The Dark Side of Online Success…Part II
April 18th, 2008 by 
Amit
Now last time I talked a lot about health issues, there’s other stuff you have to deal with, here a major one :
#3 MOTIVATION
Before I quit my job I was super motivated. Just the thought of not working job kept me up long hours working on my affiliate marketing business.
I remember like yesterday, I would just toss and turn all night because I was SO EXCITED I could barely sleep. This was especially true when I was close to hitting the numbers I needed to quit my job.
Guess what happened after I quit my job?
That’s right, I lost a lot of my motivation. Furthermore I no longer had to answer to a boss and was now-for the first time in my life-TOTALLY responsible for my success or failure.
Scary!
What’s worse is that I had the crazy idea in my head that once I quit my job my affiliate business would skyrocket since I could dedicate full time to it.
Well, thanks to my drop in motivation + lack of self discipline my business stagnated.
Another BIG factor that killed my motivation was the fact that I was doing EVERYTHING in my business. I was the : marketer, content writer, web designer, project manager, copywriter , bookkeeper , etc, etc, etc..!
I’m not going to go into detail about how I overcame these obstacles (actually thinking of writing a free special report about these and other important issues).
Here’s a quick run through of what I had to get right to overcome the obstacles of low motivation, poor work ethic & productivity, and a business that stagnated as a result :
- Setting Bigger Goals, and putting them right in front of me
- Effective Time Management : daily to do list, cutting out time/productivity suckers, etc
- Learning How to Outsource and Manage a Team
#4 SOCIAL ISOLATION
For all the downsides of working in the job world, there’ s one upside : you get lots of social interaction with co-workers.
Working from home can be a very lonely experience for a lot of people, especially if you’re single. If you’re married (like me) and have a family it’s less of an issue.
Honestly, because of my personality type and the fact my wife is at home a lot of the time, social isolation has never been an issue for me. However, I know it’s a BIG issue for a lot of full time affiliates working from home.
How are you dealing with this?
#5 HOME WORK ENVIRONMENT
If social isolation is not your problem, this may be your problem : you can’t get anything done at home because you have : a spouse, 3 kids, grand parents, and other family members putting constant demands on your time.
If you’re in this situation you need to start looking for an office space ASAP. If you can’t find at least 2 hours/day of quiet uninterrupted time to do your work, you’re killing your business.
goal setting home work environment motivation productivity social isolation time management work from home
Posted in Super Affiliate Mindset | 
Amit,
Great post! This is *exactly* what happened to my wife when she quit her job. It took her over three months to get back on track. Now that I’m nearing that point of departure as well, I’ll be looking forward to that special report!
Discipline is a must when working from home / by yourself.
You’re right the one thing that can weigh on an affiliate is the isolation …
Having a blog helps but it is not that social interaction… find hobbies with wifey, gf, or just some good friends and do that once/twice a week, that has helped me a lot.
One thing you mentioned is a daily to do list … this can do wonders in productivity, simply writing it down!
If working at home is leading to social isolation and/or it’s distracting, see if there’s a coworking facility in your area. They vary a bit, but coworking places give you a desk or a cube, power, net connectivity etc… the difference is that it’s a space shared by other independent workers so you get ‘coworkers’ who face similar issues and provide some social contact. People ususally don’t spend 5 days a week in the coworking facility - they go in when they want to, work at home when they want. It’s basically a way to geta change of scenery, be around people but not be hanging out in a coffeeshop etc. Most coworking places have meeting rooms you can use too if you need to do that.
How cool would it be to be able to rent an office in a building with other like-minded entrepreneurs? Think about it, everyone is running their own businesses but they share in office space.
Cut down in office costs and you get the group atmosphere.
Best of all, no one has a boss.
I did a double take when I saw this because I worked at home for 2 years when I was single and the social isolation became a big issue. I like your idea, Yebot. It would be nice to stop by a coworkers desk and chat or play a prank or two.
Excellent article! Being an affiliate marketer can be a lonely road at times. It’s soooo refreshing to talk to a kindred spirit! Keep up the good work.
Yebot you are on to something for sure. I live in a major city (New York) so I am going to look for something like that since you just put the idea in my head. I have never seen anything like that before but if I can find it that would be the ideal situation.
Too many distractions at home and I never seem to focus as well when in my underwear as I use to when I took a shower and drove to an office. Hopefully I can find a good situation otherwise I might have to rent and office and sublet the other space to like minded internet entreprenuers myself.
yep… good advise from you Amit… I’m definitely not working from home full time yet.. but i’ll be there soon.
Having a team in the office and working online is the best thing that an affiliate marketer can do.
Oh my. Some guys are lucky they ever made a dime online working at home or not.
There is a particular super affiliate – we all know him – who has obviously been quite successful in affiliate marketing. Now he is blogging and sometimes talking to us via his blog. He goes on and on and on but really says nothing. I read Seth – to learn – I read Shawn – to Learn – I read this blog, Amit – to learn. And…..I do learn. Then you go over to the other blogger and it teaches you nothing. He rambles on and on. Obviously working at home has affected this man. He can’t communicate – he puts you to sleep and although I am hopefully waiting for the golden nugget I can’t find it and I keep going to sleep!
If this is going to happen to you – yes, absolutely find a shared office – play darts together – do something to practice your communicative skills. But don’t turn in to a guy that to fill in for his missing social life rambles on and on and on.
If you, the boring blogger, happens to read this and picks up on the clues that its you. Please sir! Go out and do something fun – then come back and with enthusiasm teach us something! Teach us in five minutes not a painful 20 or 30!
Keeping a good diet, walking every day or so, a good set of noise canceling earphones and staying on top of your goals are what helped me.