What the hell does this even mean? This has got to be the most overused, cliche phrase that affiliates use. Not only that, it is contradictory to what they actually practice. This idiotic phrase is used by people almost every time they are asked what advice they would give new affiliates. It is idiotic.
Why is it idiotic? Because it gives no information. It is what lazy affiliates say so they fit in with the crowd so everyone will congratulate them.
Affiliates often say “think outside the box” for what reason? The only one I can think of is so they don’t do the same as everyone else. To think of a million dollar idea that noone has come up with. Well derrr, obviously you should try to come up with a million dollar idea that noone else has thought of yet?
All over the Internet, there are countless times where the advice is to “think outside the box.” You know why that is stupid? Because those exact affiliates are the same ones to jump down the throats of someone that tries something different. They will jump in and say “blah blah, that won’t work, you have to do it this way.”
The same people will flame and scutinize other affiliates for running SEO tests. They will often jump in and say “SEO guru xxx does it this way. Don’t even bother trying.” How can people think outside the box when they are being conditioned to act just like everyone else?
Here is a link to someone offering awesome advice. I know they are just trying to help, but come on. Everyone jumping in and commenting how wonderful that advice is. Give me a break.
Let’s go through these great pieces of advice one by one.
1. Never stop learning
How is this ever going to help me? Do affiliates consciously think “wow I’m glad that was said, now I’m going to remember to keep learning?” Do affiliates really think that when they start earning x amount, they never have to learn another thing in their life? This comment in broad, vague and generally useless.
2. Never give up
Are you for real? Your advice on how to be successful as an affiliate is to never give up? This point offers nothing, to anyone.
3. Think outside the box. We have been through this above. It offers me nothing.
4. Focus on the proven programs/casinos and forget the rest.
How contradictory does this statement want to be from the previous point? So you are telling me to think outside the box, but only promote what everyone else says is good? I do agree that you should steer clear of dodgy programs, but what about thinking ahead of your competitors? Programs don’t become “proven” from nowhere. This advice inhibits “thinking outside the box.”
5. Keep up with the current news at GPWA.
This actually made me laugh. So I am supposed to think outside the box, while following what everyone else is doing and saying at the forums? Whether you like it or not, the more you hang around forums, the more likely you are to act like your competitors. Again, I find this advice idiotic. In fact, I would advise against following this.
I would like to add a disclaimer that I do not know the person that was being interviewed. This is not a personal attack on whoever it is.
I will be doing some follow up posts in the near future about how ridiculous some affiliate advice really is. Whether it is intended to be helpful or not is another story.
So before you give advice to a new affiliate, think about what you are saying. Don’t just go through the routines and say what everyone else does. Think outside the box.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Seems like someone is back… with a vengeance!
Well tbh I think 90% maybe even 95% of all affiliates are BS’ing themselves (if they actually believe it) and others when they say they think outside the box or create unique websites to send unique traffic. There are very very few sites that do this, and those sites were here 2- 5 years ago. Honestly I think most small – mid affiliates base their entire business model around what those people have done and continue to do…so when I hear “Think outside the box” “send quality traffic” or other hyped up affiliate talk it goes in one ear and out the other.
Nice post Nick
You are dead right Kaus, your last sentence especially. I don’t even think it goes in my ear
Solid Post Nick!
I do feel it was a little harsh on the never give up, but this is because really not giving up is probably the number one way to be successful at anything. However, it is not the act of not giving up that gives a person success, rather it is the commitment to never give up that allows them the focus, confidence and everything else to finally get going doing only what they need to do (things that get them to their goals). That attitude of “I’m going to do this, keep doing this, and never stop doing this for however long it takes until i have success” when that’s said, believed and though and drilled into the subconsious everything else just falls into place because we’re working towards it without doubt. To many people have the try it and see attitude: and try it and see rarely works.
As far as think outside the box.. i agree 100%. I’ve been saying since year 2000, when it comes to the internet R&D stands for Ripoff and Duplicate not Research and Development. There are things I might not have been the first to develop but i have a claim towards: email harvester, bulk emailer, self replicating websites, im messenger bots. i had no knowledge of these things existing. I thought of them on own at the time and paid to have them developed. There are countless other things the same. In fact I once paid $125,000 for coding for lead generation recruitment system for home business called a powerline. We’ll with in a few months there were companies on the market offering me it for $1500, now it’s probably free (and useless).
So speaking of good advice. I think the best can give to a new affiliates and for anyone else in life for that matter:
Find others who have what you have, watch what they do, listen to what they say and learn. It is unlikely anyone is going to hand out their best secrets for free, so most likely you’ll need to give to get. Get a job with the person you want to be, buy them lunch, make them lunch do whatever you need to do to get close to them.. but be sure to also be appreciative of the information you get from them and the time you spend with them. If you give only to get you’re unlikely to get as much because people can see through this. Instead focus on deliving value to those you desire to be close to and be honest and open you want to learn from them. As your exchanging value (content, help with images, link building, cooking them lunch, walking thier dog whatever) they’ll continue to give you info.
Anyways buddy great post!
Thanks for the well thought out post Jim.
What you have just said offers far, far more value to people that are looking to become a successful affiliate.
You highlight the point that there is no need to sit around chatting to unsuccessful people, about what they are watching on TV.
People that have and do what you want in life, got there for a reason.
Thanks for the thought provoking insight. Glad to see you around again.
Nick
Just to add:
As for the never giving up. The thought that you put into the mechanics behind never giving up is something that affiliates can stir up in their brain to fuel motivation and steely determination.
Simply saying “never give up” doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t think about it, it has no meaning and I skip past it when I read it. If affiliates like yourself take the extra bit of time to explain specifics, the other affiliates will actually learn something.
Thanks again Jim! (Kapun Karp..don’t know spelling
)
The phrase “think outside the box” may have become a cliche. It might even be trite. But being creative and unique hasn’t gone out of style yet. The problem a lot of people in the industry have with thinking outside the box is that they try to apply this thinking to what kind of website to build instead of to what kind of content they write. You can create an online poker review site, and there’s nothing outside the box about that idea. But if you think outside the box and write creative and unique reviews of the poker rooms, you’ll be a hell of a lot more successful than someone who buys the latest package of 10 room reviews at the PAL marketplace for $200.
So does “copying” work? Sure. And having role models is a great way to improve your business.
Does thinking outside the box matter? Sure it does. Creating unique content is what separates the big fish from the little fish in this industry.
And thinking outside the box doesn’t just apply to creating unique poker content. It also applies to where and how you get your poker links. If you buy links from the same ten websites that the other ten people competing for your target phrase do, then how are you going to outrank them? If you submit to the same five directories that I do, are you going to get more traffic than I do? If you trade links with the same fifteen websites I’ve traded with, how are you going to make more money than I do?
Hey Randy,
Thanks for the post. I do agree with your follow up post http://www.pokerseo.org/blog/poker-content/how-to-think-outside-of-the-box/
I do believe however that when most people are talking about thinking outside the box they are talking about coming up with a completely new idea.
That being said, you post gives solid advice because it shows how people can interpret the advice to make it useful.
By leaving it s a vague statement in its current form. It is useless.