do not provide or wish to provide to a larger audience. Affiliate marketing does not require you to place ads on your website. Many people just use links to the products in content, on resources pages, on social media, or in emails. Make sure you read the terms and conditions with each affiliate program to see how you can use your affiliate links. For example, Amazon's terms state that you cannot place affiliate links in emails because they are considered offline content.

Who can participate?

Many states have passed affiliate tax laws aimed at large online retailers, like Amazon, which could limit some of the programs you can participate in. Currently, residents from Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont are not eligible for Amazon's affiliate program because Amazon does not have physical presence in those states. You may find that you will not be able to join other affiliate programs for the same reason.

All affiliate programs have different requirements for acceptance. Some programs accept most applicants. Some are more selective, wanting to know current website or social media traffic. Others will ask you questions about how you plan to promote their products.

Which companies should you work with?

When you use affiliate links, you are recommending products and services to your audience and customers. Just like any recommendations you make, you must be able to stand behind them. If you refer products you do not believe in, you are risking your reputation.

Typically, we only refer products we use. In our business, we often look for affiliate programs after we have worked with a company and we have already determined that we will be recommending it to our audience and customers.

How can you find out if a company has an affiliate program?

Most businesses use an affiliate network to host their affiliate program. An affiliate network is a website that allows you to apply for multiple affiliate programs within one site. You are also paid for all affiliate sales hosted by that network in one payment. Some popular networks are:

• Rakuten Linkshare
• CJ (Formerly Commission Junction)
• ClickBank
• ShareASale

Amazon hosts its own affiliate program.

The best way to figure out if a brand has an affiliate program is to search for the name of the company and "affiliate program". This will help you find out if the company has a program and how to apply.

Questions about affiliate marketing? Head over to the Facebook Group.

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